Chapter 21

Out of the Pot and Into the Fire

Hong Mei looked at her watch. The lit-up digits said: 11:25:36

Eleven hours, twenty-five minutes and thirty-six seconds until midnight. It was past lunchtime and she hadn’t eaten this morning or the night before. If she was starving after meeting Black Dragon, she was ravenous now. She groaned. How much longer would they have to wait in here? Would she and the boys never agree on when it was safe to leave the royal chamber?

And not only was she hungry, Hong Mei was so bored.

She, Ryan and Alex had talked a bit, telling one another about their lives and what they liked to do in their free time. Hong Mei had suggested that they divide the jade up and put each piece in a different part of the room so they could have some light. Separated, it did not shine as brightly, but it still gave a warm glow. At least they could see one another while they chatted. Hong Mei told them about helping Mama on her rounds visiting patients and how they’d moved so much.

Compared to hers, Hong Mei thought Ryan and Alex’s lives very simple and wonderfully easy. The only thing they had to do was get good grades in school. Neither of them worked. Ryan said he hung out with a few friends. Sometimes they went snowboarding but Ryan said that most of the time they would just meet in a restaurant or coffee shop.

Alex spent most of his free time riding and taking care of his horse. He made it sound like it was a lot of work, but Hong Mei thought he sounded too excited about it for it to be a chore. She’d never even seen a real horse, except for those poor things hauling carts in some of the villages she’d lived in. They were probably more mule-like than horses anyway.

And all the travelling these two did with their aunt and uncle! She hadn’t been out of China, and Ryan and Alex had already been to five continents! It seemed like they really did lead royal lives.

After they had talked about their families for awhile, she and the boys had fallen silent. She thought that they were all probably thinking the same thing: how much they wanted to get this thing over with so they could all go home.

Hong Mei’s stomach rumbled again. She pressed on it with her hands, trying to make it stop.

“You’re hungry, too, huh?” Alex asked.

“Yes.”

“Me, too. Do you think we should take a chance and go out there?”

“Do you think Madam Ching thinks we’ve left and has gone out to look for us?” Ryan asked.

“Or do you think she’s left a guard or two behind?” Hong Mei asked. “I remember hearing more than one man’s voice.”

“I don’t know,” Alex said. “But I’m starving.”

“Why don’t I go out and have a look around? You two can stay here, just in case,” Ryan offered.

Hong Mei knew she was supposed to be the leader, but she didn’t want to run into Madam Ching or one of her people. She remembered Lao Ming telling her that she was lucky to have escaped from the woman’s thugs at the airport. Sighing, Hong Mei knew this was no way for a Chen to think. She was the chosen one. She had dragon’s blood. Her father believed in her.

“I’ll go,” she said, surprising herself. “I can sneak out and if it is safe I will get us something to eat. I think Ryan is right. This is probably the safest place for us to wait until we go out to find the river.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Hong Mei heard Ryan ask.

His words made her feel warm inside. “No,” she stammered. “I can go alone.” She looked at him and said a quick, “Thank you.”

Hong Mei stood up and moved toward the tunnel-like entrance. As she approached it, she saw a beam of light dancing inside the corridor. She stopped and turned quickly around to the boys, raising her finger to her lips, motioning them to be quiet. They looked questioningly at her. She silently pointed to the tunnel where the light, bouncing off the wall, grew larger and more intense.

She held her breath and silently pleaded, “Please, please go away. Don’t look here. We’re not here.”

Her heart sank as shuffling footsteps followed the yellow flashlight beam that now swept the room. It went from Ryan to Alex and then to Hong Mei.

Hong Mei smelled sandalwood.

“Well, well, well,” Madam Ching said. “What have we here?”

Ryan, Alex and Hong Mei each made a dash and grabbed their jade. Then they moved together and formed a group.

Madam Ching shook her head and snorted delicately. “Isn’t that sweet? You’ve become a real team.” She called back through the tunnel, “Ching Long? I’m in here, darling. Tell the others I need a hand.”

Realizing that she’d left Master Chen’s box at the feet of the Emperor and Empress, Hong Mei looked quickly to see if it was still there.

Madam Ching followed Hong Mei’s glance and said, “Did you drag that old thing here with you?” Then she narrowed her eyes and asked, “Why?”

Hong Mei ignored her question.

Ching Long entered and flashed a winning smile at Hong Mei, Ryan and Alex. “Hello,” he said brightly. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Hong Mei noticed Alex trying to edge over to Master Chen’s box.

“Son?” Madam Ching said. “Go fetch that old wooden box for me before that little imp gets his hands on it.”

