by Kim Gamble
This collection first published by Allen & Unwin in 2020
‘Tashi Lost in the City’, Copyright © Text, Anna Fienberg and Barbara Fienberg, 2004; Copyright © Illustrations, Kim Gamble, 2004
‘Tashi and the Haunted House’, Copyright © Text, Anna Fienberg and Barbara Fienberg, 2002; Copyright © Illustrations, Kim Gamble, 2002
‘Tashi and the Forbidden Room’, Copyright © Text, Anna Fienberg and Barbara Fienberg, 2005; Copyright © Illustrations, Kim Gamble, 2005
‘Tashi and the Royal Tomb’, Copyright © Text, Anna Fienberg and Barbara Fienberg, 2003; Copyright © Illustrations, Kim Gamble, 2003
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.
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Cover design by Arielle Gamble
Text design by Sandra Nobes
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CONTENTS
Tashi Lost in the City
On the Way Home
Tashi and the Haunted House
The Big Race
Tashi and the Forbidden Room
The Three Tasks
Tashi and the Royal Tomb
The Book of Spells
‘This lift is stuck,’ said Jack. He pushed the ground floor button again. Nothing happened. Sweat prickled his forehead.
Tashi put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, we’re in a big mall. Someone will find us soon. All we have to do is sit and wait.’
Jack could hear his heart thumping. ‘I don’t like being shut in small places. Especially when no one knows where we are,’ he added quietly.
Tashi sat on the floor and pulled Jack after him.
‘And I’m busting,’ whispered Jack.
‘Take five deep breaths,’ said Tashi, ‘and think about something else.’
Jack looked at the great steel doors. ‘I wish I’d gone to the toilet before we went to see the skateboards. If only we had a piece of Ghost Cake we could pass right through those doors, easy peasy—’
‘You know,’ said Tashi, stretching out his legs, ‘this reminds me of a time I was trapped in a dark cellar by a man with a glass eye and a dagger in his belt.’
Jack sat up straight. ‘Did the eye look real?’
‘No,’ Tashi shook his head. ‘It was more like a marble, with a black pupil painted on like a bullseye. But it was the other eye that scared me. Cold and mean and deadly, like a shark’s.’
‘Gosh,’ said Jack. ‘How did you escape?’
‘Well, it was like this,’ Tashi began. ‘It was the year our village had a really good harvest. To celebrate, Grandma decided to take me to the city with her to help buy the family’s New Year presents. Little Aunt said we could borrow her cart and horse, Plodalong.’
‘Was the city a long way from your village?’
‘Oh yes,’ nodded Tashi. ‘We had to set out at first light. By late morning we were in the teeming cobbled streets of the city.
‘Oh Jack, I’d never seen anything so wonderful. My head swivelled from side to side. I didn’t know where to look first. There were stalls of candied apples and roasted ears of corn and silvery fish in tanks.
‘I hardly had time to glimpse the curio shops and the bookstalls before we had to duck our heads under silk banners announcing family weddings and births. And the noise – everything was so much louder than in my village.
‘Street hawkers were calling out their medicines, and stallholders beckoned us to see their toys. And all the time the air thrummed with violins and the drums of street musicians.’
‘Is this where you met the man with the glass eye?’
‘Not yet,’ said Tashi. ‘First we had to leave the horse and cart with an old friend of Grandfather’s, and then we dived into the crowd.
‘“We’ll have to be careful, Tashi,” said Grandma, “or our money will drip from our hands like water.”
‘But the very next minute, she couldn’t resist a singing cricket in a bamboo cage and then she saw a beautiful music box – just the thing for my mother. Grandma wanted a second box for Third Aunt, but the stallholder said this was the last one. He could get another by four o’clock that afternoon if she wanted it. So we arranged to come back then and I walked on, not realising that Grandma had stopped at another stall to taste some delicious chicken feet.
‘I was looking at the hills above the city – the sun was striking the white walls of the palace at the top – and the light was almost blinding. I turned to ask Grandma if this was the famous Palace of Expanding Joyfulness, or was it the Pavilion of Perfect Harmony? But she was no longer beside me.
‘“Grandma!” I called. “GRANDMA!”
‘Acrobats moved on to the road, and strangers rushed past, pushing and shouting. But there was no Grandma. I hurried back to the place I’d last seen her. Still no sign of her. I raced up and down the street looking in doorways and behind stalls. I couldn’t breathe properly. How quickly everything changed from excitement one minute to being lost and alone the next.’
‘Yes!’ murmured Jack. ‘I know what you mean.’
‘Well, as I made my way through the press of people, I heard a commotion and cries of “Mad dog! Mad dog!” Suddenly, as the crowd parted, I saw a big brown dog, foam frothing from its mouth. People were running in all directions like beads scattered on a path, but the dog was chasing a little girl, attracted by her piercing screams. Quick! What to do?
‘Through the open gate of a courtyard nearby I spied a sheet hanging on a rail. I ran in and whipped it off.
