Jamie Reign

by P J Tierney

  ‘Have you got a hammer?’ he asked the captain.

  ‘Give it to me,’ Lucy said. ‘I didn’t just pay the price of a small house for something you’re about to smash.’

  She twisted and turned the orb, shook it and prised it, and wedged her nails into the seam. ‘So about that hammer?’ she said.

  Wing opened the door a fraction to check on the men and the tide, before easing it closed again. ‘We should go,’ he said. ‘There are tools on The Swift and the tide is still going out. We don’t want to get stuck here.’

  Jamie put the orb in Lucy’s bright pink backpack and held it close to his chest. ‘Thank you,’ he said to the captain.

  ‘No, thank you,’ the captain replied as he stacked pile upon pile of Lucy’s money into his safe. He closed the door and spun the combination lock, the tumblers falling into place deep inside the steel.

  Wing opened the door to leave, then gasped and slammed it shut. ‘They’re at The Swift.’

  Jamie rushed to the door and peeped out. ‘They recognise The Swift from Sai Chun.’

  The five muscled men were involved in an animated discussion with lots of swearing. One of them made a series of gestures, sending one man into the village, one to the workshops and two back towards the lone boathouse.

  Jamie eased the door shut and slid the bolt in place. ‘They’re coming.’

  The two men on their way to the boathouse had already passed the drinkers. The last man, the biggest one, was guarding The Swift.

  ‘What do we do?’ Lucy asked.

  ‘A Summons?’ Wing said. ‘Attack them with the orbs?’

  Jamie shook his head. ‘You really want me to draw Zheng here?’

  Wing seemed to weigh the question for a minute, so Jamie answered for him. ‘No, Wing, we don’t.’

  ‘Jamie, you should Ride the Way,’ Lucy said. ‘Get the jade orb back to Master Wu. He’ll know how to open it.’

  ‘And leave you two to face Zheng when it draws him here?’

  ‘We’re not entirely useless,’ Lucy said, then shot Wing a nervous smile. ‘Well, I’m not.’ But it didn’t raise a reaction from him.

  ‘I’m not leaving you,’ Jamie said. ‘Besides, I know I can Ride the Way, but I don’t know how. I think I’ve got to be nearly dead before it happens.’

  He looked around the boathouse. The captain was in salvage, which meant he’d have to deal with some less than honourable colleagues. There must be some kind of escape route.

  ‘I don’t suppose there’s another way out?’ Jamie asked him.

  The captain grinned and tapped his foot on the hardwood floor. ‘Hope you can swim.’

  He raised a trapdoor. Water lapped less than a metre below, a purple, oily sheen coating its surface. Old nets caught on the boathouse stilts had trapped weed and rubbish and rotting fish. It stank.

  Lucy leaned over the hole. ‘No way,’ she said.

  Jamie estimated the distance from the trapdoor to The Swift. It was too exposed for them to swim it undetected.

  ‘I don’t suppose —’ he started, but the captain was already holding out dive masks and tanks.

  ‘Three sets?’ Jamie asked.

  ‘Four,’ the captain said. ‘I’m coming too.’ Jamie opened his mouth to argue, but the captain cut him off. ‘You’re taking me to get my boat back.’

  Jamie weighed his options: five men trained in martial arts versus the wrath of his father when he found out Jamie had lost The Seabird. He reached for a dive tank, but the captain held it just beyond his grasp. The captain raised his eyebrows and waited.

  Jamie sighed. ‘I accept your line,’ he said.

  Chapter 30

  Jamie helped Lucy sling the dive tank over her Chia Wu shirt and fitted her mask and mouthpiece. The captain did the same for Wing.

  ‘Focus on your breath, don’t pant, fill your lungs and stay close to me,’ Jamie told his friends.

  Lucy looked into the filthy water and whimpered.

  Jamie slung her backpack across his chest and lowered himself into the tepid, smelly water. Lucy put her toe in, then quickly pulled it out again. Jamie grabbed her leg and yanked on it. She got the message and lowered herself all the way in. Jamie could tell she was about to squeal at how disgusting it was, but he held his finger over his mouth and pointed through the stilts. Two pairs of black canvas boots stood only metres away.

  Wing came down next, followed by the captain, who closed the trapdoor behind him. Jamie motioned for them to put their regulators in their mouths, then he gave them the thumbs up and they went under.

