by B. L. Sauder
Hong Mei couldn’t focus on any of the questions filling her head. Lao Ming had said her mother and father were both safe. At the moment, that’s all she really wanted to think about. She drifted over to the wardrobe as if she was walking on air, and climbed inside to wait for Ryan and Alex.
•~•
After Lao Ming brought the brothers back to the room, Hong Mei listened from inside the wardrobe. She heard Lao Ming say in English, “Lao Ming sleep here, right outside door.” There was silence from the boys. “Lao Ming keep you safe tonight,” the old man said before Hong Mei heard the door close and the click of the lock.
She opened the closet door slowly and said, “Ryan? Alex?”
The boys yelped and jumped back.
“Do not be afraid. It is me, Hong Mei.” The room was dim, but she could see the look of shock on the brothers’ faces. She put a finger up to her mouth and whispered, “Shh.”
Ryan ignored it and stomped toward her. “You’ve got something that doesn’t belong to you. Give it back!”
“Please,” Hong Mei said, panicking. “Madam Ching must not know I am here. Be quiet!” she whispered hoarsely.
Alex stood by the door with his arms folded across his chest.
Ryan rushed at Hong Mei and said, “I don’t care –”
She didn’t let him finish his sentence. Reacting to his aggressive move toward her, she automatically responded with a basic “bridge-smashing technique.” The gong fu move pushed Ryan’s energy back on him, and sent him tumbling across the wooden floor.
Huh! She hadn’t lost her skills.
Spread out on his back, Ryan lifted his head and stared at Hong Mei.
Alex gasped. “Hey, how’d you do that?”
Once again, Hong Mei raised her finger to her mouth. She looked quickly at the door and said in a loud whisper, “We are in great danger. Please, listen carefully.”
Ryan sat up and shook his head. In a low voice this time, he said, “You’ve got a lot of nerve. First, you steal our jade, leaving us some old box. Then –”
Hong Mei interrupted him. “You saw the box? Did you read the poem inside?”
“Read the poem?” Ryan asked, standing up and brushing off his clothes. “As if we were in the mood for reading poetry after discovering our family heirlooms had been stolen!”
Hong Mei saw Alex moving over to the bureau.
“I will give you back your jade, but you must listen,” Hong Mei said. “Lao Ming will try to protect us, but if Madam Ching –”
Ryan interrupted her again. “Yeah, right. That guy couldn’t hurt a flea.”
“Lao Ming is on our side. He is a friend of my father’s.”
“Oh, and who might your father be? They certainly hadn’t heard of him at that hotel in Kowloon!”
“Ryan, please. I am sorry. Let me explain.”
“Sorry?” Ryan looked incredulously at her. “Look. I don’t know who you are. All I know is that I want our jade back. And as soon as I get that, I’m going back to Hong Kong and straight to the Canadian Embassy. Madam Ching is a kidnapper and a murderer. If you don’t get us out of here, I’ll make sure you get arrested for being an accomplice.”
“Please,” Hong Mei said. “I beg you. Listen.”
Alex had come up and stood next to her. He held the box with its lid broken off and said, “If I give this to you, will you give us our jade back? Madam Ching wrecked it, but I think you could glue it back together.”
Hong Mei felt her heart trip at Alex’s words. She immediately reached into her pockets to retrieve their jade and give them back. When she took them out, she saw the boys’ eyes light up. Holding them in her hands again, she marvelled again at how beautiful they were. She remembered how gorgeous it had been when it was one whole piece. She didn’t really have to give them back, did she? Perhaps she could keep them awhile longer.
The sound of Ryan clearing his throat brought her attention back to reality. Whew! She felt dizzy. Looking at Alex as he held the box in his hands, she remembered what he had just said. The poor kid was probably so scared, but here he was trying to be brave and help his brother get their jade.
Hong Mei shook herself. She needed to think about who she was and what she was really made of. She knew that she could be bigger than this.
