Chook Chook

by Wai Chim

  There were a few little boxes that had funny-looking shapes in them. Those shapes looked familiar but they didn’t look like the characters I had learnt in school. Suddenly, I realised what they were – they were letters from the western alphabet!

  ‘A, B, C, D. These are the exits for the station,’ she explained. ‘But these letters are too small so I can’t see them. But one of them should say Friendship Theatre.’

  ‘Wait.’ Cap pointed a grubby finger. ‘There, look! Friendship Theatre. Exit D4.’

  ‘That’s a good boy.’ The old woman smiled and Cap looked pleased with himself. I was happy we were able to help her out. Then I had an idea.

  ‘Excuse me, Paw Paw. Do you know where the university is? My brother goes there and we’re trying to get to him.’

  The old woman scratched her head under her blue hat. ‘University? There are a few universities in Guangzhou. Do you know which one your brother goes to?’

  I shook my head. ‘I don’t remember. Guo said it was usually a teaching university, but that they did other types of courses too.’

  The old lady’s face crinkled up like a withered shiitake mushroom. Then her eyes brightened. ‘Ah, you must be talking about the South China University.’

  ‘That’s it! That’s the university Guo goes to.’ I was relieved we now had a name. ‘Do you know how to get there?’ I asked, hopefully.

  ‘Yes, my son goes there. You have to take the metro. It’s a bit tricky though because you have to change trains and not get lost. Are you children travelling by yourselves?’

  I felt my face get hot and Cap looked at the floor. The old woman pinched her lips together and I squirmed under her gaze. I didn’t want to lie but I was sure that if I told her we had run away, we would get into trouble.

  I chose my words carefully. ‘My older brother was going to meet us and take us to the university, but we’re early. I thought we could surprise him.’ This was mostly true – Guo had said I could visit him during his holidays. I was just a few weeks early.

  The old woman considered this. ‘I don’t think it’s safe for two little children to be travelling on the metro alone.’

  ‘I’m not little!’ Cap piped up. ‘I’m over 120 centimetres tall. That means I don’t pay the child fare anymore.’ He lifted his chin, stretching up to his full height.

  The old woman smiled. ‘Well, you seem like a responsible young lad. Will you be able to take care of your sister on the train?’

  I scowled but said nothing. It was probably better if she thought Cap and I were brother and sister.

  The old woman began to explain to Cap how to take the metro to the university. Cap nodded along, trying to remember the directions. Relieved, I went to pick up my chickens.

  Only they weren’t there.

  Instead, my chook box lay on the floor with the lid flipped open. I looked around but all I could see were crowds of people rushing through the station.

  And then I heard a scream.

  Chapter Five

  A circle of passengers was forming in the middle of the station. I followed the shrieks, winding through pairs of legs to get past the crowd.

  It was the woman with the fur coat, only now the precious coat hung off her shoulders, the hem dragging on the floor. Her hair, which had been tied into a neat bun, was now loose and wild around her face. And she was screaming and pointing.

  Silk scarves, fancy hats, pretty dresses and print skirts, even some frilly underwear, were spilling out onto the floor where the woman’s bag had burst open. A sparkly jewellery box lay cracked on its side and strings of pearls, golden bangles and silver earrings bounced along the ground.

  And right there in the middle of it all were Little and Lo, strutting about, as happy as two chooks could be.

  BAWK! BAWK! BA-KAW!

  I stifled a giggle. Little had a string of pearls around her neck and a white hat with a pale blue ribbon perched on her rump. A pair of underpants was tangled up in Lo’s beautiful black tail feathers and he had a light pink scarf draped over his wings. When he scratched the floor, I could hear a metallic ting where a few rings were caught around his feet.

  ‘Monsters! Filthy, awful monsters. Get away!’ the woman with the fur coat screeched, waving her arms about. The gawking crowd and the shouting were making my chooks nervous and they flapped about in a flurry of feathers and fabric. The woman took a step backwards and tripped over the hem of her coat, which sent her sprawling onto the floor.