  The water was the colour of strong tea and Jamie had the revolting thought that he was swimming through urine. He swallowed his disgust and dug his hands into the slimy seabed to pull himself along. He checked on Lucy; her eyes were wide and frenzied. He felt her hand grab his leg as she hitched a ride. The thought of sinking her hand into the slimy filth was obviously too much.

  The four of them slid under the first dock and beneath the barnacle-covered hulls of the fishing trawlers. The murky water obscured their vision, making progress slow. They bumped into pylons and each other. A slimy, rotting fish carcass brushed up against Jamie. He quickly pulled it away before it floated anywhere near Lucy. That, he feared, would be the end of her.

  Eventually they popped up on the other side of the trawlers. Lucy instantly pulled out her regulator and spat out any trace of the foul water. Jamie indicated they should stay low in the water. He edged around a trawler and spotted the man guarding The Swift. He was big. He had his back to Jamie and every bulge in his shoulders and neck was distinct. Jamie bit his bottom lip; there had to be a way past him.

  He ran through the little he’d learned from The Art of War: choose the place to fight; use deception; don’t go into battle unless you have to; and the key one that had stayed with him since seeing Mr Fan rescue Bohai — if you do fight, make it quick and make it decisive.

  The man turned around and Jamie ducked under the water, but not before seeing the man’s face. He recognised it. It was the same man who’d tried to strangle Bohai. A rage swelled inside him that quickly turned into a plan. Jamie was smiling when he popped up beside his friends.

  Lucy and Wing listened to Jamie’s whispered instructions. He could tell by their expressions that they thought it was doomed to failure.

  ‘Can you get The Swift started?’ Jamie asked the captain.

  He nodded. ‘That’s the least of your concerns though.’

  Lucy agreed. ‘The flying kick only works if your opponent can’t see you,’ she said. ‘He’s going to see me as soon as I get out of the water.’

  Jamie nodded. ‘It’s important he does. Trust me, Lucy.’ He gave the Hello Kitty backpack to Wing. ‘You know what to do.’

  Jamie counted down on his fingers. On the third finger, the three Warriors of the Way took a breath and went beneath the surface. They made for the end of the dock, Jamie and Wing diving a little lower than Lucy. Together, they pushed up from the seabed and launched Lucy into the air. She landed on the dock, screamed a loud, ‘Hiya!’ and charged at the man.

  Jamie scrambled up onto the dock in time to see her launch into the flying kick. She was magnificent, her front leg straight and braced by the other, her foot squared ready for impact. Her torso was upright and her eyes were locked onto the man.

  Lucy was right: the man had all the time in the world to position himself to deflect her kick. He took a stance, timed her approach and waited. Meanwhile, Jamie was hunched low and charging along the dock behind her. At the last second, he dropped to his knees and slid underneath Lucy and her flying kick with his arm pulled back to strike.

  As the man blocked Lucy’s kick and sent her flying into the water, Jamie struck. He swung his whole torso into the strike and hit the man just below the waist, right where Mr Fan had broken his pelvis. The man’s eyes bulged, then he crumbled. He didn’t even have breath to cry out.

  Jamie left the man writhing on the dock and retrieved Lucy from the
water. She slapped at him. ‘You knew he’d do that,’ she spluttered.

  The captain and Wing climbed aboard The Swift. The captain took the bridge while Wing cleared the mooring lines. Jamie and Lucy scrambled on just as the vessel pulled away from the dock. Jamie slumped against the bulkhead, breathing deeply and clutching Lucy’s backpack.

  ‘Look at your knees,’ Wing said.

  They were shredded and bleeding from his skid along the dock. But the real damage, he suspected, was to Lucy. No matter how much she flapped her arms, or spat, or heaved, she couldn’t rid herself of the taste of that putrid water.

  They cleaned themselves up as best they could, and Jamie shared the few clothes on board. Lucy managed to look good in one of Hector’s flannelette shirts, with a sweater tied around her waist.

  As the sun sank below the horizon, Jamie and his friends sat on the deck of The Swift. Jamie carefully removed the orb from the backpack and tried again to open it. He swung a hammer at it, but it ricocheted off without leaving a trace on the ancient stone. He edged a hacksaw blade into the seam, but the stone was so hard it dulled the blade. The only way to open it, they concluded, was to figure out the sequence of the tumbling ball bearings.

