by Ann Massey
‘Does Mother know the secret too?’
A shadow darkened Lada’s face. ‘She’d like to, but the power to defy the bounds of this mortal world is dependent on consent from the realm of the spirits. It grieves me to admit my daughter was found unworthy and that is why I gave the collar of the matriarch to you; you are the chosen one.’
Mei Li’s heart soared at her grandmother’s words, but it plummeted just as quickly when she remembered that she no longer had the precious amulet.
Her grandmother saw the look of shame on her face. ‘She took it from you, didn’t she?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered, looking down, too ashamed to look her grandmother in the eye.
‘My daughter is the one who should be sorry. She has transgressed the order of succession sanctioned by the spirits of our ancestors and she will be punished.’ Lada spoke the words flatly. Her eyes were blank and not a muscle moved in her face.
Every woman in her tribe feared and dreaded antagonising the spirits. Mei Li knew that all who did fell into a state of lifelessness, and the only release was death. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand.
‘Oh, Grandma, my poor mother, you’ve got to save her, you’ve got to.’
Lada put her arms around her granddaughter and held her close. ‘I will try to intercede on her behalf,’ she said, disguising her own fear with an assumed air of confidence. Prayers and sacrifice might not be enough to save her ambitious daughter from the wrath of the spirits.
Mei Li’s lips formed a shaky smile. ‘Thank you, Grandma. They’ll listen to you. I know they will. I’m so glad you came. How long can you stay with me?’
‘For a little while only. I have to go back before your grandfather awakes.’ Tenderly she smoothed the damp hair off Mei Li’s forehead.
‘Mother hasn’t been to see me. I don’t think she loves me.’
‘Your mother doesn’t love anyone. She’s an expert at feigning affection. Don’t trust her; she has the power to harm you.’
‘I wish I could go home with you and Granddad. Just the three of us, together, like before.’
‘You weren’t born to bloom unseen in the jungle, Little Lotus. No, don’t argue with me. Close your eyes and rest. These are the words of my dream song. When your time comes, you will sing your own song.’
And Lada sang:
‘Release me from the grasp of clutching earth
To wheel and soar betwixt the sky and sea,
Free from carnal cell, to girth
The never-ending void, to seek and search for thee.’
David instructed the driver to wait outside in the limousine while he walked into the hospital and asked to speak to the duty nurse. ‘How’s our patient doing today, sister?’
‘She had a very restless night, feverish and confused,’ the Malaysian nurse complained. ‘She kept the whole ward awake with her unintelligible ramblings. I’ll be glad when she’s released. These uncivilised natives don’t know how to behave in hospitals. She’ll get better sooner with her own kind.’
David glared at her. From the first moment he’d set eyes on Mei Li he’d been fascinated, both by her enchanting beauty and her natural charm. He was appalled by the meanness of her existence and infuriated by the way everyone looked down on her.
‘Has the doctor seen her yet?’ he asked curtly.
‘Indeed.’
‘In that case I shall take her home with me if you’d be so good as to find me a wheelchair.’
The general ward reminded him of a picture of an army hospital he’d seen in a history book. Florence Nightingale wouldn’t look out of place here, he thought. There were a dozen stretcherlike beds in rows facing each other. Both men and women in the unisex ward were dressed in nightgowns that looked suspiciously like cheap cotton shrouds. Most of the old, sickly patients were being looked after by relatives who brought in food for their meals. He wondered what happened to those who didn’t have any relatives, and was concerned that friendless Mei Li was going hungry.
He found her lying on top of the last bed with her face turned to the wall, shivering despite the heat, the greyish shroud plastered to her damp body. He felt the sheet under her. It was wet through and cold. David clenched his teeth and muttered under his breath. He crossed the ward and yanked a blanket off an empty bed, then he gently helped the sick girl sit up and wrapped the thin rug around her shoulders.
‘Damn,’ he said impatiently, looking for the nurse with the wheelchair.
