Mount Emily Revisited

by Low Ying Ping

  It was the Crystal of Time calling.

  Patsy drew closer towards the crystal, sensing the power that radiated within its transparent casing as her fingers caressed it. The many shades of blue appeared to be swirling, shifting and expanding until it felt as if the entire world were shrouded in a blue mist.

  When her eyes cleared, Patsy quickly shut the box and clasped it in her trembling hands. She could still feel the pull of the crystal in her heart, in her entire body. She knew this feeling. She had felt it before, at the slope, and she would never forget it again.

  Patsy rose to her feet, thrilled at finally succeeding in sensing the crystal. She had to tell her friends immediately.

  She headed towards Wu Ji’s room, and saw that the door was closed. When had they closed it? Her heart sank, and she half-hesitated at intruding where she was clearly not wanted, but her excitement won out in the end. She flung the door open and stepped into the room…

  The room was empty. There was no sheet on the bed, and a musty smell hung in the air. It was clear no one had used this room in a long time.

  chapter twelve

  atsy was about to call out Elena’s name when she heard voices coming from outside.

  “It will get better, I promise,” a female voice was saying in a soothing tone. “When I lost Jee Kian, I thought it was the end of the world. But it did get better.”

  Jee Kian! That’s Charlotte’s father’s name! Was it just a coincidence? Patsy thought.

  “It’s not the same,” a muffled voice replied. “You had Charlotte. And now you have Ye Kang. While I—I have nothing…”

  Patsy stepped cautiously to the doorway of Wu Ji’s room and peered out. The door to Yvonne’s room was open and two women were sitting inside with their backs to her. One was petite with long, straight hair. The other was slightly more heavily built, with shoulder-length hair. The latter had her face in her hands while the long-haired lady had her arms around her companion’s shoulders.

  “My dear Yvonne, you’re still so young.” It was the soothing voice again, which seemed to have come from the long-haired lady. “Your whole life awaits you…”

  Patsy backed away from the door in shock. It was Yvonne and Min Ling. But what was going on? Hadn’t Auntie Yvonne gone for her mahjong game? She had seemed cheerful enough then, so why did she now sound like she was still reeling from the grief of losing Maggie? And what was Auntie Min Ling doing here?

  Oh no, it can’t be… Patsy thought, trying to stem her rising panic as the only possible explanation came to her: she had time travelled again. She lifted the lid of the box and pressed her palm on the crystal. Come on, take me back, she urged the crystal silently. Take me back to 1988 where my friends are! Nothing happened. She could still hear the ragged sound of Yvonne crying.

  Please…Patsy begged, on the verge of tears herself. What if she was trapped in this time forever? She would be a fugitive, a vagabond. All because of this time power of hers she could not control!

  Just as she was about to give up hope, the crystal mists swirled once again and she closed her eyes as a wave of nausea assailed her. When she recovered sufficiently to open her eyes, she saw that she was still standing in Wu Ji’s room. This time, the bed was made up and a long row of books lined the bookshelf above the study table.

  But where were Elena and Wu Ji?

  Then she realised there were voices outside. They sounded slightly distant, as if the noise was coming from downstairs. Carefully, she peeked out of the room. No one was there. She crept to the staircase and squatted at the top, then peered through the bannisters to the living room below. A small-sized, middle-aged lady with long, straight hair was standing opposite a tall, broad-shouldered man with an amiable-looking face.

  Auntie Min Ling! Yes, it was her, without a doubt. And that man…why did he look so familiar?

  “I can’t believe Charlotte was right,” Auntie Min Ling was saying in Mandarin, her voice trembling. “All you ever wanted from me was the crystal.”

  “Since you’ve found out the truth, there’s no point pretending anymore,” the man replied in Mandarin, looking earnest. “But it needn’t be the end of us. Give me the crystal, and we can rebuild the sect of the Midnight Warriors together.”

  He reached out a hand towards Min Ling, but she pulled away before he could touch her. “Never…I’m a Keeper of Time. I can never be in cahoots with a Midnight Warrior.” She fumbled with the ring on her finger, then pulled it off and flung it at him. It bounced off his chest and rolled across the marble floor. “Never again will I listen to your lies.”

