Tangshan Tigers

by Dan Lee

  ‘What do you think you’re doing, Harry?’ repeated Adam. He grabbed Harry by the arm. ‘We don’t talk to these guys.’

  ‘Wait a minute,’ said Catarina. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘I’m the captain of the Kensington International Academy martial arts team. The team that’s gonna give you the hammering of a lifetime!’

  Matt knew, as captain, he had to respond to this challenge. He placed himself squarely before Adam. ‘You think so, do you?’

  Recognition dawned in Adam’s eyes. Then he laughed. ‘Little Matt James! Wow, your team must really be scraping the barrel if you got in! I tell you what, the stuff you went through in school is gonna be nothing, nothing, compared to what’s gonna happen to you in the tournament. Remember what I used to do to you in the playground? Imagine that but double it.’

  ‘A lot’s changed since then,’ said Matt quietly.

  ‘I don’t think so. Come on, Harry. Don’t waste any more time talking to these no-hopers.’ Adam dragged Harry by the collar and pulled him away. Before he turned to go, he paused and eyeballed Matt stonily, without speaking.

  Matt met his gaze.

  Then Adam turned on his heel and pushed through the crowd, knocking into one of the waitresses.

  ‘He’s not gonna get away with that!’ said Catarina and started after Adam.

  Matt caught her by the arm. ‘Leave it,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to start anything here. It’s better to save it up. Beating him in the tournament will hurt him more than anything.’

  Lola said in a clear voice, ‘I don’t like that boy.’

  Her remark broke the tension and everyone laughed.

  ‘I don’t like him much either,’ said Matt.

  ‘The guy’s a complete jerk!’ said Carl. ‘But why was he going on about the stuff you went through in school?’

  ‘He was the worst bully in our primary school,’ said Matt. ‘He used to give lots of kids a hard time, me included.’

  ‘And he’s bragging about it?’ said Shawn incredulously. ‘You’d think he’d be embarrassed.’

  Matt shrugged. ‘He’s always been that way. Thinks he’s the best. His dad’s Frank Bates, the diamond merchant – he’s super-rich, and Adam’s always been spoilt.’

  ‘Yeah, but I can’t believe you let him bully you!’ said Carl.

  ‘I didn’t let him –’

  ‘You shoulda just hit the guy!’

  ‘It was before I took up tae kwon-do.’

  ‘So what? You gotta stand up for yourself. People who get bullied deserve everything they get, that’s what I reckon!’

  ‘That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard,’ said Catarina.

  ‘Off-the-scale dumb,’ agreed Olivier.

  The rest of the team nodded or murmured agreement.

  Carl went red. He reached and grabbed a canapé from a passing waitress and stuffed it into his mouth. A moment later his face went crimson – he’d grabbed the one with raw chilli.

  Matt watched Carl rush off to get some water, and shook his head pityingly, ‘What is he like?’

  ‘Changing the subject,’ said Catarina, ‘look at Master Chang. Looks kinda left out, no?’

  Matt saw that Chang Sifu was standing in a corner on his own with a slightly lost air, clutching a glass. He probably isn’t used to parties like this, thought Matt.

  ‘Let’s go and talk to him,’ said Matt to the other Tigers.

  Chang greeted them with a faint smile.

  ‘Are you enjoying yourself, Sifu?’ asked Shawn.

  ‘It is… interesting,’ replied Chang. ‘Well done, Matt, for not reacting when Kensington captain tried to provoke. A horse may jump if stung by a wasp; but still, it remains a horse, while the wasp is only a wasp.’

  ‘But how did you –?’ said Matt, then stopped. There was no point asking how Chang knew what had happened between him and Adam. He knew by now that Chang noticed absolutely everything.

  ‘He was horrible,’ said Catarina. ‘I dunno how someone like that can bear to exist!’

  ‘Sometimes,’ said Chang gravely, ‘the heart of a diamond does not shine as bright as its face.’

  ‘Doesn’t it?’ said Matt. He was about to ask what Chang meant by this when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned to see his mother standing there, the light shining off her diamond necklace.

