Li Mei by Collette Silverspoon

Li Mei

For Lydia who always wants a good adventure

Table of Contents Prologue...............................................................................p. 7 Captured.............................................................................p. 13 To Sea.................................................................................p. 23 Not Alone............................................................................p. 35 An.......................................................................................p. 53 Aboard Ship.......................................................................p. 69 The Island...........................................................................p. 79 The House..........................................................................p. 93 In Trade.............................................................................p. 105 The Storm...........................................................................p. 117 Recovery............................................................................p. 129 Tofa....................................................................................p. 141 The Gowns.........................................................................p. 155 An's Secret........................................................................p. 163 Passing Time.......................................................................p. 173 Harald................................................................................p. 185 Another Barter..................................................................p. 197 Treasure............................................................................p. 207 Africa.................................................................................p. 217 Lady Brie...........................................................................p. 231 Shannon...........................................................................p. 249 Tastes of Morocco............................................................p. 263 Paulus................................................................................p. 273 The Offer.........................................................................p. 285 Ancient Tombs..................................................................p. 295

The Scrolls........................................................................p. 301 Hispania..............................................................................p. 311 Readings...........................................................................p. 323 Captive!.............................................................................p. 331 Land..................................................................................p. 337 The Edge of the Mountain.................................................p. 351 Revelation..........................................................................p.365 The Prophecy....................................................................p. 371 The Test.............................................................................p.385 Summit..............................................................................p. 399 The Gathering....................................................................p. 411 In the Tent.........................................................................p. 421 The Light...........................................................................p. 431 Farewells...........................................................................p. 441 Epilogue...........................................................................p. 447 Legend.............................................................................p. 453

Prologue

The path carried on a long way. It wound up the mountain in a

most peculiar fashion. It twisted and turned in places which were exceptionally inconvenient. Instead of winding from left to right,

sloping gently upward to the height of the cliff face, in order to avoid climbing too steeply, the path more resembled curls and loops. In some places the path almost crossed over itself.

The path was beautiful, wild, with no paving stones, only trampled

dirt. But fragrant mosses and vegetable blossoms lined both sides, all the way to the pinnacle. There were patches of golden lilies with hearts of pure white and slender stems which quietly bent in the

wind. A few pockets of dark blue berries and even sweet basil and mustard, grew there. Honeysuckle and vines tangled themselves

thickly across the hill, but there wereno trees or heavy bushes to be seen anywhere. All plants seemed to grow level to one another.

There were clusters of plump beans, pods of which neededno

salt, as their taste was naturally spiced. The women of the palebearded men often prepared dishes with the rare pods. And yet

never once had Li Mei seen a bean plucked from the path. Within the short time she had been a prisoner on this hill, Li Mei began to

wonder whether the path was sacred. Nothing on its outer face was ever touched, besides the dirt of the path. The fierce men who 9

guided Li Mei to the summit took great pains to fold theirlong capes behind them, so as never to touch a plant or to disturb even a blade of grass along the pathâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edge. This did not greatly surprise Li Mei. Cathay held its own observances and superstitions, keeping their own holy places in the mountains. However, Li Mei did not fully

understand why these men with battle axes and long knives were so very careful to avoid such a fragile thing as a flower or a stray leaf. She knew these people were merciless warriors. They scarcely

hesitated to cut down another man. Whether they believed the hill

was of sacred significance or not, failed to excuse their avoidance of so small and lovely a thing as a blossom or an herb.

The path continued to dabble upward as she climbed. Previously, her arms had been securely fastened behind her back with strong ropes cut from hard trees. They scratched her wrists most

uncomfortably and would occasionally produce a drop of blood if she tried too hard to loosen them. Why they had bound her so

tightly, she did not think to wonder why. She was a small girl and

hardly capable of running from such brutish men. And yet,they had kept her hands bound in such a manner for the first several weeks. For only two days, had her hands finally been freed as she was guided back up the path.

She walked between two of them; harsh masks, angry eyes, and

thick braids where bones and beads had been laced. Heavyfurs

hung from their shoulders as capes, and they marched through the

mud in their coarse woolen uniforms, without looking at her, without speaking to her. Li Mei learned to watch only the path ahead, the winding and twisting dirt.

For a people with such ingenuity, Li Mei was surprised that they

had not used more sense in building the path. The loops and curls 10

were most frustrating, for they turned without notice. The path was laid in such a manner that the traveler could not see morethan five

yards ahead of him. The angles of the hill and the beds of herbs and blossoms distorted whatever lay beyond the visible stretch of path.

And so one was constantly guessing as to which way the path turned next. And one could never memorize the path in order to remember where it turned.

Though the climb was tiring, Li Mei never failed to examine eachplant which caught her eye. The journey thus seemed shorter in length

because of the beautiful path, many of the plants the likes of which never graced the mountains of the Orient from which Li Mei had come.

On she marched between the two warriors. She began to find a

rhythm to her walking and tapped her hands ever so slightly against her skirts to the music she had left behind in her homeland, and

could now only hear, faintly, in her mind. The ascent went on, and would often take two hours to complete. By the end of such a

journey, even the lovely buds and frail petals of the path's side

would not suffice to keep her mind off the soreness of her feet or

the throbbing of her head. The height was not very great, but she was unused to traveling up such high hills, and small legs couldnot keep up sufficiently with the long and indifferent strides of her escorts.