Stunned, Mei Li stared at the ivory-skinned Goliath leaning over her. Tawny, sun-streaked hair flopped across his forehead as he bent down and picked her up, and she gasped when she looked into the first blue eyes she’d ever seen. They’re like a jungle sky when the sun has chased the mists away, she thought, unable to look away.
Tourists were welcomed into longhouses and most Dayak girls had seen Westerners, but Mei Li’s village was on the banks of the Pangup, isolated and remote, far from the tourist routes. All she knew of orang puti she’d learned from the outlandish tales spread by the young men who worked on the oil rigs and returned to the jungle village for Gawai. Of course she’d noticed the young white man – he was often in the garden playing with the children or simply reading – but she’d only ever seen him from a distance. Up close he was a giant. Till now the willowy girl had believed she was a freak, a gawky giantess in a world of dainty Lilliputians. Now fate had brought Gulliver to her bedside.
‘Don’t worry, there’s nothing to be scared of. I’m taking you home,’ he said, and he strode out of the ward with the sick girl cradled in his arms.
‘Is everything all right, sir?’ asked the Sikh doctor, running to catch up with him.
David didn’t stop. ‘I’m taking this young lady home.’
‘If I may say so, sir, it is unwise of you to take her out of the hospital before she has been formally discharged.’
‘I’ll take full responsibility.’
The doctor shrugged and watched as the fair-haired giant stormed down the steps and across the carpark to the waiting limousine.
The houseboy opened the front door of the elegant villa. Inside it was quiet and cool.
‘Where is everyone, Sun?’ David asked, lowering Mei Li onto the oyster-coloured silk couch and placing a soft cushion under her head.
‘Madam and Second Son are upstairs with Little Daughter.’ Sun replied, pursing his lips and barely concealing his disapproval at such effrontery.
‘If you’d be kind enough to bring Mei Li some iced tea, I’ll let Madam Ling know I’m back.’ David charged up the marble staircase, taking the steps two at a time.
Madam Ling and Clarence were standing in the hall outside Adele’s room, talking softly, anxious looks on their faces. Madam Ling looked exhausted but she gave David a brave smile.
‘So, you’re back. Tell me, how is the amah? Improving, I hope.’
‘Not good. She’s downstairs on the couch. I brought her home. I couldn’t just leave her there. Nobody seemed to care …’ he trailed off.
Clarence stared at his tutor with a look of incredulity. He couldn’t believe David was making so much fuss over a mere maid. He’d noticed most Westerners didn’t understand how to treat servants, but he thought David would know better. After all, David’s father was a baronet.
‘Under the circumstances I expect you did exactly the right thing,’ said Madam Ling gently. ‘Shall we go downstairs? I don’t want to disturb Adele. The nurse has instructions to let me know when she wakes. The doctor gave her a sleeping draught earlier this afternoon and fortunately it’s finally taken effect.’
Madam Ling closed the door quietly behind them and stood for several moments regarding the servant lying on her Italian brocade couch. She placed her hand on the girl’s forehead.
‘She’s burning up,’ she exclaimed. ‘She should still be in hospital.’
‘Can’t we look after her here?’ asked David.
Clarence was obviously having difficulty hidi
ng his disapproval at seeing a lowly maid lying on the couch in the formal reception room, where just days before they had entertained the chief minister and his family.
‘Clarence, could you ask Sun to bring us some tea?’ Madam Ling said, dismissing her son. She sat down and patted the seat beside her. ‘I know you feel sorry for her, David, but your pity is misplaced. Your protégé’s future is looking very bright. Gong, our gardener, has asked for her. He has his own cottage in the grounds and a permanent job here, so he’ll be able to provide for her. My husband and I are very grateful to her for saving our daughter and we intend to give her a gift so she won’t go to him penniless when they marry.’
‘But he’s old!’ protested David.
‘That’s true, but many girls wed older men. Gong is willing to marry her and he has a home and a job for life.’
‘Doesn’t she have a say?’