  ‘Matt, your uncle Martin and aunt Rosamund from the States are here. They haven’t seen you since you were five – they want to meet you!’

  ‘OK,’ said Matt, following his mother.

  ‘Well, well,’ said Uncle Martin. ‘Here’s Matt! Who’s been stretching you then?’

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘When you were five you were only this big,’ said Aunt Rosamund, holding her hand at waist-height. ‘But now you’re as tall as me!’

  ‘Yes, I – I suppose I’ve grown,’ said Matt.

  ‘You certainly have!’

  The grown-ups asked him a few more questions about Beijing, then started to talk about his mother’s necklace.

  ‘It’s magnificent!’ said Aunt Rosamund.

  ‘Fine piece of work,’ said Uncle Martin knowledgeably. ‘Excellent quality, anyone can see that. How did you, er –’

  ‘It’s not mine, I’m afraid,’ said Matt’s mother. ‘I only wish it were. I’ve hired it for the evening – from the Bates Diamond Company. This is so spectacular I just wanted to be able to wear it tonight.’ Matt’s mother stroked the jewels at her throat.

  Matt looked at the necklace. The Bates Diamond Company was Adam’s father’s firm. The necklace certainly was spectacular. You almost need shades to look at it, thought Matt. There were three layers of diamonds, threaded on fine gold chains. The diamonds were very large and caught the light in the most amazing way – almost as if the light shone out from inside them, rather than being reflected off their surface.

  ‘Weird to think those diamonds are basically just little pieces of coal, isn’t it?’ said a voice close by. It was Shawn, who’d squeezed his way through the throng.

  ‘Coal?’ Matt asked.

  ‘Yeah, diamonds are just carbon – the same stuff coal’s made of,’ said Shawn. ‘But when it’s really, really compressed by geological forces, you get diamond. The hardest substance known to man. You know the only thing that can scratch a diamond?’

  Matt thought briefly. ‘Er – another diamond?’

  ‘Right! And –’

  CRASH!

  A huge splintering thud cut right through the murmur of conversation. Matt spun round and saw that one of the high windows was smashed; shards of glass still bounced and skittered on the parquet floor.

  A black-clad figure came swinging into the room.

  There were screams and shouts, as all the guests started back from the intruder.

  ‘Look out!’

  ‘Who is it?’

  ‘Call the police!’

  The intruder was dressed from head to toe in black, face covered completely with only a slit for the eyes. A ninja warrior – Matt recognized the outfit. What was going on? Some sort of stunt? A Ninjagram?

  The man ran across the room and took a flying leap. He landed on top of a wall cabinet some two metres tall. He reached for a fuse box high on the wall, flung it open and ripped out the fuses.

  The room was plunged into darkness.

  More screams.

  Matt realized this wasn’t a stunt.

  The intruder jumped down and did a series of acrobatic handsprings and cartwheels across the room. In the semi-darkness he gave the eerie impression of a large, fast-moving animal with too many legs.

  The guests scrambled to get out of his way. Adam Bates dived under a table.

  Instinctively, Matt moved closer to his mother to protect her. She was standing with her hands pressed to her cheeks, frozen in shock.

  The intruder was approaching them. In one smooth motion, he landed from his final cartwheel and shoved Matt out of the way. Matt’s mother turned, trying to escape.

  �
�Get away!’ she cried. With the speed of a striking snake, the man’s hand shot out. There was a clinking sound and a gasp of terror.

  Then the intruder was tumbling and cartwheeling his way towards the window. He dived through, and was gone.

  But we’re on the second floor, thought Matt. How did he –?

  His mother let out a cry. Her hand flew to her throat.

  ‘The necklace! It’s gone!’

  Someone had brought a lamp into the room. Matt saw a red mark on his mother’s throat where the necklace had been ripped away.

  There were gasps of consternation.

  ‘What am I going to do?’ said Matt’s mother, her voice cracking.

  More lights were being brought into the room. Adam crawled out from under the table. A babble of talk burst out. Matt heard the word ‘Scorpion!’ muttered by several people and wondered what they meant. A tall grey-haired man was saying, ‘Calm down! Everyone calm down!’ Matt recognized him as Sir Hubert Tremayne, Head of the Ambassadorial Service.

