by Dan Lee
They felt the guards’ eyes upon them as they walked away.
‘Olivier, that was great,’ said Matt in a low voice. ‘You completely saved us back there!’
They passed the alarm and Shawn stopped to replace the chip and reset the system. ‘Don’t want my dad to get the blame for it not working again!’ he said.
From there they made their way to the West Wing. The party was breaking up when they got there. It was easy to join the flow of guests leaving, and to walk out under the noses of the security men who had refused them entry earlier.
They located their bikes and cycled swiftly back to the Academy. Matt saw that Johnny was still fast asleep when he got back to the room. He tumbled into bed, exhausted but elated at his night’s work.
As soon as Matt woke up in the morning, he knew what the Tangshan Tigers had to do next.
‘OK,’ he said to his friends at breakfast in the refectory. ‘Here’s what we do –’ He broke off suddenly. Master Chang was walking past their table. He paused and smiled at Matt and his friends.
‘Good morning. Did you sleep well?’
‘Er… yes, fine thanks, sir,’ said Matt.
‘You all slept well?’
They nodded.
‘I am glad. It is important to rest well before a tournament. No disturbances, then?’
‘No, er, no disturbances,’ said Matt. Chang nodded and moved away.
‘Why was he asking that?’ said Catarina. ‘You think he’s on to us?’
‘Maybe he saw us slipping out,’ said Olivier.
‘Then why didn’t he stop us?’ asked Shawn.
‘But that’s just like Chang, isn’t it?’ said Matt. ‘He always has his reasons for what he does, but you can never tell what they are!’
‘Anyway,’ said Shawn. ‘You said you had a plan.’
‘Right,’ said Matt. ‘Let’s go back to the museum at lunchtime and ask Mr Pei to show us the dish again. Then we can get him to see that it’s a fake for himself.’
‘But we won’t have time!’ objected Olivier. ‘If we miss lessons, I think someone will notice.’
‘If we skip lunch, we can go there on our bikes and be back in time for afternoon classes at two,’ said Matt. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think,’ said Catarina, reaching out for another slice of toast and spreading it thickly with jam, ‘if we’re going to skip lunch we’d better eat a good breakfast!’
‘Yes? What is it?’ snapped Mr Pei. He stood at the door of his office, frowning. ‘What do you children want?’
‘We wondered if you could show us the Emperor’s Jade Dish –’ began Matt.
‘I have already shown it to you.’
‘But couldn’t we see it again?’
‘Nobody is stopping you.’
‘But we wanted you to explain it to us, Mr Pei,’ said Olivier. ‘Because you’re such an expert – you’ve studied it and you know all the history and everything. You could really teach us a lot!’
‘I am a busy man –’
‘Oh, please, Mr Pie…!’ said Catarina.
‘My name is Pei, not Pie,’ said Mr Pei coldly. Catarina had to clap her hand to her mouth to stifle an attack of the giggles. ‘Now go away,’ went on Mr Pei. ‘Or I will telephone your school to tell them you are here – I suspect without permission.’
He closed the door.
‘Well, that’s that,’ said Shawn dejectedly, as they got on their bikes outside the museum. It looked, Matt thought, much more ordinary, much less creepy than it had done in the moonlight. His thoughts went back to last night, and he remembered Li-Lian and wondered what she was up to right now.
‘There’s nothing else we can do,’ continued Shawn.
‘There must be something,’ said Matt.
‘What would Chang do?’ said Catarina suddenly.
They considered this for a moment. ‘He wouldn’t give up,’ said Olivier.
‘No, he wouldn’t,’ said Matt. ‘Do you remember, he said if an opponent blocks one move, you must try another.’
‘We’ll think of something,’ said Olivier.
‘Come on – race you back to the Academy!’ said Catarina, standing up on the pedals of her bike and accelerating away. Matt and the others chased after her, whooping with delight.