  I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Little tossed her head up and bobbed frantically, tossing her pearl-lined neck and flapping her wings. A light-blue handkerchief floated up into the air and landed on the woman’s face. She shook her head violently and shrieked so loudly I had to cover my ears.

  ‘Make way, make way!’ Two tough-looking security guards were pushing through the crowd. They were waving clubs and one had a whistle in his mouth.

  I had to get my chooks out and fast. I saw the tip of Lo’s flowing tail disappearing under a pile of scarves and grabbed for it. He let out a mighty crow and clawed furiously as I pulled him back, sending feathers and jewels sailing through the air, but I gnashed my teeth and held on.

  ‘Seize her! She’s a thief, her and those filthy animals.’ The woman was shouting and pointing at me now.

  One of the guards grabbed me roughly by the arm. ‘Let go!’ I tried to pull free.

  The other guard spied Little among the clothes. He got on his hands and knees and crawled over to her as she thrashed about.

  ‘Don’t hurt her!’ I cried.

  He managed to catch hold of her. Poor Little was crying out – I could tell she was scared.

  ‘Please, she didn’t mean any harm.’ I looked around desperately and spotted Cap. I called out to him.

  He turned and started to come towards me. Then he froze.

  ‘Cap!’ I struggled, but the guard’s grip was firm. I pleaded with my eyes.

  But Cap backed away, shaking his head.

  ‘Cap, help me!’ He was gone and the guard was dragging me towards the station office.

  ‘Officer, wait please,’ came a gentle voice. It was the old woman. I sighed with relief as she hobbled over on her cane. ‘Please officer, she’s only a child and the animals are her pets. I’m sure this was just a misunderstanding.’

  ‘She’s a little thief is what she is.’ The woman in the coat had gotten up, wisps of dirt and dust clinging to the soft fur. She raised a finger towards me, her nails painted blood-red and filed into sharp points. Her voice was a sinister cackle as she said, ‘A pesky orphan. She tried to pickpocket me on the platform. I caught her red-handed.’

  There were a few murmurs through the crowd.

  Tears welled up in my eyes. ‘No, it was – it was an accident. I’d just gotten off the train . . .’

  The officer holding my arm tightened his grip. ‘The train? Where are your parents, girl?’

  ‘I’m meeting my brother. He’s in the city . . . at . . . the . . . the . . . university.’ My words came out all muffled as I started to cry.

  I heard a whisper from the edge of the crowd. ‘An orphan, tsk tsk. They’re going to send her away.’

  Send me away?

  There were more murmurs. ‘An orphan thief.’

  What was I going to do?

  The other guard came towards us, my hen still tucked under his arm. His uniform had a few extra pins on it to show that he was the head guard. He held out a few scarves, rings and jewels to the woman. ‘Excuse me, ma’am. Is all this stuff yours?’

  The woman narrowed her eyes and pulled her coat tightly around her. ‘Why of course it is. My husband bought those for me from Shanghai last week.’ She reached out to take the precious items from him, but the guard pulled his hand away. Then I saw it.

  Sunlight glinted off the stones in the rings, making them glist
en and sparkle so much that you almost missed the tiny white price tags that were dangling from very fine threads.

  I looked down at the dainty scarf that was still draped around Lo’s body. And sure enough, there was a tag on it too. I could see the name of the store written on it: ‘Guangzhou Station Finery’.

  ‘Thief! Thief!’ a woman’s voice called out. A young shopkeeper pushed her way through the pack. She went right up to the woman in the fur coat and pointed. ‘Arrest her! She’s the thief!’

  More clamouring erupted from the crowd. The guard let go of my arm with a gruff grunt and reached for the woman in the coat.

  ‘No, let go of me!’ She struggled, but he kept an iron hold on her.

  ‘Don’t you dare!’ The shopkeeper was shouting in the woman’s face. ‘You’ve been stealing from my store for months.’ She turned to the guards. ‘She’s always dressed in that fur coat and picking out things, saying that they’ll be gifts from her husband. But when one of my girls goes to ring them up, she stashes everything into her coat and she’s gone!’

