Moon Princess

by Barbara Laban

  The abbot. Sienna’s breath caught in her throat. It was Fa Yi. She nudged Feng in the ribs. ‘It’s him,’ she whispered. ‘He was the one with the knife.’

  ‘It’ll be all right,’ Feng replied, squeezing her arm, but Sienna wished she could be so sure.

  She tried to make out the other monks’ faces, but they were too far away. Then the last monk caught her eye. He was walking alone and his gait looked familiar to Sienna. Was that Zou, by any chance?

  Sure enough, Bai tuzi’s sparkly dust fell from the monk’s right shoulder on to the floor. Sienna felt a little better, knowing they were nearby.

  The monks now positioned themselves in the centre of the courtyard, surrounding the holy well. Hong Yi stood alongside the abbot. ‘In the name of our abbot and all the monks of this monastery I would like to welcome you all cordially to the Fragrant Mountain Temple. At tonight’s Moon Festival I have the immeasurable honour of celebrating with you a discovery which will make this temple one of the most celebrated places in China, and indeed one of the most celebrated places in the Buddhist world. We owe this discovery to a young woman, Dr Kate Farringdon, who sadly disappeared a few months ago without a trace. Whilst undertaking research in our temple, Dr Farringdon made a great discovery. This evening we will present this discovery to the world.’

  Fa Yi bent down and carefully lifted up a box. Placing it on a small table in front of him, he took out an object wrapped in pieces of white cloth, and carefully removed the covering.

  The perfect statue. It really did look magical in the moonlight and the audience gasped, then watched the abbot with awe. The moon shone brightly down upon everyone, giving their faces a ghostly pallor.

  Hong Yi went to the abbot’s side. ‘This statue is a depiction of Guanyin. As everyone knows, this holy well is the very place where Guanyin wept tears of mercy for her father under the full moon, curing him at the cost of her own life and securing her place in the pantheon of the gods. This temple was first built in her honour. Sadly, academics have claimed that the story of the princess that turned into a goddess is relatively modern, and therefore its authenticity has been doubted …’ He paused, a small smile playing at his lips, as if he could barely contain his excitement. ‘But this statue – discovered in the grounds of the temple itself – is very old. It tells us that the goddess must have been known to people since ancient times. After extensive research, we have discovered that the statue was produced around the time of the princess herself.’ He smiled broadly. ‘The legend is true.’

  The crowd murmured excitedly and began to stand up, trying to get a better look at the statue.

  ‘How can I prove this, my friends?’ Hong Yi continued. ‘It is not I who have done so, but the famous art historian, Dr Farringdon. She discovered the statue in our temple, and her notes leave no room for any doubt as to the authenticity of this work of art. This’ – Hong Yi lifted a stack of papers in the air – ‘this book was written by Dr Farringdon shortly before her disappearance.’

  Sienna wanted to stand up and rip the papers out of Hong Yi’s hand. She felt a rush of pure anger. Was the monk in league with Ling and Fa Yi? How else could Hong Yi have come by the book Mum had written while she was being held prisoner? And he had pretended to be kind to her!

  ‘This discovery,’ Hong Yi now cried loudly, ‘will make our temple the centre for worship of the goddess!’ He raised both his hands and the audience applauded enthusiastically.

  Suddenly Fa Yi let out a cry of amazement and fell to his knees. ‘She is crying!’ exclaimed the abbot loudly. ‘The statue is weeping!’

  Other monks crowded around, gasping as they too watched the tears trickling from Guanyin’s eyes. Feng stood up and Sienna followed suit, Rufus and Minka tumbling from her lap with a growl and a screech. From her seat at the front, she too could see the spectacle and Sienna had to admit that the sight of the statue weeping in the mysterious light of the full moon was captivating and haunting.

  But she knew it was a lie!

  An audience member dashed forward from nearby. ‘It’s true!’ the man exclaimed. ‘Guanyin weeps – just as she wept for her father in the ancient tale. It’s a miracle!’

  Chaos suddenly reigned. Even if she’d wanted to, Sienna couldn’t have got anyone’s attention to tell them the truth. Everyone was calling out at the same time and many people pulled out phones and cameras and tried to photograph the monks with the statue. Then they began to bow down in reverence, and some fell to their knees. Fa Yi held the statue above his head in his clasped hand, and cried, ‘On the night of the Moon Festival, Guanyin grieves for the people. She is with us. She feels all our pain!’ His bright blue eyes appeared to glow. Sienna hated to admit it, but the performance was very convincing – he was getting away with it!

