by Ann Massey
‘Just like me,’ said Mei Li, amazed by the coincidence.
‘That’s why I don’t blame you for running away from home. Sometimes there’s no other way. Soon after you were born I heard him talking to his wife about taking you back to their country. I was frightened. I thought I’d never see you again. I begged Dedan to take me back to our longhouse. I knew my parents would care for you. I would’ve stayed but Gelungan still wanted to marry me and I was frightened of him. He’d been married before and Dedan told me he beat his first wife.’
Poor mother, thought Mei Li, remembering her own ordeal at the hands of Langkup. She could have ended up pregnant and then what would she have done? How could she support a baby on her own? She gave Rubiah a watery smile of understanding and mopped her eyes with the back of her hand.
‘You did the only thing you could and I’m sorry I doubted you. It must’ve been hard on you, having to give me up.’
‘Of course, lah. So you’re okay about going to work for Joe?’ Rubiah tried to conceal her jubilation.
Mei Li could only nod. She still felt too emotional to speak.
‘You don’t look it. Come on, give me a smile.’
‘Sorry, Mother. It’s hard to leave just when we’re getting to know one another. There’s such a lot I want to ask you. When can I see you again?’
‘I’ll let you know when it’s safe. But you’ll be able to get a message to me any time.’ She handed Mei Li a mobile phone. ‘Don’t look so worried. It’s only a phone. This is how it works …’
Chapter 18
THE LIMOUSINE CLIMBED UP THE LIME-EDGED PRIVATE GRAVEL ROAD before Mei Li got her first glimpse of the mansion. Armed guards waved them on, the elegant wrought iron gates swung open and the magnificent estate owned by her mother’s lover was revealed in its breathtaking beauty. The stately home had been built by Madam Ling’s father. He had consulted a Chinese geomancer and the park had been laid out according to ancient oriental principles. The south-facing mansion was set halfway up a slope, protected by higher hills on the north side and with a stream flowing from the valley to the bay. Mei Li had never heard of feng shui, but instinctively she knew this was a place where she could live happily.
The staff quarters were tucked away at the back of the compound and screened from the house by a high hedge. The elderly housekeeper was tall, almost as tall as Mei Li. She wore black silk trousers and a matching jacket. Her hair was combed into a neat bun. She looked coldly at the barefoot girl in the tattered sarong through the thick lenses of her horn-rimmed glasses.
‘What’s your name, girl?’ asked Madam Huang sharply in Cantonese.
‘I’m sorry. I don’t understand.’
‘She’s a Dayak,’ the driver said helpfully. ‘Come straight from the longhouse. She only speaks the native lingo.’
‘She doesn’t look like a native to me. Some bargirl’s fling with a Westerner, no doubt. It’s a disgrace. Girls like this, they bring shame on all of us.’
‘Well, you can’t blame the girl. It’s not her fault. She seems nice enough.’ He smiled at Mei Li sympathetically.
The housekeeper frowned when she saw the driver staring at Mei Li in her tight sarong. A girl like this was a bad influence. She sighed. ‘I’m run off my feet. I’ve got a dinner party for thirty-six tonight. I’m understaffed and they send me an ignorant savage straight out of the jungle. What good is she to me if she can’t follow orders?’
‘Why don’t you get her to help Old Gong in the garden? He’s a Dayak, isn’t he?’
‘He’s draining the fishpond this morning. Get him to come here and when you come back you can join me in a cup of tea,’ she said in a friendlier tone. ‘Hurry, hurry! I can’t waste any more of my morning on this useless slut.’
David was sitting in the garden, which was where he spent most afternoons after he’d finished tutoring the children. Sometimes he would take a book to read in the pavilion that overlooked the lakeside garden, or join his pupils in a game of tennis. David fitted right in with his host family and he was fascinated by the far-off Asian city. Everything about Miri intrigued the young English lawyer: the Niah Caves, where he stared in awe at the fragments of a 40,000-year-old skull; Loagan Bunut, the legendary disappearing lake; the mysterious mist-shrouded Bario Highlands. He would miss the luscious paradise when he went home next month, but he supposed it was time he got his head down.
