Red Phoenix

Everybody was waiting for me in the conference room. Simone had drawn brightly coloured dragons on the whiteboard; one of them was recognisably Jade and the other was Qing Long, the East Wind. She even had their size difference nearly accurate; he was about five times bigger than Jade.

‘Gold, take Simone to my office. I want to speak to Emma and Leo alone.’

Simone scowled.

‘Last time, sweetheart, I promise.’

Simone took Gold’s hand and led him out.

‘Good.’ John leaned his arms on the table. ‘Emma, what we just did is confirmation of something I already knew. You can both take up to level forty without too much difficulty.’

I stiffened as I understood. I was at the same level of expertise as Leo.

‘News, Emma?’ Leo said softly.

‘I didn’t think too much about it before, Leo. You’ve always been better than me at hand-to-hand. But with a weapon and energy, I can take the same level as you.’

‘You realise what this means?’ John said.

Leo and I shared a look, then turned back to John and shook our heads.

‘You can take turns staking out the school. You can share the guardian duties. You’re just as good a guard as Leo now, Emma.’

‘Oh no!’ I shouted. ‘Is that what this was about? You want to make me bodyguard as well as nanny? You must be joking! My thesis is due in five months and I haven’t even found a topic for it.’ I ran my hands through my hair. ‘No way. I have enough to do as it is.’

‘When Simone starts school, you’ll have plenty of time,’ John said. ‘You and Leo can share guard duties, and spend time teaching here. It will work out very well.’ He leaned over the table to me, his eyes sparkling. ‘Dear Lady Emma, I formally request of you. Will you assist Leo in the guarding of my beloved daughter?’

‘This is brilliant, my Lord,’ Leo said. ‘We can rotate the time. Some spent guarding, some spent teaching. A good balance.’

‘I want a pay rise,’ I grumbled. ‘I cannot believe you are doing this to me.’

‘Wait.’ John pulled a folded chequebook out of his hip pocket. He flattened it on the table, opened it, scribbled on a cheque, tore it out with a flourish and handed it to me.

‘How much?’ Leo said.

‘Ten million.’ I tore the cheque into tiny pieces. ‘But you forgot to sign it.’

‘You can sign it yourself, you know that.’

‘You both hate me. This was a setup from the start.’ I sighed with feeling. ‘I’ll be fiercely busy until she starts school, John. The rebuilding, the management of Hennessy Road and Turtle’s Folly —’

Leo broke in. ‘What?’

‘She calls it Turtle’s Folly,’ John said.

I ignored them. ‘The management of the school and the residence is a huge job. I can’t possibly teach until Simone returns to school and frees up some time for me.’

‘We can hire someone to help look after Simone,’ John said.

‘No way!’ Leo and I said in unison.

‘She’s far too special to give to anybody else,’ I said. ‘She stays with either Leo or me.’

‘How about I bring Charlie over from London to help you out until school starts?’ John said. ‘She can mind Simone while you’re in meetings, and care for her at the Peak so you can finish your thesis. I promised she’d be able to come over and brush up her cooking skills here in Hong Kong anyway. James can mind the house in London by himself for a while.’

‘That’s a great idea,’ I said, and Leo nodded agreement. ‘Simone loves Charlie dearly and would really enjoy seeing her. Perfect.’

My footsteps echoed eerily through the tunnel leading out of the MTR station. There wasn’t anybody else in the tunnel with me. Most unusual for Hong Kong.

A scraping sound came from the tiled area behind me. Loud enough to echo through the tunnel. It sounded like scales dragging along the ground.

I glanced back and saw it. It was enormous; at least six metres long, black and shining. It flicked its forked tongue at me.

I spun and ran. I raced through the tunnel, but my feet slipped on the tiles. It closed on me, the sound of its scales on the tiles a wet, shining slither. Louder and louder . . .

It crashed onto me, pinning me under its enormous, slick body. I couldn’t move.

It wrapped its body around me, but didn’t squeeze. It just held me.

Then it was gone.

I pulled myself up and walked out through the tunnel. Well, it was about time. What a wonderful feeling of satisfaction. I was complete. I was whole. And it felt so good, because I was so very, very dangerous. Now. Who would I kill first?

I woke and stumbled out of bed, then collapsed on the floor, panting and drenched in sweat.

John must have felt my distress because he came in. He wore his plain black pyjama pants and his long hair had come almost completely out of its braid. He knew better than to approach.

