by P J Tierney
He was actually relieved when he slipped again and passed three or four steps in one go. He toyed with the idea of holding his body rigid and surfing all the way down, but the grazes from that small slip made him think it probably wasn’t a good idea.
Eventually he felt the gravel of the path under his hands instead of the stone step. He had made it. He celebrated by collapsing face-first in the ground. He lay still for a minute, his shoulders and wrists burning in agony. He had no idea how he was going to get up.
A pair of feet came into view. ‘You all right there?’ It was Wing.
‘No,’ Jamie said, his voice muffled.
‘I’m not surprised,’ Wing said. ‘No-one makes it on their first go.’
‘Now you tell me.’
Wing hauled Jamie to his feet and brushed away the footprint on the back of his shirt. ‘It looks like someone used you as a doormat,’ he said as he glared in Cheng’s direction.
‘You could have warned me,’ Jamie said, picking at some stones embedded in his hand.
‘Nah,’ Wing said, wincing as he stretched his arms and shoulders, ‘didn’t want to scare you off.’
Jamie looked back up the steep stairway. ‘Must have been a special sort of evil to come up with that.’
‘Sure was,’ said Wing. ‘Cheng. Although he got the idea from Shaolin — they use it to weed out the weak ones.’
Jamie got a sinking feeling in his stomach. ‘Has Cheng trained at Shaolin?’ He figured that, sooner or later, he’d be on the wrong side of that training.
Wing shrugged. ‘So he says. But I reckon he did the half-hour tourist stopover with his grandma.’
Jamie laughed, but only after checking that Cheng wasn’t close enough to hear.
Later that morning Jamie arrived in the dining pavilion to find Mrs Choo swatting at the rafters with a broom. ‘Bring that back here!’ she shouted.
Jamie had a sinking feeling that he knew who she was yelling at. Sure enough, Jet was perched among the roof beams, gorging on a bowl of steamed peanuts. Jamie’s cheeks burned. ‘Come down!’ he cried.
The monkey grinned and kept eating.
‘Jet,’ Jamie hissed.
‘Don’t worry,’ Wing said as he ladled a huge scoop of congee into a bowl and topped it off with shredded lettuce then fried bread. ‘No-one eats those peanuts anyway.’
‘Speak for yourself,’ Cheng said.
Jamie cringed. ‘Jet, please.’ But the monkey didn’t budge.
‘Here, eat your breakfast,’ Mrs Choo said, handing him a bowl of congee. And although she put the broom down, Jamie couldn’t help but notice she glared at Jet each time she passed by.
Jet ate noisily and Lucy was clearly revolted by the sound. Jamie wanted to slink beneath the table. And then when Jamie thought it couldn’t get any worse, Jet started throwing the peanuts at Cheng.
Jamie jumped up to block them before they hit. ‘Stop it!’ he yelled.
Master Wu arrived just as Cheng launched a chopstick into the rafters. Luckily his aim was nowhere near as good as Jade’s and it missed Jet entirely.
‘Cheng,’ Master Wu reprimanded, and Cheng’s cheeks flared. Jamie took a small and subtle step away from him.
Master Wu held his arm up to the roof beams. He looked intently at the monkey and Jet seemed mesmerised. After a moment, he swung down and perched on Master Wu’s arm.
‘You might want to put him in your room,’ Master Wu said. ‘He may be a little distracting during training.’
Jamie scurried Jet from the dining pavilion and from Cheng’s reach too. He heard Wing whisper as he passed by, ‘I love that monkey.’
After settling Jet into Wing’s room, Jamie caught up with the others at the edge of the bamboo forest.
Lucy busied herself by retying the pink ribbons at the ends of her braids, and Cheng did push-ups. Wing rolled his eyes at both of them, which made Jamie grin. Jade stood off to the side, staring into the distance and picking at her fingernails.
Jamie nudged Wing. ‘Is she always like that?’
Wing shook his head. ‘Let’s hope it lasts till Wednesday though. You don’t want to know what she has us do for morning training.’
‘Where’s Sifu Fan?’ Edwin asked.
Jamie was looking around for Mr Fan when he noticed a strange haze-like shimmer forming in the middle of the training field. He pointed it out to Wing, who tapped Lucy on the shoulder, who elbowed Edwin, and soon the whole class was staring. The opaque haze gradually changed to a brilliant white. It got so bright they had to shield their eyes. When they looked back, Mr Fan was standing in the circle of light.
