by Dan Lee
Sifu turned and walked away. Then he turned and said over his shoulder: ‘Remember – the snake approaches silently, but it can be deadly.’
The Tigers exchanged confused glances. What does Chang mean by talking about snakes? Matt wondered.
‘Do you mean Drago?’ asked Catarina. ‘Is he the snake?’
Master Chang turned to face them. ‘Go back to Academy,’ he told them. His voice held a sternness Matt had never heard before. ‘You serve no purpose here.’ Matt heard Catarina gasp at Chang’s words.
The Tangshan Tigers watched as he walked away. This time, he did not look back.
As he approached the hut, Matt saw that there was someone else there now. A small figure in a blue tunic-dress, stirring a pot suspended above an open fire. A familiar figure. It looked like…
‘Hey, is that Li-Lian?’ said Shawn.
‘It is!’ said Olivier.
She was too far off for Matt to make out her face, but he knew Chang’s granddaughter by her straight posture, her dainty physique, the set of her shoulders. She had helped them fight against Sang and his gang in their adventure under the Great Wall of China.
At least Chang has some company, thought Matt. But why had Chang chosen to exile himself here anyway, in a wooden hut on a lonely hillside? It was as though he was deliberately making himself an outcast.
There was nothing more that they could do for now. Chang had made it plain he did not want their help. Matt felt hurt and confused.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘I suppose we’d better do as he says. Go back to the Academy.’ Without another word, they turned and walked back down the track, the Electro-Hound silently bringing up the rear.
Matt did not know what to do next. But he knew one thing. He wasn’t going to give up.
‘This isn’t over,’ he said to his friends as they rejoined the main road. ‘No way.’
Matt lay in bed, eyes wide open. Through the window he saw a yellow full moon. He threw back the duvet and quietly climbed out of bed.
I’ll practise a few tae kwon-do moves, he decided. Burn off some of this useless energy. After all, he would have to keep in training if he was ever to get back in the squad. If he was quiet, he needn’t wake Johnny. His room-mate was dead to the world, his arms flung out by his side as he slept on his back.
In the centre of the room, he assumed his side-on fighting stance and went through a sequence of moves: circling an imaginary opponent, throwing a few shadow punches, ending with a head-high axe kick. It didn’t feel right. He was going through the motions and he knew it. His mind was too distracted to focus on what he was doing. The muscle in his stomach felt like it was healing, despite the occasional twinge. Try again, he told himself.
But the second attempt was even worse. He started off-balance, over-corrected and crashed into Johnny’s bed.
‘What the –’ spluttered Johnny. He sat up, blinking, hair sticking up on end. ‘What’s going on, Matt? Are you sleepwalking? Having a nightmare?’
‘No, I was just – er – practising a few moves,’ said Matt, feeling foolish.
‘In the middle of the night? What, are you crazy?’
‘No, I – I couldn’t sleep, and I’m worried, and –’
Johnny reached for his glasses on the bedside table and put them on. ‘You better tell me about it,’ he said.
Matt sat down on the end of Johnny’s bed. ‘You know I got left out of the team?’
‘Yeah. That was bad luck.’
‘I never thought that would happen to me. I mean, I felt I belonged there, you know? I know it doesn’t do any good to moan about it, but – well, that’s just how I feel, and I can’t help it. And then Master Chang suddenly leaving like that – I don’t get it. I trusted him – we all did.
‘We went to see him today,’ he continued. ‘We thought we might be able to help him get his job back, but he said there’s nothing we can do. Acted like he’d never see us again. And I don’t know if I’ll ever get back in the team without Chang’s help!’
Johnny listened thoughtfully, nodding.
‘Yeah, that’s pretty rough. You know – there was one time, back at my old school when I failed the try-outs for the basketball team. And it shook me up, because I always thought I was pretty good at it, like it was my sport, you know?’
‘So how did you get over it?’
‘How can you not get over it? It’s happened, you got to deal with it because there’s no other option. I realized the coach had picked the best team, and I wasn’t in it, and the team was bigger than any one player. So I watched the school games and I cheered my team. And meantime I kept practising. And the practice paid off because when I came here I made the team! You see? Everything happens for a reason.’
