The Mystery of the Song Dynasty Painting (2 page)

CC flashed back over everything that had happened. There had been the terrible sadness of learning that Big Aunt had been killed by the Japanese on Nan Tian Island. This was followed by the Secret Dragon Society’s daring rescue of the American airmen from Bridge House, seventeen days ago. Then came the thrilling and dangerous task of dressing the Americans in German uniforms and smuggling them, in the dark of night, onto the large junk docked on the Huang Po River. Since leaving Shanghai with the airmen on board they had travelled slowly, taking great care not to draw attention to themselves and their imperilled cargo. But now they were running out of food.

‘Look out for one another but try not to appear as if you’re together,’ Grandma Wu had said as she handed each of them a straw basket and some money. ‘Don’t talk to anyone unless you have to, and of course don’t breathe a word about the American pilots hidden on our boat. Even though Feng Jie is ruled by our President Chiang Kai-shek, Japanese secret agents and collaborators lurk everywhere and we’re in constant danger until we get the airmen to Chungking. Their safety depends on your silence.’

CC paid for her purchases and packed them into the basket at her feet. As she straightened up she saw the woman in black staring intently at her. Quickly, CC moved away, but she couldn’t resist glancing back. The woman was following her, heading in the same direction. She quickened her steps and turned the corner. The woman also turned but maintained a certain distance. Now CC had no doubt: the woman was after her, for sure. But why?

She looked around for David, but he was nowhere to be seen. Her heart quickened and she felt the first trickle of panic. Trying to behave naturally, she continued to buy the foods on Grandma Wu’s list: eggs, vegetables, sesame oil, tofu, sugar, rice, flour and fresh fruits. She glanced nervously over her shoulder, hoping against hope that the woman would be gone. But no! There she was, peering furtively from behind a stack of dried cabbage, as if not quite certain that CC was the one she was looking for. But almost sure…

Should she make a run for it? No – better behave calmly. Was this woman a Japanese spy? Surely not. She looked so kind, almost motherly. But maybe that was only a disguise. What if she approached CC and started a conversation? Then perhaps suddenly – WHAM! A hand round the arm. Come with me! Japanese secret police! CC shuddered.

The woman did not look Japanese, but she could be a Chinese collaborator. Did she know about the American pilots hidden on the boat, only a few hundred feet away? Grandma Wu and Master Wu had listened for news on the radio every day since they rescued the Americans, but they had heard nothing. So they assumed that nobody was searching for them.

‘Keep calm, CC. Behave normally,’ she muttered to herself. But the woman was inching slowly towards her. Their eyes met briefly. CC immediately looked away. She felt her heart racing and a cold sweat running down her back. How scary! What
did
the woman want? CC braced herself.

All at once the woman was right in front of her, blocking the way! CC stared, paralysed with fear. Would she arrest her? How many years in jail for helping American pilots to escape from the Japanese?

‘Excuse me. Are you the niece of Ye Jia Ming
?’

So the woman had recognized her. But how? There must be millions of twelve-year-old girls in China who looked like her. But the woman had said Ye Jia Ming, which was Big Aunt’s maiden name before her disastrous arranged marriage. What else did this woman know? Would CC be taken away and tortured for information about the airmen? She parted her lips to speak, but no words came. Her mouth was dry. She had only one desperate, agonizing thought: she must say
nothing
because, back on that boat, the Americans’ lives depended on her silence! She needed to get away from this woman as fast as possible.

She threw her basket of groceries at the woman, and ran – brushing past a meat-vendor’s stall and knocking over a vegetable stand. ‘Stop her!’ the angry merchants yelled, but CC was too quick for them. She had no idea where she was going. She only knew she had to escape – fast! The sound of her feet mingled with the pounding of blood in her ears, blocking everything but fear. Suddenly she was hurtling down steep stone steps towards the pier, taking them two at a time. But, halfway down, she was blocked by a group of workmen carrying large boxes balanced on shoulder-poles. The woman in black would surely catch her now.

It had started to rain and the light was fading. People were yelling and pushing behind her. She needed to get away, but how? Bodies in front, terror behind.

Beside her was a drainpipe leading up to the roof of a building. Out of desperation, CC grabbed onto it and clambered to the top. She had a momentary sense of exhilaration as she looked down at her pursuers. Without kung fu training, they would never be able to catch her. Then, just as she felt as if she might actually get away, her feet slipped on the wet roof shingles and her body plunged into the void…

2

Coma

David cried out in horror as CC fell from the rooftop, landing with a sickening thud on the dirt below. He had been watching from behind a fishmonger’s cart and had seen CC’s encounter with the woman in black.

A crowd of people immediately gathered round CC’s inert body, including two policemen in uniform. The woman in black was saying something to them. David edged his way closer. He had no idea what to do. Could CC possibly survive such a fall? Then his heart leapt when he saw her chest moving up and down. Although her eyes remained closed, she was breathing and therefore must still be alive!