I knelt on the floor, gasping.

‘If I could hold you right now, I would. Do you want me to call someone?’

I raised my hand. I took a deep gulping breath and pulled myself to my feet, then sat on the bed. ‘I’m okay.’

He sat on the other side of the bed. ‘That must have been a hell of a nightmare.’

I glanced into his eyes. ‘I dreamed I turned into a snake. No, that’s not right. I dreamed that a snake turned into me.’

He was taken aback. ‘Really?’

I dropped my head. ‘A really big black snake.’

‘I would love to see that,’ he said, his voice intense.

‘What?’

‘I’m sure you would be spectacularly beautiful. Black?’ He smiled slightly. ‘Wonderful.’

I looked away. ‘Go back to bed, reptile man.’

‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

‘It was just a freaky dream. That’s all.’

‘If you’re sure . . .’

‘You need your rest. Go back to bed.’

‘As you wish, Emma. Good night.’

‘Night, John.’

It took me a long time to go back to sleep after he’d gone.

Chapter Five

I met my friends April and Louise for lunch in the Thai restaurant in Wan Chai. It had been a long time.

April was a lovely Australian Chinese who I’d met working at Kitty Kwok’s kindergarten before I went to work full-time for John. Her pregnancy was already well along and she had a cute bulge in front, accentuated by her lime-green maternity dress. The dress was an awful concoction of frills, bows and ruffles, and made her seem bigger than she was. Her face had filled out with the pregnancy, but she looked healthy and happy.

Louise was still herself, blonde, bony, and full of freckles and mischief. We’d shared an apartment in Sha Tin before I’d moved in to work as a live-in nanny for John, and I hadn’t heard from her since we’d run into the White Tiger while having lunch at Sha Tin shopping centre and she’d fallen for him on the spot. I’d ferociously warned him off her otherwise she would have ended up as a member of his extensive harem.

‘When’s the baby due, April?’ I said.

‘September. Mid-September,’ April said. ‘It’s a boy.’

Louise glanced up from her menu. ‘You had it tested already?’

‘Sure,’ April said. ‘Every month, when I visit the doctor, I have an ultrasound. They found out last appointment. Andy’s very happy. He says he wants to keep it now.’ She leaned back and smiled with satisfaction. ‘We’re a family. I knew it would all work out.’

‘That’s so wonderful, April,’ I said. ‘So you’re all together now?’

‘Yes, but not living together. He doesn’t have time, he needs to be on the Island to be close to work. So he lives on Hong Kong Island, and I’m at Discovery Bay with the domestic helper. He comes and sees me once every few weeks, and tells me how happy he is.’

‘What about the other wife?’

‘She doesn’t matter,’ April said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Louise and I shared a look.

‘Is he still in the same work, April?’ I said, carefully not mentioning Andy’s underworld connections in front of Louise.

‘He says he’s not involved any more,’ April said, obviously happy. ‘He’s working in Aunty Kitty’s business. Mostly in China.’

‘I’m pleased for you,’ I said, and I meant it.

Louise looked up from her menu. ‘Soft-shell crab. Want some?’

‘Can’t eat crab while I’m pregnant,’ April said.

‘Why not?’ I said.

‘It will make the baby a criminal. Scuttle sideways, like a crab.’

‘What else can’t you eat?’ I said, trying to keep the disbelief from my voice.

‘Lots of stuff,’ April said. ‘Have to be careful. Not make my blood too hot or too cold. The Chinese doctor keeps an eye on me. I drink Chinese medicine, to stay strong. Aunty Kitty is looking after me very well, she has doctors who are looking after me.’

‘Kitty Kwok?’

‘She says she misses you from the kindergarten, Emma. She says you should go and visit her at her house. She keeps asking me to take you over there.’

I didn’t say anything. Kitty Kwok still called me, and approached me at charity functions, and I still carefully avoided her. I was sick to death of the woman. But at least she was helping April with the baby.

‘I’m not going through that when I have a baby,’ Louise said grimly.

‘What?’ I hesitated. ‘What?’

‘Oh, didn’t I tell you?’ Louise said with an evil grin. ‘I’m off to get married at the end of the month. Say bye bye, ladies, I’m marrying a king.’

‘No!’ I shouted, and heads snapped around to look at me. I lowered my voice. ‘Don’t you dare go off with that bastard!’

The waiter approached and we ordered quickly.

