by A. H. Shinn
As she stepped aside, Jake shrieked as he entered. “That’s a lot of food!”
“You didn’t have to make all that for us,” Jory said politely.
The dining table barely had room for the place settings. It was crowded with various dishes. Until recently, Master Chen’s repertoire of recipes was strictly for Chinese cuisine. He’d been expanding his horizons, and it was evident by the diverse assortment.
“Master Chen spent most of the day cooking,” said Kellie. “He wouldn’t let me help much. I just tidied the house and set the table.” She glanced down the short hallway at his open bedroom door. “He’ll be here soon.”
After taking the cake container from Jake and placing it on the last open spot on the table, she gestured to them to take a seat. She poured them a glass of iced green tea as they ogled the array of delicacies.
“Go ahead,” said Kellie. “Master Chen won’t mind.”
“Are you sure?” asked Jory. “Isn’t that rude?”
“Nah.”
“This is a lot of food!” Jake exclaimed excitedly.
“Since I lost weight in Bhutan, Master Chen has been trying to fatten me up. He also wanted to make sure that there was enough variety to make you guys happy.”
“We’re happy,” said Jake. He didn’t hesitate to start filling his plate. He picked up some pot stickers, scooped up some fried rice, grabbed a few finger sandwiches, and got a handful of potato chips.
Jory scanned the platters and stopped at a dish. Pointing with a wrinkled forehead, he asked, “What’s that?”
“That recipe is from Mrs. Nguyen,” Kellie said with a sigh. “They are spring rolls.” She had watched Master Chen wrap rice noodles, lettuce, basil, cilantro, and shrimp in rice paper soaked in water. It was an interesting concoction.
“And how do we feel about Mrs. Nguyen?” Jake asked with his mouth full.
Kellie had told them all about her on the plane ride after Master Chen had mentioned her name. Apparently Mrs. Nguyen had provided Master Chen with emotional support once she’d found out about Kellie’s disappearance.
Kellie couldn’t hide her immature jealously from her friends. But she’d been coming to terms with allowing others in Master Chen’s life. After all, he’d been the one to encourage her to make friends. Without his support, she wouldn’t have Jory and Jake in her life.
“She’s really nice to him,” said Kellie. “And she’s nice to me. He needs friends here too, and it shouldn’t matter if that friend is a female.”
“Well, I’ll try Mrs. Nguyen’s spring roll,” Jory said as he picked one up. He also plopped some potato salad on his plate.
“Oh, yeah,” mumbled Jake, before he swallowed his bite. “My mom wants to have you at the diner for your birthday. She said any day would be fine with her.”
“Thanks,” said Kellie. She had been craving a hot fudge sundae. “How’s next Friday?”
Jake frowned. Then he stuffed a heaping spoon of fried rice into his mouth.
“Lisa’s been hanging out there every Friday night,” Jory clarified.
“Ah,” said Kellie. “Then how about Saturday after our outdoor training session?”
“We’re going to start that up again?” Jory asked with obvious excitement in his voice. “Are you ready to get back into it?”
Kellie had taken the past couple of weeks off from going into the studio as well as her Saturday workouts with Jake and Jory in her front yard. She hadn’t wanted to, but her body was weakened from the involuntary trip to Bhutan. Her feet were also covered with sores and blisters and were in need of healing.
“I’m very ready. Then we can reward ourselves at the diner after. I have some new ideas that will help our balance.” She thought about trying the throwing-cones-at-the-student-while-they-hung-off-a-tree tactic.
“Lunch on Saturday would be great!” spewed Jake.
“I’m taking a wild guess that Lisa isn’t there on Saturdays,” said Kellie.
“She has cheer practice,” said Jake. “She has the need to tell me every aspect of her schedule.”
“She’s trying to get you to ask her out again,” Jory said as he grabbed some chips.
“That’ll never happen!” said Jake.
“It did once,” said Kellie, reminding him of the time he’d asked her to the school dance. Unfortunately for Lisa, he’d stood her up.
