by B. L. Sauder
The three heirs held the jade up and Hong Mei called out, “Come, Black Dragon! We have your jade.”
“Ten, nine, eight,” Hong Mei, Ryan and Alex counted with everyone else.
Ching Long was standing away from his mother, his gaze shifting between the river and his mother’s face.
“Seven, six – there he is!” shouted Alex, as a scaly, black head surfaced. The massive round eyes caught sight of Hong Mei and the two boys.
Madam Ching leapt forward and tried to snatch the jade from Alex. In a split second, she lay splayed on the ground. Hong Mei had always wanted to use that particular gong-fu kick – but there was no time to savour its effectiveness.
“Three, two, ONE. Throw it in!” she yelled, and Hong Mei and the Emperor’s two heirs sent their jade flying up and into the water.
There was a crack and burst of brilliant red light. As thousands of onlookers watched the dazzling array of colours filling the blackness above, Hong Mei and the boys watched something even more fantastic. The three pieces snapped together and formed, not a flat disc, but a perfect ball of brilliant green jade.
Just as Black Dragon was about to snap it up in his jaws, Madam Ching flung herself at the jade in an effort to catch it before it hit the water. She missed and fell with a splash into the freezing river.
Black Dragon snapped up his precious treasure and sank beneath the surface. Madam Ching flailed in the river for one or two seconds. Then, Black Dragon’s head reappeared and pulled Madam Ching down with him.
Hong Mei looked around. Ching Long had disappeared: only the old people from her interview in Beijing were still there, and they seemed to be the only ones in the whole, vast crowd to have seen something other than the fireworks. They stood staring, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at the roiling river water.
“We’re free!” cried Alex. “Let’s go find Aunt Grace and Uncle Peter.”
Ryan and Hong Mei clasped hands and grinned.
They started moving through the crowd and along the path towards where they’d seen their families.
“Hey!” Ryan said. “Check this out.”
On the ground near where they’d spoken to Black Dragon lay a pile of clothes: a long, old-fashioned tunic, sunglasses – and a long black braid.
Chapter 24
The Year of the Golden Dragon
“I see them!” shouted Alex, running ahead of Ryan and Hong Mei. She watched to see Alex leap up to hug both his uncle and aunt at the same time. Hong Mei could see that the woman was crying.
She spotted her own mother and father, and when she felt Ryan pull her, she broke into a run. In seconds, her mother’s arms were around her. The slight medicinal scent that clung to her smelled gorgeous to Hong Mei. She opened her eyes to see Ryan being hugged by his aunt and uncle, the four Wongs standing in a tight embrace.
Mama let go of her and said, “We’re so proud of you, Hong Mei. I’m so sorry I didn’t trust your father enough to even try to believe him.” She smiled at her daughter, then at her husband. “He says he has forgiven me, but what do you think?”
Hong Mei looked up at her father who beamed down at her. “As I told your mother, everything happens for a reason. This was the way it was meant to be.”
Hong Mei fell into her father’s waiting arms.
“I’m so sorry, Baba.” Her voice was wobbly. “I’m sorry for keeping your jade. I’m sorry for not helping you. I’m sorry for not believing in you. I’m sorry for everything,” she cried.
Her father held Hong Mei close to him and whispered into her spiky hair, “Dear daughter. Please do not say those words again. All is well now. Today, I am the proudest father in all of China.”
“Are you no longer sad that I am a girl?” she asked.
He laughed. “I was never sad to have a daughter. I was only trying to make you strong. And, in light of what you’ve had to face, I think you were up to the task.”
Hong Mei’s heart felt as if it was going to explode. No moment in her life would ever be as great as this one.
“Now,” Hong Mei’s father said. “Let us go with the Wong family and welcome the Year of the Golden Dragon. It has started off rather well.”
Epilogue
Fudan University, Department of Archeology22/02/00
During one of the routine checks of the royal chamber, a foreign object was discovered. There were no Chinese characters on the tin box, only English.
Upon inspection, the container was found to be empty except for traces of a white powder. The substance is currently being tested, but it is believed to be the remains of peppermint candies.
Since this was found in an area that is not open to the public and is supposedly sealed off to everyone but myself, it is clearly a case of site contamination. This, together with the failure of our night watchman to show up for work on New Year’s Eve, should raise the alarm.
Recommendations regarding stricter procedures on access and protocol will follow in due course.
Signed,
Dr. Zhu Gong-wei
Acknowledgements
For me, writing a novel was as if I had embarked on a journey that I hadn’t appropriately prepared for. Most certainly I had a suitcase, but as I made my way from ideas, to drafts, then edits, submissions and sase’s, I realized I had packed only the bare essentials. Luckily, I met people along the way, who gave me or told me where I could pick up some of the things I didn’t even know existed. Still, at some stages, it was a bit of an endurance test, just as it is when you travel to places without roads or railways. Sometimes, one needs to switch to other modes of travel (say hopping on a passing oxcart) or walking from the last bus stop along a dirt road, with only the light of the moon as your guide, to a few thatch-roof huts on a beach. You’ve heard it’s there – you just aren’t sure how and when you might reach it.
Many, many people have been involved in the creation of this book. ‘Golden Dragon’ would never have come to fruition without their help. From the beginning, my husband Stan was an unwavering supporter. Whether he actually believed I had it in me, we will never know for sure, but he made me think I did. As for my sons, Sebastian and Christian, who only read snippets while waiting for the ‘real’ book to come out – here it is. I set off to write a Chinese adventure story and it is finally done. Thank you to my best friend and sister, Niki, whom I coerced into reading drafts by paying for her massage therapy afterwards. And to her husband, Allan, and my nieces Georgia and Reagan, who open their home to our family every year so that we might enjoy Canadian summers together.
To my friends and fellow writers, Karen Shur-Narula and Marcia Kelly-Gerritz – thank you for the writing retreats in the mountains and sois of Thailand and the good-humored and heartwarming conversations about writing, families and life in general. Even when my stories fail to find an audience, I know that you two will continue to read my work and say, “Now that is the best thing you have ever written.”
My gratitude goes to my late grandmother, Eva Sauder, who instilled and supported my love of books and reading from an early age. I continue to enjoy her rhymes and verse, as well as her father’s, my great grandfather. In addition to these gifts, they passed along their memories of a young Canada. I gratefully acknowledge my parents who once asked me as I played in the sandbox at our house on 94th Street, if I was digging to China. I remember that day in the summer of 1965 as life-changing. Yes, I was not even four, but that in itself should be a lesson as to the power of words for children.
Xie xie Lydia for giving Chen Hong Mei her name. I haven’t forgotten the writers of the North Shore Writers’ Association and the many wonderful words they produced and I enjoyed reading. Thank you to Sonnet, who edited the first completed draft. A huge thanks goes to my editor, Laura Peetoom, who was wonderful to work with, as she really got it and made me work at my own revisions. And last, but certainly not least, Nik Burton at Coteau Books who gave me a chance. I’ll always be grateful. Thank you all.
About The Author
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sp; Born in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Bonita Sauder has lived all over the world. She has a masters of education from Cape Town University and currently resides in Bangkok, Thailand with her husband and two children.
While reading a classic tale to her sons, she was inspired to write this modern adventure story. Year of the Golden Dragon is her first book.