  “You dare!” the man snarled, his friendly face transforming instantaneously into a picture of rage. He drew back a hand and quick as lightning slapped Min Ling across the face.

  Patsy clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a gasp.

  Min Ling stared at the man for a second, then bent down calmly and picked up her handbag from the sofa. Without a pause, she swept by him and opened the front door of the house.

  The door slammed and she was gone.

  “You will regret this,” the man mumbled to himself as he opened the door and let himself out.

  Patsy ran to the window next to the staircase and looked down. Min Ling had got into her car and driven off. The man stood on the porch for a while, then stalked off down the road.

  Patsy stood by the window, shaking with fear. What was going on? She looked pleadingly at the box in her hands, thumbing uselessly at the lid several times before finally succeeding in opening it with trembling fingers. The crystal lay quietly in the box, the blue mist moving in lazy wisps within it. Come on, Patsy thought despairingly as she pressed her hand onto the crystal. Take me back to my friends…

  For the third time in that short period, Patsy felt the pull of time power and her eyes filled with the blue whirls emanating from the crystal. When the mists cleared, the nausea was even stronger than before, and this time it didn’t go away.

  The room tipped crazily as she looked up but she could see that across from her, the door to Yvonne’s room stood ajar. Fighting the dizziness, she could make out that it was Auntie Min Ling and Yvonne Yoong in the room. Min Ling was half-reclined on the bed while Yvonne was seated next to her. Had she gone back to the earlier time when Min Ling had been comforting Yvonne after Maggie’s death?

  Patsy tried shaking off the dizziness, but it was getting worse. She pressed her palm to the crystal again, conscious that her hand was slick with cold sweat. She was terrified of where the crystal would take her next, but was even more desperate than before to get back to her friends.

  As the blue swirls swept round her again, she heard a muffled scream. Startled, she looked up and right through the mists into Min Ling’s eyes. She was staring straight at Patsy, her face contorted in pain. Can she see me? Patsy wondered. As if in answer, Min Ling gave her a strained smile and the slightest of nods. Then her face twisted and she gave a suppressed scream again.

  Fear gripped Patsy like a clamp as blue smoke enveloped her. She felt as if she were falling, falling…

  The world spun and spun and the mists billowed and turned. Patsy felt her stomach heave as the nausea caused her to retch. Take me back, she cried silently, but where was “back”? She was lost…lost in the mists of time…

  chapter thirteen

  atsy felt as if she had been adrift in the stream of time for ages. She was floating, and the mists were everywhere, dancing gracefully and reaching all around her with long, slender fingers. Take me back, she repeated dreamily, take me back.

  “Patsy…”

  What was that? She stirred from her dream-like state.

  “Patsy, where are you? Come back…”

  The sound was still faint, but she was sure she hadn’t imagined it. It was Elena’s voice, without a doubt. She focused all her might on that strong and steady voice, willing herself to go towards it.

  “Come back, Patsy, come back!”

  There was a rushing sound in her ears. The blue mi
sts whipped furiously about her and she felt as if she were falling. Then she was falling. Her knees hit the wooden floor painfully as her legs gave way beneath her.

  She leaned forward on all fours, trying to stop the room from spinning.

  “Patsy, there you are!” There was the sound of running feet and then Elena was squatting in front of her. In a moment, Wu Ji was there as well.

  “She’s so pale!” Patsy heard him say.

  Patsy grabbed blindly at Elena against the dizziness and nausea. “It was your voice,” she gasped.

  Elena made some soothing noises, and gradually Patsy calmed down. Her nausea receded and the room stopped spinning. She realised she was still in the upstairs living room, near the window. She looked up straight in front of her, but Yvonne’s room was empty.

  “What happened?” Elena asked, helping Patsy up and leading her over to the sofa. “We came out of Wu Ji’s room and you weren’t outside. We searched all over the house, including downstairs, but couldn’t find you. Then we heard a noise upstairs and there you were! Why were you hiding?”