“Do not worry about the box now,” Hong Mei said gently. She held all three pieces of jade out toward the boys. They snatched their jade out of her hands, ignoring the third piece. Alex studied his and she watched Ryan lovingly trace the etchings on his. They laced them onto their cords and tucked them inside their shirts.
Hong Mei took the container that Alex gave her. It wasn’t broken too badly. She felt her heartstrings pull again when she saw her poem.
A few moments later she said, “Lao Ming thinks this box is very special.”
Ryan gave her a withering look. “Madam Ching didn’t seem to think so.”
Hong Mei felt her face turning scarlet.
“Yeah,” Alex said. “When Ching Long brought us here from the train station, Madam Ching –”
“I do not understand,” Hong Mei said. “When were you at the train station?”
“That’s where we ended up,” Alex said. “We got on the subway in Hong Kong, and the next thing we knew we were in Beijing, like, thirty minutes later.”
Is this what Lao Ming meant? Had Master Chen’s box brought them here? “Tell me what happened,” she said.
“So, we were just sitting on the train,” Alex said, “watching the different stations go by. Ryan couldn’t decide which one we should get off at.”
“Well, you were no help,” Ryan said.
“And?” Hong Mei asked.
“We were, like, sitting there and I was holding the box. Just like this,” Alex said taking the box from her to show her. He held the box in one hand and the lid in the other.
“That is it? You were not doing anything else?”
Alex said. “Well, we recited Papa’s poem about then, I guess.”
“Can you say this poem again?”
“I don’t see –” Ryan interrupted.
“Please. If the box brought you here, perhaps it can take us back to Hong Kong.”
“I thought you said Lao Ming was on our side,” Alex snorted. “Why doesn’t he just get us out of here?
“Because Madam Ching will kill him.”
Hong Mei felt Alex come closer to her. “Ryan? Please?” he asked in a squeaky voice.
Ryan took a breath and looked from Alex to Hong Mei and back to Alex again. He sighed, but started reciting the poem. Alex quickly joined in.
It sounded like the same one she’d grown up with, but their words were in English. When they came to the last lines, the floor began to tremble. A second later, the beds, dresser and wardrobe shook and shimmied across the floor.
“Was this what happened on the train?” Hong Mei asked, trying to keep her voice steady as she was trying to keep her balance.
“No,” Alex stammered.
“Yeah, this feels like an earthquake,” Ryan said. “Quick, get on the floor!”
Hong Mei didn’t need to be told again. The last time an earthquake had hit the region was only two years ago. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds of homes destroyed. And that had been a small earthquake. They were usually far deadlier.
The three of them scuttled for cover under the two beds. As the room heaved up and down and side to side, Hong Mei, Ryan and Alex covered their heads with their arms.
As quickly as it started, the upheaval came to a stop, but Hong Mei said, “We should stay where we are for a little while. There may be more.”
Hong Mei heard Alex ask Ryan, “Is this what it’ll be like if we have an earthquake in Vancouver?”
“I guess so.”
“But why didn’t the box work? How come we’re still here?” Alex groaned.
“I don’t know,” Hong Mei said, “but Lao Ming will probably check to make sure we are fine.”
They stayed under
the beds waiting for the old man to unlock the door and come in.
They waited and waited, but Lao Ming didn’t come. Nobody did.
Finally, Hong Mei decided to try call out to Lao Ming. Perhaps he’d been hurt.
She crawled over to the door and reached up to the handle. It wasn’t locked anymore and turned easily. Hong Mei stood up, opened the door and peered into the darkness. She found it hard to see. “Lao Ming?” called quietly.
There was no answer.
Hong Mei tried again, this time more loudly. “Lao Ming? Are you here?”
There was only the echo of her voice.
Hong Mei stepped out of the door to where the courtyard should be, but the ground felt different. There were no cobblestones, only bare ground. Directly in front of her was a high, stone wall. She looked up, but instead of the night sky, there was a huge, open-beam ceiling overhead. Way up, dangling from high above, was a row of dimly lit light bulbs.
Ryan had come to stand beside her. Alex joined them, the box held tightly in one hand.
