by Pepe O'Neill
As Chamly filled the gourds with water, Celeste flew down and settled beside them. ‘There’s a city close by with trees on its outskirts, which will provide you with shade and possibly some nuts.’
‘You can’t be serious, Celeste?’ Chamly blurted out. ‘We’ve finished all the food in the saddlebag. I’m a growing boy! I need some real food inside me, not nuts. I’m going into the city.’
‘No!’ Celeste cried out in alarm. ‘It’s too dangerous. Tell him I’m right, Monkey’
Monkey rubbed his cheek in thought. He was thinking that where there was food, there was bound to be wine. ‘I don’t think it will be a problem, Celeste.’
‘I’m pretty sure someone will take pity on us and give us something to eat,’ Chamly said confidently.
Celeste looked from Chamly to Monkey and knew that any further warnings would fall on deaf ears. Giving Monkey a withering look, she flew off.
Fortunately, she needn’t have worried because they came across a busy market on the outskirts of the city where stall owners and potential customers shouted and bartered over squawks and squeals coming from animals destined for the cooking pot. As they stood watching the scene before them, a pig hurtled past with a tattered rope trailing behind it. Elated at its sudden release, it careered into a dumpling stall sending the table flying and landing a basket of steaming dumplings on the ground. The stall owner shrieked and pulled at her hair, while the pig squealed hysterically as it realized its rope had got tangled around the table’s legs.
Feeling sorry for the pig, Chamly slid down off Jade. Pushing his way through the crowd, he shouted to the shrieking stall owner. ‘It’s okay! I’ll help you sort it out. Stop yelling. You’re frightening the pig.’
The woman stopped and eyed the boy with suspicion.
Ignoring her, Chamly set about untangling the rope from the table. As he was doing so, the pig’s owner came over and started shouting at him, as if it was his fault the pig had escaped. The woman intervened by hitting the farmer with a broom and accusing him of ruining her days’ business. She demanded he compensate her for lost earnings. The farmer tried arguing with her, but to no avail. After paying up, he gave Chamly a filthy look and yanked the protesting pig back to its post.
Chamly lifted the toppled table back on to its legs and brushed all the dirt off from the surface with his hands. ‘It’s not as bad as it looks,’ he said, placing the basket on top. ‘Look! There are still some left in the basket. Do you mind if I take the ones off the ground? I’m very hungry and have no money.’
The woman smiled for the first time in years. ‘No one’s ever come to my aid before,’ she said. ‘You can have all the dumplings you want for helping me today.’
Chamly had a big smile on his face as he made his way back to Monkey and Jade, a large bag of dumplings weighing him down. He grabbed the rope around Jade’s neck and quickly found a fruit crate, which he used to climb up on to Jade’s back. As they left the market, they passed a bar and a deep sigh escaped Monkey’s lips.
Chamly poked the monkey in the ribs. ‘I’d hate to think I only had an alcoholic to defend me from the she demon!’
‘No comment!’ Monkey replied.
As Jade fly-galloped away from the city, the she demon entered the market place. She had transformed herself into a small snake and went unnoticed as she attempted to smell out her prey. She soon found the scent of the Chosen One by the dump ling stall and the donkey’s a short distance away. She noticed that the donkey’s scent had altered slightly, but she didn’t have time to wonder what this implied and simply followed it away from the market.
Once she was not overlooked, she transformed herself into a leopard and sped after them.
Chapter 20
THE GROTTOES
After picnicking on the dumplings in an orchard long since abandoned because of the encroaching sand dunes, Chamly started to yawn. He was just about to lie down under one of the lifeless trees when Celeste spoke, ‘Do not think you can fall asleep here Chamly! The she demon is far too close for comfort. I have a brilliant plan to outwit her and if it works, you will soon be able to sleep. See that river over there cutting its way through the dunes? If Jade wades upstream, through its shallow waters, you will reach some caves in the hills. The she demon will lose your trail by the waters edge and won’t know which direction to take.’
Following water had delayed pursuit before, so all agreed it was a good idea.
With Chamly and Monkey on his back, Jade made his way upstream to the caves, while Celeste flew back in the direction of the city.
