Tashi and the Wicked Magician

by Anna Fienberg

  ‘Mi Tu shook his head, but said nothing. He was very quiet on the way back. He sat with his head lowered, not joining in the excited chatter of the other children. When Can Du asked him for a song to celebrate their escape, he bit his lip.

  ‘Tashi leaned over and said, softly, “We’re really glad we don’t have to walk all the way home with these bruises and burns. It’s good you went for the bus, Mi Tu, that was the right choice. It wasn’t just luck that helped us.”

  ‘Mi Tu jerked his head up at Tashi, and smiled. “You are right, Tashi. It wasn’t luck, it was friendship. You have good brave friends.”

  ‘“And now we have another,” said Tashi, “with you. Maybe we are lucky!”

  ‘And they sang an escape-from-the-burning-house song all the way home.’

  ‘How did that tune go?’ said Dad. ‘I wouldn’t mind hearing it.’

  Jack laughed. ‘Tashi will have to come over and sing it. But of course he can’t sing it like Mi Tu.’

  ‘So there wasn’t really any magic mixture?’ said Dad.

  ‘No. Mi Tu just had an amazing gift. He thought he had to make himself extra special with that story, but he learned to believe in his voice, and in his friends. Tashi said he gave great singing lessons, but Ah Chu never really learned to sing in tune – he wasn’t very disappointed though because he got interested in something else. He found a great fishing spot near the Dragon’s Blood Tree, and Big Wu showed him some of his famous recipes. Everyone wanted to come over to eat his fish and tell stories and listen to Mi Tu’s songs.’

  Dad sighed. ‘Ah! That’s the way to live… So how about we go somewhere these holidays and discover a great fishing spot? What do you say?’

  ‘Can Tashi come?’

  ‘Will the sun rise tomorrow?’ said Mum and Dad together.

  TASHI AND THE ORCHID THIEVES

  ‘THAT’S THE BEST fish I’ve ever tasted,’ said Dad.

  ‘Mmm,’ said Mum, looking across the camp fire at Jack and Tashi. ‘But watch out for bones, won’t you.’

  The boys nodded. Firelight danced across their faces, greasy with fish and salad. Behind them the bush was dark. In front, only a stone’s throw away, was the river.

  ‘Can we swap fishing rods tomorrow, Tashi?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Sure,’ said Tashi, who’d caught all the trout they’d had for dinner. ‘And I’ll show you how I cast my line.’

  ‘Me too,’ sighed Dad. ‘Maybe then I’ll catch something.’

  ‘I want to find more wildflowers,’ said Mum, lying back and looking up at the stars. ‘Like those creamy ones I saw today. The petals were as soft as my good cashmere cardigan–’

  ‘Flannel flowers,’ said Jack.

  ‘Yes, I know,’ said Mum. ‘And those beautiful yellow and white flowers–’

  ‘Native orchids,’ said Jack. ‘But remember, you’re not allowed to pick them. They’re wild flowers. And very special.’

  ‘I know, but surely we could take home just one.’

  ‘If everybody picked one,’ Jack pointed out, ‘there wouldn’t be any to see in the wild.’

  In the quiet they heard Mum sigh. The cicadas throbbed in the velvety dark and the sky went on forever, alight with stars.

  ‘Once, back in the old country, I found a very special orchid in the forest,’ Tashi whispered into the stillness. ‘It was worth a lot of money.’

  Mum sat up. ‘Did you pick it?’

  ‘Of course he didn’t!’ crowed Dad. ‘But I bet somebody else tried to, hey? Who was it? I bet I know–’

  ‘Oh Dad,’ said Jack, ‘let him tell it his way. You can’t start a story right from the end!’

  ‘No, no,’ agreed Dad hastily. ‘Sorry Tashi, let’s hear it… and what could be a better place than round a camp fire? Just like the days of old. So, how does it start?’

  ‘Well,’ said Tashi, ‘it was like this. There was a time when the village was buzzing with gossip and rumours. People were passing on the word that a certain person was back.’

  ‘Who?’ asked Dad.

  Jack held up a warning hand.

  ‘Everywhere you went there were whispers – in Not Yet’s shop when you dropped off your shoes, at Wise-as-an-Owl’s house when you waited for medicine, in the village square, at the post office – everyone was talking about him.’ Tashi stared into the fire. A bird called out like a whip snapping.