Despite the fast ride back to the Academy, they were still late for maths with Miss Barraclough. They crept into the classroom as inconspicuously as they could. Miss Barraclough had set the class some problems and was going around helping pupils individually. Matt liked Miss Barraclough. She was slightly scatty and absent-minded, not like the other teachers. Which was a big advantage now. She was so absorbed in explaining something to a pupil that she didn’t look up as Matt and his friends tiptoed across the back of the classroom.
But as they were sitting down Carl called out, ‘Hey, where have you guys been? The lesson started twenty minutes ago!’ Matt might have known Carl would try and land them in trouble.
Miss Barraclough looked up. ‘Yes, you are late. What happened?’
‘Er…’ Matt didn’t want to lie. On the other hand the truth wasn’t much help either. ‘We were, er, studying Chinese culture,’ he said hopefully.
‘Yeah, right!’ scoffed Miles.
Johnny looked at him questioningly. ‘What have you been doing?’ he whispered. ‘More martial arts practice?’
Relieved, Matt nodded. He didn’t want to lie to Johnny – but nodding, he decided, didn’t really count as lying.
Mrs Barraclough was still looking at Matt expectantly. ‘Studying Chinese culture?’ she said. ‘Where were you doing that?’
‘Er…’ Matt searched for something to say. He glanced at his friends for help, but no one, not even Olivier, piped up.
They were saved by a tap at the door. Chang Sifu entered. ‘Excuse me, Miss Barraclough. May I borrow some squad members you have here? We have important training session this afternoon.’
‘Oh yes…’ said Miss Barraclough. ‘I remember Mr Wu said… The tournament’s very soon, now, isn’t it?’
‘That is correct. Day after tomorrow.’
‘Very well. You’d better take them. And good luck!’
The squad followed Master Chang to the gym. Carl, clearly annoyed at not having landed Matt and his friends in trouble, continued to mutter snide comments about their being late. He was still going on about it when they were changed and standing in the kwoon.
‘So where were you guys? No one saw you all lunchtime. What were you doing?’
‘That is enough, Carl,’ said Chang.
‘But it’s not fair! These guys get to turn up late and no one says a word –’
‘Enough,’ said Chang more quietly. Carl lapsed into a sulky silence.
‘Today,’ said Chang, ‘we will concentrate on how to control the emotions. He looked pointedly at Carl. ‘Do you understand? It is very important to keep emotions under control.’
Carl blushed a furious crimson. Matt noticed that Catarina was biting her lip, trying hard not to laugh.
Chang’s gaze turned smoothly to her. ‘Very important to control emotions,’ he repeated. ‘Concentrate on task. In tournament, if before or during your fight you give way to anger – or laughter – you will lose concentration. What will happen to you then is quite simple. Shanghai martial arts team will wipe the floor with you.’ He paused to let this sink in. ‘Into pairs, now. We are going to practise one-handed block…’
The next day, Matt got his first sight of the Shanghai Academy of Excellence martial arts team. He was standing in the courtyard with Shawn when their team bus pulled up. The tournament wasn’t until tomorrow, but the team had come to see the facilities.
The door of the bus opened and a powerful-looking middle-aged man, broad-shouldered, with grizzled hair and a harsh face, was the first to get off. That must be Sensei Johnson, Matt guessed. He was followed by a line of eleven fighters – two girls, nine boys – all dressed in identical black martial arts outfits. All wore their
hair cut very short, even the girls; all had the same determined, unsmiling expressions. They formed into two straight lines behind Sensei Johnson. There was no laughter, no joking, not even any conversation between them. Matt felt a jolt in his stomach – of fear, of excitement, of anticipation. The tournament seemed more real and closer than ever before. This time tomorrow he would be out on the mat fighting for all he was worth against one of those black-clad warriors.
‘Will you look at that?’ said Shawn. ‘Scary, or what?’
‘They don’t look like pushovers, that’s for sure,’ said Matt.
The news had spread that the Shanghai team had arrived, and quite a few of the Beijing Academy students were coming out of the front entrance into the courtyard to take a look at them. Carl came and stood beside Matt and Shawn.
‘That’s what I call a martial arts team,’ he said. ‘See how he’s got them drilled? You can bet your life they don’t waste their time playing silly games like we do with Chang.’