In the half darkness of evening they finally arrived. Chamly slid off Jade and gazed in awe at the sheer size and number of caves dug deep into the rock face. A fan of light suddenly streamed from one of the cave entrances. Within the light, stood a faint shadowy outline of another human. It was a monk.
Chamly could see straight through him to the lights and cave entrance behind and stepping back in fear, he whispered, ‘I don’t believe it. It’s a ghost!’
The monk glided to a stop in front of him. ‘I am Le Zun,’ it wheezed. ‘Why are you here?’
Clearing his throat, Chamly managed to stutter. ‘I….I...I’m being chased by an evil she demon who wants to kill me. Y…y… you might not have heard of the Mother of the Western Skies, but she gave me a quest that I need to complete. Might we stay in one of the caves for the night?’
‘If you have met the Mother of the Western Skies and are still mortal, it means you are very special! By all means sleep in this cave behind me.’
The ghost led them through the light beams and into a giant cave where a statue of a Buddha, the height of a three-storey building sat, surrounded by his equally tall attendants.
Chamly looked around for the monk, but he seemed to have vanished. He whispered to Monkey, ‘This place gives me the creeps. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d look for another cave to sleep in.’
Despite his fears, Monkey persuaded him to lie down on the floor and eventually they all slept.
Meanwhile, the she demon had followed their trail to the edge of the river. She shrieked in frustration when the trail disappeared into the water. Slipping in, she quickly shed her skin and became a large fish.
Inside the cave, two tall figures, dressed in flowing gowns and veils stepped out of the paintings of themselves on the wall of the cave and walked serenely towards the Buddha. They were the Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Vimalakirti. Passing the sleeping trio on the floor, Manjusri tittered, ‘I see Monkey is back in our midst. That spells trouble. I wonder why he’s here?’
Curious to know more about their visitors, they approached the now living and breathing Buddha. ‘Sakyamüni? May we ask why we have Monkey, a boy and a donkey snoring away in our cave?’ Manjusri enquired.
The Buddha who had been enjoying the music being played by the paintings of hundreds of tiny, now living and breathing painted Buddhas, bent his bulky body forward and whispered, ‘Monkey had the audacity to steal a lot of wine from the Royal Distillery this year. He has yet to learn that the emperor is cleverer than he is. As a punishment, the Jade Emperor has sent him down to earth to assist the boy who has been chosen by me to carry the wisdom of the world.’
He clapped to get the attention of his attendants who were tapping their bare feet in time to the music. Once the cave was quiet he spoke with authority. ‘I’m sorry to break up the party, but time is not on our side. Go and gather everyone together please. Food and water have to be collected for this boy before daybreak.’
The Bodhisattvas and the attendants hurried out calling to all the other statues and figurines to help. Moments later two thousand statues came silently out of the caves and spent the rest of the night searching for food.
Bodhisattva Vimalakirti ordered a soldier statue down to the river to refill the gourds found in the boy’s saddlebag. Unfortunately, as the soldier bent to fill them, the links of his chain mail rattled. The clink, clank, clink, clank began reverberating through the waters�
�� currents and the she demon, who had been swimming downstream, felt the vibrations. Turning quickly around, she began to swim upstream towards the caves.
Chapter 21
THE SALT MARSHES OF THE
QAIDAM BASIN
As dawn coloured the sky the Bodhisattvas and attendants quickly stowed the water and food they had collected into the saddlebag and hurried back to their caves. Finding their places, they resumed their poses and became once again only paint and rock.
Chamly was the first to wake. At his feet, lay the bulging saddlebag. He shook Monkey awake. ‘Look! How did that happen? It’s full!’
Monkey looked inside and grinned. ‘The fairies must have visited us last night.’ He shook one of the full gourds. ‘I wonder if they remembered I liked wine?’ He pulled the stopper out with his teeth and took a gulp. Immediately he spat the liquid out. ‘Yuck! It’s water!’