‘Whoa,’ said Bruce, which was quickly echoed by the others.
Mr Fan seemed pleased with the reaction. ‘That, dear trainees,’ he said as he waved them into the bamboo forest, ‘is called Riding the Way. Pay attention and the many secrets of the universe will be revealed to you.’
‘To some of us anyway,’ Cheng snarled as he nudged Jamie out of the way.
Deep within the bamboo forest, they sat beneath the canopy and connected with their guides. There was an urgency in the way Mr Fan pleaded for them to concentrate. To really connect. He sat close by, keeping watch. Like the others, Jamie sat cross-legged, palms facing upwards, eyes closed. He risked a peek to check he was doing it right and copied the serene expressions of his fellow trainees. While they made connection with their guides, Jamie pictured a diagram of the Johnson 25 four-stroke outboard engine. In his mind, he pulled apart and rebuilt the engine four times — anything to distract him. If Master Wu was right and Zheng was his spirit guide, Jamie certainly wasn’t about to risk connecting with him.
When Mr Fan declared them done and they were making their way out of the bamboo forest, Jamie asked Wing if he’d connected.
‘Nope,’ he said. ‘For a minute, I thought I had, but it turned out to be my stomach rumbling.’
It was kung fu next — the class Jamie had been waiting for since the moment he’d first heard the words ‘Chia Wu’. He was thrilled to learn kung fu from the legendary, elusive and, except for that one time Jamie’s mother beat him, undefeated Master Wu.
But when they arrived on the terrace in front of the Grand Pagoda, it wasn’t Master Wu who stood on the stairs waiting to lead them. It was Cheng.
‘You’re kidding,’ Jamie said. ‘He leads kung fu?’
‘Yeah,’ Wing said. ‘He trained at Shaolin, remember?’
‘Very funny. I thought Master Wu would be training us.’
‘He does the complex stuff. The senior trainee takes us for the routines.’
Cheng removed his shirt and flexed and stretched. It was obvious to everyone except Jade that it was all for her benefit. Jamie dreaded whatever humiliation Cheng had in store for him.
‘Don’t worry,’ Wing whispered, ‘he’ll pass the gate soon. We won’t have to worry about him much longer.’
Jamie’s heart seemed to stop. ‘What did you say?’
‘We won’t have to worry about him —’
‘No, about the gate. What did you say about the gate?’
Wing looked puzzled. ‘Passing the gate — it’s how we graduate. You have to challenge the rest of the trainees in battle for the right to take your place in the world. It’s all a bit staged really — no-one ever fails. Although when it comes to Cheng, if it didn’t mean he’d have to stay, I reckon a few of us would team up and make him fail.’
Jamie wasn’t listening any more; his mind was racing towards his mother. There are no coincidences, Mr Fan had said. The gate must mean something.
But first there was kung fu to endure.
Chapter 25
The class, and the torment, began with stretches. Jamie took a position alongside Wing at a timber frame mounted into the ground that had rungs from about Jamie’s waist height to above his head. The objective, he quickly realised, was to place your foot on the highest rung you could manage and lean in to stretch the muscles all the way down the back of the legs. Jamie t
hought he was doing well to get his foot up to a rung at his shoulder height. But Cheng came over, grabbed his ankle and lifted his foot right up to the top rung. Jamie had to hop to keep his balance and his muscles and tendons stretched so far he felt sure they would tear.
He breathed through the pain and shuffled his supporting leg back to reduce the stretch. Cheng placed his foot across Jamie’s heel and rammed his foot forwards, forcing Jamie closer to the rack. His tendons resisted every millimetre. When his foot would go no further, Cheng put his hand on Jamie’s lower back and slammed him against the rungs. The scream caught in Jamie’s throat. He wasn’t about to cry in front of the Warriors of the Way.
When Cheng moved on, Jamie inched back, panting through the searing pain. When Cheng called for them to change legs, Jamie took a second to clutch at his burning thigh before he put his other foot up on the ladder. When Cheng came over, the torture was much, much worse because this time Jamie knew what to expect.
‘You’ll get used to it,’ Wing whispered after Cheng called an end to the exercise.
