Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society

by Adeline Yen Mah

  ‘I’m waiting for the iron to get hot,’ she answered. ‘I know your brother well. Ivanov is very smart. I may be wrong but I think he is sending us a message.’

  Grandma Wu held the iron above the poster without touching it. We all crowded around, feeling the radiating heat.

  ‘Now!’ Grandma Wu exclaimed. In one sudden, dramatic motion, she lifted the iron and revealed the back of the heated poster. To our astonishment, we saw line after line of spidery brownish-black Chinese characters.

  ‘I’m sure my brother wrote this!’ Marat shouted jubilantly. ‘I’d recognize his handwriting anywhere!’

  ‘Fantastic!’ David cried. ‘How did he do this?’

  ‘Invisible ink?’ Sam guessed.

  ‘But where would he get it?’ asked Marat.

  ‘He could have used a number of things,’ Grandma Wu replied. ‘Milk, orange juice, lemon juice, onion juice or even urine. All organic substances contain carbon, and carbon turns brownish-black when it is heated. See how Ivanov used a brush when he wrote this? The pressure from the nib of a pen would have left marks on the paper. It’s addressed to you, Marat! Tell us what he says.’

  Marat, I’m risking my life by writing to you but you’ve been on my mind every day since my arrest. You must destroy this as soon as you’ve read it.

  I’m a prisoner at Bridge House, headquarters of the Kempeitei. I have a cell to myself. The Kempeitei need my language sldlb. My job is to do translations seven days a week from morning till night.

  There are political prisoners here of every nationality. Normally there are twenty prisoners per cell. Men and women together. Insects and rats everywhere. It’s hell on earth.

  Sometimes they make me translate confessions from Chinese, English and Russian prisoners while they’re being tortured. The suffering is beyond anythingyou can imagine.

  The officer in charge of Bridge House is Major General Tonoshita. I’ve translated for him a few times. He appears to appreciate my knowledge of English because last week he told me that he wants me to teach him English.

  I daren’t write more. Don’t contact me. It’s too dangerous. My thoughts are with you. You must never forget the kindness of Master Wu and Grandma Wu. Tell them we are forever in their debt. Yin shui si yuan () when drinking water, remember the source!

  Your brother Ivanov

  None of us said a word when Marat came to the end of Ivanov’s letter. His eyes were blazing. ‘We have to rescue him!’

  ‘But how?’ Sam asked. ‘Bridge House is the stronghold of the Kempeitei. If we try to break in, they’ll simply arrest us and put us away…’

  ‘There are plans afoot even as we speak,’ Grandma Wu interrupted. ‘If we challenge the Kempeitei directly, we’ll all end up prisoners. We must find another way.’

  ‘How do we do that?’ David asked.

  ‘By putting a torch to Bridge House,’ Marat answered. ‘Then Ivanov can come home.’

  ‘If we burn down Bridge House,’ Grandma Wu said gravely, ‘the Kempeitei will just move to another building. To get to the root of the problem we must destroy the qi of the men who arrested him. We have to go to the top, to the admirals and generals in Japan who gave the order to bomb Pearl Harbor. We need to fill ourselves with qi. When you know in your heart that you are right, you can fight against thousands and even tens of thousands. But if in your heart you know you are wrong, you will stand in fear even though your opponent is the least formidable of foes.’

  ‘But how do we take away their qi?’ asked Sam.

  ‘We have news from America,’ said Grandma Wu. ‘They are planning an attack on Japan and have asked us for help. Meanwhile, you must be patient. Continue your schooling and your kung fu practice. Becoming a kung fu expert will not only condition your body, it will expand your mind and give you self-confidence. Eventually, you will be brave enough to face any situation. Remember, no matter what people might steal from you in the future, they will never be able to steal your kung fu skills or your learning.

  ‘As for you, Marat, your heart is aching, but at least you know your brother is alive! Children, show Marat he is not alone!’

  As we embraced Marat, I finally began to understand what it meant to belong to the Dragon Society. We were all orphans in one way or another. We, the unwanted and despised, needed each other to fight injustice. United, we would rise from the ashes and prove our worth to the world.

  8

  Letter from Big Aunt

  Early next morning, I was woken from a deep sleep by a mysterious sound.