‘Chang’s OK,’ said Shawn loyally. ‘He knows what he’s doing.’
Carl only snorted.
Chang came out and strolled over to greet Sensei Johnson and his team. The two coaches bowed to each other; but Matt saw that even when bowing, Johnson fixed Chang’s face with a hostile glare. Chang’s expression remained as calm and unruffled as usual.
He and Johnson exchanged a few words – they were a little too far away from Matt to hear what was said – and then Johnson turned and marched towards the school entrance. His team followed, all marching in step like a platoon of soldiers. As they passed, Matt heard Johnson growl to his troops: ‘C’mon, team – let’s get ready to do some serious damage!’
Chang came over to Matt, Shawn and Carl. ‘So you have seen the famous Shanghai team at last.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Shawn. ‘Where are they going now?’
‘To the kwoon. I have given them permission to train there today.’
Carl’s jaw dropped in disbelief. ‘You said – they can train in our kwoon? But what about us? Where are we going to train?’
‘On playing field,’ said Chang mildly. ‘Kindly tell all team members to report there in half an hour.’
The sun shone as the team, dressed in their martial arts suits, gathered around Master Chang on the playing field. Trees rustled in the breeze; butterflies flitted through the air.
‘Tomorrow, you will face the Shanghai team. As final preparation for this, I have a new training exercise for you.’
Carl sighed heavily. ‘Great,’ he muttered. ‘What is it, hopping about on one leg with our eyes closed, or –’
‘It is catching butterflies,’ said Chang.
‘What?’ said Carl.
Even Matt, who wanted to side with Chang, couldn’t get his head round this one. The whole team looked unconvinced. Olivier looked at Matt and rolled his eyes. Chang didn’t seem to notice his team’s reaction. He went on calmly, ‘There is one more thing. You must catch butterfly without harming it.’ He clapped his hands. ‘Go.’
Matt spotted a white butterfly just a few metres away and ran for it. Just as he got close, the butterfly abruptly flew in a different direction. Matt followed – he made a jump for it, but again the creature changed course and all he grabbed was a handful of empty air.
All around, his team-mates were chasing, leaping, twisting – and again and again the butterflies fluttered out of reach. The task was much harder than Matt had thought – not only did you need to be observant to spot a butterfly in the first place, you needed energy and stamina to keep running after them, concentration and anticipation to predict where they would fly next, good reactions and suppleness to keep changing direction. After a few minutes of this Matt was breathless and hadn’t come near to catching one.
‘Hard work, isn’t it?’ panted Shawn.
‘You’re telling me!’ said Matt. ‘Hey, have you had any ideas what to do about the Jade Dish yet?’
Shawn shook his head. ‘You?’
‘No. I guess we all need to get together and –’
Chang clapped his hands. ‘Do not talk! Catch butterflies!’
‘Right,’ muttered Matt, and made a jump for a yellow butterfly that neatly eluded his grasp.
‘Well,’ said Chang, calling a halt to the exercise eventually. ‘Have you all caught butterflies?’
Panting for breath, they shook their heads – all except Catarina, who grinned proudly. She had her hands cupped together in front of her. She opened them, and an orange butterfly flew out and spiralled up into the blue sky.
‘Excellent, Catarina. You have very good reactions and agility.’
‘Yeah, like, really useful for catching butterflies,’ said Carl. ‘I wish we had Sensei Johnson for a coach – he wouldn’t make us waste our time on stuff like this!’
There was a shocked silence. Matt had not seen the point of the training exercise either, but he would never have made a comment like that. It was as rude as it was disloyal.
Chang, however, did not seem to take offence.
‘You did not benefit from the exercise then, Carl? Perhaps,’ said Chang, ‘you will see the point tomorrow.’
Chapter 8
COUNTDOWN TO THE
TOURNAMENT
The day of the tournament dawned.
Matt sat on a bench in the kwoon, quietly trying to focus on the challenge that lay ahead. But it was difficult to stay calm. He turned to Shawn, who was sitting beside him.