  Suddenly there was a loud crash. It was coming from the tree at the side of the courtyard, from which several crows now took to the air, cawing loudly.

  The people all looked at the tree as suddenly, in rapid succession, small white packages began to fall from it.

  ‘I think you’ll want to see what’s in those packages!’ chuckled Rufus.

  Sienna and Feng ran towards the tree. Looking up into the branches she saw Bai tuzi perched on a branch. He winked at her. Sienna picked up a few of the packages and started unwinding the white cloth. In her hands she held the same statue Hong Yi was displaying on the stage in front of her. And tears ran down the face of her statue too. She knew at once that these statues were the ones from Sun’s workshop, each one slightly imperfect. Zou must’ve filled each one with oil to prove the miracle had been faked – that’s where he’d disappeared to after leaving the workshop!

  Hurriedly she and Feng started unwrapping the rest of the packages. The audience stared in disbelief as, one after the other, the crying statues were exposed to the moonlight. Rufus, Minka and Xiaolong sat nearby.

  Sienna collected all the statues she could carry and, with Feng’s help, carried them along the pathway through the crowd opened up by the curious spectators. She stopped in front of the monks and laid the pile of statues at their feet. ‘I think you’ll want to see these,’ she said, her voice loud and clear.

  The monks stared in bewilderment at the heap of identical statues, below which a puddle of tears was slowly forming. Fa Yi’s face paled, his skin now as white as the statues’ stone, his hands trembling. His blue eyes darted around the courtyard.

  Hong Yi bent down and picked up one of the goddesses from the ground, holding it alongside the statue in his hand to compare the two. ‘What’s going on here? Where have these come from? Abbot?’ His lip was trembling. ‘You promised it was real!’

  ‘This stupid girl is trying to deceive us all, to cheapen this incredible miracle and disrespect the goddess!’ said Fa Yi, his voice shaking. ‘Remove her! That’s an order!’

  But nobody moved.

  ‘It’s over, Fa Yi,’ said Sienna firmly.

  Rufus was on one side of her, Minka on the other. Feng and Xiaolong stood nearby while Zou hovered at the back of the huddle of monks, smiling at Sienna. As the old monk Sun stepped forward from behind Zou, the monks and the audience stared at their leader in disbelief and Sienna knew she had won.

  The abbot returned her stare, his eyes full of hatred. Then he broke away and made a dash, pushing past the crowd towards the exit.

  ‘Stop him!’ screamed Sienna. ‘Someone stop him!’

  17 Zai yiqi – Together

  Spurred into action at the fear in Sienna’s voice, a man from the crowd stuck out his leg to trip up the monk, sending Fa Yi sprawling on the ground. Another audience member wrestled him to his feet and dragged him to the front. The crowd watched the whole spectacle, mesmerized.

  ‘But I don’t understand,’ stammered Hong Yi. ‘The statue must be genuine. Your mother knew it. Your mother was the one who found it!’

  ‘Yes, the way you planned it all along,’ said a voice from somewhere amidst the group of monks.

  The men moved as
ide and the crowd gasped as a tall blonde woman walked up to Hong Yi. It was Sienna’s mum! Minka dashed to her side, rubbed her head against Kate’s shins, and Sienna saw her mum’s eyes flicker to the ground, a small smile on her lips.

  Kate’s green eyes were flashing in her pale face, and her hair shone brightly in the light of the moon. Sienna couldn’t move – she couldn’t breathe! Tears filled her eyes. Silently, Feng clasped her hand.

  ‘Fa Yi has tricked us all. I was stupid enough to believe him that this statue was genuine. And you, Hong Yi, are blinded by your own obsession. Your obsession with making the temple famous.’

  ‘Mrs Kate!’ whispered Hong Yi, turning pale. ‘How is this possible? Where have you been all this time?’

  Kate turned to the crowd. ‘I was captured and taken prisoner, Hong Yi. Along with my friend, Gege. They forced me to finish writing the book about the temple. They threatened to do something to my daughter if I didn’t obey them. Finally they trapped us in a mine and were going to leave us to die,’ said Sienna’s mother, her strong voice fading.