  Dad jumped. ‘So what was his name, this certain person?’

  ‘They called him Stoneface.’ Tashi picked up a stick and threw it onto the fire. ‘He was a man who’d grown up in the village. When he was young his family was kidnapped by soldiers, but he was the only one who managed to escape. He made his way back to the village, and even though many families invited him to stay, he lived mostly by himself. The villagers stopped pestering him after a while, because he grew into a surly young man with a menacing manner. There was nothing they could do. He’d hit you as soon as look at you. And then one night, after a terrible fight in a tavern, he disappeared.’

  ‘Maybe he went looking for his family?’ suggested Dad.

  ‘Maybe,’ said Tashi. ‘But most people believed the story that he’d joined a band of robbers, become their leader even – then ended up in gaol.

  ‘Now he was back, and everyone was suspicious. What was he doing there? Did he still see the other members of his gang? Would they be joining him in the village?’

  Mum clicked her tongue. ‘Why would you return to a place where so much had gone wrong?’

  ‘Well,’ said Tashi, ‘he didn’t actually return to his family home – it was in ruins. Someone reported that he’d moved into a woodcutter’s old shack deep in the forest. Then he started coming into the village for supplies. He said nothing, just strode across the square with a face as blank as stone. No feeling passed across it, no light flickered in his eyes. The shopkeepers were frightened of him. They decided not to sell him anything, hoping to starve him out.

  ‘But Not Yet took pity on him. He remembered him as a very young boy, before his family was stolen, and he gave him some work to do in the shop in exchange for food.’

  ‘I always liked Not Yet,’ put in Dad. ‘Never one to judge people hastily. Or point the finger.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Tashi. ‘And it was at his shop that I first met Stoneface. He was serving Granny White Eyes–’

  ‘Oh, I remember her!’ said Jack. ‘The blind woman who helped you find your way through the fog back to the village.’

  ‘That’s right,’ nodded Tashi. ‘And now she was having trouble finding the shoes she’d left to be heeled. People were waiting in the queue behind her, and Granny was getting flustered. But Stoneface just gently asked her to describe them, placing pair after pair into her hands to feel. She was calmed by his patient voice, and she soon found the right ones. I was next, and because I liked the way he’d talked to Granny White Eyes, I gave him a big smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!” I told him.

  ‘After that, we became friends. Stoneface told me how he regretted the life he’d led and how he wished he could undo the bad things that had happened. “I wanted to save my family,” he said. “I always thought I would find a way to rescue them, but they just vanished. I was angry with the world for that, angry with myself. Now I want to do better.”

  ‘We talked about a lot of things when we went fishing in the river, or collecting firewood in the forest. And he taught me some useful tackling throws – for defence, he said sternly – and how to give a series of piercing whistles if ever I should need help.’

  Tashi stopped suddenly and put two fingers on his lower lip. He curled his tongue between his teeth, and blew. The first shrill note was as loud as a siren.

  Mum and Dad squealed with surprise.

  It was followed by a short high-pitched whip, ending with a long note the same as the first. WHeeeeee – whip – WHeeeeee!

  ‘Like that,’ said Tashi.

  ‘Do it again,’ said Jack.

  ‘No!’ cried Mum and Dad, but
it was too late.

  ‘I reckon that whistle would stop a lion charging,’ shuddered Dad, taking his fingers out of his ears.

  ‘Sorry,’ said Tashi, making a face.

  ‘Go on,’ laughed Mum. ‘Just warn us next time.’

  ‘Well,’ said Tashi, ‘Stoneface also told me some thrilling stories about the lawless big city. When Lotus Blossom and Ah Chu heard about them, they wanted to meet Stoneface too. I wasn’t sure how they’d all like each other, but in the end I agreed to take them into the forest to see him.

  ‘We tramped through the thick bush, and we’d nearly reached his shack when we were startled by a loud bird call.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ said Dad quickly. ‘You don’t have to show us – we can imagine.’

  Tashi grinned. ‘When I looked up, I saw a most beautiful orchid hanging high in a fig tree. Its snow-white petals were covered with glistening red spots. I thought it was the most magnificent thing I’d ever seen. As we drew nearer to it, we breathed in its perfume – a wonderful mixture of vanilla and cinnamon.