  “Did you call out for me to come back while you were searching?” Patsy asked as she sank down onto the sofa gratefully and began massaging her throbbing knees.

  “I guess we both did. I thought you were annoyed at being left alone so I called you to come back, in case you were already outside the house and going off.”

  “You both called me?” Patsy stopped rubbing her knees and stared at her friend. “But I heard only your voice. It was you—you brought me back!”

  Elena looked puzzled. “Huh? What do you mean ‘brought you back’?”

  Patsy took several deep breaths, bracing herself to relive what she had just seen. Finally, in broken sentences and with some tears, she explained what had happened and what she had witnessed, scene by harrowing scene.

  Wu Ji and Elena sat on each side of Patsy in solemn silence, listening to her.

  “Patsy went to three different times and witnessed three different scenes,” Wu Ji said when she had finished. “We need to figure out what happened when.”

  Patsy nodded, but she couldn’t bring herself to analyse the scenes just then. She could still see the anguish in Min Ling’s face and hear the scream echoing in her head. Was that the result of her failure to rescue Min Ling in time? Why…she thought despairingly. Why did Charlotte have to choose me to do this? I can’t…I can’t…

  “Wait!” Elena said excitedly. “We’re missing the point. Patsy, you did it! You activated the Crystal of Time! Do you know what this means? You’re a true Keeper of Time! Now we can think of how to use the crystal to rescue Charlotte and Auntie Min Ling!”

  Patsy looked at the plain black box in her hand. Who would imagine that something so ordinary-looking could contain such power? She could feel it radiating from within now, effortlessly. She felt a momentary sense of exhilaration, then remembered the feeling of terror and utter loneliness as she had swirled within the mists of time. She shoved the box at Wu Ji. “I can’t. You’d better take it. It’s too dangerous with me. I can’t control my power. I simply can’t. If not for Elena, I don’t know if I would even have been able to come back.”

  Elena clicked her tongue in exasperation. “You wanted so much to be a Keeper of Time. Now you don’t even want to be responsible for the crystal or use your power. What’s wrong with you?”

  Patsy looked at Elena’s annoyed expression and wanted to cry. Elena was right. What was wrong with her? Everything, as usual.

  “It’s okay,” Wu Ji said loudly. “Give her some time. I’ll keep this for now.” He stood up and walked over to his shelf of books. Pulling out several volumes, he hid the box at the back of the shelf, then replaced the books.

  “Funny, isn’t it,” he mused, fingering the spines of the books. “My mum bought these sword-fighting novels for me to read, since I’ve nothing to do while I try to regain my so-called lost memory. More than twenty years later, these same books will be given to me again by my mum, except that she doesn’t know her son is the same homeless boy she took in years ago. There’s so much of my history in there, they’ve become some of my most precious possessions.”

  “Are you ever going to tell your mum the truth?” Patsy felt her problems receding slightly as she was drawn into Wu Ji’s story. She guessed he was deliberately changing the topic to let her recover from her ordeal, and she thanked him in her heart.

  “I don’t know,” Wu Ji said. “She’s quite a simple person. Books, TV, mahjong, school… Her world is so set and organised I think she’ll just flip out if she knew about all this time travel business.”

  “That’s almost exactly what Maggie said too,” Elena grinned.

  At that moment, the doorbell rang.

  “Speak of the devil,” Wu Ji said, smiling as he rose to go downstairs to open the door.

  Maggie flopped down onto the downstairs living room sofa the moment she entered. “I’m dog-tired!” she sighed dramatically, blowing out her cheeks.

  Patsy and Elena had followed Wu Ji downstairs.

  “What happened? Tell us!” Patsy urged, as the group settled down on the spacious three-plus-two seater sofa set.

  “Can we get some dinner first? I’m starving,” Maggie complained.

  “My mum has ordered pizza,” Wu Ji said. “It should be enough for all of us. Come on, you might as well tell us what happened while we’re waiting for the pizza.”

  Maggie put a hand to her forehead and took a deep breath, then burst out laughing. Patsy smiled too, though she didn’t know what the joke was. She couldn’t help remembering the original Maggie—plump and cheerful and prone to giggles. Here she was, in Joyce’s trim and neat body, but she was still the same.