  Sienna could wait no longer. She pushed her way through the crowd and ran into her mother’s arms. The two of them stood silently, locked together, tears running down both their faces. The spectators had fallen completely silent.

  A man got up from his seat and walked to the front. ‘In my capacity as police chief of Pingdingshan I am ordering an investigation into these events. We will take the monk Fa Yi into custody for questioning.’

  Fa Yi shrieked angrily and pointed wildly at the back of the crowd. ‘It’s her you want! Not me, her! It was all her idea!’

  Kate and Sienna turned to see Ling trying to sneak out of the temple courtyard, her high heels noisily marking her exit. As she reached the door a young man stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

  ‘That’s Gege!’ Feng shouted to Sienna, his face lighting up in a huge smile at the sight of his brother.

  Ling desperately tried to push Gege aside, but he was too strong. The police chief sent two officers to drag her up to the front of the crowd and Gege and Feng hugged each other tightly, as if they never wanted to let go again.

  ‘Little brother, forgive me. I never meant to leave you alone,’ Sienna heard Gege murmur under his breath. Xiaolong flapped his wings happily overhead.

  Ling came face to face with both Sienna and Kate.

  ‘You’re pathetic,’ hissed Kate. ‘I’ve heard all about your cruel treatment of my daughter. You will never be allowed to hurt anyone again.’

  Sienna smiled brightly at Ling. She’d carried such feelings of hatred for Ling but now, her mum’s arm around her shoulders, she felt nothing but pity for this awful woman. ‘I feel sorry for you,’ she whispered. ‘We have each other, but you only have that horrible monster!’

  Ling shrieked furiously and pushed towards Sienna, but another pair of hands held her back. Sienna’s dad! As the police officers took the criminals away he embraced his wife and daughter, silent sobs wracking his body.

  None of those present noticed as Zou left and headed away from the temple. He picked up Bai tuzi and stroked his fur carefully. Glitter dust sparkled in the moonlight as it fell to the ground.

  ‘My dear friend, what a great adventure this has been. But now it’s time for us to go.’ He smiled. ‘I thought we’d keep this one’ – he pulled a statue out of his monk’s habit – ‘as a souvenir.’

  The perfect forgery lay in his hand, gleaming white in the light of the moon.

  Later that night, Sienna, Feng, Gege, Kate, Dad and the invisible friends all sat in Dad’s hotel room. Everyone was exhausted and barely able to speak, a mixture of joy and disbelief robbing them of language. The adults sat on the armchairs in the room, while Sienna and Feng lay on the king-size bed. Rufus and Minka too had made themselves comfortable on the soft cushions. The little dragon was asleep beside Feng.

  Sienna looked at her parents contentedly. At the temple Dad had taken Mum in his arms for a long time, as though he never wanted to let her go. Mum had pulled Sienna towards them and the three of them had embraced.

  ‘I feel awful,’ muttered Sienna’s dad. ‘I didn’t believe that you could still be alive, I should have done more to find you—’

  ‘Stop that,’ said Mum firmly. ‘The only one to blame here is Ling, and that crooked abbot Fa Yi. Although it has to be said that Fa Yi has a great talent for forgery.’

  ‘Fa Yi didn’t forge the statues and the jewellery himself, though,’ Sienna pointed out. She explained about the poor old monk who had been misled by him, who had worked so hard for him in the cellar.

  Mum shook her head in disbelief. ‘I’m sure the monks will take care of him, but we’ll check tomorrow that he is all right.’

  ‘Was Hong Yi as guilty as Fa Yi and Ling?’ asked Sienna. She felt a bit bad for the young monk. Surely he had only wanted to do what he thought was best for the temple?

  Sienna’s mother thought about it for a moment. ‘He desperately wanted the temple to be famous. When Hong Yi found out that a statue existed which could help the temple attain greater fame, he didn’t ask too many questions. Sometimes we believe what we want to believe – I was guilty of that too,’ she said. ‘The abbot knew that my expertise would draw a lot of attention to the statue. He thought it would be better if I “discovered” the statue myself. And it wasn’t long before I did.’

  Here, Kate smiled at Gege, who looked ashamed.