‘The dog was nearly upon the girl, but it stopped when I drew near with my arms wide open, hidden by the sheet. I flung the sheet over the dog, bundled it up and popped a clothes basket over it.
‘The girl’s mother was thanking me when the stalls around us began to shake. The road shuddered beneath our feet like something alive. The house with the clothesline collapsed, and the one next to it. People were screaming again. And then, as quickly as it had started, the trembling stopped. The world was still, as if holding its breath. There was complete silence – until we were all startled by cries coming from the collapsed houses. People were buried alive in there! Some folk rushed over and pulled beams and bricks away. Just when everyone thought it was safe, I heard a faint cry from the back of the second house. I lifted a broken screen and saw the head of a man poking out from a mound of rubble. A large rat was investigating his nose.
‘A wall beside him looked as if it might fall, but I threw a brick at the rat and called for help. As I worked at the wood and bricks, I looked into the man’s baleful eyes—’
‘Aha!’ cried Jack. ‘Bullseye!’
‘Yes. One eye was darting angrily all around but the other was fixed straight ahead. A shiver ran through me. Not a word passed between us but I thought, This is a bad man.
‘A few people heard my
cries and came to help. When the man was able to scramble out of the rubble, he dusted himself off and said curtly, “I suppose you want a reward.”
‘I stiffened. “I don’t need one.”
‘“Just as well,” the man snapped, and without another word, he strode off through the crowds.
‘My legs were trembling. Wah! I thought, I’ve had enough of this city. If only I could find Grandma and go home.
‘Just then a kindly looking stranger stopped beside me and I asked if he had noticed a little old lady carrying a bamboo cage. The gentleman clapped his hands. “Yes, I have. She just went around the corner here.” And he led me into an alley.
‘The alley was empty and dark. A smell of old garbage and sour wine seeped from the shadows between the buildings. “Tch,” said the man, “she must have gone into Beggars Lane. We’ll soon find her.”
‘He took me by the arm and pulled me along to a dilapidated house. Lucky Chance Hotel was painted over the door in peeling letters. I was really feeling uneasy about this man and was trying to think of a polite way to leave when he tightened his grip on me. His long, sharp fingernails dug into my wrist. He hustled me into the house and shoved me downstairs into a cellar. I scrambled back to the door, too late. The lock clicked. “Why do I ever leave home without a Ghost Cake?” I groaned.
‘I closed my eyes for a moment to get used to the dark. When I opened them, I saw some straw matting, a broken chair and a boy cowering in the corner. “Who is that man?” I asked the tearful boy. “What does he want with us?”
‘“He’s going to sell us to work in the salt mines,” sniffed the boy, “and that’ll be the end of us. My father worked there once, before he escaped. He said children were lucky to last a year.”
‘I shuddered. We told each other our names, and we wandered over to the barred window. Standing on tiptoe, we could see a bit of footpath. I broke the glass with my shoe and together we called, “Help! Help!” but the alley was deserted. No one came by and our throats grew hoarse. Wang slumped to the floor and began to cry again in disappointment. I put my hands over my ears. “Be quiet now, Wang. I’m thinking.”
‘Wang bit his lip. “Are you thinking of a way to escape? Look around, you can see – there isn’t any way.”
‘“There’s always a way if you stay calm and think hard enough,” I told him firmly.
‘Wang kept up a hopeful silence for another few minutes before he confided, “I’m glad you are here, Tashi. It’s better with two, isn’t it?”
‘I smiled and nodded but I couldn’t agree. I thought it was better being alone and lost in the streets than here, waiting to work in the salt mines.
‘I stood holding the window bars in the comforting warmth of the sun and noticed how it sparkled on the pieces of broken glass. Yes! Maybe that would work. I tore off a piece of peeling wallpaper and held a shard of glass over it.
‘Wang looked on curiously. “What are you doing?”
‘“Come and see.”
‘I held the glass still and let the sun concentrate on one small spot. Sure enough, after a minute, the paper began to brown and smoke. A tiny flame appeared and we blew gently as I dropped bits of matting on it. Gradually I added splinters, then pieces of broken chair until there was a good blaze going and the walls were smouldering.
‘Using Wang’s jacket, I fanned the smoke out through the broken window. The house remained silent. My heart began to thud. Smoke was thickening all around us. I told Wang to pull his shirt up over his nose and mouth. My eyes were streaming and every time I breathed, my throat stung. Oh, maybe I’d done the worst thing – maybe we’d finish up being smoked like pieces of pork! Then we heard shouts and the sound of running footsteps.
‘“Quick!” I grabbed Wang’s arm. “Come over here against the wall.”
‘We were just in time. The door burst open and two men ran in and began to beat the flames with their coats. They didn’t see us behind the door. Wang and I slipped out while their backs were turned.
‘We raced up the stairs to the open front door – to freedom. But as we were about to leap out into the blue daylight, the doorway darkened. It was blocked by an enormous man standing there with folded arms.