Ching Long pulled Alex back and pushed him away. He picked up the box and turned it over. The lid fell off. He leaned over and picked it up, saying, “Pity it’s broken. It’d look nice in the library, don’t you think, Mother?” Then he moved over to Ryan and came within centimetres of his face. “Why is it that every time I see you and your little brother, you have this box? Special, is it?”

Two men entered the room. Hong Mei saw that one was Melon Head and the other was as huge as the first. They looked like sumo wrestlers. Together they barred the exit, their beefy arms folded over their massive chests.

Madam Ching pointed with one very long red nail at each of their hands holding the jade. “Take the jade from them, won’t you Ching Long?”

Ching Long stared at his mother. “Me? Why must I touch it? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Darling,” Madam Ching said, “You’re not afraid, are you?”

“Mother,” Ching Long said. “You’ve always told me that’s what these three,” he said, waving at Hong Mei and the brothers, “were for.”

Madam Ching sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “Why must I be surrounded by imbeciles?” Madam Ching asked. “Never mind, then.” She pointed to the men by the door and said, “Get one of them to collect the jade and put it into the box.”

Hong Mei watched Ching Long’s nostrils flare as he looked at his mother. “I’ll do it!” Ching Long said and moved over to pluck the jade from their hands before dropping them quickly into Master Chen’s box.

“That’s better,” Madam Chen said. “I can’t tolerate weak men.”

“Please, Madam Ching,” Hong Mei said. “You cannot keep the jade. We must return it to Black Dragon at midnight.”

Hong Mei watched the woman’s top lip curl. “From the beginning, Miss Chen, you have thought you were someone special. And I must admit, when you brought the Emperor’s heirs here instead of joining them in Beijing as I ordered you to, I almost believed it. I should have known you might figure out that Black Dragon’s ancestral home was here in the old capital and not the newer one.” Her beautiful face turned sour. “But how did you manage to get here so quickly?”

She shook her head and her face resumed its haughty expression. “No matter. You are not the one in charge here. I am.” She turned toward her son. “Now then. We’ve got everything we need to celebrate the Year of the Golden Dragon tonight. Black Dragon will be desperate to join us in the festivities.” She waved lightly, but didn’t bother looking back. “Bye, children.”

Hong Mei looked from the boys to the exit and back to the boys.

Ching Long said, “After the men seal this place up, you should try not to move around too much. You don’t want to waste oxygen. And don’t bother wasting your breath calling for help, either. The tomb security guard has been…detained, shall we say, and won’t be coming to work anytime soon.”

Showing off his white teeth, Ching Long said, “Goodbye, then. Thanks very much for being of assistance.”

He left and one of the two large men followed him out. The other giant blocked the doorway and glared at the three of them. His puny black eyes were almost lost in the folds of his fat face.

Grunting and groaning sounds came from the other end of the tunnel.

“They’re not really going to leave us in here, are they?” Alex cried into the quickening darkness.

Hong Mei said, “It will be okay. Let’s remain calm. We’ll find a way out.”

But how? she thought. Without Master Chen’s box or the jade, they would have to try and dig their way out.

After only a minute or so, the man from outside called for his partner to go out. The man winked at the three of them and backed out of the room. Hong Mei heard scuffling and something being slid across the mouth of the tunnel. It was very dark.

Those men might have been able to push a few of the statues in front of the opening, but she could see light through the cracks and gaps. It faded as the men and their flashlights got farther away. Air could definitely come through the spaces – maybe not a lot, but enough. If she and the boys worked slowly at moving the stones from the opening, they could be free in an hour or two. Long before their air ran out. Couldn’t they? They still had plenty of time before midnight to find Madam Ching again. She’d no doubt be at the river waiting for Black Dragon.

Hong Mei made her way with outstretched arms to where the opening had been. She felt the broken pieces of clay and stonework, then pushed on the barricade with her shoulder. It didn’t budge. She pushed harder. Nothing.

She heard Ryan call out, “How long do you think it’ll take to dig our way out?”

“I am not sure,” she called back. “I will try something that my father taught me.”

Hong Mei stood still and focused on her body and its energy. She started with her feet, and moved up the muscles in her legs. “I am strong,” she said to herself. She thought about the strength in her hips and midsection. Drawing deep breaths, she imagined the air as power handed down through the ages from Master Chen to her father and now to her. She filled her lungs and emptied them. There was might in her chest and arms. She could feel it filling up the muscles, tissue, veins and arteries. Yes, she was very strong. She, Chen Hong Mei, could do this. She would move whatever was blocking the door. She could do it.

Thinking only of her purpose, Hong Mei pushed with all the energy and might that she possessed.

The barricade did not budge.

She tried again.

There was not even a slight shift.

Slumping down to the ground, Hong Mei started gnawing at one of her fingernails.