Jamie huddled on the ground, clutching at his thighs. ‘How long till he passes the gate?’ he asked.
‘One year, three months and two and a half weeks,’ Lucy said, overhearing. ‘Not that any of us is counting.’
The class gathered on the terrace.
Cheng snapped, ‘Chinese students up front. The rest of you to the back.’
Jamie paused for a fraction of a second to wonder where he fitted. Cheng spotted the hesitation.
‘Don’t even think about coming to the front, Reign.’ He pointed. ‘All the way to the back.’
Although it was an insult, Jamie was relieved as he took his place in the back row beside Edwin.
Cheng led them through a series of complicated warm-up sequences. Jamie turned left when he should have gone right, seemed to start on the wrong foot every time, and was out of sync with everyone else. He backed into Edwin at one stage and accidentally kicked Lucy later on. Both pretended it hadn’t happened. Edwin did his best to whisper directions, but Cheng was watching and waiting to pounce. Jamie figured he must look like a complete idiot, floundering about like a fish out of water.
After an eternity, Cheng moved on to drills. ‘Spar position!’ he shouted, and the students jumped into a fighting stance. ‘Front kick. Go!’
Jamie knew what he was doing here. He kicked with his back leg, making sure his foot was square when it was at its highest point. Cheng kicked with them, and there was no doubt about the force of his kicks. His training pants whipped with each one. He counted to one hundred before they swapped legs. One hundred kicks with the other leg were followed by punches, then blocks.
‘In pairs!’ shouted Cheng.
Jamie turned to Edwin, but Cheng said, ‘Bruce, you take the new boy.’
Jamie’s heart sank. Bruce was big, quick and a friend of Cheng’s. It was clear from the look on his face that he didn’t want to be up the back with Jamie.
Cheng shouted, ‘Front kick to low blocks. Spar position. Go!’
Bruce lashed out before Jamie was ready. Instinctively he jumped back, but not quite fast enough. Bruce’s kick found his ribs and he fell backwards. Jamie was mortified when he realised he was the only one on the ground. He brushed himself down and took his position opposite Bruce.
‘Don’t wait for him, Bruce, go, go!’ Cheng shouted.
Bruce kicked again. Jamie blocked, but not strongly enough. The kick landed, but this time Jamie managed to stay upright.
‘Again!’ shouted Cheng.
It continued like this through four more falls, sixteen kicks to the ribs and ten halfway reasonable blocks.
‘Other leg. Spar position. Go!’
If anything, Bruce’s left leg was stronger than his right. Jamie hit the dirt more times than he was left standing. He was sure Cheng was smirking.
‘Swap now!’ Cheng shouted, and everyone took the chance to catch their breath as they adjusted their positions. ‘Spar position. Go!’
Jamie kicked out, desperate to show Bruce he wasn’t a pushover. Bruce swatted away his best effort as if shooing away a fly. Jamie tried harder. He concentrated all his energy into his leg and lashed out. Again a quick flick from Bruce and Jamie was off balance. He stumbled, but managed to recover. Throughout the entire exercise, Bruce barely raised a sweat.
Cheng called for the class to stop, but said to Jamie, ‘You obviously need the practice. Continue.’
The rest of the trainees got to rest as they watched Jamie square up to Bruce. Jamie mustered every bit of energy he could and kicked. Bruce swatted his leg away and Jamie fell face-first in the dirt, again. The dust stuck to his sweaty face. No-one laughed, but Jamie knew he looked ridiculous.
He brushed the dirt from his shirt and his face in vicious, angry strokes, trying hard to contain the anger that was bursting to get out. He took his position, closed his eyes for a second and breathed deeply, harnessing whatever energy he could. Then he kicked. He felt all the energy in his body run into his leg, then down to his foot. He felt his heel connect with Bruce’s head and he pushed through the resistance. Bruce fell and Jamie followed through to land his kick. He was upright and he was jubilant!
Jamie looked around, expecting some sort of acknowledgment. Instead, his classmates were staring wide-eyed at the lake beyond. Jamie cringed. He guessed from their reaction what he had done.
A squadron of silver orbs charged across the lake towards them. They made a noise like a roaring furnace and travelled at such speed they left a wake on the glassy surface.
The trainees shuffled back and Jamie stood between them and the orbs to try to protect them.