  “Come on, what is it?” Elena was conveniently seated next to Maggie and gave her a friendly but persistent prod on her shoulder.

  “So, I waited in Charlotte’s flat for Mabel to arrive, right?” Maggie said. “But who should walk into the flat but Mabel, her brother Patrick and her mum! It seems her mum had offered to give Mabel a lift, and her brother came along too because he was going to be dropped off at a poetry recital or something.”

  “Oh, I wish I was there to see Uncle Pat too!” Patsy sighed wistfully.

  “Oh, he was really odd. He was very upset about missing his poetry recital, which he had to because Mabel’s mum practically went hysterical when she saw the flat. She insisted that we all go to the police station together. We were there for ages, telling our story to different officers and getting our statements recorded. We only just finished. I’m so exhausted.”

  “Wait a minute…” Wu Ji interrupted. “Uncle Pat… poetry recital…” He turned to Patsy. “Is your uncle the famous poet Patrick Seng?”

  Patsy nodded, delighted. “Oh, you’ve heard of him?”

  “I’m a big fan!” said Wu Ji. “I own every single book he’s ever written!”

  “That’s so nice,” Patsy said, thinking that even she did not bother to purchase all her uncle’s books. “I’m his fan too!” she boasted, and that much was true. Although she hardly read her uncle’s poems, she was immensely fond and proud of him.

  “Which is your favourite poem?” Wu Ji asked eagerly.

  “Err…” Patsy tried to think, but the only poem she could remember was the one she had to memorise in school as part of the compulsory reading programme— the one which Patrick thought had been inspired by his sister. “One of his earliest poems,” she finally said. “The one beginning ‘Like Spring but not Spring, the leaves fall again—’”

  “Oh, the first poem in the poem cycle, ‘Thirteen moons’! I like that one too. In fact, I like his early style best. My favourite is one of his early poems too. You know the one entitled ‘That Pair of Eyes’? He’s not yet written it, of course, since he’s only seventeen now, but you would know it.”

  “Oh yes, of course,” Patsy mumbled. “I er…know that one very well too.” She knew nothing of the sort, so what had made her lie like that just t
o impress Wu Ji? She regretted it immediately, but it was too late to retract it without seeming like a fool. The truth was that she did not really read a lot of Chinese books—whether stories or poems. In fact, the only Chinese she read outside of her school curriculum was sword-fighting novels, simply because the Chinese pugilistic world of adventure and honour fascinated her, but she didn’t want Wu Ji to think poorly of her. Anyway, what harm could her little lie do? The first thing she would do when she went back to 2016 would be to read all her uncle’s poems, she promised herself.

  “Do you know who he wrote the poem for?” Wu Ji asked, leaning closer to Patsy in his enthusiasm. “Your uncle never married, right? So who’s the mystery lady in the poem?”

  “Er…hmm…that’s something I’ll have to ask my uncle when I see him again,” Patsy said. She felt her cheeks growing hot as she realised with some shame how little she knew about her famous uncle.

  “Okay, enough of the fanboy talk,” Elena said. “Patsy, you should tell Maggie about your adventure this afternoon too.”

  Maggie perked up. “What adventure?”

  Patsy gulped, but she knew she could not avoid the discussion of what she had seen forever. “I managed to activate the crystal and travelled to three different times in a row,” she said bashfully.

  Maggie shook her head in astonishment. “You managed to make three successful time-travel trips in a row, just like that? And we’re not even at the centre of time power! Even I never dared to attempt something like that! Not even a single trip!”

  “It was an accident,” Patsy said, feeling all doom and gloom instead of the exhilaration that Maggie seemed to think she should be experiencing. “You’re much better than me. You managed to transport your consciousness on purpose, while I wouldn’t be able to repeat my feat if I tried.”

  “Who knows? Maybe you can?” Maggie said, and Patsy shot her a dour look.

  “Let’s go through the scenes,” Wu Ji proposed. “Patsy, can you tell Maggie again what you saw in the first scene?”