‘I have no idea why she ran away from me,’ the woman was saying. ‘I thought I recognized her from a photo. I just wanted to ask for news of her aunt. Nothing else.’

‘These are troubled times,’ one of the policeman said. ‘The girl might have been afraid of something or somebody. Who knows?’

‘Thank goodness we’re safe here in Feng Jie!’ someone in the crowd said.

‘Still, there are many pro-Japanese collaborators,’ the policeman said. ‘One cannot be too careful. Does anyone know this little girl?’

David stepped forward. ‘Her name is CC,’ he said. ‘She’s my friend.’ To his embarrassment, he started to cry.

The woman in black said sympathetically, ‘She should be seen by a doctor as soon as possible. I know the Medical Director of the missionary hospital here. He’s an American – Dr Richard Allen. You need to take your friend there in a rickshaw. I’ll write a note and tell him what happened. By the way, is your friend the niece of Ye Jia Ming?’

‘I have no idea,’ David said guardedly.

‘Ye Jia Ming was my classmate at middle school, and a close friend. I stayed with her once in Nan Tian, before the Japanese massacre. She had many photos of her niece throughout her house. Your friend looks just like the girl in those photos… She
is
her niece, isn’t she?’

‘I already told you I don’t know,’ David replied with a hint of irritation.

‘I feel so bad about her falling like that. Here’s the note for the hospital, and this is my card with my name and telephone number. Phone me and let me know how she is. I’m sorry I can’t accompany you to the hospital, but I’m late for work. Do you have money to pay the rickshaw driver?’

‘Yes,’ David said. ‘Please tell him the address of the hospital.’ He looked at the card and saw that the woman’s name was Jiang Fei Fei
.

The rickshaw driver seemed to take forever to wend his way through the crowded streets. David kept looking at CC’s white, unconscious face, and willed her to wake up. He hadn’t realized, until now, how much he always relied on her bravery and sense of humour in dangerous situations. When they got to the hospital, two orderlies and a nurse came running out to help. The woman in black had telephoned in advance and spoken to Dr Allen.

David handed over the note and was told to wait while CC was taken into the examination room. He sat outside in the waiting room. People kept going in and out, but no one said anything to him. He was about to go down the corridor to look for her when a tall foreigner in a white coat rushed by with a chart in his hand. So he grabbed the man’s jacket and asked in a hoarse, anxious voice, ‘Please tell me what’s happening. Is CC going to die?’

The man stopped and looked kindly at David.

‘Hello, kid! Are you with the unconscious girl?’ he asked in fluent Chinese. ‘What did you call her – CC? Did you bring CC to us?’

‘Yes, I’m David. Her real name is Ye Xian
, but we all call her CC.’

‘Well, David, my name is Dr Allen. Your friend CC has twisted her foot and ruptured some ligaments in her ankle, but it’s her head we’re more worried about. She’s had quite a fall and is still unconscious. We need to admit her to the hospital and keep her under observation until she wakes up. Does she live in Feng Jie?’

‘No, but I can get Grandma Wu.’

The doctor patted him on the shoulder. ‘That would be great! By all means, go and get her grandma. Be as quick as you can!’ Seeing the anxiety on David’s face, Dr Allen added in a gentler voice: ‘Try not to worry. People’s heads are my speciality. Your friend is in good hands with me.’

3

Hospitalization

As soon as Grandma Wu saw David running alone towards the boat with his dirty, tear-stained face, she knew something must have gone terribly wrong. But she wasn’t prepared for the dreadful news he brought. Dropping everything, she hurried over to the hospital at once.

After speaking to Dr Allen, she knew she faced a difficult choice. Should she stay with CC in Feng Jie, or go back to the boat and escort the American airmen to safety? In the end she ordered her son, Master Wu, and the three boys David, Sam and Marat to deliver the Americans to Chungking. She herself left the boat to look after the comatose CC, staying at the guest hostel attached to the missionary hospital and sitting by CC’s bed every day.

Jiang Fei Fei, the woman in black, came to the hospital next morning to check on CC. She worked as a nurse attached to the local Red Cross station and was much saddened to hear that Big Aunt had been killed by the Japanese. Jiang Fei Fei and Grandma Wu soon became friends. Through Fei Fei’s contacts, Grandma Wu was able to get the latest news from Chungking.

Although CC had broken no bones, she remained unconscious and required constant monitoring. Day after day, Grandma Wu helped the nurses wash and turn her from side to side as she lay, white-faced and still, on the narrow hospital bed. She wanted to be there when CC woke up, mainly to reassure her but also to stop her from saying anything indiscreet about the American airmen and the rescue mission.

During the first ten days, there were momentary signs that CC was emerging from her coma. Her eyelids would flicker and she would mutter something indistinct. But then she would lapse back into oblivion. From time to time, she called out quite clearly ‘Ah Zhao
!’ and ‘Gege
(older brother)!’ but nothing she said made much sense.