Jackal

by Jeff Stone

  Hú Dié cleared the steel roll cage that crisscrossed the top of the dune buggy, and the blade headed straight for Lin Tan’s bald black head. Unfortunately, the blade nicked one of the roll cage’s crossbars, and the weapon bounced straight back up at Hú Dié.

  She released it in midair, and both she and the kwan dao went down hard on the courtyard’s paving stones.

  Lin Tan cut his steering wheel and headed toward Grandmaster Long. The old man sidestepped the dune buggy like a matador avoiding a charging bull and stabbed his massive blade into the opening where there would normally be a driver’s side door.

  However, the dune buggy was traveling too fast. The blade clanged off the door frame before it could connect with Lin Tan, and the weapon was wrenched from Grandmaster Long’s hands.

  Lin Tan turned his vehicle back toward Hú Dié.

  She was on her knees, attempting to stand. Her fall had really knocked her for a loop. There was no way she was going to be able to jump over the dune buggy again. I aimed Trixie for a head-on collision with Lin Tan and pedaled the bizarre seatless mountain bike with all my might. I swerved in front of Hú Dié and shouted, “Move!”

  Hú Dié leaped sideways while I continued straight toward Lin Tan. I saw him smirk, and when I was certain a collision was inevitable, I bunny-hopped with all my strength while laying the bike sideways in a tabletop maneuver.

  I kicked the bike away from me while twisting to one side, sending Trixie spinning toward the windshieldless dune buggy. The force of my kick spun me around the side of the vehicle, and I managed to avoid contact with the buggy altogether.

  Lin Tan wasn’t so lucky with Trixie. As I hit the ground, I saw one end of the mountain bike’s sturdy handlebars sink deep into his right temple.

  The dune buggy suddenly lost speed and slowly rolled to a stop. Lin Tan’s dead foot must have slipped off of the gas pedal.

  Hú Dié was standing now, and she wobbled over to me as Grandmaster Long ran over to Lin Tan with his enormous kwan dao back in his hands. The old man tossed Trixie aside and turned off the dune buggy’s engine. He unfastened the seat belt and dragged Lin Tan’s limp body out of the vehicle.

  “Is he—?” Hú Dié asked.

  Grandmaster Long nodded. “Yes. He won’t be bothering you or anyone else ever again. Well done, Jake.”

  I turned away and puked twenty soup dumplings all over the courtyard.

  A few minutes later, Hú Dié rested a hand on my back and said, “I am so proud of you, Jake. You saved my life.”

  “I believe you saved both our lives,” Grandmaster Long said. “I’m not the man I used to be. I don’t think I could have stopped Lin Tan. You both saw me try, and fail.”

  I shook my head. “Stop it, you two. Let me puke in peace.”

  Grandmaster Long laughed. “Your reaction shows that you do not condone violence. That is an admirable trait, Jake. Let me bring you something to drink. Perhaps a—”

  A cell phone suddenly rang, and Hú Dié jumped. She hurriedly unzipped one of the pockets in her leather riding jacket and pulled out her phone. She looked at the screen, and her face went pale.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  “It’s my mother’s number, but she can no longer speak. She has lost control of her vocal cords.”

  “Answer it,” Grandmaster Long said. “It may be PawPaw.”

  Hú Dié answered the phone. “Wai?”

  She said nothing for a few seconds, then she seemed to relax. “Okay,” she said, “see you soon.” And she handed the phone to Grandmaster Long. “It is PawPaw. She is calling for you.”

  Grandmaster Long didn’t look surprised. He spoke with PawPaw in Chinese for what seemed like forever before hanging up the phone and handing it back to Hú Dié.

  “I guess I had better get back to my mother’s nursing home.”

  Grandmaster Long nodded. “I am going, too.” He jerked his chin toward Lin Tan’s dune buggy. “I will drive that. Jake can ride with me. You can ride the motorcycle.”

  “Is anybody planning on telling me what’s going on?” I asked.

  “PawPaw is heading to the Kaifeng airport to pick up Hok,” Grandmaster Long said, “along with a few other visitors. We will meet them at the nursing home.”

  “Hok is here?”

  “That is what I just said.”