A low, crunching rumble came from behind them. Turning, Hong Mei saw that a huge, flat boulder now stood where the doorway had been. They appeared to be in a very large hallway with no visible exit.
“I was wrong,” Alex said. “It did work.”
Chapter 18
The Imperial Tomb
The air smelled dry and dusty in the dark, walled-in area. Ryan wasn’t able to see over the barrier, but he could easily make out the rafters and industrial lights hanging high above them. The cavernous ceiling reminded him of the inside of an airplane hangar. Stretching his hand out to touch the wall in front of him, he was reminded of the climbing wall in the gym at his school. Ryan felt the roughness of the rock-like structure with his palm, then made a fist and knocked on it. This was different than the one at school. The wall here was thicker and made no sound when he hit it.
“What is this place?” Ryan heard Alex ask. The quiver in his brother’s voice scared him.
“I don’t know,” Hong Mei said. “Was it the same on the subway? There was no ice? No freezing wind?”
Ryan and Alex shook their heads. The three of them looked at the box that Alex still held. He thrust it at Hong Mei, who took it after hesitating for a moment.
As Ryan stood wondering about the box and how it worked, he noticed that Hong Mei had shifted her attention to where they stood. He watched her squinting, first left, then right, into the strange, half-lit corridor.
“Which way do you think we should go?” she finally asked.
“It’s like being in one of those corn mazes,” Alex said. “You can’t tell which path is right unless you try it.”
“I hope this isn’t like that,” Ryan said. “The last time we were in one of those, it took us forever to find our way out.”
Hong Mei pointed to their right and began walking. “Let’s go this way.”
The boys shrugged, then followed her, with Ryan trailing Alex.
After fifty metres or so, they finally came to an opening in the wall. They turned left into another section of hallway. Their footsteps were muffled, but the ceiling still loomed large overhead. Was it an indoor maze for people to explore?
After another few steps they came to a sharp turn. At the end of it was an open metal staircase leading up. Hong Mei and Alex ran up the few steps while Ryan followed slowly behind. He watched as the two of them reached the last step and moved away from the stairs. Was it another level?
When Ryan was almost to the top step, he could see that Alex and Hong Mei were standing on a platform. Both of them were leaning on a heavy metal railing, gawking at something they hadn’t been able to see when they were below.
“What?” Ryan asked, gripping the railings on either side of him. He didn’t know if he wanted to keep going up. “What is it?”
“It is just like in the school books,” he heard Hong Mei say.
“What is?” Ryan asked, taking one more step.
“Ryan!” Alex turned to him, his face in a huge grin. He waved madly for his brother to come up the rest of the way. “It’s amazing! There must be hundreds of them.”
“Hundreds of what?”
“Stone soldiers,” Hong Mei said, still staring.
Stone soldiers? What were they talking about?
“Come up!” Alex was bouncing as he spoke. “It’s exactly like that program on the Discovery Channel!”
Ryan walked up and moved slowly over to the metal railing where Hong Mei and Alex stood. They were in a hangar, but this one wasn’t for airplanes. This one had been specially built to protect an army: one that had guarded an Emperor for more than two thousand years. Down below stood row upon row of life-size clay warriors, chariots and horses. Ryan felt his fear switch to awe. “The Terra Cotta army,” he gasped.
He, Alex and Hong Mei stood silently at the railing, taking in the spectacle of perfect lines of infantry, archers and officers. Some men were crouching while others were in standing poses, but everything, including animals and men, looked remarkably lifelike.
Finally Hong Mei said, “I see some stairs over there.” She pointed to another set of metal steps leading down into the pit below. “Should we go and look more closely?”
“Okay,” Ryan said at the same time as Alex.
“Follow me,” she said, leading the way.
Taking the stairs down, they stopped in front of the first statue they came to.
Ryan looked almost eye-to-eye with the lifelike statue. The warrior’s noble and steady gaze stared back at him. Ryan thought that the way the man’s thin moustache curved above his unsmiling mouth made him look like he was hiding a secret. He wore no helmet, but his torso and arms had been intricately chiseled to display fine armour. He was poised to fight.