‘Everything?’ Matt wasn’t convinced.
‘Well, I guess random stuff happens sometimes, like when somebody gets struck by lightning, but I’d say ninety-nine per cent of the time things happen for a reason. Maybe being dropped from the team will turn out to be a good thing for you in the end – maybe you’ll raise your game. There’ll even be a reason for Chang leaving.’
‘Yeah,’ said Matt. ‘But what is the reason?’
‘Who knows? Maybe you can find out,’ Johnny said, pulling the duvet up around his shoulders.
‘That’s… right,’ said Matt. He reached over and punched Johnny affectionately on the arm. ‘You’re a deep thinker, Johnny.’
‘Yeah, right!’ said Johnny, laughing.
‘I better go back to bed then,’ said Matt, rising to his feet.
‘No,’ said Johnny unexpectedly. ‘You practise those moves first. And get them right this time!’
Matt took his stance in the centre of the room again. This time he adopted the open stance Chang had taught him for the centre line, with his toes, knees, hips, elbows and shoulders all pointing in the same direction. He relaxed. He visualized the imaginary line in front of him, a narrow target band on which all his strength would be concentrated. He shifted his balance so that his weight rested firmly on his back foot.
And then he sprang into action.
He moved forward fast and purposefully: block, block, punch, punch, KICK! It felt good, it felt right. Every blow converged on the centre line. Any opponent standing there would have been blown away.
Johnny whisper-mimicked the roar of a crowd. ‘Wow!’ he said. ‘Way to go, Matt!’
Matt bowed. He felt better now. More focused. He got into bed. But before he fell asleep, he made himself a promise. I’m going to find out why Chang left, he thought. And I’m going to get him back here.
The next day, Matt endured a geography lesson without his friends – the martial arts team were having an extra-long training session and were missing morning classes. At lunchtime, he sat alone at a table in the refectory, eating stir-fried chicken and rice and trying to work out the next step in his plan to help reinstate Chang.
‘Sensei Ryan is so cool!’ Matt heard Carl Warrick gloat. Carl had his back to Matt; he was sitting with his friends Miles and Roger. Matt pricked up his ears – he might find out something interesting about Ryan.
‘We just had the best session with him,’ Carl went on. ‘Not everyone could keep up, he works us so hard – a few had to stay behind and do extra exercises as a punishment. But not me!’
Oh no, not you, of course, thought Matt sarcastically. He wished Olivier were here to imitate Carl and make him blush.
‘He’s tons better than that weirdo Chang – who probably left to go and get psychiatric treatment, if you ask me!’ Miles and Roger laughed. Matt carried on listening.
‘And you know what?’ Carl continued. ‘I heard him talking on his mobile after the training session – and guess what he said?’
‘Dunno,’ said Miles. ‘What’d he say?’
‘He said he’s gonna kick someone’s butt right off the big bridge!’
Big bridge? Matt’s mind started working busily. Which bridge could Ryan mean?
‘I reckon he’s g
onna get us to run laps over that bridge in the Academy gardens, you know? We’ve trained on it before. I reckon he’s going to make us train real hard and anyone who doesn’t keep up’s gonna get their butt kicked!’ Carl laughed. ‘I’ll keep up, no problem, but it’s gonna be funny to see what happens to some of those others!’
Carl’s idea doesn’t make sense, thought Matt. The bridge in the gardens wasn’t particularly big. But what big bridges were there in Beijing? There were plenty of road bridges, but Ryan would hardly conduct martial arts training on those…
The rest of the Tangshan Tigers piled into the refectory.
‘Hey, Matt!’
‘How’s it going?’
Carl turned round as the Tigers sat at Matt’s table. ‘Oh, it’s you guys. Enjoy your fifty press-ups, did you?’
Miles and Roger sniggered.
‘I don’t know what you’re laughing at,’ Catarina told them. ‘You two wouldn’t get near the squad in a million years.’
‘Neither will Matt!’ said Carl with a grin. ‘Ryan won’t ever let him back in.’ Carl rose from his seat and stood in front of Matt, throwing a few mock karate chops at his face. Matt didn’t flinch. He remembered what Chang had said: ‘The simple fish snaps at the bait; but the wily old carp is too wise.’ If he kept calm, he might find out more about Ryan’s phone conversation from Carl, and that might help him find out why Chang had gone.