‘This is it then,’ he said. ‘Here we are.’
‘Yeah,’ Shawn agreed, moistening his lips. ‘Funny to think in an hour and a half it’ll all be over.’
On the other side, the Shanghai team, clothed in their ominous black, stared across at them, trying to psych them out.
The head judge, Mr Lau, took his place at the judges’ table. The assistant judges brought in the Emperor’s Jade Dish and placed it in the middle of the table, balanced on a stand. The dish! Matt stared at it from across the room. He had to find out if the dish on the stand was the original.
Pretending he needed to stretch his legs, he strolled over to take a closer look.
On this dish, Matt saw, the dragon had three locks of hair framing each side of its face – just as the original did! Still, it might just be an exact replica. He walked behind the judges’ table and sneaked a look at the back. What he saw made his heart leap with excitement. There were tiny splinters of wood stuck to the back of the Jade Dish. That must be where it had been ripped away from its plinth in the museum!
He made his way back to the team. He tried not to walk too quickly. In a low voice, he said to the other Tigers: ‘That’s the original. There’s been a swap!’
‘How do you know?’ asked Shawn, looking over at the dish.
‘There are splinters of wood sticking to it – you can see where it was stuck to the plinth!’
‘I don’t get it,’ said Catarina. ‘Why swap them?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Matt. ‘But the question is, what do we do?’
‘Should we tell the judges?’ suggested Olivier.
‘Not just before the tournament!’ Matt said. ‘Besides, the only proof we’ve got is the splinters and we’re not supposed to know about that, are we?’
The kwoon was beginning to fill up. Seats were placed on three sides of the tatami mat – the judges’ table stood on the fourth – and spectators were arriving every moment and sitting down. He saw Johnny take his seat on the other side of the hall. Johnny caught his eye, mimed a karate chop and mouthed ‘Good luck!’
Matt kept a look out for his mother. Meanwhile, he noticed Mr Pei from the museum arrive. Mr Pei went over to Sensei Johnson and soon the two were deep in conversation.
‘What’s Mr Pei doing here?’ Matt muttered to himself. Chang was standing close by and answered: ‘Mr Pei is here to present the award, since it is based on a piece in the museum’s collection.’
‘But why’s he talking to Sensei Johnson?’ Matt asked.
; ‘Ah,’ said Chang. ‘Something to do with the presentation ceremony? Or some other issue of concern to them both? Who knows?’
Matt watched Sensei Johnson and Mr Pei carefully. They were talking heatedly now, Johnson chopping the air with his hand as though insisting on something, Mr Pei arguing back furiously. What was that all about? Matt wondered. As he watched, Mr Pei and Sensei Johnson seemed to suddenly remember that they were in a public place. They both gave forced, polite smiles and drew apart.
Mr Lau cleared his throat and announced, ‘Ladies and gentlemen – the tournament will commence in fifteen minutes.’
Matt’s head was buzzing. He needed to talk with the other Tangshan Tigers – right now. They knew the real dish had been stolen and was sitting right there on the judges’ table – but how could they prove it without incriminating themselves?
Matt felt as though his head was about to explode when he heard the calm, measured tones of Master Chang addressing the team.
‘It is time to ready ourselves. Everybody stand. Relax, drop shoulders. Breathe slowly in, out, in, out. You are sleeping tigers. Soon tiger will awake, but not yet. Now, it rests.’
Matt let his shoulders drop. He felt his sinews relax as he breathed deeply in and out. His mind was clearing.
‘Soon it will be time,’ said Chang. ‘And remember – pace yourselves. Do not rush into anything.’ He gave Matt a long look, and Matt wondered what he meant exactly. Was Chang talking about the tournament – or something else?
‘Let us warm up,’ said Chang.
He began to put the team through a routine of warm-up exercises, starting gently with neck rotations. On the opposite side of the mat, Sensei Johnson was putting his team through a more strenuous routine, involving violent punching and shouting.
An idea came to Matt.
‘Master Chang?’ he said. ‘Could I go to the changing room, just for a few minutes? With Shawn and Olivier and Catarina?’