‘Of course, but she may not get another opportunity to have a home and children of her own. Isn’t that better than spending the rest of her life as a servant?’
David pictured lovely Mei Li living with the mean old gardener and shuddered at the picture he conjured up. ‘It’s not fair,’ he muttered.
‘Why, because he’s a native? So is she! No, don’t look like that. You must to try to understand. Things are different here, David. When you look at her you see a Western girl, but she is a Dayak, no matter how she looks. That’s the way she’s been brought up. That’s the only way of life she understands. It would be cruel to raise her expectations and make her dissatisfied with her lot in life. You’ll go back to England, but this girl has to live here. You mustn’t get too fond of her. You have a big future to look forward to. As for this untutored girl, the best she can hope for is to make a good marriage.’
‘What if she says no?’
‘Of course no one is going to force the girl. If she won’t have Gong, Adele needs someone to look after her. It’s so unfortunate that the girl only speaks her local dialect.’
‘I could teach her English.’
‘We’ll see what she wants to do when she’s feeling better. Ah, here’s Sun with the tea. Lemon or milk, David?’
Madam Ling’s mind was working furiously behind her placid mask. The poor boy was obviously smitten. He couldn’t take his eyes off Mei Li. She would have to write to his mother and suggest he returned home earlier. Lady Entwistle wouldn’t thank her if he made a misalliance with the unfortunate girl. Hopefully Mei Li would be sensible and accept Gong’s proposal, but there wasn’t much chance of that when a handsome young man was looking at her like she was the girl of his dreams.
Chapter 20
ADELE’S PIERCING LAUGHTER RANG OUT across the garden. Adele and her amah were playing Clarence and David in a knockabout tournament that had the two notoriously lazy children darting for the ball. Gong, who was rolling the lawn with the heavy roller, paused to scowl in the direction of the tennis courts. His hopes of finding a young wife to wait on him in his old age had been dashed.
Madam Ling, playing mah-jongg on the veranda with three of her oldest friends, all wealthy Chinese matrons, also looked towards the courts and smiled indulgently. Her reservations about throwing David into Mei Li’s company had proven unfounded. He always treated the native girl courteously but seemed more interested in her education than the romantic entanglement she’d been worried about. He’d taken on an ambitious project in trying to teach her to speak English, but he had involved both children in tutoring her and Mei Li was beginning to speak hesitantly.
The beneficial effect on Madam Ling’s own children’s grasp of English was particularly pleasing, as Clarence had just learnt that he had gained a place at Oxford, like his brother before him. And even Adele, a dear, sweet child but in truth the dullest of her children, was showing an interest in her language studies.
‘When are you leaving for England, Xiang?’ asked Wen, taking a tile from the wall.
‘The children and I are flying out next month. David’s parents, Sir Roland and Lady Entwistle, have invited us to stay with them until I find somewhere suitable to lease. Joseph’s tied up in negotiating rights to log a further eighty hectares of forest, but he’ll be joining us for Pau’s graduation.’
‘I’m going mah-jongg!’ screeched Chan.
The three ladies looked at Chan’s winning hand suspiciously and concentrated once more on their game.
Over on the tennis court, the doubles match had disintegrated into a heated quarrel as brother and sister hotly accused each other of cheating.
David smiled across at Mei Li. ‘Do you want to play singles?’ he asked slowly, enunciating each word carefully.
She shook her head shyly. ‘Not play good. Arm still sore.’ Adele’s superficial injuries had completely healed but Mei Li would always carry the scar from the deep bite on her shoulder.
‘I keep forgetting you’re still recuperating. You should rest up. I’ll get you a chair.’
‘Mei Li, go fetch my other racket. It’s under the bed in my room. I’ve broken a string,’ ordered Adele.
With difficulty, David held his tongue, fighting back the urge to tell her to get it herself. Mei Li’s elevation to amah was due to Adele’s intervention and he didn’t want to do anything to upset the applecart. One complaint to Madame Ling would be all it would take and the lovely girl would be back labouring in the garden.