After he had gone I turned to Louise. ‘If you go off with him nobody’ll ever see you again. For God’s sake, Louise, don’t do this!’

‘A king?’ April said, trying to keep up.

‘Yep,’ Louise said with satisfaction. She eyed me sideways. ‘Watch this, Emma, this is really good.’ She turned back to April. ‘I’m marrying an Arab sheik. A king. Filthy rich. I’ll be moving to the Middle East at the end of the month. Say ta-ta.’

‘You’re marrying one of them? You have to wear those veils and things, you know,’ April said, explaining. ‘You can’t go out in public. And they sometimes have more than one wife. If he’s really rich it might be worth it, but if he’s not then it’s a waste of time.’

‘Oh my God, you are so mercenary sometimes, April.’ I leaned forward to speak intensely to Louise. ‘This is such a bad idea. You do know how many wives he has already?’

‘They’re great. I’ve met some of them,’ Louise said. ‘They came with him to explain. They all help each other, look after each other, great friends. Can’t wait.’

‘Don’t let his . . .’ I hesitated. I chose my words. ‘His prowess cloud your judgement, Louise. Once you’re over the novelty, you have to live with him, and share him.’

‘You know him too, Emma?’ April said. ‘He has wives already?’

‘Prowess?’ Louise said still grinning. ‘Wouldn’t know, the guy hasn’t touched me.’ The grin widened. ‘He is a perfect gentleman; you have to marry him and go with him before he’ll do anything. Like I said, can’t wait.’

I put my head in my hands. ‘Oh God.’

Louise dropped her voice to a low purr. ‘Soft white fur.’

I folded my arms on the table and dropped my head on them. I wanted to bang my head on the table. ‘Oh God! I am going to kill that bastard when I see him!’ I glared up at her. ‘He promised me he’d stay away from you!’

‘Oh, that explains it,’ Louise said. ‘I had to chase him around for ages. Took a long time to finally make him give in.’

I buried my head in my arms. ‘I am going to kill him.’

The waiter came back and I lifted my head. He placed four jelly coconut milk drinks and a pineapple rice on the table, and turned away.

I stopped him. ‘We didn’t order this.’

He froze, then his face stiffened. He picked up the drinks and the rice with disdain and stomped away.

‘What did your family say when you told them?’ I said.

‘They’re not speaking to me.’ She changed her voice so that she sounded very stern and spoke down her nose. ‘I cannot tell you how disappointed I am.’ She grinned. ‘Makes it easier, really.’

‘You’re throwing your whole life away to be one of a hundred,’ I said.

‘One hundred and seventeen. But the first fifty or so are really old and ugly. No competition. He just keeps them around ’cause he has to.’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘Like you can talk, anyway. I hear yours has scales. Yuck.’

‘What are you talking about?’ April said, completely bewildered.

The waiter came and plonked some dishes onto the table. He glared at me. ‘We ordered some drinks too,’ I said. He stomped off.

‘Scales?’ April said softly. ‘You have a man, Emma? Not this Chen man, is it?’

‘Yep,’ Louise said with satisfaction. ‘Engaged to him.’

‘You going to marry John Chen?’ April turned away. ‘Lucky you. When’s the wedding?’

‘Not for a long time, April. A lot of problems. May never happen at all.’

‘Lighten up, Emma,’ Louise said. ‘The Tiger says it’ll happen.’

I didn’t say anything.

‘Why did you say he has scales?’ April said.

‘He’s a turtle,’ Louise said with relish.

I glanced up quickly. April inhaled sharply, her eyes very wide.

‘You say that about Emma’s man? You insult Emma too? What a horrible thing to say!’

‘What?’ Louise said, not understanding. ‘What did I say?’

April leaned across the table towards Louise. ‘You said he’s a turtle,’ she hissed.

‘That’s a shocking insult, Louise,’ I said.

‘Is it? No wonder the Tiger says it all the time.’ Louise grinned. ‘What does it mean?’

‘Man who cannot satisfy wife,’ April said, very softly. ‘Wife turns to other men.’

‘Cuckold,’ I said.

‘Whoa.’ Louise’s eyes widened with delight. ‘Cool. Good one.’

‘Same thing as wearing a green hat,’ April said.

‘Why turtle?’ Louise said. ‘Why is that particular animal the insult?’

I didn’t want to discuss it. ‘I have no idea.’