‘When you heard Ryan talking about the big bridge,’ he said, ‘did he say anything else? Anything about Chang?’
‘Why would Ryan waste his time talking about that has-been?’ Carl brought a hand down through the air in a vicious karate chop.
‘Chang’s not a has-been! Ryan’s not a patch on him!’ said Olivier. He went to stand up out of his seat, but Matt pressed a restraining hand on to his friend’s shoulder.
‘Chang’s past it!’ said Carl. ‘Ryan’s much better than he ever was. The guy’s a real hard man, you can see it in his eyes. You know something? He’s gonna have a challenge fight, a real one, not a tournament, against some other martial arts guy.’
This was getting interesting. ‘A real fight?’ said Matt. ‘How do you know?’
‘Oh, I – I heard him saying about it,’ said Carl. ‘On his phone. By chance.’ His cheeks flushed. That’s the second thing he’s overheard Ryan say, thought Matt. Obviously he hung on the man’s every word. Maybe Matt could find out more from him.
‘This fight – who’s it with? Did he say?’
‘Another martial arts guy, a kung fu expert.’
Kung fu? thought Matt. That was Chang’s main discipline – though he was expert in other martial arts too.
‘It sounds a bit pathetic to me,’ remarked Olivier. ‘Fixing up fights on his mobile? How old is he? Thirteen?’
‘The point is he’s man enough to test himself in a real fight!’ said Carl. ‘Chang would never do that – he wouldn’t have the bottle!’
‘He’s probably picked someone he knows he can beat,’ said Matt, hoping to goad Carl into revealing more. ‘Some no-hoper who’s not even a black belt –’
‘Yeah. Well, you’re wrong, ‘cause he said the guy’s got an international reputation and he does other martial arts apart from kung fu, but Ryan says he knows he’s got the beating of him!’
International reputation… other martial arts apart from kung fu… It could be Chang, Matt thought. An image of Chang the last time he’d seen him came to Matt: standing on the hill, his hair slightly dishevelled, behind him the lake with the big arched bridge…
Something clicked in Matt’s mind. There was no proof, yet it made sense.
‘That’s it!’ he said, banging his fist on the table. Everyone jumped. ‘It must be!’
Catarina looked at him curiously. ‘What?’
Matt shook his head. He didn’t want to talk about it while Carl and his cronies were present. ‘Nothing.’
‘Totally insane,’ said Carl. He pointed his finger at Matt and then at his temple, circling it. Miles and Roger sniggered again as they finished up their lunch.
Matt kept his temper. ‘So – when’s Ryan having this fight?’ he said casually. ‘If he’s having it at all!’
‘Well, you better believe it, because it’s this afternoon – that’s what I heard him say! So now you know the kind of guy he is – a real fighter, not like old Chang!’ Matt leapt out of his seat and gave a few mock punches and kicks into the air, imitating Ryan. Then he ran out of the refectory with his cronies following.
‘I think I know who Ryan’s fighting,’ said Matt quietly. The Tangshan Tigers turned to stare at him.
‘Who?’ they asked, crowding round.
‘Chang,’ Matt said, gazing at each of them in turn.
‘What?’ said Shawn.
‘Get outta here!’ said Catarina.
‘Chang’s a kung fu master – and he knows other martial arts – and he’s got an international reputation –’
‘Yeah, but there must be hundreds of people…’ Shawn began.
‘But Carl was talking about a big bridge before you came in. That must be the bridge over Kunming Lake – the seventeen-arch one – near where Chang is living!’
‘So you think Ryan’s challenged Chang? To fight on that bridge in the palace grounds?’
‘That’s what he’s planning, I’m sure of it! It just fits.’ Matt got to his feet and walked over to one of the huge windows, looking out over Beijing. In the far distance, he could just see the palace grounds. Was there going to be a fight there? If so, the Tangshan Tigers had to be there for Chang Sifu. They wouldn’t let him face this alone.