  ‘It’s like a safe,’ Lucy said. ‘We need to listen for the clicks when the ball bearings fall into place.’

  ‘But there are no numbers on the orb,’ Jamie said. ‘How do we know how far to turn?’

  Both boys looked at Lucy.

  ‘Why are you asking me?’ she said.

  Wing answered. ‘Well, unlike me or Jamie, you probably own a safe.’

  Lucy flashed a mischievous smile. ‘Or two,’ she said.

  Jamie sighed and picked up the orb. If only he could open it. He examined the orb again — the stars, the dragons playing around the equator. But if there was a pattern to rotating the halves, he had no idea how to find it.

  It was dark now and a chill rose off the water. They each sat with their own thoughts, occasionally reaching for the orb to twist it or to try to see something new in its features.

  ‘What do you think’s in there?’ Wing asked.

  Jamie took the orb from him. ‘My spirit guide,’ he said.

  Wing looked at it. ‘The Great Guide? In there?’

  Jamie nodded. ‘Where do you hide something from Remote Viewers?’

  ‘Underwater,’ Wing answered.

  They sat in silence again, then Wing voiced what had been worrying Jamie since he held the orb. ‘Do you think Zheng knows it’s been found?’

  Jamie shook his head. ‘I doubt those men would have left with just the disc if he did.’

  ‘Still,’ Wing said, ‘the quicker we get back to Chia Wu the better.’

  Chapter 31

  Jamie took the bridge as they approached Sai Chun. Even in the dark, he knew the features of the bay: the ruined temple silhouetted on top of the headland, the jagged formations on the other. He took his bearings to approach the Gate and noticed the glowing ember of an incense stick in the temple; the ghost was in tonight.

  Wing shivered and goosebumps formed on his arms. ‘Whoa,’ he said, ‘did it just get cold in here?’

  Jamie shook his head and showed his own goosebump-free arm. ‘I wish I’d brought Jet,’ he said.

  Wing said quietly, ‘I’ve got your back.’ Then he added, ‘Until my mum finds out you took me to fight Zheng’s men, then you’re on your own.’

  Jamie grinned and closed his eyes to View the familiar rocks below the sea’s surface. He squeezed The Swift through the Gate and headed towards the dock at the far end. The village was mostly dark, with only the stars and the light from Feng Chow’s shop reflected in the bay.

  ‘There she is!’ the captain said, seeing his trawler at the mooring.

  Jamie brought The Swift alongside the dock and cut the engines.

  ‘It’s quiet,’ Wing said.

  That quiet was quickly broken by a lone voice. It was Feng Chow, lurking at the end of the pier. ‘Jamie, you’re back. Who’s that with you?’

  ‘Some friends,’ Jamie said as Feng came up to the side. Jamie tossed him the line and Feng put it over the bollard.

  The captain was first to disembark. He ruffled Jamie’s hair as he passed. ‘Nice doing business with you,’ he said.

  ‘Come with me,’ Feng said. ‘Your dad’s back. He wants to see you.’

  Jamie tensed. Was it really his father who had returned, or the rogue spirit that had possessed him? Jamie wasn’t in a hurry to find out either way.

  ‘Come on, he’s waiting.’ Feng sounded impatient.

  ‘Okay,’ Jamie said. ‘I just need to check —’

  ‘Now,’ Feng snapped, and Jamie baulked. ‘Sorry, it’s just … well, you know how Hector can be.’

  Jamie tied off the front line, then told his friends he’d be right back.

  The Seabird started up and pulled away. Jamie hoped it would be clear of the Gate before Hector saw it was gone.

  Feng walked beside him, way too close for comfort. Feng glanced at him from the corner of his eye and angled himself in a way that herded Jamie towards the shop. Feng kept babbling about Hector and how well he looked, and how good it was to have him back, which instantly raised Jamie’s suspicions. He wondered if Feng had been drinking.

  At the verandah, Feng dropped back, letting Jamie go up the stairs on his own.

  ‘You’re not coming?’ Jamie said.

  Feng’s lips curled in a mirthless smile. Jamie eased away from him and reached for the screen door. Feng’s smile grew wider. Jamie paused with his hand on the door and looked down. On the floor, partially hidden by the table, lay an intricately carved box. Torn remnants of electrical tape were stuck to its lid and sides. The tape Jade had used to lock Zheng’s Remote Viewer inside. Very slowly, Jamie realised that Feng must have gone looking for whatever he thought Jamie had thrown overboard. And if he had opened the box …

  Jamie looked at his friend. He could tell by his eyes and the sneer on his face that he wasn’t Feng Chow any more.