‘I don’t know either,’ April said. ‘Just turtle is very offensive animal. Lot of insults attached to it.’

I studied them. April: living in dreamland, believing she had a family when she only saw her man every few weeks. Louise: willing to share a man with more than a hundred others. And me.

I was probably the most pathetic of us all.

‘Will I still be able to see you, Louise?’ I said.

‘Since you know all about it, you might be able to talk to me occasionally,’ Louise said, still obviously happy. ‘Don’t count on anything; usually when we go there we’re gone for good. Never seen again.’

‘What?’ April said. ‘You don’t mean that, do you? I don’t understand.’

‘Your poor family,’ I whispered.

‘Thoroughly worth it.’ Louise glanced down at the dishes. ‘Is this what we ordered?’

I looked at the dishes as well and sagged. ‘Nope.’

‘The economic downturn hasn’t affected this place at all,’ Louise said as she tried to catch the waiter’s eye. ‘They still act as if they’re doing us a favour by letting us eat here.’

‘I’m glad everything turned out for all of us,’ April said. ‘We’ll all be happy married women.’

I really did feel the need to bang my head on the table.

I tapped on John’s office door and opened it a crack. ‘Free to talk?’

‘Just let me save this file,’ he said, studying the computer, then turned and leaned his elbows on the pile of papers on his desk. ‘What?’

‘It’s May fifth. The festival’s started. And you haven’t done anything.’

‘Aiya,’ he said, and I giggled. ‘What?’

‘That’s an extremely Cantonese sound coming from you,’ I said, still smiling.

‘I’ve heard you say it too. You can pick people who have lived in Hong Kong for any length of time, even expats. They all say it.’

‘Cheung Chau,’ I said, bringing him back to the point.

‘Aiya,’ he said again. ‘It’s already started?’

‘The buns are up, John. The three effigies have already been built.’

‘When’s the big day?’

‘Three days from now. May eighth.’ I sighed with exasperation. ‘Why don’t you ever look in your diary?’

‘I have a secretary and I have you,’ he said. ‘I don’t need to.’

‘You forgot your own birthday, Pak Tai.’

‘You know it’s not my birthday,’ he said impatiently. ‘It’s the Buddha’s birthday. They just lumped me into the holiday because it was convenient.’

‘Did you know him?’

‘Who?’

‘The Sakyamuni Buddha.’

He hesitated, watching me, then, ‘No.’

‘What about the teachings?’

‘What about them?’

‘Are they true? The Buddhist Precepts?’

He sighed. ‘You know better than to ask me that, Emma. You know you have to find your own way.’

I shrugged it off, it was worth a try. ‘Okay, so when’s your birthday?’

‘You know I have no idea,’ he said. ‘After four and a half thousand years I’d challenge anybody to have an idea. I doubt if I was ever actually born, anyway. I just am.’

‘Well then, Eighth Day of the Fourth Moon it is. May eighth this year. Three days from now. Thursday.’

He leaned back and retied his hair. ‘Aiya.’

‘I’ve already cancelled all your classes, and booked the boat to take us over. We leave at ten in the morning. Okay?’

He grinned broadly. ‘You already arranged it?’

‘Of course I did. You don’t think I’d leave it to you, do you?’

Cheung Chau was a dumbbell-shaped island about an hour’s boat ride from Central Pier. The island was only three hundred metres wide at its narrowest point and hardly any height above sea level. The two ‘weights’ on the dumbbell stretched to either side, and were slightly higher.

The island was completely packed with people for the festival. John carried Simone so that she wouldn’t be crushed.

The air was full of the noise of shouting, drums and gongs, and the smells of food and sweat. A thick pall of incense smoke hung over the entire island.

We stopped for lunch at one of the small restaurants near the pier before we went anywhere. The restaurants usually specialised in live seafood, held in tanks next to the kitchen. Diners could select exactly which fish and shellfish they wanted, how they wanted them served, and the restaurant would oblige. But for the week of the Bun Festival the entire island of Cheung Chau went vegetarian in Pak Tai’s honour. The butcher shops closed for the holidays.

After lunch we wandered through the packed streets to the Pak Tai temple. The bun towers stood proudly outside the temple, enormous ten-metre-high bamboo cones held by a bamboo scaffold. The buns were strung around the outside of the cones.