  ‘Mum – are you all right?’ Matt went to his mother and put his arm round her. ‘He didn’t hurt you?’

  ‘No, no, but the necklace is priceless, it’s worth millions! What will the Bates Diamond Company say – they’re going to be furious!’

  A hot anger rose within Matt. He wasn’t going to let this happen to his mum. The thief wouldn’t get away with it! Matt wasn’t bothered about the necklace, but he was bothered that his mother was so upset.

  ‘This is an outrage!’ boomed the voice of Sir Hubert Tremayne. ‘Appalling! Has anybody called the police?’

  But by the time the police got here, Matt realized, the thief would be long gone.

  ‘Come on!’ he said to Shawn.

  They ran to the window. Catarina and Olivier arrived there at the same time. They peered out through the shattered window. Just outside was a tall plane tree.

  ‘That must have been his escape route,’ said Matt.

  The square was lit by yellow street-lamps. It appeared to be empty.

  ‘He can’t have got very far,’ said Catarina. ‘Let’s go!’

  She thrust her leg over the window sill and leapt into the air. She caught hold of a branch of the tree and swung herself down. Shawn and Olivier quickly followed.

  Matt’s turn.

  Before he went through, he cast a glance back into the room. His mother was being looked after by Sir Hubert and friends. There was still such confusion that no one would possibly notice four kids climbing out of a window.

  No one except Chang Sifu.

  He was standing in the corner, looking in Matt’s direction. It was difficult to see, with only the light from the street-lamps outside to go by, but Matt was pretty sure that Chang gave him a nod of approval.

  Here goes! thought Matt. With all the climbing he’d done in his adventures with the Tangshan Tigers, he’d lost his old fear of heights. He launched himself out of the window, two storeys above the pavement below.

  It was time to catch a thief.

  Chapter 4

  THE CHASE

  Matt caught at a branch, swung giddily in the air for a moment, and found a foothold. He steadied himself. From here he had a good view of the whole square. He glimpsed a dark figure running down one of the streets that led off from it.

  He climbed down the tree rapidly but carefully, making sure that he always had at least three points of contact with the branches while the fourth limb searched for a handhold or foothold. He jumped from the lowest branch to join his friends in the square below, who were waiting expectantly.

  ‘Did you see which way he went?’ asked Olivier.

  ‘That way!’ said Matt.

  They set off at a sprint. Catarina and Olivier, the two fastest runners, led the way. Just as they left the square Matt heard his mother’s voice calling after him: ‘Matt! Come back!’

  He glanced back to see his mother leaning dangerously far out of the window.

  Matt couldn’t tell whether she’d seen him, but he didn’t even think about stopping. His blood was up – he wanted to nail the thief who’d attacked his mother.

  He pelted down the street after the others, footsteps echoing on the pavement, past terraces of elegant Georgian houses.

  At the end they had a choice. A road that led to a brightly lit main street, or a narrow cobbled alley.

  ‘He’d look pretty conspicuous out on the main road in that ninja gear!’ said Matt.

  ‘Gotta be the alley then!’ said Shawn.

  They clattered over the cobblestones. A cat yowled and leapt on to a roof as they passed.

  The alley led into a maze of side streets.

  ‘Better split and try them all,’ said Matt. ‘Shout out if you see him!’

  ‘Check!’ said Shawn.

  They ran off in different directions. Matt went down a back street lined with wheelie bins. He leapt over recycling boxes as he ran. The street curved round to the left and Matt found himself running past the back doors to a line of restaurants; a man in a chef’s hat looked up in surprise as Matt ran by.

  He reached the end and stopped to look left and right. Olivier was coming towards him.

  ‘No sign?’

  ‘Nothing,’ said Matt.

  ‘Let’s try this way!’

  Together they ran up the street. Olivier was a fast runner, but Matt, breathing hard, was able to keep up. A good job he’d done so much martial arts training – it had kept him super-fit.

  Again, Matt saw the bright lights of the main road ahead. He and Olivier slowed to a halt. They heard running footsteps and saw Shawn coming round the corner.

  ‘No luck?’