  ‘She’s lying, I swear,’ the woman pleaded, but the guard was already taking out his handcuffs and fastening them around her wrists.

  ‘Alright, move along,’ he shouted to the crowd. ‘Nothing to see here.’ People were chattering to each other noisily as they started to move on.

  The head guard still had Little in his arms. She clucked quietly as he carefully removed the string of pearls from around her neck. Finally free, she beat her wings in appreciation. Without a word, I rushed over to take her from him.

  ‘Excuse me, officer,’ the old woman said as she hobbled over. ‘Surely the girl is free to go now?’

  The head guard looked at me hugging Little and Lo, and then back at the old woman. ‘Young children cannot be running around the station unsupervised,’ he said. ‘And chickens, chickens are definitely not allowed on the trains.’

  The old woman bobbed up and down on her bamboo cane. ‘Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right. But she’s just on her way to the university to visit her brother,’ she explained. ‘It’s just a few stops on line 3.’

  I pointed to my box, which we had left by the map on the other side of the station. ‘We’ll keep the chooks in that box and they’ll go to sleep. You won’t even know they’re here.’

  The shopkeeper and the lady in the coat were shouting at each other again and the other guard was trying to keep them apart. The head guard looked back at them wearily. He made up his mind. ‘You can go, but ma’am, I’m leaving this girl and her chickens in your care.’ The old woman nodded and I smiled gratefully, clutching my chooks in my arms. The guard dipped his hat to us before going over to march the thief and the shopkeeper to the station office.

  Little and Lo were calm now after all the excitement. They settled into their box and I clamped the lid shut, checking to make sure it held. When I looked up, the old woman was smiling broadly so I could see the gums in her mouth.

  I got to my feet, feeling a bit embarrassed. ‘I’m sorry, Paw Paw,’ I whispered. I hadn’t meant to cause so much trouble.

  But the old woman let out a laugh. ‘Nonsense! That was some real entertainment. I’ve never seen such a thing in all my life. Imagine, chooks catching a thief!’ I glanced up and saw that her eyes were shining.

  ‘Now let’s get you on the train. But where has your brother gone?’ She looked around the station.

  I was wondering about Cap too.

  ‘Here I am,’ came a loud voice and we both turned. There was Cap, by the ticket booth, his hands behind his back, grinning sheepishly. I glared at him. I was still mad he had run off like that.

  ‘Oh, there you are!’ the old woman exclaimed. ‘We were wondering where you had gone off to. I was almost going to tell the guards we had a lost child.’

  I saw Cap wince when she said the word ‘guards’ but it was only for a moment.

  ‘I was going to get the train tickets but I didn’t have any money,’ he explained, not even bothering to say he was sorry. I glowered at him but he just shrugged.

  The old woman helped us buy our train tickets. After all his boasting about being tall enough to ride the trains as an adult, I was pleased when she got Cap a child’s fare. We helped her through the gates to the platform, where we waited for the train. Cap was chatting away about all sorts of animals he had seen solve crimes. I thought that he was showing off, but the old woman listened and nodded.

  The train arrived and we got onboard. It was nothing like the trains I’d seen before. It was white and sleek, with hard plastic chairs and straps dangling from the ceiling for people to hold on to. It moved incredibly fast and we stayed underground the entire trip.

  I sat still, clutching my chook box in my lap and counting the stops in my head. We were getting close. I was excited that I was going to see Guo. I could imagine his face when he saw us, how surprised and happy he’d be that we had come to visit. I would run into his arms with my chickens and he would wrap us all up in a big warm hug. I couldn’t wait.

  ‘We’re here,’ said the old woman and I bounded out of my seat, eager to get off the train. The shiny silver doors slid open and I leapt onto the platform.

  And came face to face with Guo’s worried frown.

  Chapter Six

  ‘Guo!’ I shouted and went to hug him but stopped. My brother held his arms tightly crossed against his chest, his brow knitted and his mouth turned downwards. He looked furious.