The tradition was that at the end of the festival, after midnight on the final day, young men would climb the towers to retrieve the buns for the crowd; a good-luck race. But in 1978, one of the towers had collapsed and some of the bun racers had been killed. Since then the buns had been distributed to the island’s residents by the clergy of the temple.

John wouldn’t talk about what had happened in ’78. Apparently he hadn’t been present that year; normally he would have been there to make sure that nobody was injured. But in ’78 he hadn’t been able to make it, and wouldn’t say why. It may have had something to do with him losing the Serpent about that time, but with a creature as strange as him it was impossible to tell.

Three enormous effigies had been constructed out of bamboo and brightly coloured paper, about five metres tall. They were of a black-skinned demonic-looking deity with horns; a benign elderly scholar with a flowing white beard and traditional robes; and another demonic-looking red-skinned figure. They were Dei Ching Wong, Ruler of the Underworld; Do Dei Gang, the Kitchen God; and Shang Shan, the God of Earth and Mountains.

There was no effigy of Pak Tai; he was far too awesome to be shown like that. But he would have his chance later.

After we’d lit some incense at the temple and John had bought Simone a brightly coloured good-luck pinwheel, we wandered back to John’s house on the island. No motorised vehicles were permitted on Cheung Chau, so the streets could be very narrow.

We stopped at a plain concrete three-storey village-style house on the main thoroughfare. John pushed the door open.

The lower floor of the house was paved with pale green tiles and had bare concrete walls. The living room was minimally furnished with old-fashioned rosewood furniture and a stained coffee table, with a folding mah jong table. A set of rusting metal bunk beds with faded silk quilts folded at the feet stood against the wall on one side. It appeared to be a typical island village house, like many rented out for holiday weekends. John led us up the stairs to the second floor.

The second floor was plushly decorated with smooth cream Italian floor tiles and textured wallpaper. A comfortable leather lounge and a wide-screen television stood to one side and a rosewood six-seater dining table to the other. A well-fitted kitchen was at the back of the house, and Monica was already busy in there.

John opened the French doors onto the balcony. The balcony overlooked the main street of Cheung Chau, a perfect location for watching the parade. John gestured for me to sit at the outdoor table there, on one of the comfortable plastic chairs. Simone climbed into John’s lap and leaned on the railing. Monica brought us iced lemon tea; the day was already very warm and humid.

A lion dance led the procession, with three lions: one gold, one black and one red. The drummer did his best to bring down the houses, banging for all he was worth. A martial arts troupe followed, performing acrobatics as they passed us on the street.

‘Any of them ours?’ I said.

John shook his head.

A small altar followed, carried by four proud young men. I peered down to see inside; it held an effigy of a god seated on a throne with his hands on his knees, his black robes flowing around him and his long hair over his shoulder. His face was square and dark, and his bare feet perched on a snake and a turtle.

John squeezed Simone. She whispered in his ear and he nodded. She leaned back to stare at him, incredulous, and he nodded again. She collapsed over his lap laughing.

John and I shared a smile.

About twenty people followed, all holding lanterns with good-luck characters on them.

The next altar contained a serene goddess sitting on a lotus flower, wearing flowing white robes and holding a small bottle in her hand.

‘Aunty Kwan!’ Simone yelled, pointing.

‘That’s right,’ John said.

The next altar contained a goddess with colourful flowing robes and a benign smile. She wore a hat with a square brim with beads that hung in front of her face.

‘Tin Hau?’ Simone said, naming the Goddess of the Sea.

John nodded.

‘Do you know her?’ she said more softly, barely audible over the noise of the drums and gongs.

John nodded again.

Simone turned back to the parade and jiggled with excitement in John’s lap.

The final altar contained Guan Di, the red-faced God of Justice, holding a huge halberd and glaring fiercely.

‘He’s actually a very nice man,’ John said into Simone’s ear. ‘But he doesn’t come for this. This is mostly for me.’

‘Why you, Daddy?’

‘A long time ago, a vicious band of pirates was attacking this island. The peaceful fishing folk here had no defence against them. The pirates attacked again and again. So I came down and had a small chat to them about their behaviour. They went away, and the people of the island built the temple for me, and hold the festival every year.’

‘I heard you cured a plague,’ I said.

‘That too,’ John said, smiling. ‘I’m not sure if any of us remembers the exact origin of the festival. There were a few things. But the talk with the pirates is the one that sticks in my mind the most.’ He gestured over the balcony railing. ‘Here come the Floating Children.’