  ‘Rap, rap,’ I heard. ‘Rap, rap, rap.’

  I opened my eyes and looked around. Where was I? I still found it hard to believe that I was no longer in Father’s house.

  ‘Rap, rap. Rap, rap.’ I crawled out of bed and cautiously raised the rattan screen. Nobody there! Was it hail? But the streets were dry. Could it be one of the boys throwing pebbles at my window? Outside it was still dark, but the clock in my room said quarter past five.

  I snuggled back under my quilt, but the rapping started again. This time I heard a cooing noise! Was it a ghost? I shivered and thought of hiding, but curiosity got the better of me. I crept to the window and whipped up the rattan screen as soon as I heard the next rap. There, facing me on the other side of the windowpane, was a bird with dark feathers. It had a small bill and a skin saddle between its bill and forehead. It pecked the window twice more – ‘rap, rap’ – before fluttering into the air, losing a few feathers along the way.

  ‘Meet Da Ma (), the homing pigeon, who has just flown in from Nan Tian Island,’ Grandma Wu said behind me.

  I hadn’t heard her come in but turned to her in delight.

  ‘A homing pigeon!’

  ‘Open the window and let him in. The calligraphy teacher, Miss Cheng, who had this room before, used to feed him for me. I wonder if he has brought a letter from Grandma Liu.’

  Da Ma settled in the room. He strutted about, bobbing his head up and down and cooing. Grandma Wu coaxed him with some seeds, cupped the bird gently between her hands and detached a metal canister from his leg. Inside the canister was an inner tube that contained three rolled-up sheets of paper and a key.

  Grandma Wu glanced at the papers and said, ‘Two letters and a cheque! One letter for you from your aunt and one for me from Grandma Liu. This key is to your aunt’s flat.’

  Big Aunt’s note was short and to the point.

  My Precious Little Treasure,

  Grandma Wu wrote and said that your father and Mang have thrownyou out of their house. I was so worried until I heard that you’ve been staying with Grandma Wu at the academy. You’ll be much safer there than at my flat. I’m sending you my key. I have clean clothes and a spare uniform of yours in my bedroom closet. I’m also sending Grandma Wu a cheque.

  I know it’s difficult but you must write a letter of apohgy to your father. Tell him that you are staying at my place and going to school daily. If your father and Mang ask you to come home, then you must go back to them at once. They do not know that I have gone to Nan Tian.

  Grandma Wu is a wonderful kung fu teacher and a woman of honour. Take this opportunity to ham as much as you can. You could not be in better hands.

  I’m afraid Grandma Liu’s leg is broken in more than one place and it will take a long time to heal. Master Wu and I will be in Nan Tian for at least one more month. Meanwhile, study hard and take good care of yourself. I sleep more soundly knowing that you’re with Grandma Wu.

  Big Aunt

  When I read Big Aunt’s letter, so many thoughts went through my head that I could not speak. Immense longing for her filled my whole being. Although I felt like crying, I did not want to burden Grandma Wu with yet more of my problems. So I gritted my teeth and remained silent. Then I carefully folded Big Aunt’s letter and placed it with her key in the pocket of my school uniform.

  Thankfully, Grandma Wu did not seem to notice my agitation. She was still absorbed in Grandma Liu’s letter. Finally, she sighed and tur
ned to me with a slight frown. ‘There is something important you must do for us. Your aunt has left an envelope in the safe she keeps in her bedroom closet. Since you now have the key to her flat, you should go there as soon as it gets light. Take an empty school bag, pick up the envelope and your clothes, then bring them back here.

  ‘Unfortunately it’s best that you go there by yourself. It’s too early in the morning for a social visit and Japanese spies are everywhere. They will not suspect you because you are her niece and are in the habit of going there. Here is some money for a rickshaw. Be very careful.’

  ‘What’s in the envelope, Grandma Wu?’

  ‘Sometimes it’s better not to know,’ Grandma Wu said.

  ‘Please tell me!’ I begged. ‘I need to know. Telling me your secret will mean that you trust me.’

  Grandma Wu sighed, then nodded. ‘The envelope contains the contact details of our agents. We know them only by their code numbers, but their loyalty is unquestionable.’

  ‘Has my aunt been helping you?’