‘They obviously didn’t think you needed the wine, Monkey,’ Chamly remarked sarcastically. He stood up and gave Jade a couple of handfuls of fruit and nuts before helping himself. While he ate, Chamly stood below the Buddha and thought over the dreams he’d had the night before. He had dreamt that the sculpted Buddha and his attendants had been alive, walking and talking around him. He tapped the Buddha’s foot and found it solid and cold. Scratching his head, he laughed at himself, before remembering the bag of food.
‘Are you sure the food was brought here by the fairies, Monkey?’
‘Well, you don’t think they did it, do you?’ Monkey said, pointing at the statues.
‘Maybe the ghost left them for us?’
Monkey laughed, ‘That wisp of a thing! He was all seethrough and no muscle. It could only have been the fairies, Chamly.’
Chamly looked set to question the existence of fairies when a male voice called out angrily, ‘Oy!’
They spun round to see a man silhouetted against the sunbeams, entering the cave. He had on blue overalls and was carrying a long handled broom.
‘What are you doing in here?’ he asked, striding into the cave. ‘It’s too early for tourists. You slept in here, didn’t you? This is a sacred place, not a holiday camp. Let’s see your ticket?’ the man demanded, grabbing Chamly by the arm.
‘Ow! You’re hurting me. I lost my way during the night and found myself outside this cave. I’ve done no harm!’ Chamly cried, wincing as the man caught his skin in a pinch.
‘We’ll see about that! What’s in that bag? Did you steal it?’ He tried to grab the saddlebag. It looked of very good quality. As the cave’s cleaner, he was poorly paid for his efforts and the saddlebag would fetch a good price. He had no qualms about taking it from the boy.
‘No! It’s mine!’ Chamly answered, holding tightly to the bag.
Monkey was about to intervene when the man snatched the bag and made a run for it.
‘You can’t do this! We need the food,’ Chamly yelled, running after him.
‘HHIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.’
The cleaner dropped the bag and screamed.
The she demon filled the entrance of the cave and eyed the man in front of her. Opening her mouth, she whipped out her forked-tongue and leisurely twirled it around him.
‘Aaaaaaaaaahhhh!’ the man screamed as he tried to disentangle himself.
The she demon tightened her grip and pulled him towards her razor sharp fangs. His screams were cut off when she snapped his spine and dropped him into her mouth.
Monkey rubbed a chewed hair between his hands and the little monkey soldiers appeared. Monkey barked, ‘Troops, get her out of here. She’s beginning to irritate me.’
‘Oh, not again!’ the she demon moaned. Having just eaten she was feeling full and bloated and was in no mood to fight these guys again.
The monkey soldiers let fly their arrows.
Soon, looking more like a hedgehog than the most feared demon on the planet, the she demon flopped down and slithered away.
Monkey went to the entrance and looked out. He could see the monkey soldiers harassing the she demon in the distance. ‘Time to go lads.’
As Monkey whistled for his soldiers to return, Chamly quickly slung the saddlebag across Jade’s back and got himself up on the horse using the Buddha’s throne.
Outside the cave, Celeste flew down and hovered before them. ‘That was close! I’ll keep an eye on her while you continue east. We’ll rendezvous on the shores of a lake that you can’t possibly miss. It’s enormous.’
Jade fly-galloped away from the grottoes and crossed a landscape of barren salt marshes until he came to a lake shimmering in hues of blues and greens and stretching across the horizons. In the water hundreds of cranes, geese and swans waded and cackled together as they scoured the water for food.
‘I seem to remember this lake, but can’t remember the reason for remembering it,’ Monkey muttered scratching his jowl. ‘It will come to me. Do you fancy a bit of fish, Chamly? There must be loads in these waters if all these birds are about.’
Chamly nodded and settled down at the shore while Jade wandered off to find some weeds.
Monkey ordered his soldiers to catch some fish and they flew off to form a big loop over the lake. Then, in a trick learnt from their spider friends, thin twine magically appeared at their fingertips, weaving and joining together to form a large net. Swooping low over the water they dropped the net over the unsuspecting fish. With dozens of fish flapping and struggling to get out, they brought the laden net back to Monkey. Soon a fire was going and Chamly and Monkey were eating their fill from the barbeque.