  ‘You should have told them about Feng, Jamie. As soon as he saw how you melted that tablecloth, he knew you were his ticket out of here. One way or another.’ He leered at Jamie. ‘If only you told them, then he wouldn’t have had to come looking for me.’

  Jamie leaped from the verandah, twisted in the air and slammed a spinning kick to Feng’s jaw. His head snapped back and he slumped unconscious to the ground. Jamie ran. He charged through the square and past the Leungs’ house. At the dock, he screamed, ‘Start the engines!’ and leaped aboard, pulling at the mooring line as he landed. The line didn’t budge. He yanked at it, then looked closely. Feng had looped it in a half-hitch when he put it over the bollard, and now The Swift had pulled it tight on itself. They weren’t going anywhere.

  Jamie scanned the village, seeking help. There was not a soul to be seen.

  ‘Keep watch,’ Jamie told Lucy and Wing. ‘I’ve got to View the shop.’

  He closed his eyes and concentrated. He let his mind View inside Feng’s shop. Hector and the villagers were huddled against the far wall, all staring in terror at a man standing before them. The man had his back to Jamie’s View. He wore a black leather tunic over his robes and a helmet of the same colour. Jamie recognised the outfit: it was the same as the Remote Viewer’s. Yet this one was more elaborate, with rivets of gold and the helmet topped with a spike.

  This was not one of Zheng’s men. This was Zheng himself.

  He rubbed at the back of his neck where the helmet and leather met. He knew he was being Viewed.

  Jamie snapped back to his body. ‘Zheng’s here,’ he gasped.

  ‘Oh man,’ said Lucy. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

  ‘It’s too late — he knows.’

  The door of Feng Chow’s shop swung open and Zheng stood there, his narrow, pock-marked face smiling at Jamie across the square.

  Lucy gasped. ‘I know him,’ she said. ‘He teaches kung fu at Xavier Elite — he’s Morris’s Sif
u.’

  ‘And you didn’t recognise him?’ Wing said.

  ‘Why would I recognise him?’ Lucy snapped. ‘It wasn’t as if he was dressed like that at school.’

  Zheng spoke and his words seemed to come from inside Jamie’s head. ‘I believe you have something of mine. I’ll thank you to return it.’

  Jamie put his hands to his ears to block the voice out. It made no difference.

  Zheng laughed. ‘There is so little you know, boy; so much that you will never know.’

  A group of figures stepped out from the shadows between the buildings: the boys from Xavier Elite Private School — Zheng’s platoon.

  Jamie cursed. He felt sick and his mouth was dry. Lucy and Wing moved close to his side; they stood shoulder to shoulder. Wing’s eyes were fixed on Zheng. Jamie could feel the hatred oozing from him.

  The Xavier Elite boys moved towards the dock. Jamie looked to the heavens and pleaded for help. He’d led his friends into this; it was all his fault. Help! he cried silently, but the stars merely twinkled. They told him nothing, just like the stars on the orb.

  Jamie gasped: Just like the stars on the orb. The stars were the key.

  ‘Wing,’ Jamie said, ‘the orb — the stars are the key to opening it. We need to find the right coordinates — like navigating by the stars.’

  Wing’s glare did not budge from Zheng. ‘I’m staying here,’ he said and crouched into a fighting stance.

  ‘Jamie Reign!’ Zheng bellowed, all humour gone. ‘Bow down before me.’

  Wing nudged Jamie. ‘Summons,’ he breathed.

  Zheng bellowed at Jamie again, gesturing for him to come closer. A great gust of wind blew up behind the three Warriors, forcing them to stumble forwards.

  Lucy gave a little whimper and Jamie squeezed her hand.

  ‘Hey, Luce,’ Wing whispered, ‘next time you might want to bring more money.’

  ‘Go to the cabin,’ Jamie whispered to Lucy. ‘You have to open the orb. Use these numbers,’ and he told her the coordinates for the Penglai Islands. It had to be right — it was the home of the Great Guide’s Warriors. ‘Wing, we cover her,’ Jamie said. ‘No-one gets through.’