Ryan, Alex and Hong Mei moved forward, studying each sculpture that they passed. Just like real people, some were tall and slim while others were short and heavy. They wore different uniforms and hairstyles, and on some, Ryan could see remnants of the coloured lacquer that once would have covered them.
After passing by many statues, Alex said, “Each one looks like it’s got a different face. Do you remember that program, Ryan? It said that a different man had to sit and model for each one for the sculptor.”
“Yes,” Hong Mei added. “And, these –” She stopped and asked, “What do you call this stone?”
Ryan said, “Terra cotta or clay.”
“Yes,” she continued, “these clay men were buried with real weapons, but they were stolen a long time ago.”
“Is it true that some people were buried alive after they worked on this?” Ryan asked.
“Oh, yes. Many,” Hong Mei said.
“Buried alive?” Alex whined. “You mean there’re dead people here? We’re in a cemetrey?”
Ryan couldn’t believe how stupid he’d been. Why had he said that? He felt weird. How must his little brother feel? Alex wasn’t stupid. He knew this place wasn’t a replica of a tomb. This was a real mausoleum. And they weren’t in Beijing, Hong Kong or Kowloon. The three of them were in Xian, practically in the middle of China.
He saw Hong Mei look at Alex, who had started to shake. “Are you all right?” she asked him, moving closer.
“I’m scared,” Alex said hugging his arms around himself, shivering. “I want to get out of here. I want to go home!” he said, turning his face away.
Ryan moved to his brother and put his arm around him. Could things get any worse? First they get – what could he call it – sent to Beijing. Then, they get sent here to Xian, where the famous Terra Cotta Warriors were discovered. Why? If that old box was transporting them to different places, why had it brought them to these places?
He watched Hong Mei walk over to a large canvas tarp that had been thrown into a corner. Probably left by some archeologists wanting to get out of here and start their New Year holidays.
Hong Mei beckoned to Alex and said, “Here, let me cover you with this.”
Alex went o
ver to her and she said, “Please, sit.”
Ryan watched as Hong Mei kneeled down and patted the ground beside her. Alex sat down and she pulled the heavy, stiff cloth around his shoulders. Looking up at Ryan she said, “Please, sit down.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll stand.”
“Please,” Hong Mei said again. “It is time to tell you everything. I wanted to do this in Kowloon, but I could not.”
“Maybe that’s because you ditched us there,” said Ryan.
“Please. Let me explain,” Hong Mei said.
Alex huddled under the tarp and looked up at Ryan.
What choice did he have?
Ryan plopped down next to Alex, who immediately offered him a share of the tarp.
“I hope this doesn’t take too long,” Ryan said. “I want to find a way back to Hong Kong and our family.”
Hong Mei took a deep breath and began to talk. She told them about the interview, meeting Madam Ching and seeing an ancient scroll. She told them about her relative Master Chen and about having visions.
She looked down at the box in her hand and said, “Madam Ching told me that this box was to store the jade in, but she couldn’t have known it had such power.” Reaching into her pocket, Hong Mei took out her jade.
Ryan could see that it was the same shape as his and Alex’s. He automatically reached up to make sure his own pendant was where it should be.
“Why did you steal our jade?” Alex asked.
Hong Mei held her jade out for Ryan to see.
He took it. It did look a lot like theirs. Same shape. Same colour. Same edging. Even the etching on it looked similar.
“I didn’t mean to take it,” Hong Mei said. “Its power was very strong and I couldn’t resist.”
A kleptomaniac, Ryan snorted. How about that? They were stuck in a tomb in the middle of China with a klepto. Who was ever going to believe this one? He tried to laugh, but couldn’t.
Ryan reached for his own jade to compare his and Hong Mei’s. The more he studied it, the more he could see that Hong Mei’s jade really could be the missing piece their uncle had told them about. When he put them side by side, they looked like they would fit. Together they looked brighter and more green.