  ‘I didn’t know she was one of us until this very minute! Grandma Liu must have recruited her. The true identities of our agents are unknown to us. We refer to them only by their code numbers. It’s safer this way because there are so many traitors and double agents…’

  I began to understand why Grandma Wu had to be so careful. I was finding out that life for a grown-up was no easier than life for a child. Now more than ever, I wanted to be part of the Secret Dragon Society.

  Da Ma was still strutting around the room. ‘Do you and Grandma Liu always communicate this way?’ I asked. ‘By carrier pigeon?’

  ‘The postal service in Nan Tian is notoriously slow and there are no telephones. For years we’ve been using pigeons to carry our mail. They are fast, reliable and discreet.’

  ‘I had no idea pigeons could carry mail!’

  ‘Our ancestors have used pigeons for eight hundred years or more. Even the Mongolian conqueror Genghis Khan had a pigeon-post system to service his enormous empire. Pigeons can also take photos! My son once designed a tiny camera out of lightweight aluminium. He attached it to the leg of a bird to photograph the terrain as the pigeon flew between Nan Tian and Shanghai. From these aerial photos, he mapped out the cities, mountains, rivers, roads, bridges, railroads and airfields. But hurry now, CC, before the streets get too crowded.’

  I tried to creep into Big Aunt’s block of flats inconspicuously, but no sooner had I put the key in the lock than I heard a familiar voice loudly calling my name. ‘Miss Ye Xian! Miss Ye Xian! Is that you?’

  I looked around in alarm, my heart beating furiously inside my chest. Then I saw the thin, frail figure of my wet nurse, Ah Yee (), hurrying up the steps. For a few seconds, I was tempted to run away. I knew she would never catch me because her feet had been bound since infancy. But as I watched her totter forth, swaying from side to side, I became increasingly uncertain.

  I had known Ah Yee all my life. She came to work for us when I was less than a year old. Her own baby had died and her husband had taken another wife. Ah Yee had nursed me when I was little; she had comforted me when Mama died, and again when Big Aunt moved out last year. More than anyone else, she was the one I associated in my mind with home. As much as I wanted to get away, I stood rooted to the stone steps, moved by the concern in her voice.

  She came up to me and stroked my hair. ‘Miss Ye Xian,’ she said in a trembling, tear-laden voice. ‘Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick.’

  I felt a terrible ache inside, part wistfulness and part yearning. Once upon a time, both she and Big Aunt called me xiao bao bei, my mother’s nickname for me before she died. But one day, soon after Big Aunt moved away, Niang had summoned Ah Yee into the living room and scolded her for daring to address me so intimately.

  ‘Who are you?’ I overheard Niang saying to her. ‘Just a common maid! There are millions of peasant women who would love to have your job. My daughter is not your “Precious Little Treasure”. She is your boss’s daughter whom you have been hired to serve. From now on, you call her Miss Ye Xian, do you understand? If I ever hear you calling her “Precious Little Treasure” again, I will fire you on the spot. Have I made myself absolutely clear?’

  Now, as I looked at Ah Yee’s red-rimmed eyes and worried frown, I felt a lump in my throat. Instead of running away, I hung my head and stammered hoarsely, ‘Oh, Ah Yee! I… I… I don’t know where to begin!’

  She clung to my arm as if I would vanish. ‘I know you haven’t been staying here. I came to look for you the night your father threw you out. Big Aunt’s flat was completely dark and no one answered the bell. Your parents expected you to come crawling home that night, begging for forgiveness. When you didn’t, they assumed you were staying with your aunt. They were too angry to look for you.

  ‘On Monday I phoned your school at three o’clock and asked to speak to you. Your teacher told me that you’d just left. I waited here for hours but nobody came.

  ‘I was too scared to say anything to your father but I could hardly sleep last night. So I came here first thing this morning hoping to find you. Have you been eating properly? Tell me! Where have you been?’

  I didn’t know what to tell Ah Yee. The concern in her voice was genuine. It pierced my heart and I could not lie. We went inside Big Aunt’s flat and sat down on the couch. The flat was neat and silent, with the faintest fragrance of Big Aunt’s lilac-scented hand lotion.