David’s father, Sir Roland Entwistle of Entwistle and Murthwaite, the legal firm that handled the Baram Hardwood Timber Company’s affairs in Europe, had encouraged David to take up Joseph’s Ling’s proposition to tutor his two younger children in English. It meant David could improve his own Cantonese and Mandarin before returning to Britain to work in their expanding Asian division, and the experience had worked out well for everyone. David was pleased with his pupils’ progress: little Adele’s English was improving, and he hoped that Clarence’s application for a place at Oxford University would be successful.
Their elder brother Pau, named after his maternal grandfather, was currently sitting his final examinations in economics at Oxford and on graduation was expected to return to Miri. One day Pau would take over from his father as chairman of the company, and David would be taking instructions from him in the same way that his own father took instructions from Joseph Ling. Pau had an open invitation to stay with the Entwistles at their large country estate. He had taken up the offer once and had brought along three companions that David’s mother had found brash and ill mannered.
‘Isn’t it always the way with the children of the nouveau riche?’ Lady Entwistle had said to her husband disapprovingly. ‘They live these lives of decadence, driving expensive cars, wearing flashy clothes and dating dim-witted models and starlets.’
‘The acorn doesn’t fall too far from the tree, my dear,’ Sir Entwistle had replied.
Neither of them approved of Joseph Ling, even though he was a major client. They were pleased that their only son was more interested in fly-fishing and playing cricket for the village team than running around like a rich brat-playboy.
David often saw the gardener and his assistant and thought they made an odd couple: the stooped old native and the tall, slender, beautiful girl. He would look at her admiringly when she reached up to prune the white magnolia, thinking that she could be an international model. At first he had mistaken her for a friend of the family, holidaying like him in the luxurious mansion, but Clarence had put him straight on that score.
‘She’s just one of our maids, a half-caste,’ Clarence said dismissively. ‘There are hundreds of girls like her on account of so many single men coming over to work.’
‘And they just leave their kids behind?’ asked David.
‘Not necessarily. Loads of ex-pats fall in love with local girls and take them back to their own countries, but there are others who just use them as playthings.’
‘It’s a pity they don’t see how their children are forced to live when they go back to their own countries.’ David looked over at the gardener, who was waving a stick and yelling at the young girl. He hoped the man wasn’t going to hit her.
The bad-tempered old gardener often shouted irritably at the girl and cuffed her across the head. Now he shuffled off to the staff quarters for the midday meal, and Mei Li hurriedly finished loading the wheelbarrow with branches and wheeled it over the bridge. She had to clean out all the animal cages before she could think about having a break.
Joseph Ling paid native trappers to capture the endangered wildlife to put on display in his home as a status symbol. David thought it ironic that the timber tycoons that were responsible for the destruction of the creatures’ habitat were the very ones setting up private zoos, but he didn’t voice his disapproval. The Baram Hardwood Timber Company was a very lucrative client. One of the reasons for his current employment was to get to know Mr Ling on a personal level, and his father wouldn’t be pleased if he offended the firm’s wealthy client.
When it was evident that
Mei Li wasn’t coming back, David picked up his book and headed back to the house, passing plump, doll-like Adele dressed in delicate, pink satin pants and tunic with matching ribbons in her shiny plaited hair.
‘I’m going to look at the monkeys,’ Adele called out. She scooted across the wooden bridge and disappeared through the Chinese archway towards the menagerie.
A pair of aviaries, of commercial zoo proportions and shaped like ornate Victorian birdcages, housed the family’s collection of rare eagles and parrots. Mei Li had dumped her load on the compost heap and was now busily raking the bottom of the eagles’ cage. Off to look at the monkeys again, she thought, smiling as the chubby little girl ran past. Caring for the menagerie was one of the gardener’s duties, with the exception of the dogs, which had their own handler. It was work that Mei Li enjoyed best. Some of the animals – like the sun bear and gibbons – she hadn’t set eyes on since she was a young child; they had disappeared from her valley when the surrounding jungle was logged.