  ‘At first I didn’t spot any of the clues that pointed to a forgery. I wanted to believe the statue was genuine. But when I examined the statue more closely, I noticed something wasn’t quite right about the eyes – and that’s when I realized it was a forgery, specially designed to weep. When I expressed my concerns to Fa Yi, he was very angry. That’s when I knew something was wrong. I was on the point of going to the police.’

  ‘But then Ling kidnapped you,’ said Sienna. ‘With you out of the way the forger had time to produce an even more convincing forgery and you had to write your report stating that the statue was genuine.’

  ‘Exactly,’ said Mum, hugging Sienna. ‘Ling blackmailed me. For the first few months it was just threats – and I simply used the time to continue writing my book, to take my mind off my situation, though I worried terribly about you, my darling. But then Ling showed me photos of you and Dad in Shanghai. I didn’t even know that the two of you were in China. I was so frightened you’d be in danger, so I had to do as they said. Write what they wanted.’

  ‘Sienna.’ Dad sat down next to her on the bed, looking concerned. ‘How on earth did you and Feng discover that Mum and Gege were down at the mines? And how did you manage to get to the temple on your own? Someone must have helped you, surely?’

  ‘Careful what you say, my little moon princess. Best not mention the white sparkly hare or the little fire-breather.’ Rufus could hardly contain his laughter.

  ‘Or that you cycled through the night on an old bike, led by a magical white cat,’ purred Minka.

  Sienna shot them a furious glance! Mum caught her eye and winked. ‘Feng knew a few people,’ said Sienna finally. ‘Then we met a man, a doctor. Doctor Zou. He helped us.’

  Mum went to Sienna and gave her a kiss on the forehead. ‘Now we must get some rest, tomorrow’s another day for talking.’ She hugged Sienna tightly. ‘I’ve arranged for you two to stay here at the hotel too,’ she said, turning to Gege and Feng, giving Gege a hug and handing them a room key.

  After the others had left, Sienna lay awake next to her mum. She’d wanted to sleep with her parents tonight. Rufus was snoring quietly at the foot of the bed and Dad was sound asleep on Mum’s other side.

  ‘Mum?’ whispered Sienna.

  ‘What is it, my darling?’ her mother answered.

  ‘Did you see Minka, in the mines?’ asked Sienna.

  There was a moment of silence. ‘Funny you should ask,’ said Mum. ‘You know, when I was imprisoned and feeling hopeless, I did feel as if she was with me. Sometimes I even heard the b
ell on her collar. And then, after the explosion in the mine, I dreamt I was a little girl again, with Minka waking me up by pawing me in the face. I woke up and there were clouds of fire and a passage had opened in the wall. I glimpsed her then, leading me and Gege out into the light – and the whole time I could hear a little bell tinkling. Remarkable, isn’t it?’

  ‘Why did she go away, when you were younger?’ Sienna asked.

  ‘Probably because I sent her away,’ Mum replied, with a sigh. ‘I decided real friends were more important. And I grew up. Lots of reasons, really. Sometimes I think some other little girl needed Minka more than I did – but she came back for me when it really mattered, didn’t she? Good friends never really disappear, even when you can’t see them any more. Now, time to rest. Sleep well,’ said Mum, and she cuddled up closely to Sienna.

  EPILOGUE

  Zhongguo – China, the Middle Kingdom

  Sienna looked out of the window at the river.

  Dad had rented a new flat. It was comfortable here and she liked the view. China was beginning to feel like home. She was starting at her new school the following week. She smiled: in the past, the thought of new teachers and classmates would have scared her, but this time she wouldn’t be alone. Her parents were so grateful to Feng that when they heard about what had happened to him they had decided to help him and Gege.

  Dad had found a job for Gege with his employers in Shanghai, and Mum and Dad were also going to pay Feng’s school fees. Dad was very happy that Sienna finally had a real friend. He’d have been rather less happy if he had known that Rufus and Xiaolong were the two children’s constant companions!

  Minka, however, had bid them farewell. ‘It’s time for me to leave,’ she had told them, rubbing up against Sienna’s hand one final time. ‘Your mother’s moved on, and I need to as well.’ Her whiskers twitched. ‘Besides, I think there’s someone else out there who needs me now.’

  The morning after the Moon Festival they had all set out together to visit Zou, but the front door was locked up. Dad and Mum had rung the neighbours’ doorbells and asked after Zou, but the people just shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads. No, there’s no one living there, they said.