  “Sorry, Jake,” Hú Dié said. “I should have mentioned her coming earlier when I told you about PawPaw. Hok is supposed to bring additional herbs to add to the ones PawPaw has been giving my mother.”

  “PawPaw is treating your mother?” I asked, clutching my backpack. “I thought she was just evaluating her or something. What about the … you know?”

  “Dragon bone?” Grandmaster Long asked.

  My eyes widened.

  “Don’t be so shocked,” Grandmaster Long said. “Phoenix realized yesterday what you’d done. He’d already told his grandfather, Hok, PawPaw, and me about the extra dragon bone that he hid. Even if Phoenix hadn’t said a word, I would have guessed that your sudden appearance here has something to do with dragon bone. Why else would you be here? More than that, why else would Lin Tan have followed you? My guess is that you have Phoenix’s dragon bone in your bag.”

  My grip loosened on my backpack. “So much for me being a sneaky jackal. Phoenix is going to hate me forever.”

  “You might be surprised,” Grandmaster Long said. “You simply did what he planned to do anyway. In fact, he feels quite bad for not having acted sooner.”

  Hú Dié gasped. “You mean Phoenix decided to give me some dragon bone for my mother, after all?”

  Grandmaster Long nodded. “Except, by the time he had convinced his grandfather to drive him to the trail to retrieve it, the police had arrived at their home to question both Phoenix and Ryan about the accidental mountain biking death of a Chinese gangster from California at the very same state park.”

  “DaXing,” I said.

  “Yes,” Grandmaster Long said. “Phoenix had a hunch that you may have been involved, but he said nothing to the police.”

  I felt my cheeks begin to blush. “Guilty as charged,” I said. “Hú Dié told me how I could find Phoenix’s stash. I took a limo to the state park the same day she left. DaXing must have followed me. He attacked me after I found the dragon bone, and I took off on my bike. He fell into a ravine when he was chasing me. His death really was an accident.”

  “Regardless,” Grandmaster Long said, “I have to say, I am glad that it was you who took it and not someone who might have used the substance for questionable purposes, especially with DaXing being there. Once the police were satisfied that Phoenix and Ryan had in no way been harboring DaXing, nor were they responsible for his death, they said that the boys were free to travel here. So they did.”

  “Phoenix and Ryan are in China now, too?” I asked. “In Shanghai?”

  Grandmaster Long shook his head. “Mr. Chang could not arrange a flight to Shanghai on such short notice for Phoenix, his grandfather, Ryan, and Ryan’s mother. So the four of them flew to Beijing, and then on to Kaifeng. Their plane just landed. Hok was on the same flight from Beijing to Kaifeng. They are the others that I had mentioned were traveling with Hok.”

  “Mr. Chang arranged their flights?” Hú Dié asked.

  “All of the flights except for Hok’s. He knows nothing about her. Mr. Chang agreed to pay the others’ way to Kaifeng because they can take the midnight bullet train from there to Shanghai. There weren’t enough airplane or train seats available to get them from Beijing directly to Shanghai in time for the big race tomorrow morning.”

  “Mr. Chang still wants us to race?” I asked.

  Grandmaster Long nodded. “He has been in constant contact with Ryan’s mother and Phoenix’s grandfather. He has been worried about you, Jake. PawPaw just told me that she will get word to Mr. Chang through Ryan’s mother about you having surfaced here at Cangzhen Temple. Ryan’s mother will contact your parents, too. Once everyone has been informed th
at you are fine, I am certain they will all be eager to see you and Hú Dié race alongside Phoenix and Ryan tomorrow.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to make so many people worry.”

  “All’s well that ends well,” Grandmaster Long said.

  I hefted my backpack. “I can’t believe I’ve done all this for nothing.”

  “On the contrary,” Grandmaster Long said. “Your drastic actions were the catalyst for something much bigger.”

  “Huh?”

  Grandmaster Long smirked. “You will learn more when we arrive in Kaifeng.”

  We pulled into the nursing home parking lot just after sunset. We were a sorry-looking bunch, Hú Dié, Grandmaster Long, and me. Hú Dié said not to worry about it. Her mother had a private room, and she wouldn’t care how much dirt and road grime covered us. She was used to seeing Hú Dié covered head to toe in bicycle grease.