The guard dogs threw themselves frenziedly against the steel mesh of their cage and began to bark excitedly as the young girl rushed by. Adele was frightened of the pack of mastiffs, and so was Mei Li. There were many criminal gangs that targeted rich families, and while it was unlikely they’d raid the notorious gangland leader’s estate, Joe employed armed security guards and had four specially trained attack dogs to guarantee the safety of his family and property. The dogs were penned up for the greater part of the day and evening, but as soon as the family retired for the night they were turned loose and left free to roam the grounds.
‘Never go into the compound when the dogs are out of their cages,’ Gong had warned Mei Li. ‘They’re trained to kill.’
Today, for some reason, the eagles were agitated. Perhaps they’ve been stirred up by the barking dogs, Mei Li thought. She had to duck as the female swooped at her and she hurriedly backed out of the cage. She was about to padlock it when she heard Adele screaming in terror. Grabbing the rake, she ran towards the dogs’ pens. Alpha, the largest dog, too savage to be housed with the others, had found a weak spot at the back of his cage and ripped his way out. The savage mastiff was tugging at the child’s tunic, trying to drag her down on the ground. Without thinking of her own safety, Mei Li ran to Adele’s aid and swung the rake at the dog with all her strength. The protruding iron teeth buried themselves into the dog’s heavy shoulder and he yelped in surprise, raised his massive head and, fiery-eyed, stared at the intruder, sizing up both her and the weapon. He turned his back on Adele and circled Mei Li, growling menacingly, hackles up, while the other dogs jumped and threw themselves at the mesh, barking wild encouragement to the leader of the pack.
Mei Li acted instantly. She swung the rake, hard and fast. The heavy metal head smashed into the side of the dog’s head. Enraged, the dog lunged at the handle of the rake, close to the head. Enormous jaws locked powerfully and he yanked the weapon out of her hands. An aggressive low-pitched growl came from Alpha’s throat as he rushed at her, foaming jaws wide open, wolf-like teeth ready to rip and tear. The weight of his heavy body slammed into her and she went flying. The dog was on her before she hit the ground and she was fighting for her life. Instinctively she raised her arms and the snapping teeth clamped round her upper arm, just missing her throat.
For a moment Adele watched Mei Li wrestling with the savage beast, and then she turned and ran shrieking towards the bridge. It was a mistake. Alpha raised his huge head. Excited by the terrified screams, his attention was now focused on the fleeing girl and he took off in pursuit.
With a groan Mei Li got to her feet, blood streaming from the vicious bites, and limped after them. Her terror increased with every step. Feeling like she could run no more, she cried out for help, but her weak cry was lost, absorbed by the tumult of wild noise coming from the direction of the aviaries.
Adele took refuge in the eagles’ cage and stood behind the door, desperately trying to hold it shut. Alarmed by the wild barking, the great birds flew dementedly round their prison as the dog used his bulk as a battering ram, slamming into the wire bars so hard that the metal twisted and buckled. From her vantage point on the bridge, Mei Li saw there was no way the door could withstand such punishment. And if it should give way, there was no escape for the young child.
‘Here, dog,’ she cried woozily, waving her arms over her head despite a pain so intense she felt as though she would pass out. ‘Come and get me. I’m over here, yahoo.’
But the demented animal ignored the annoying voice; he was totally focused on reaching the quaking girl behind the door. Rearing up on his hind legs, he clawed at the door, banging it with his head. The cage gave way and like a monstrous dragon from Adele’s worst dream, Alpha charged through the shattered door, scaring the birds, which flew up to their highest perch. The dominant male screeched and dived like a bomber, talons extended, at the dog’s head. Alpha whirled round, agilely for a mastiff that weighed more than seventy kilos, and snapped furiously at the eagle, which fluttered out of reach. From the lofty perch at the top of the aviary, its mate screeched, taunting the maddened dog, the high-pitched shrieks obliterating rifle fire, a death cry and the heavy thud as the body fell on the concrete floor.