“Please don’t bring that up again,” said Jake.
The jiggle at the front door turned their heads. Master Chen came in and stared at the plates of half-eaten food. “You eat without me?”
“Uh, we didn’t think you’d mind,” said Kellie.
“We?” mumbled Jake.
“Ay,” muttered Master Chen. “Kids need nourishment for physical and mental growth.”
“Uh, sorry,” said Kellie.
“Ay,” he said, waving his hands in the air. “You like?” He stood over the table with his hands on his hips, examining the dishes.
“Yes,” Jake and Jory both said.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to the foreign item next to his creations.
“Oh, my mom made something for Kellie,” said Jake. He looked as if he didn’t want to give away what was under the cover, but hinted, “It’s one of her favorites.”
“Tiramisu!” shouted Kellie. After seeing a smile develop on Jake’s face and a twinkle in his brown eyes, she knew she was correct.
As Master Chen sat on the last empty chair and helped himself to the plethora of entrées, Jory pulled out the folded papers from his pocket. “I wanted to get you something for your birthday, but since you objected to gifts, I decided to do something for you instead.”
Kellie was sitting across from him, and leaned in to see what was on the pages. Tilting her head sideways so she could read the upside-down words, she saw what appeared to be a list of names.
Jory held the papers in front of him. “My initial search for your mother was misguided since I was looking for a phony name. We know that everything we thought before was a sham, so I started a new search in the towns and cities surrounding the area you were found.” He handed her the sheets.
Kellie flipped through the pages, staring down at all the names. “You’re looking for my real mother?”
“These are the names of women who gave birth within a three-month span of your approximate birthday, as well as the names of their babies.”
“Wait,” said Jake. “What do you mean by approximate birthday?”
“I celebrate my birthday on August twenty-third because the monks chose that date,” said Kellie. “Dr. Lee estimated that I was about a month old when Shifu Lau found me in the forest.”
“Why didn’t I know that?” asked Jake.
Kellie shrugged.
“Anyway,” said Jory. “It’s possible that you could’ve been born somewhere else and brought to Shenmi Forest, but I thought that it was unlikely a person from a great distance would know about the place, since Shenmi Forest is not well known to outsiders. I also had another thought. What if you were kidnapped and abandoned? So my next search will be for missing babies reported around the time of your birthday.”
Kellie was touched by Jory’s efforts. She nodded excitedly for him to continue.
“So far, I have a list of names from fifty-three hospitals. I’m going to locate the children first. If I find them, they’re obviously not you. If I can’t find them or they were unnamed at birth, I will look for their mothers.” He reached out for the papers. He sighed as he stared at the immense project before him. “It’s a long shot, I know, but it’s a start. This list wouldn’t include the names of babies birthed by midwives at home.”
Kellie gazed at him, giving him a warm smile. “Thank you. I know that this is a lot of work. It’s more than I could ever ask for.”
Jory took a sip of his iced tea to h
ide his crimson cheeks.
Jake patted him on the shoulder. “That’s a lot of hacking.”
Jory put down his glass, his face still flushed. “It’s not hard. The servers at the hospitals aren’t well protected.”
Master Chen had been quiet during Jory’s explanation of how he was going to try and find her mother. Kellie wondered how Master Chen felt about it and how he would react if her real mother ever came into her life.
Master Chen pulled out his key ring and set it in front of Kellie’s plate.
“What’s this?” she asked. “Are you giving me the van?”
“No,” he said. “No gifts. Remember?”
Now Kellie’s cheeks warmed.
“I teach you to drive,” he said.
“Really?” she squealed.
“When will the first lesson be?” Jake asked as he lifted the cover off the cake carrier.
Kellie looked to Master Chen.
“Monday,” he said.
“Then Monday I will stay off the streets,” said Jake.
Jory chuckled.
After cutting a slice of tiramisu for each person and passing it around, Jake said, “I helped my mom make this, you know.”