  Hú Dié’s mother’s room was packed with people. Waiting for us were Phoenix, his grandfather, Ryan, Ryan’s mom, and Hok, along with Hú Dié’s mother and an old woman I’d never met but was certainly PawPaw.

  Hú Dié’s mother was lying in bed, covered to her neck with blankets. Her skin was snow-white, and her head shook terribly. Even so, her eyes were perfectly clear.

  They were Hú Dié’s eyes.

  Hú Dié pushed her way through the group and kissed her mother on the cheek. Hú Dié said a few words in Chinese, and her mother gave a shaky nod of her head. I felt so bad for Hú Dié’s mom. Any trace of regret I might have had about bringing the dragon bone here vanished. No one should have to go through what Hú Dié’s mother was experiencing.

  Not surprisingly, Ryan’s mom took control of the room. “Well, the gang’s all here,” she said. “First things first. Jake, what in heaven’s name happened to your hair?”

  I pushed my dirt-streaked black Mohawk out of my face. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell everybody later. We have more important things to talk about right now.” I turned to Phoenix. “How’ve you been, bro?”

  Phoenix shrugged. “I don’t know. Good and bad. Mostly good now, though. You?”

  “Same,” I said. “I, uh, heard that you figured out what I did with your dragon bone.”

  “Yeah. As soon as the police told me that DaXing had had an accident out at the state park, I put two and two together. Were you hurt?”

  “No, I’m fine. Are you mad? I understand if you hate me.”

  Phoenix shook his head. “I don’t hate you, but I am angry. It wasn’t cool to go behind my back.”

  “I know. Everything was happening so fast. I’m sorry.”

  “You should be,” Phoenix’s grandfather said. “Lucky for you, things may have worked out for the best, though.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  Phoenix nodded. “Do you have the dragon bone?”

  I pulled off my backpack. “Right here, bro.” I unzipped the pack and handed the container to him. “Watch out for the duct tape.”

  Phoenix took the container carefully, as if it were filled with liquid gold. I thought he was going to hand it to Hú Dié’s mother, but instead he offered it to Hú Dié.

  “Here,” Phoenix said. “I’m very sorry that I didn’t help you sooner.”

  Hú Dié took it with trembling hands. “Thank you,” she said. “Truly. Thank you, too, Jake.”

  Phoenix and I nodded.

  Hú Dié turned to Hok, PawPaw, Grandmaster Long, and Phoenix’s grandfather, who were huddled together in one corner of the room. “May I?”

  “You can try,” PawPaw said, “but I don’t think your mother is interested.”

  Hú Dié looked confused.

  “I explained the substance to her earlier,” PawPaw said. “As you know, your mother’s physical faculties are limited, but her mind is sharp as a tack. I don’t think she wants anything to do with dragon bone. She is a wise woman. Go ahead and offer it, though. It’s the least you could do, since Jake has gone through so much trouble bringing it here.”

  Hú Dié turned to her mother, and her mother suddenly spoke in a hoarse whisper. “Thank you, my love, but no.”

  Hú Dié nearly dropped the dragon bone. “You can speak!”

  Hú Dié’s mother nodded and the hint of a smile twitched across her lips.

  “It seems the herbs I’ve been giving her are doing some good,” PawPaw said.

  “This is amazing,” Ryan’s mother said. “I had a great-aunt who succumbed to ALS. Is your treatment widely known?”

  “I don’t believe so,” PawPaw said. “The Chinese herbs I’m using are quite rare. I wouldn’t blame any physician for not knowing about them. I have even higher hopes for the herbs Hok has brought. Perhaps we will share our findings with the medical community. These herbs will never repair all of the ALS damage, of course, but I am certain Hú Dié’s mother will continue to improve. She will outlive Hok and me, that’s for sure.”

  Hú Dié grinned. Then she suddenly frowned.

  I frowned, too. “What do you mean?”

  PawPaw smiled. “Hok and I are now free of dragon bone. Our life spans are finite, as nature intended. The same is true for Grandmaster Long and—”

  “My grandfather,” Phoenix said.

  “The antidote!” I said.

  Phoenix nodded. “Thankfully, Hok and PawPaw believe that my grandfather will live a lot more than ten years. It’s all because of you, Jake.”