Panting from exertion, the alarmed guard had sprinted to the aviary, overtaking Mei Li, who was still staggering down the path. Now he squatted beside the dog, the high-powered rifle in his right hand. He turned the dog over and grunted with satisfaction when he found the entry wound. A perfect shot: the bullet had smashed the dog’s skull, ploughed through his brain and shot out the side of his head behind his right ear.
Damn it, the marksman thought, getting to his feet and aiming a vicious kick at the body. How did the bastard get out? Talib must not have checked that the dog was securely locked in. Thanks be to Allah I came out to see what was causing the racket, he thought. He wouldn’t like to be in Talib’s shoes when the boss got home. The guard backed out of the cage, dragging the animal with him and dumped the body on the compost heap.
‘He’s dead,’ he said to Mei Li, his voice rising with pride. ‘I got the bastard with the first shot.’
Trembling, hardly able to believe the nightmare was over, Mei Li looked right past him. Adele was sitting in the far corner against the bars, short legs stretched out on the dirty floor of the cage, face shrouded by her bloodstained hands. She was talking to herself and didn’t respond when Mei Li knelt down beside her.
‘Hush.’ and she put her arms around the frightened child and clasped her tightly. ‘It’s all right. You can open your eyes. He can’t hurt you anymore,’ she whispered, tenderly rocking the ten year old like a baby, the blood from their wounds mingling and turning Adele’s pink satin tunic bright scarlet.
Chapter 19
THE ROOM WAS INTENSELY HOT AND NOT A BREATH OF AIR was moving. The combination of heat and humidity was stifling and the patients in the hospital ward slumped on the hard, narrow hospital beds, drained of energy. In the hushed ward the raised voice was amplified, drawing an angry look from the ward sister.
‘But why can’t you come and see me?’ Mei Li asked, hot tears of frustration on her burning cheeks, mobile phone pressed up against her painful infected ear. She was lying, soaked from her fever, on a wet sheet; the moisture had gone right through to the mattress.
‘How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t want Joe to find out you’re my daughter,’ snapped Rubiah.
‘But I never see you … and I don’t like living at his place. Can’t I stay with you?’
‘You ungrateful girl! You don’t know how lucky you are to live in that great mansion. How do you think you’d support yourself if I hadn’t persuaded Joe to give you a job? Well, if you leave don’t expect any more help from me.’ Without waiting for a reply, she slammed down the phone.
Mei Li lay back forlornly on the narrow stretcher, her face pale as death, her tangled hair lying limply across the brick-like pillow. For two days she’d tossed and turned on the thin ma
ttress, drenched in sweat, calling out for her grandmother. The busy nurses barely spoke to her except to scold when her nightmares disturbed the quiet ward.
Hot and feverish, she reached for the water jug and knocked it over.
‘You’ll catch it,’ croaked the sickly old woman in the next
bed.
Mei Li looked at the pool of water in despair, but her depression faded like morning mist when she saw her grandmother’s familiar figure shuffling down the ward, back bent double under the weight of her overladen basket.
‘Place these leaves on your wounds twice a day,’ said Lada, undoing the tight bandage around Mei Li’s arm and gently laying a leaf on the gash.
‘Who told you I was sick? How did you know where to find me?’
‘I dream-sang my way to you.’
Throwing back the wet sheet, Mei Li sat up, her heart pounding wildly. She knew about the dream-song, the trance-inducing ritual chant that freed the soul from the body. Intuitively, she understood that the figure before her was only her grandmother’s shade: a wandering wraith, ethereal and otherworldly. But supernatural forces were at work that she didn’t properly understand. Had her grandmother projected her spirit while her body lay motionless, waiting, or had she passed over? Was this apparition her ghost, come to bid farewell before joining the spirits of her ancestors? It was too much too bear. She loved her grandmother so much.
‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost,’ said Lada, and the bright eyes in the wrinkled face shone with laughter. ‘I hope to see many more years before I cross the log bridge over the River of the Dead. Do not be afraid, Little Lotus. I come from a long line of wise women on whom the spirits have bestowed the gift to break through the dimensions of time and space. Long ago I learnt the secret from my mother, as she learnt it from her mother. Throughout history, the women of our family have possessed the knowledge.’