‘But Chang wouldn’t do a stupid thing like that!’ Shawn called over. ‘Like I said, he’s a martial artist, not some street brawler!’
Matt swivelled round from the window. ‘Maybe Chang doesn’t know about it yet! Maybe Ryan’s going to attack him and then Chang will have no choice but to fight!’
‘Say you’re right,’ said Catarina. ‘What do we do?’
‘We have to warn Chang right away. If it’s this afternoon, and he doesn’t know Ryan’s coming for him…’
‘We have to go back to –’ said Shawn.
‘Longevity Hill,’ interrupted Matt, leaping to his feet. ‘And we better go right now!’
SIFU VERSUS SENSEI
The wind blew fiercely on Longevity Hill. A storm was building: black clouds hung low, emitting ominous rumbles of thunder. A driving rain fell.
The Tangshan Tigers ran across the wet grass to Chang’s hut.
It was empty. The door was ajar, as if Chang had left in a hurry. Through it, Matt glimpsed the neat, bare interior – two beds, a table, two chairs. In front of the hut were the cold grey ashes of an extinct cooking fire. No Chang, no Li-Lian.
‘Maybe they’ve just gone out – to the shops or something,’ suggested Olivier.
‘Or maybe they’re around somewhere,’ said Catarina. ‘Let’s see if we can get a better view.’
She ran towards the hut and launched herself at the roof. She grabbed the overhanging eave and swung her long legs up. A moment later, she was standing on the roof.
‘Hey, nice move, Catarina!’ said Matt. ‘Can you see anything?’
Catarina scanned the hillside. ‘Yes, there are people on the bridge!’
There, at either end of the seventeen-arch bridge, stood two figures. One was dressed in black, the other in white. The figure in black had a shaven head; the figure in white had black hair. With a thud of the heart, Matt realized who he was looking at.
‘It’s Chang and Ryan!’ said Shawn.
As they watched, the figures began to walk towards one another with slow, measured strides.
‘Quick! We’ve got to get down there!’ said Matt.
‘Do you mean – to stop the fight?’ said Olivier. ‘But if Chang’s agreed to it –’
‘Maybe we can talk them out of it,’ said Matt. ‘Or at least make sure there’s fair play. The Dragos are behind this, I’m sure of it!�
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‘Why them?’ asked Olivier.
‘Who else? Who was behind Ryan’s appointment in the first place? I don’t know what they’ve got against Chang, but getting him turned out of his job wasn’t enough for them. Who knows what dirty tricks they’ll come up with!’
‘OK!’ said Catarina. She jumped as lightly as a cat to the ground. ‘Let’s get down to the bridge and see what we can do.’
She set off at a run over the soggy hillside towards the Summer Palace entrance. The rest of the Tigers followed, catching up just as she arrived at the gates.
Here they were stopped by a guard in military uniform. He was a small man with a peaked cap and a straggly moustache. He held his hand up, palm out, as if he were stopping traffic.
‘Sorry, palace grounds closed to visitors now,’ he said.
Matt felt desperate. They had to get there before the fight began!
‘But there are people down there on the bridge,’ he said. ‘We saw them.’
‘No admittance after four o’clock,’ said the guard with satisfaction. ‘Grounds close at five.’
‘Can’t we just come in till five then? We don’t want to stay long.’
The guard pushed back his cuff with a flourish and inspected his watch. ‘Five past four. No admittance after four o’clock.’
The Tangshan Tigers looked at each other in despair. Even now Chang and Ryan might be beginning their fight – they had to get there before it was too late!
Suddenly Catarina’s face lit up. ‘I got an idea,’ she murmured. ‘Hey, Mister Guard – watch this!’
She launched into a series of cartwheels and handsprings, tumbling her way down the gravel drive that led to the gate. The guard watched, open-mouthed. Then she leapt up on to a high stone wall, behind which the ground fell away steeply, and continued her tumbling.
‘No!’ said the guard. ‘The wall is wet, you could slip – come down at once!’
‘Not likely!’ said Catarina, executing an extravagant somersault.
The guard rushed from his post towards her. Seizing their chance, the Tangshan Tigers ran through the gates and into the palace grounds.