The orbs were just seconds from hitting them when two things happened. Cheng grabbed Jamie by the throat, and Master Wu appeared out of nowhere and screamed, ‘Jamie!’
The silver orbs vanished, leaving a smell like the burning from his welder in the air.
Cheng released his grip and Jamie dropped to the ground. He clutched at his throat, struggling to breathe. From behind him, he heard someone say, ‘Whoa.’ It might have been Edwin.
Mr Fan suddenly appeared. Master Wu shouted, ‘To the mountainside. We will meet him there. Take the high ground, Yulong. Backs to the sun!’
Mr Fan herded them away. The students looked at each other in confusion.
‘Quickly!’ Master Wu shouted, but as Jamie went to follow, he grabbed hold of his shirt. ‘Not you.’ Then he bellowed, ‘Mrs Choo!’ A very red-faced, out-of-breath Mrs Choo scurried up the path towards them, wiping her hands on her apron.
‘I saw the Summons,’ she said, her eyes darting every which way till she spotted Wing on the mountain. ‘Where do you want me?’
‘Where were you standing?’ Master Wu asked Jamie urgently.
Jamie was puzzled and nervous. ‘Um, just there.’ He pointed to some scuff-marks on the ground.
Mrs Choo stood on the marks. ‘Conjure an orb,’ Master Wu ordered. Jamie didn’t know whether he was talking to him or Mrs Choo. Master Wu looked at him and saw the confused expression on his face. ‘An orb, Jamie,’ he said gently. ‘Conjure one, please.’
Jamie bit his lip. He’d only done it under pressure and always accidentally. He had no idea how to do it on cue. ‘Concentrate,’ Master Wu said. ‘Call on the Way, draw it to you.’
Jamie squeezed his eyes shut, tensed every muscle and tried to call on the energy around him. He peeped out, but nothing had happened. He tried even harder; he felt the blood vessels in his neck bulge with the effort. Still nothing.
Master Wu waved at him to stop. ‘I’ll do it,’ he said. He held his hand out in front of him, palm up, and took a deep breath. His palm started to turn red, then a shimmering haze appeared just above it, which turned into a glowing orb.
Mrs Choo rubbed her hands together and held them out to Master Wu. He passed the orb to her. ‘It’ll last only a few minutes,’ he said. ‘Let’s hope he gets here fast.’
Master Wu pointed Jam
ie to the mountain. ‘Go.’
Jamie ran. He looked back to see Mrs Choo passing the orb from hand to hand and cackling with what sounded like evil delight. Master Wu seemed to become translucent, then disappeared in front of his eyes.
Jamie scurried up the mountain, stumbling and slipping in his haste.
At a spot near the peak, Mr Fan had arranged the Warriors into a fighting formation. He was in front. Jade, Wing and Bruce formed a flank on one side, Cheng, Lucy and Edwin on the other.
Jamie clawed his way towards them. Mr Fan hauled him the final few steps and put him in the middle of the group. Then Mr Fan signalled and the students hid in the thick undergrowth.
Jamie crouched down among the ferns and undergrowth. He could see Wing on one side of him and Bruce on the other. Wing’s jaw was clenched tight and his eyes were locked onto his mother.
Jamie’s senses were on high alert. He stayed frozen except for his eyes, which darted all around, seeking the first signs of heat haze to show where Zheng might come from.
Jamie swallowed. He felt hot and sick. He had done this. His Summons had shown Zheng where they were. He had betrayed them all. Tears of anger and humiliation welled in his eyes. He bit on his lip to stop it from trembling.
They waited and watched as the orb in Mrs Choo’s hands slowly faded.
‘Get her out of there,’ Wing whispered, although his lips barely moved.
‘Won’t be long now,’ Mr Fan said.
There was an audible intake of breath as those around him prepared to fight.
They waited and their muscles grew sore. It felt like hours passed by.
Eventually Mrs Choo turned to the mountain and shrugged.
Master Wu reappeared beside her and waved the Warriors down from their positions.
Wing was first from his hiding spot and he dashed towards his mother. The rest of them followed, stretching their arms and legs to get the circulation flowing again. Jamie stood too, but he couldn’t look at any of them. He wiped his nose and eyes on his shirt sleeve and lurked behind the trees. But Cheng saw him. He lunged and got Jamie with a roundhouse kick to the jaw. Jamie spun and saw stars.
