In the Orient (8 page)

Before heading back the pier, May took a roll of white athletic tape out of her backpack. Handing it to Archibald, she said, “Rip off a piece of tape and attach it to the branch of a tree or a bush as we make our way to the stone steps. That way we’ll be able to find our way back even if a cloud is covering the mountain top when we return.”

After the three teenagers found the stone steps, they descended Lantau Peak in record time. Fortunately, they arrived at the ferry with just seconds to spare before the gangway was retracted at six o’clock.

Standing in stunned silence on the fantail of the ferry as it pulled away from the pier and turned toward Hong Kong Island, each of the three felt a terrible knot in their stomach. With a clear view of the towering mountain where Jockabeb and Robert Lui were being held captive, two facts were certain: Robert Lui was close to death if not dead already, and Jockabeb was scared, bleeding, and alone in the dark—well, not quite alone!

As Lantau Peak faded from view, May suggested they walk inside to find a quiet spot in the passengers’ lounge. Minutes later, she was the first to break the awkward silence when she said, “We have some decisions to make.”

“Yeah,” Archibald replied, “Like how are we going to find this magic elixir that we can trade for my brother’s life?”

Sensing Archibald’s fear and frustration, May answered, “I’m going to call Wu Feng as soon as we get home. Besides being a Ninth Degree Grandmaster,
he is also an expert in ancient Chinese legends, and the story of the Monkey King and its clones certainly falls into that category.”

Remembering what the Monkey Clone had said about not telling anyone what happened inside the cave on Lantau Island, May added, “Wu Feng is very trustworthy. I know he won’t tell a soul, and I also know he’ll be willing to help us. And speaking of home, we have to decide what we’re going to tell my mother about Jockabeb and Robert. She will obviously notice that they’re not with us, and we need to keep her from calling the police.”

“Okay, I’ve got an idea,” Archibald said quietly, leaning forward. “Let’s tell her that Jockabeb tripped and fell while we were climbing Lantau Peak. We can say that he twisted his ankle and hit his head on one of the stone steps. We passed by a clinic on our way to the trailhead, so let’s just tell her we took him there to be examined.”

“Then why aren’t Jockabeb and Robert with us now?” Willow asked, not at all sure that her boyfriend had come up with a plausible explanation.

“Well, the doctor who examined Jockabeb thought he should stay off his ankle for a while,” Archibald began, filling in the details as he spoke. “Even though the doctor didn’t think Jockabeb had a concussion, he wanted to observe him for at least twelve hours. Since that meant we would all miss the last ferry back to Central, Robert said that he’d spend the night with Jockabeb and then bring him home the next day.”

“So, where will they spend the night?” Willow pressed.

“You remember that little hotel we passed on the way to Lantau Peak?” Archibald replied, now fairly sure that his story held together.

“No, but keep talking” Willow said, knowing what was probably coming next.

Fairly sure that he had concocted a story of what could have happened, Archibald concluded his tall tale, saying, “Jockabeb will stay at the clinic, and Robert will get a room at the hotel. It all fits perfectly, don’t you think?”

“How did you think all that up,” Willow asked, shaking her head in amazement.

“Well, I’ve had some practice over the years,” Archibald answered, cracking a humorless smile. “Listen,” he continued, “I have my driver’s license, so I think I can handle the Mercedes and get us back to Jade Place. From then on, May, you’re taking the lead with your mother and with Wu Feng. Okay?”

Even though she knew that everything was far from being okay, May answered as confidently as she could, “Okay, if you say so.”

With more than a bit of difficulty driving on the right hand side of the road, and after narrowly avoiding several crashes while May navigated, Archibald let out a sigh of relief when he finally parked the Mercedes in the Jade Place garage at a quarter to eight that night. Not surprisingly, May’s mother was waiting patiently
in the living room for her daughter and guests to return.

“Where is your brother?” Mrs. Chen immediately asked Archibald.

“He fell when we were climbing Lantau Peak,” May quickly answered. “Even though he twisted his ankle and bumped his head, he’s fine.” She then proceeded to tell her mother the story Archibald had fabricated on the ferry.