‘I’ll play you,’ offered the plump ten year old, smiling shyly at her tall handsome tutor, hoping he’d noticed her new chic tennis frock.
David wrenched his eyes from the long-legged girl in the cheap black cotton pants and simple white tunic jogging across the lawn. ‘If you don’t mind, I think I’ll pack it in for today. I want to prepare a translation for Clarence and I have to consult my English-Chinese dictionary.’
Adele was crestfallen. She had a crush on David. It was a secret. She hadn’t told anyone, not even her amah. She’d have been surprised and shocked to learn that both the family and servants had all guessed and were amused or sympathetic according to their natures.
‘What about you and I take your brother and Mei Li on tomorrow?’
‘Okay,’ she said sulkily, but she brightened up when she saw Sun wheeling a trolley toward the court. Her disappointment was forgotten as she helped herself to a generous slice of sticky steamed fruitcake.
David walked slowly back to the house. He wanted to catch up with Mei Li but he was conscious of being watched, not only by Madam Ling but by the servants too, and he didn’t want to do anything that might make her life more difficult. Mei Li had shown spunk in turning down the old gardener’s marriage proposal, but she had earned his hatred. But it wasn’t just Gong: the other servants were clearly jealous of her privileged position in the household. They called her ‘the white amah and he’d heard them taunting her when they thought no one was around.
Only yesterday he’d hidden behind the shelves, pretending to look for a book, while he secretly watched Mei Li puzzling over the words and pictures in a beginner’s reading book. Two of the servants had come into the library carrying mops and buckets.
‘Wah, monkey think it can learn to read, lah!’ The houseboy sniggered, snatched up the primer and waved it in front of her face.
‘Give it back, you’ll tear it,’ Mei Li said. She knew she wasn’t supposed to touch the books, except to dust them.
‘Hoho,’ laughed Sun, holding the book out of reach. ‘Just because they’ve cut your tail off and put you in a uniform doesn’t mean you’re house trained.’
‘Let’s see how long you last when Mister David goes home,’ the maid gloated, her eyes shining with malice. ‘You’ll be back raking bird shit or selling coconuts at the side of the road, where you belong.’
David had taken a step toward them, his face red and angry, his blue eyes so dark they looked black. ‘How dare you speak to her like that,’ he yelled.
The servants’ jaws dropped. They took one look at Mei Li’s furious champion and without stopping to pick up thei
r buckets they scurried off. But he knew they were just biding their time. While they didn’t dare confront her now while she was the heroine of the hour, he had no doubt they were playing a waiting game. He dreaded to think what her life would be like if she ever lost Adele’s favour. David had already extended his holiday by more than a month. He knew he should leave. He was letting down his father and taking advantage of the Lings’ hospitality, but he was worried about leaving Mei Li on her own.
His father had phoned him only last night and in his tactful way suggested it was time he came home.
‘I’d like to stay on a bit longer and come back with the Lings, if that’s all right with you Pa. They haven’t set a date yet, but I imagine they’ll be flying over fairly soon. Pau is graduating next month.’
It’s a rum thing, thought Sir Roland. Anyone would think David had met a girl over there. But he didn’t say anything to his wife. He was always a firm believer in the saying, ‘Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.’
David caught up with Clarence and fell in step with him. ‘When you go to England will you be taking many of the servants?’ He asked the question casually, as if he was making conversation and didn’t have any special interest.
‘Of course, we’re taking a house for the season. You can’t expect Mother to run the household singlehandedly and you can’t get good servants in England.’
David tried not to smile. He didn’t want to show his hand but he couldn’t help himself. He was sure Adele wouldn’t want to be separated from her amah and no one in the family ever said no to the spoilt little madam. Once he got Mei Li to England he would talk to his father. He would know how to help her. He smiled brightly at his hostess, pausing to enquire who was winning. The four matrons on the veranda smiled indulgently at the gentle giant.
‘He’s a very nicely brought up young man,’ said Wen approvingly.