  ‘“That’s amazing!” I said to my friends. “That flower is so far up but its smell can still reach us.”

  ‘“Yes,” said Ah Chu, sniffing hungrily. “It’s making my mouth water.”

  ‘“That’s the sweet vanilla,” I said.

  ‘“Everything makes his mouth water,” laughed Lotus Blossom.

  ‘“I’ve got to take a closer look,” I told them, and began to climb the tree. I was quite high up, reaching for the branch above me when I heard a loud hiss. Wah!

  ‘Lotus Blossom and Ah Chu called out to me but I was already falling. Frantically, I grabbed at some branches as they whipped past but caught none and I landed, luckily, on a thick bed of leaves.

  ‘“I thought I was reaching for the next branch,” I told them when I got my breath back, “but instead it was a sleeping viper!”

  ‘Ah Chu shook his head. “Ugh! Snakes give me nightmares.” But after he and Lotus Blossom had checked over my arms and legs, he said, “I wonder what that flower would smell like, up close? Why don’t we wait for the snake to go, and then climb up and pick it?”

  ‘“No,” I shook my head. “Look, it’s the only one on the tree. I don’t think you’re supposed to touch rare orchids growing in the wild. Let’s go and ask Favourite Aunt, she knows all about plants and she’s painted lots of orchids.”

  ‘Li Tam, my Favourite Aunt, was very excited when I described the orchid. She searched through her books and said, “I think I’ve found it! If it is your orchid, it’s very rare. I think this might be an important discovery. Can you take me to see it?”

  ‘She dug out her old box camera to take a photo of it, but then she had a better idea. On the way back to the forest she suggested we stop at the Post Office to ring a Professor of Botany she had once met at the University in the city.

  ‘When she put me on the phone to describe the orchid, the Professor sounded just as excited as Favourite Aunt. He said he wouldn’t wait for the photograph, he was coming down to see it at once. I was so fired up after the phone call that I didn’t stop to check out the two strangers who were lounging nearby. A quick glance told me they were leaning too close, as if trying to catch every word, and I didn’t like the suspicious way their eyes slid all over us. But Favourite Aunt was telling me about the famous Professor and his orchids, and I…well, I got swept away. It was only later that I realised the awful consequences. Oh, how I was to regret my carelessness!

  ‘Professor Mah arrived the next day and we set off at once, the Professor often stopping to examine some curious plant. “This forest is a treasure house of medicines!” he exclaimed. He would get out his magnifying glass and hold it up to the leaves so we could see their veins running in complicated patterns. He explained how the leaves were the kitchens of the plants, making food from sunlight. Lotus Blossom gasped in wonder. I nodded and smiled because hadn’t Wise-as-an-Owl been teaching me that very thing for years?

  ‘In this way we took quite some time to reach the tree. But instead of looking up to see the beautiful flower amongst the leaves, a terrible sight met our eyes. The two brutish strangers I’d seen at the Post Office were standing beside the tree – with the poor plucked plant in their hands! They were pulling at the long dangling roots, trying to straighten them out.

  ‘“Stop!” cried Professor Mah. “Unless I am mistaken, that is a rare and valuable species of orchid that has not been seen for fifty years.”

  ‘“All the better,” growled one of the ruffians.

  ‘The men laughed, and they laughed even louder when the Professor told them he would hurry back to the village and report them if they didn’t give him the orchid at once. He was still scolding them when a third villain quietly came out of the trees behind him.

  ‘This man was huge, and in his hands was a thick rope that he dropped over the Professor’s head and shoulders. The Professor’s eyes bulged with shock as his arms were pinned to his sides. He tried to twist and turn but the villain held the rope tight, with no effort at all. The other two men sniggered as they watched. Then they brought out knives from their belts and quick as vipers they darted, grabbing us and dragging us over to a circle of trees that grew close together.

  ‘One of the men, who they called One Ear, began tying Favourite Aunt and me to either side of a tree. The other man pulled the struggling Lotus Blossom and Ah Chu over to the oak next to it, binding them up with great hairy hands that scuttled everywhere at once.

  ‘“Get off, you hairy spider!” yelled Lotus Blossom, and kicked at Hairy’s ankle.

  ‘“Ow!” he cried, enraged.

  ‘“Ssh!” I hissed at her from my tree. “You’ll only make it worse.”