“We didn’t doubt you,” said Kellie, knowing that he wanted to be part of the non-gift giving.
There was silence as they took a bite of the decadent dessert. The sweet creaminess of the tiramisu brought joy to Kellie’s taste buds.
“You opened mail from school?” asked Master Chen.
“Yeah,” Kellie said.
“Are you talking about the schedule of classes?” asked Jory.
“No,” said Kellie. “Can I have another slice?”
Now three pairs of eyes were on her.
“What is in mail?” asked Master Chen.
“It was just a birthday card,” she said.
“A birthday card?” Jake asked, stopping midbite. “I’ve never gotten a birthday card from the school.”
“Really?” said Kellie.
“I’ve never gotten one either,” said Jory.
“Maybe it’s a new thing,” said Kellie.
“Get it,” said Master Chen.
Kellie went to her bedroom and returned with the card. She handed it to Master Chen, and Jake leaned over to take a look.
“‘If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask,’” Jake read out loud. “Principal Lemore sent this? I’ve definitely never received a card from him—Ask him if you can use his private jet again!”
“My dad said he was doing everything he could to help find you,” said Jory. “He wasn’t happy that one of his students was kidnapped, and got Milldale’s Chief of Police involved—Principal Lemore has donated a lot of money to his causes. My dad also said that Principal Lemore is thinking about going into politics and may not be our principal after this school year…It’s possible that getting involved with your disappearance could’ve been a political strategy…”
“Jory’s dad is Principal Lemore’s accountant,” Kellie said to Master Chen.
“Hm,” grunted Master Chen.
“What if he knows something about Kellie’s gifts?” asked Jake. “What if he’s like Dr. Skull, and plans to brainwash Kellie into being his henchman!”
“I was thinking the same thing!” said Jory. “Wasn’t that awesome when Black Raven turned the tables on Dr. Skull, and—”
“You can’t be serious!” said Kellie.
“Well, besides collecting rare art, Principal Lemore has interests in relics, especially if there’s an interesting story behind them,” said Jory. “My dad stopped by his house once to drop off some papers, and Principal Lemore showed him his collection room…Dr. Skull was a collector, too.”
“Yeah, that’s right…” said Jake.
“I can’t believe I’m listening to this,” said Kellie.
“They are right,” said Master Chen.
“What?” said Kellie.
“We must be careful with what principal could know…” said Master Chen. Creases formed on his forehead. Kellie knew that he’d sleep on the couch tonight again.
“Can I have another piece of the delicious tiramisu?” Kellie asked, obviously changing the subject.
As Jake handed her a slice, he asked, “Why don’t you want gifts for your birthday, anyway?”
Kellie swallowed the lump in her throat. “When I was at Druk Monastery, I thought I’d never see any of you again. Suddenly nothing else mattered besides friends and family. I didn’t want any of you buying me a gift when all I wanted was your time…to spend with me.”
Master Chen’s forehead relaxed, and his face softened. His unease seemed to have vanished. He patted her arm. “Good. I worried you wanted new car when you got license.”
“Well, that would be more like a necessity than a gift,” Kellie said teasingly. “I could help you with errands, and you wouldn’t have to drive me around anymore.”
“Ay,” he responded, looking as if he regretted the ungift of teaching her to drive.
“Well, happy birthday,” said Jory. “I’m glad to be spending time with you and that you’re all right.”
“Happy birthday,” said Jake with a warm smile.
Kellie looked down at her cake. She didn’t want them to see her eyes tear. She may not know everything about her past, or all that she was capable of, but she knew exactly where she wanted to be…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A.H. Shinn received a B.A. in Creative Studies from U.C. Santa Barbara and a Pharm.D. and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of the Pacific. Her interests have not only been in the sciences, but also in the world of fiction. She grew up reading stories of the imagination, which included fairy tale and adventure books. In college, she began training in taekwondo and later went on to learn shou shu kung fu. Chinese martial art became an important part of her life and sparked her fascination with the animals of kung fu.