  Uh oh.

  Cap and the old woman had stepped off the train and were looking at us, astonished. The old woman hobbled over to Guo. ‘You must be this young girl’s brother. She’s told us so much about you.’

  ‘Unfortunately, I am,’ Guo mumbled. I shrank back. Guo had never said anything like that before.

  He held out his hand to the old woman. ‘Ma’am, I am so sorry my sister has caused you so much trouble.’

  ‘It’s quite alright. I can’t remember the last time I had such an exciting adventure.’ Her eyes twinkled and she gave me a wink.

  Guo didn’t care. ‘Mei, I can’t believe you. Ma is so, so angry with you, and I am too. When she found out you were gone, Jin went to the village train station. The ticket man said he remembered a young girl trying to buy a ticket to Guangzhou. Ma rang me at the university and Jin called the Guangzhou train station. The guards said there was an incident with some chickens and a thief?’

  I nodded eagerly. ‘That’s right. Little and Lo, they stopped a woman who was stealing—’

  ‘I don’t want to hear it, Mei.’ Guo finally noticed Cap, who had been standing silently beside us. ‘Who’s this?’

  ‘My name’s Cap. I’m from the village. I helped Mei find her way here,’ he said proudly.

  I rolled my eyes. He was such a show-off.

  Guo didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he held out his hand to the old woman again. ‘Thank you so much, ma’am. I must apologise once more for all the trouble my sister has been.’

  The old woman took his hand in hers and smiled warmly. ‘Please, it’s been no trouble. I have been meaning to pay my son a visit for a long time. This gave me the perfect reason.’ She gave me another wink. ‘Best of luck with your studies, young man.’ And she shuffled towards the exit.

  My brother slumped against the wall of the station, hunched over like an old man. He buried his head in his hands. I reached out and touched his arm.

  ‘I’m sorry, Guo,’ I murmured. ‘I thought it would be a surprise.’

  Guo pinched the bridge of his nose, not meeting my gaze. He looked more like Pa than ever before, but when he had been gaunt and very sick.

  I wanted to cry.

  Cap came to my side and said in a very grown-up voice, ‘I’m sure Mei didn’t mean to cause trouble. I think she just missed you.’

  Guo straightened up and put a hand on Cap’s shoulder. ‘Thank you
for looking out for her.’

  ‘We looked out for each other.’ I gave Cap a grateful smile.

  Guo picked up my chook box and headed towards the exit. ‘Come on, we have to call Ma to tell her you’re okay. Cap, should we call your parents too?’

  Cap shook his head. ‘Nah, they’re out of town.’

  I frowned but Cap didn’t say anything else.

  The entrance to the university was marked by a large white stone wall with the name South China University written in tall red letters across the top. It was all very cold and official-looking. I felt myself cowering behind my brother.

  Once we were through the gate, there was a mess of wide roads going left and right and around in a circle, like the legs of a spider. Lots and lots of cars were parked along the sides. Only a few of the rich families had cars back in the village – everyone else, including Jin and Ma, got around by bicycle. There must have been a lot of rich people at Guo’s university.

  We walked down one of the long wide roads past a creek with some ducks splashing about. There were big buildings rising up like mountains all along the paths. They came in all sorts of shapes and colours and looked nothing like the little mud houses in the village. There was even one building with walls made entirely from glass. I thought I would be able to see all the way inside, but everything just looked murky and cloudy green, like the dirty fish tanks at the market.

  We passed the main square and came to a group of smaller buildings. These buildings were much older and a dull grey, stacked close together to look like a big concrete box. I craned my neck up and up. There were lines and lines of drying laundry hanging from each of the balconies, dangling like tentacles.

  There were no signs above the doorways of these buildings, but I could guess what they were.

  The student dormitories.

  Guo led us through one of the unmarked doorways and up the stairs. He perched the chook box on his knee as he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a single key tied on a piece of red string. He inserted it into the door handle and the lock opened with a gentle click.