  “Me?” I asked. “How?”

  “After DaXing was found,” Phoenix’s grandfather said, “I called Hok to give her the news about his demise and to tell her of our suspicion—that you had taken the hidden dragon bone to give to Hú Dié’s mother. Hok and I decided that enough was enough. We discussed the antidote that she’d concocted that helped Ryan and several others break dragon bone’s bonds; and even though she did not believe she would survive the antidote, she took it upon herself to try it anyway. As you can see, it worked. We called PawPaw, and she made a batch here in China for her and Long. It worked for them, too. I have wanted to break my bonds with dragon bone for more years than you could possibly imagine, so I had Hok express-mail me the antidote right before we came here. I drank it moments before we left the house. That was yesterday. Like the others, I feel a bit weak, but otherwise, I am fine. More than that, I am truly happy. Hok and PawPaw believe that we all have the constitution of sixty-year-olds. We each expect to live at least another twenty years.”

  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” I said. “This is so great! What are you going to do with the rest of the dragon bone? I really hate that stuff.”

  “We’re going to dump every last bit into the Yellow River,” Hok said. “It’s less than a block away. We’ve all brought our remaining supplies with us.”

  I turned to Grandmaster Long. “That’s what you loaded into the dune buggy before we left the temple.”

  He nodded.

  Hú Dié held out the container of dragon bone she’d been holding, offering it to Phoenix’s grandfather. “I apologize for all the trouble I have caused you and your family,” she said.

  Phoenix’s grandfather accepted the dragon bone. “I appreciate that, Hú Dié. Come, let us dump this together. Afterward, we have a bullet train to catch.”

  I felt my ears perk up. “The race! We’re going to do it?”

  “I am,” Phoenix said. “That is, if everyone else still wants to do it.”

  “I’m in,” Ryan said. “I didn’t come all this way for nothing.”

  “Heck, yeah,” I said. “I’m in, too, as long as there’s room for me on the train.”

  “There’s plenty of room for all of us,” Ryan’s mom said. “I’ve already checked.”

  I realized that Hú Dié hadn’t said anything. Phoenix, Ryan, and I turned to her. She was gazing at her mother.

  Hú Dié sighed. “I do not know, guys. My mother is still—”

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Hú Dié’s mother said in a sharp whisper. “You will not remain here on
my account. Bicycle racing is your dream. You have the opportunity to realize it. You are going to Shanghai tonight! PawPaw will stay with me.”

  Hú Dié smiled through the tears that were forming in her eyes. “I guess I am in, too. Somebody had better call Ling and Mr. Chang right away to let them know that they need to bring our bikes and all of our gear to the race.”

  “I’ll do it,” Ryan’s mom said. “You all go on and get rid of that dragon bone. By the time you return, I hope to have taken care of our bullet train tickets as well.”

  Phoenix grinned. “Bullet train. Awesome.”

  We arrived at the race location in downtown Shanghai at 7:30 a.m. the next day, as planned. Everyone came along from Kaifeng except for Hú Dié’s mother and PawPaw. Fortunately, it turned out that the race had become such a big deal, it was being broadcast throughout China instead of just locally in Shanghai. Hú Dié’s mother and PawPaw would be able to watch the whole thing on television.

  We found Ling, who was with a team of mechanics dedicated solely to us four. It was pretty incredible. The mechanics took our measurements and adjusted everyone’s bike except Hú Dié’s. She insisted on adjusting hers herself.

  Once the bikes were done, we changed into our racing kits and gathered together for a group picture. The new uniform felt awesome against my skin, mostly because it was the first set of fresh clothes I’d put on since I’d arrived in China.

  Several young girls in the crowd giggled and snapped our pictures, and Ryan’s mom snapped a couple shots, too, but then she suddenly stopped. I turned around to see somebody photobombing us.

  It was Keng, the skinny psycho from the Mr. Chang’s other youth team. “Hello, fellow teammates!”

  “Get lost, freak,” I said.

  “Look who’s calling whom a freak,” Keng said. “Nice hair.”

  I frowned. He actually had a point. We’d gotten club cars with bathrooms on the bullet train, and I’d been able to wash all of the black wax out of my hair. However, it now looked like I had a fat, blond dachshund lying on top of my head.