  ‘“If I’m a spider, you’re the fly,” the hairy man spat at Lotus Blossom, “and I’m going to truss you up in my web!”

  ‘One Ear snorted at that. Or maybe he was grunting. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble tying me up. He wasn’t very good at knots. “Couldn’t we just knock them on the head?” he said.

  ‘“Or drop them in that pool of leeches over there?” Hairy suggested, scowling at Lotus Blossom.

  ‘I heard Favourite Aunt moan from the other side of the tree.

  ‘“No need,” the huge villain stepped forward. He was the leader, I could tell, and his voice was low and sinister.

  “Even if the snakes don’t find them, no one will hear their cries out here. Plenty of time for us to get back to the village and hand the orchid over to–” he glanced around, “to our friend.”

  “Get off, you hairy spider!” yelled Lotus Blossom

  ‘He bent to examine the clumsy knot One Ear had tied around my wrists and thighs, and clicked his teeth in disgust. Taking a new piece of rope, he bound it tightly around my chest. “Let’s go,” he barked, turning on his heel. He strode out through the bushes, with Hairy and One Ear crashing behind him.

  ‘Oh, the hours ticked past so slowly! The silence was almost complete. I couldn’t help thinking how much worse it would be when night fell. At every rustle in the grass, we stiffened with fear. Once, a bird shrieked in alarm, making our hearts pound.

  ‘“I wish I knew where that viper had gone,” whispered Favourite Aunt.

  ‘The Professor gave her a gentle smile. “We mustn’t give up,” he said. “Someone could come by any minute.”

  ‘“I wouldn’t mind so much if I wasn’t so hungry,” sniffed Ah Chu.

  ‘“We’re all hungry,” snapped Lotus Blossom. “And Tashi, I wouldn’t be surprised if that Stoneface person hadn’t brought those robbers to our village, either.”

  ‘A light switched on in my head. “Of course!” I cried. “Stoneface! His shack isn’t far from here. Why didn’t I think of that before?”

  ‘Lotus Blossom blinked. “What good is that? Like I just said, he’s probably one of the robbers.”

  ‘“No, I’m sure he’s not,” I said. “We’ll soon find out,” and I went to raise my hands to my lips. But I’
d forgotten. My wrists were tied to my thighs, bound tight to the tree. I couldn’t move them.

  ‘I ground my teeth. What was the good of knowing how to do that special whistle when your hands were tied? I looked down at the ground in despair, and that was when I saw it. A brown-gold streak in the grass.

  ‘“Wah!” I couldn’t help moaning. A pit viper! I saw it clearly now, sunlight gleaming on its scales. Silently, it slid towards Ah Chu’s feet.

  ‘“What?” said Lotus Blossom.

  ‘“Oh, it’s just – a bit hard to breathe under this tight rope.” I glanced at Ah Chu. He was pale and sweaty, but he hadn’t seen the snake. Should I warn him not to make any sudden movement with his foot? But what if he panicked, and lashed out? Oh, what to do?

  ‘I was starting to panic now, too. Stop struggling, I told myself. Empty your mind of thoughts. I closed my eyes and waited until everything became very still. And then a memory dropped into my mind, like a stone into a clear pool.

  ‘Wise-as-an-Owl once told me that if you happen to get tied up, you must search for even the tiniest bit of slack – the space between you and the rope. “You can always get yourself out,” he said. “The trick is to find that space and keep working at it. You must never give up.” But I wondered, looking at the fearful shape in the grass, if there would be the time.

  ‘I began making small twisting movements from right to left with my shoulders, like turning a key in a lock. The rope chafed my skin. I tried to ignore the burn, focusing only on my little swivelling motions. After about fifty turns as far as I could go each way, the rope loosened slightly. Next, I found I could wriggle my wrists – One Ear really hadn’t been good at his job. Hope gave me a rush of strength and I took short shallow breaths.

  ‘“What are you doing? Why are you panting?” Lotus Blossom’s voice was anxious.

  ‘“It’s…all right,” I managed. And then, quite suddenly, there was enough space between the rope and my arms to slide my hands up my legs to my waist, and out, free!

  ‘“Snake!” Ah Chu called out wildly. “Near me!”

  ‘“Ssh, I know, but no need to worry if you don’t move your foot,” I gasped.