They had just finished eating, when the waters heaved in front of them and the head of a very large white turtle appeared.
Chapter 22
THE WHITE TURTLE OF QINGHAI
LAKE
‘Is that you, Monkey?’ White Turtle bellowed excitedly. ‘I thought I heard your voice. Have you come back with the blessing I wanted from the Buddha of the Western Heavens? He must have seen by now how well I have been perfecting myself over the last thousand years?’
Monkey looked at the turtle, his memory stirred. Now he remembered why he remembered this place. When he and Jade had accompanied the monk Lao Tsu, this turtle had given them a lift across the lake. In return, Monkey was supposed to ask the Buddha of the Western Heavens to grant White Turtle her wish of becoming a human.
Monkey smiled at the turtle wondering what he was going to say. He tried to change the subject. ‘White Turtle! What a surprise! How is your wonderful family?’
White Turtle lumbered her enormous body out of the water and stood dripping and towering above them. ‘They’re fine. Don’t change the subject, Monkey. What are you doing here if it is not to tell me my wish has been granted?’
Fortunately, Celeste chose that moment to fly down. She settled in front of the turtle. ‘Wish? What wish is that?’ she asked.
Surprised of having a talking owl land in front of her, the turtle stepped back and looked down. ‘Where did you come from? None of the other birds talk like you?’
As if to confirm this, all the birds on the lake cackled in one loud chorus.
Celeste looked up at the turtle and replied regally, ‘I am the “Celestial Owl”. My friends need a lift across this lake because a she demon is after them. I’ve flown over the lake and it is the size of an ocean. The she demon will catch up with them if you don’t carry them across.’
White Turtle retorted, ‘Why should I, when there isn’t any reward for doing it? All I want in life is to attain a human body! It’s not too much to ask, is it?’
‘If you don’t do it, I will make sure your wish is never granted!’ Celeste threatened.
It was time for Monkey to step in again. ‘White Turtle, I can’t do anything at the moment to sort out this little misunderstanding but I promise you that, when I see the Buddha of the Western Heavens again, I will ask him to grant you your wish.’
‘How can I be sure you won’t forget again?’ White Turtle wailed.
‘Enough of this!’
Celeste ordered impatiently. ‘White Turtle, you must help them! The she demon is out to destroy this boy before he has had a chance to save the world from her evil. What’s the point of becoming a human when all the other humans have been destroyed by war or famine?’
Chamly slid off Jade and stood nervously in front of White Turtle. Looking up at her, he asked her as nicely as possible, ‘Please White Turtle, will you take us across the lake? I’m a bit young to die, don’t you think?’
The turtle looked down at the boy and her heart melted, she just adored children. ‘Fortunately, I am just on my way to the other side of the lake to leave a message for my friend. The last time I saw him he said he’d only be gone a minute, but that was years ago.’ A great sob rose in her throat and tears gushed from her eyes. ‘Once a year, I go to the east shore of the lake and leave a message on a rock telling him where I am. Are you ready to leave? The only way you’re going to be able to get on top of my shell is for me to come up below you in the water. Just balance yourselves on top as I come up.’
‘May your generosity be rewarded,’ Chamly said smiling up at her. He turned to Monkey, ‘Can the monkey soldiers carry our clothes and saddlebag while we’re in the water? We’ll die of pneumonia if we have to wear wet clothes all night.’
A slight shiver ran through Monkey at the idea of taking his clothes off. ‘Fortunately I have never had to get undressed as my clothes are instantly drip-dry. By all means take your own clothes off. It will be no problem for the soldiers to carry them and the bag.’
As the soldiers popped out of Monkey’s hands, Chamly stripped. On Monkeys’ orders, the soldiers picked up the clothes and the bag. Chamly followed Monkey and Jade into the water and waited for the turtle to resurface beneath them. Once they were balanced on top of her shell, the soldiers quickly gave Chamly back his clothes.
All night the turtle swam across the lake, churning her feet in the water until the lake became a giant milkshake, slurping and foaming around her. As a new day dawned, a sandy shore came into view.