  ‘You must trust me, Ah Yee,’ I said. ‘Big Aunt left last Friday to look after her godmother and will be away for some time. Meanwhile, I’m staying with some wonderful new friends. Please don’t look so alarmed! Everything is fine and I’m perfectly safe. In fact, I’m doing important work that I can’t talk about. Go back to my parents. Tell them I’m OK. I think we’ll all be happier if I stay away.’

  ‘They’ll want to know where you are. So far I’ve told them nothing. They think you’ve been with your aunt all this time.’

  ‘My father was the one who told me to get out of his house!’ I said angrily. ‘He picked me up by the back of my uniform, threw me out and slammed the door. What is he complaining of? I’m merely obeying his orders!’

  ‘Oh, Miss Ye Xian!’ Ah Yee lamented. ‘I was buying food at the market when it happened. Otherwise I’d have died first before allowing it. How could he cast out his little daughter?’

  ‘Don’t cry, Ah Yee,’ I said, squeezing her hand. ‘It wasn’t your idea. Besides, I would never havemet Grandma Wu if they had not thrown me out. Anyway, I have to go now…’ I wanted to pick upj that envelope and get back to the academy.

  ‘You can’t leave now!’ Ah Yee protested in alarm. ‘Where are you going? How do I know you’ll be safe! What if your parents find out you’re not living here? They might go to the police and report you missing. Your photo will be in the newspapers and people will be searching for you. What a loss of face for everybody concerned! Your family will be the laughing stock of Shanghai!’

  ‘Isn’t that what they want?’ I asked. ‘Why kick me out one day and take me back the next? Besides, I’m perfectly happy to be away from home.’

  ‘If you don’t care about losing face for your parents, what about the people who took you in? Do you want to cause them trouble? Your Niang was saying yesterday that if your aunt doesn’t let you go when your father sends for you, he’ll sue her for kidnapping.’

  Ah Yee’s warning stopped me cold. The last thing I wanted was for the police to descend on the Martial Arts Academy. A shudder went through me as I imagined the Kempeitei at Grandma Wu’s door.

  ‘You’re right.’ I was thinking fast. ‘My friends must never come to harm because of me!’

  ‘So the safest thing is to come home now, Miss Ye Xian. Tell your parents you’ve been staying at your aunt’s flat. Eat humble pie and apologize! I’ll protect you. Your father misses you and so do I.’

  ‘No, I have a better idea. I’ll write a letter of apology to my parents for you to deliver. Tell
them you saw me here this morning and that I’ve been living here for the last four days. Don’t tell them she is away. Let them think I’m with her. Niang will like it very much if you tell her that I looked terrible. The more she thinks I want to go home, the more she won’t want me back.’

  Ah Yee wrung her hands, but I was impatient. ‘There’s something I need to do first. Wait here. I won’t be a minute.’

  I dashed into Big Aunt’s bedroom and closed the door. Her safe was a specially designed clothes hanger that she kept in her closet. Every time I had a good report card, she would take me into her bedroom, close the door, remove the hanger with her worn winter jacket, put the jacket on, and place the hanger on her bed. Together, we would turn the combination lock built into the hanger. Three turns to the right to 18. Two turns to the left to 12. Then three more turns to the right to 15.

  ‘Open up! Magic hanger!’ I would shout. And the two halves would come apart to reveal its hollow interior. She would place my report card with the others underneath her jewels, as if my grades were also precious gems impossible to replace.

  I was almost in tears as I carried out our ritual by myself. This time, I had no report card. In place of my aunt, I was the one who wore her familiar padded jacket. It made me very homesick. The hanger opened easily. Inside, I saw her diamond watch, her jade bangle, her pearl earrings and her gold necklace. There were also a few old, faded letters, some foreign money and a small, unsealed envelope that contained a list of numbers and addresses but no names. Stuck in the bottom to one side, I came across the stack of old report cards from my school.

  Although I had been expecting to see them, a pang went through me. I knew I needed to leave, but I could not resist taking off the rubber band and flipping through the cards. Kindergarten – special certificate for reading ioo books. First grade – award in creative writing. Second grade – honours in arithmetic! Third grade…

  Knock! Knock! I almost jumped out of my skin. Then I heard Ah Yee’s voice. ‘Are you almost finished, Miss Ye Xian?’