‘As I gazed up into the man’s cold hard face, I saw only one eye looking back at me.’
‘The man you dug out of the rubble!’ cried Jack.
Tashi nodded. ‘The muscles in his arms were hard as steel. His hand reached down to his belt and pulled out a silver dagger. I forced my gaze away from the dagger and stared straight up into his fierce snapping eye. I clenched my jaw and said quietly, “Now, sir, I do need my reward.”
‘We glared at each other for a long moment. Wang was whimpering behind me. I saw the man’s eye glitter. And then he stepped aside and motioned for us to pass.
‘“My debt is paid,” he said.
‘We raced past him and out into the cool fresh air, never stopping until we were back amongst the bustling crowds.
‘Wang thanked me again and again and wanted me to come home with him, but I heard the clock striking the hours. Four o’clock. I looked about. Yes, there was the clock tower, and now I remembered – the music box stall was close by it. I quickly told Wang that my grandma would be waiting for me, and ran off.
‘Keeping the tall tower in sight, I wove my way through the streets, and sure enough, I found Grandma beside the stall, peering anxiously at the passing people.
‘“Oh, there you are at last, Tashi! Fancy leaving me to carry these heavy parcels by myself.”
‘“Sorry, Grandma,” I said. I took her bags and hugged her. “I was held up.”’
The boys sat in the quiet of the lift and then Jack said, ‘I know how Wang felt, though.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, what he said about being together. When you’re stuck in a tight spot, it seems much less scary with two of you.’
Tashi nodded and together they looked at the great steel doors.
‘But I’m still busting,’ Jack confided. ‘Do you need to go?’
‘No,’ Tashi shook his head. ‘My mother says I’m like a camel. I can hold on practically forever. But see, there’s a trick to it – you just have to train your mind and imagine you are somewhere completely different. For instance, I was still far away, thinking of what happened after our trip to the city.’
‘You and Grandma went home and had a big delicious dinner I suppose,’ said Jack. ‘And before you went to bed,’ he added, a bit desperately, ‘you went to the toilet in peace.’
‘Not exactly,’ said Tashi. ‘See, it was like this …’
ON THE WAY HOME
‘Just a minute, did you hear something?’ Jack asked. ‘Hold your breath.’
The two boys sat in the lift, listening.
‘Nothing,’ sighed Jack, cracking his knuckles. ‘We’ll be trapped here forever.’
‘No, it won’t be long now,’ said Tashi. ‘I can feel it in my bones.’
‘Which ones?’
‘My left leg. It sort of tingles, deep in my kneebone, when something’s about to happen.’
‘Did it tingle like that on the way home from the city?’
‘Oh yes,’ said Tashi, ‘but not until dark fell. You see, while I was being kidnapped, Grandma had been very busy shopping. “Oh Tashi,” she cried. “This city is such a treasure chest!” She was tired – there was city dust caked into her frown lines – but her eyes were gleaming with happiness.
‘“We should be starting for home now, Grandma,” I said, noticing how low the sun sat in the sky. “You know the road through the forest is lonely and famous for brigands.”
‘“Yes, yes,” she agreed, “but just look at these presents, quick, before we go.”
‘You should have seen the things Grandma had bought. She’d found a wonderful shop with musical instruments and, with the money she had been saving just for me, she’d bought a silver flute. We kept opening and reopening our parcels, forgetting about the time, listen
ing to the music boxes and trying out the flute, and the ivory combs in Grandma’s hair.
‘At last, seeing our shadows long on the ground, we loaded our shopping into the cart and climbed in after it. Grandma passed me a flaky bun and clicked her tongue at Plodalong who snorted and slowly moved off.
‘The smells and sounds of the city faded, and soon there was only the noise of our wheels creaking over the dirt. We went quite a way in silence, and I watched the trees turning inky-black against the sky. Grandma flicked for Plodalong to quicken his pace, and he did, for a few steps.
‘“He’s not as frisky as he used to be,” said Grandma, and I smiled at the thought of Plodalong ever being frisky. It seemed the effort was too much for him because he stumbled and slowed down even more.
‘“We’ll never get home before dark,” Grandma fretted. “Perhaps we should stay the night at the inn up ahead.”
‘The inn didn’t look very inviting. An unkempt fellow with his shirt buttoned up the wrong way opened the door, and I was even less happy to go in. The man looked like a brigand, but Grandma was already asking for two beds for the night. The brigand (I was quite right) waved us into a large room with some bare tables and a few hard chairs.
‘“Make yourselves comfortable, please do,” he grinned. “Some tea for our guests, Fearless,” he growled to one of his companions.
‘“Right away, Ferocious,” the other replied.
‘“Those are unusual names, sir,” remarked Grandma mildly.
‘“They are well-earned, madam,” smirked Ferocious.
‘“And you, sir, what is your name?” Grandma turned to the third man who slouched in the doorway, drinking something dark from a bottle.
‘“He hasn’t earned his name yet,” growled Fearless. “We call him No Name.”