When May had finished, Mrs. Chen looked both worried and a bit skeptical when she asked, “Should we call the clinic and talk to him now?”

“No,” May replied calmly. “The doctor was very specific that he didn’t want Jockabeb disturbed until tomorrow morning.”

“Perhaps I should call the doctor and speak with him,” Mrs. Chen continued, clearly concerned.

“Mother, I don’t think you need to do that,” May quickly answered. “Robert is with Jockabeb. He said he would call us if anything else happens. From the way everything sounded when we left, they’ll probably be home tomorrow morning, or by midday at the latest.”

“Well, the three of you should go back to Lantau Island first thing in the morning so you can accompany Robert and Jockabeb back here. I’d join you, but I am hosting a luncheon for twenty patrons of the Museum of History tomorrow.”

Knowing that they’d need to be back on the ferry tomorrow anyway, with or without the elixir, May said,
“You’re absolutely right, Mother. We’ll definitely do that.” Then she added, “I think we’d all like to freshen up a bit before dinner, so if you’ll excuse us, we’ll go to our rooms now.”

“Certainly,” Mrs. Chen said. “I’ll tell Kuang Jianguo that we’ll dine at half past eight.”

When May, Willow, and Archibald reached the top of the stairs, May stopped and whispered, “Come with me to my father’s study. He has a private phone line that my mother can’t access from downstairs. We can use it to call Wu Feng.”

Ten minutes later, May hung up the phone. Smiling, she told Willow and Archibald that Wu Feng had agreed to help, and that he was going to make a call to someone he thought just might have a solution to their problem. Since time was short, he had asked if May and her friends could be outside Jade Place at a little after midnight. If so, he said he would pick them up in his car. May told Archibald and Willow that she had agreed and that she had a plan.

Explaining what would happen next, May said, “After dinner, we’ll immediately go to our rooms. I’ll set my alarm clock to ten minutes before midnight. Once I’m up, I’ll come to your rooms and get you. Mother takes a sleeping pill every night, so she won’t wake up until morning.”

“Perfect,” Archibald replied, hopeful that Wu Feng would pull the proverbial rabbit out his hat to save Jockabeb.

“Not perfect,” May said, “but at least it’s a plan.”

Respecting Willow’s request to retire early because of jet lag, Mrs. Chen instructed Ahlam to serve dinner at a brisker pace than normal. When Kung Pao chicken, braised baby cabbage in broth, and fried rice had been rapidly consumed, the three teenagers passed on dessert after saying they were exhausted from the day’s hike.

When May asked her mother if they all could be excused from the table to go to bed, Mrs. Chen answered, “Of course.” Then she patted Willow’s hand and added, “I know you’ll probably want to sleep late. If you don’t want to go back to Lantau Island tomorrow morning with May and Archibald, then that is perfectly alright.”

Well aware that a good night’s sleep wasn’t in the offing, Willow couldn’t pass by the opportunity to say, “Thank you, Mrs. Chen. I’m sure tonight will be one of the most restful I’ve ever had.”

Archibald was wide-awake when May knocked on his door a few minutes before midnight. He’d hardly slept a wink. Before lying down, he’d changed into a pair of jeans and a dark T-shirt. Putting on his shoes took no time, so he was out the door in thirty seconds.

Willow was another matter. When May and Archibald had waited a minute after knocking on Willow’s door, May said, “I’ll go inside and wake her.”

Several minutes later, the two girls walked out of Willow’s room. One was wide-awake, the other was yawning and rubbing her large, dark eyes.

“Sorry,” Willow whispered. “I passed out the moment my head hit the pillow.”

“No problem,” Archibald whispered back, putting his arm around her shoulders. “Now you’re rested and ready to go.”

“Definitely not rested,” she replied quietly, “but definitely ready to go.”