  ‘Nowhere to be seen. The guy’s totally disappeared!’

  ‘He must know these streets like the back of his hand,’ said Matt.

  Catarina’s voice rang out in the distance. ‘Guys? Where are you?’

  ‘Coming!’

  They doubled back and ran in the direction of her voice. She was just emerging from another alley. ‘He didn’t come this way,’ she gasped. ‘No way out.’

  ‘We’ve tried everywhere else,’ said Matt. ‘We’d better go back.’

  ‘But he must be somewhere!’ said Catarina.

  ‘Yeah, but not round here any more,’ said Olivier. ‘We’ve lost him.’

  ‘No one escapes from the Tangshan Tigers!’ said Catarina.

  ‘We’ll get him,’ promised Matt, though he couldn’t help feeling disappointed. ‘We’ll track him down. Somehow.’

  They made their way back to the square where the embassy building was. Catarina immediately started to climb the tree.

  ‘Wait,’ said Matt. ‘We’d better use the door this time.’

  He had a hunch his mother might be cross with him. And swinging back in through the broken window would probably not help.

  ‘Are you out of your mind?’ Matt’s mother demanded. ‘Climbing out of a second-storey window, chasing after a thief. You could have been badly hurt – or worse!’

  All around, guests were getting ready to leave. The string quartet had stopped playing and a cleaner was sweeping up the broken glass. Two uniformed police were taking witness statements and contact details of the guests.

  ‘It’s OK, we can look after ourselves, Mum –’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous! How could you look after yourself if you’d fallen from the tree? Or if you’d caught up with that man and he’d pulled a knife on you? This isn’t a game, Matt!’

  Matt wished that he could tell his mother about the Tangshan Tigers, and how they’d come through far more dangerous situations and faced far more dangerous enemies in the past – but that would only make matters worse. He hung his head and mumbled, ‘Sorry, Mum.’

  Out of the corner of his eye Matt noticed Chang Sifu watching. Chang gave a tiny nod of sympathy, and made his way over to Matt and his mother.

  ‘We should start to move back to hotel,’ he said. ‘We have busy day tomorrow. Thank you very much for excellent party, Mrs
James – a pity it finished in such an unpleasant way.’

  ‘Yes, it wasn’t quite what I’d expected,’ said Mrs James. ‘Well, goodnight. And good luck in the tournament,’ she added. She moved forward and hugged her son. ‘I’m sorry I snapped, Matt. It’s only because I’m worried about you; you know that, don’t you?’

  Matt felt her tears against his cheek. ‘I know, Mum,’ he said ‘It’s OK; don’t worry.’

  Half the guests had already gone and the other half were in the process of leaving. As the Beijing squad followed Chang and Mr Figgis downstairs, Matt saw people pulling on their coats, nervously peering out of the front door to check the coast was clear.

  While he and the Tigers were waiting to pick up their coats at the cloakroom, Adam Bates came past. He eyed Matt contemptuously before speaking.

  ‘Your mum’s gonna be in big trouble, James. My dad doesn’t like people losing his diamonds.’

  ‘She didn’t lose the necklace – it was stolen! Anyway, it was insured, wasn’t it?’

  ‘Yeah, but my dad charges a penalty when clients are negligent. I reckon your poor old mum’s gonna have to pay a big fat fine!’

  ‘She wasn’t negligent –’

  ‘Get out of here! She wore the necklace in a public place, knowing the Scorpion was around –’

  ‘Who’s the Scorpion?’ asked Shawn.

  ‘You guys don’t know much, do you? The Scorpion’s the most famous jewel thief in London. The police are baffled – no one can stop him – he’s in the papers all the time. Haven’t you seen this?’ Adam took out a brand-new iPhone and clicked on to a news screen. SCORPION STRIKES AGAIN, the headline said. ‘See?’

  ‘Hey, let’s have a look,’ said Shawn.

  He reached out for the phone, but Adam pulled it away and put it in his pocket. ‘Don’t touch what you can’t afford!’ He turned back to Matt. ‘So with the Scorpion around, your mum decides to wear a priceless diamond necklace out to a party in London – that wasn’t too clever, was it?’