As he’d agreed on the phone, Wu Feng parked his Vauxhall Cavalier one block down the hill from the Chen’s driveway. When he saw his three passengers approaching in his rearview mirror, he got out and said, “May, you will please sit up front with me.” Then he opened the car’s rear door and motioned to Archibald and Willow, saying, “You two in the back, please.”

When they were all seated inside, he turned toward the back seat and formally introduced himself. “I am Wu Feng,” he began. Looking directly at Archibald, he bowed his head and said, “So sorry to hear what happen to your brother. I do what I can to help.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wu,” Archibald replied. “We all really appreciate it.”

Turning to May, Wu Feng said, “After you tell me what happen at Lantau Peak, I call old friend named Ming Wei. We go see him now. On way, I tell you about him.”

As the Vauxhall descended Victoria Peak, a fog bank began to roll in from the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbour.

“Looks like we’ll have some pea soup to deal with tonight,” May announced.

After Wu Feng nodded, he began to talk about his friend, Ming Wei. The first thing he said was that no one knew Ming’s exact age. He’d heard that the old man had come to Hong Kong over seventy years ago under suspicious circumstances, but he quickly added that the rumor was just hearsay. What he did know for sure was that Ming was an expert in the martial arts, his specialty being Chinese throwing weapons.

Wu Feng went on to say that Ming had lived his early years in Shenzhen, a large city on the Chinese mainland directly north of Hong Kong. While he was in Shenzhen, Ming apprenticed under a man named Guo. Besides being well versed in Chinese legends, Guo was also a member of the Triad, the Chinese equivalent of the Mafia. Guo passed on many of his lethal skills to his apprentice, the most notable of which were deadly poisons, alchemy, and Chinese weapons of all sorts.

The moment Archibald heard “alchemy,” he asked Wu Feng what the word meant. Wu explained that the word had different meanings. Some ancient alchemists were said to be able to change base metals into gold, while others reputedly could impart supernatural powers to metal objects.

Getting back to why he thought visiting Ming Wei was important, Wu Feng said that when he had called Ming earlier that night to say what he wanted, Ming had told him that not only was he familiar with Sun Wukong, the famous Monkey King, but that he also knew something that just might help rescue Jockabeb.

Ming explained that when he had been Guo’s apprentice, Guo had told him an ancient Chinese legend about another immortal monkey with supernatural powers. According to this legend, a gorilla-like monkey named Kong began terrorizing a small Chinese village.

Kong was killed only after an alchemist prepared two special daggers for the villagers to use. However, the alchemist told the villagers that the killing power he’d forged into the daggers’ metal could only be unleashed if the tips of the weapons were thrust into both of Kong’s eyes.

Following the alchemist’s instructions, two villagers snuck up on Kong in the middle of the night. Seeing the giant monkey was asleep, they quickly plunged the daggers into Kong’s eyes. The moment the daggers pierced the closed eyelids, the vicious monkey’s body turned to stone. As a tribute to the bravery of the two villagers, the stone statue of Kong was put on display for all to see.

“Do you think Ming Wei could make us daggers like the ones the villagers used?” Archibald asked.

“I not know,” Wu Feng answered honestly. Then he turned and smiled, saying, “But soon we find out.”

The dense fog that had descended over Hong Kong had severely restricted visibility. That was only one of the reasons Willow and Archibald began to get nervous when Wu Feng turned off the well-lighted street and proceeded carefully down a dark side street. The scene became even more eerie as the thick, foggy air combined with the smoke waffling up from pipes on top of several rickety lean-tos lining both sides of the narrow street.

Two turns later, Wu Feng killed the engine. Opening his car door, he said, “Now we walk.”

As the two young Americans closely followed Wu Feng and May through a maze of dark and narrow streets, the fog and the smoke enveloped them. Through the thick mist and dirty windowpanes barely illuminated by dim yellow halos of light, Archibald and Willow saw shadowy outlines of men and women smoking long pipes.

The heavy, moist air smelled of too many people living too close together. In addition, the aroma of incense, or perhaps some other some other stronger substance being burned, caused them to wonder what was being smoked inside those lean-tos.