Perhaps for a thirteen year-old girl, it would not occur to ask,

why. If she had been older, perhaps, this question might have come to her. But in Cathay, where children were meant to be seen and not heard, questions came in different forms. Why? was not often addressed. Li Meiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s questions stemmed from other things. She missed her family, her country, and her people. But the thought 11

of becoming bitter toward her situation was not to be considered. In the life of a young woman from Cathay, the concept ofdealing

with whatever came, was manifold. Giving up was not an option, and Li Mei knew this. For as young as shewas, Li Mei was strong.

She was small, but she was fierce. She was quiet, but she was determined.

Captured

Li Meiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s captivity had, in reality, only spanned a short amount of

time. Months. The deed had been done on a late afternoon, a day in which the sky was rather blue and the sun had alreadymostly

passed beyond the great peak. A day in which Li Mei was preparing noodles with her sister out in the garden, sitting by each other.

They were talking about various things and laughing quietly, so as

not to disturb the cats sleeping atop the white wall. Theretruly had been no warning. As in many situations, when trouble is coming

quickly, the winged creatures sensed it first. A great flock of black birds rose high above the mountain village. Their flight was so high

and quick that Li Mei almost failed to note them, had it not been for the faint shadows flickering past the ground.

She remembered, vaguely, that she had stopped mixing the dough

in her bowl, and had risen from her seat on the ground. Her sister

had not yet looked up from her own bowl. And yet, as Li Mei did not end her pause, she too looked up.

Perhaps Li Mei had only imagined it to herself, but she thoughtshe

heard a swift pounding, far off. It was not the sound of drums, she

thought, but the sound of running perhaps, running that would not stop, tireless. And yet the sound was so faint, Li Mei could hardly

say whether it was the wind rushing past the peak, or the voices of 15

her own thoughts.

But Li Mei’s sister had stopped the mixing of herbowl, and she sat

there, still, her long black hair hanging loosely above the ground.

And it was then that Li Mei felt a cold shadow creepup her fingers

and through her arms, down her body and up through her chest and neck to end chillingly in the very roots of her long hair. She thought she could not move.

The sound had grown quite loud. The kittens on the warm white

wall had awoken and run off. And the small stones in the garden had begun to quiver on top of each other.

The sound grew greater, although there were no cries, no screams

or wails, nor human sounds. No neighing of horses or whimpering of children in the streets. Li Mei could not turn round, as her feet did

not seem to move from where she stood. The rushing sound grew to such a great volume that she felt as though she must close her ears. But there she was – and her sister – both unable to stop the great

sound. Her sister sat, unmoving, her hands still fixed in the bowl, her hair straight and black past her shoulders.

The sound became unbearable, and Li Mei could still not move.

She wanted so badly to turn round and see what camebehind her.

But she could see it in her sister’s face. And beforeher eyes closed, she saw the shimmer of fear in her sister's eye. After this, she saw nothing.

L Somehow, thinking back upon that day, it seemed to Li Mei even

then, that there was a long period of darkness. It was the sort of

darkness dreams are made of, a darkness that takes placeduring 16

the time between sleeping and waking. Although it lasted a long time, and when Li Mei next opened her eyes, it seemed as though she had slept for centuries.

But this was quickly forgotten as her eyes were opened to the

light, and she remembered what had happened. She must have appeared very frightened, she reasoned, thinking it over later.

Though in reality, her captors detectedlittle fear in her face when she woke before them.

Li Mei found herself in a foreign place. She thought it must still be

her homeland, from the shapes of the trees and the familiar slope of the land. But she had never seen the exact place where she lay.

She was bound, hand and foot, with the same rough ropes, and

she could not lift her head from the ground, for another rope

around her neck bound her there. Her clothing, which she could see only slightly, and which had been the color of the sky, was now

roughed and stained with mud. She could see nothing else but the clouds in the sky above her, the few trees and land to her left side,

and a rushing river to her right. She heard voices and soon realized

that she was very sore. Her long hair she could feel against her ears. It hung there, cool and wet against the mossy ground on which she

lay. There was no blanket between her clothing and the ground, and the longer she lay there, the colder she became from the damp. A strange wind whipped across the shoreand shivered its way through her thin gown.

There was nothing Li Mei could do, and she would not struggle

against the ties. The voices continued for perhaps another hour.

She could not understand what was said amongst them, to whomever the voices belonged. They were gruff sounds, deep and growling,

and Li Mei calmed her fear as she lay there, apparently ignored and 17

miserable. But her mother had taught her never to show fear. She

had learned from her father as well, that to show fear, was equal to

death in battle. And so, Li Mei kept her face quiet and her arms still. The hour passed slowly and Li Mei battled to keep fear out of her mind.

Whatever had come over the mountains when she sat with her

sister, she did not know, nor did she try to. She knew full well that

what had passed there, might have happened days before, or even weeks. To think on such things was not wise, Li Mei concluded. Speculation held hands with fear.

The time finally passed, and she heard someone walking toward

her. She heard his gruff voice call back over his shoulder to the

others and his boots hit the gravel hard as he approached. Soon he stood right next to her, and his head shadowed the sun. Li Mei's

eyes adjusted quickly to see the face of her captor. It was a twisted face, hard from battle and the wild. His hair was strikingly pale, so

pale it seemed to shine. It hung in one long braid down his back, for Li Mei could see the end of it, flying in the wind. And in it were

braided pieces of polished animal bone and several glass beads,

magnificently crafted. His clothing was rough and rugged, suited for travel in the high mountains. This first impression sent shivers down Li Mei's spine as she lay there on the river bank.

He seemed to grimace at her as he stood there, one hand on his

long knife. Li Mei did not look at his weapon. She only stared at his pale beard, saying nothing. In his guttural language, he calledthe

others around him, speaking words which Li Mei could not decipher. But as they spoke for a short time over her, she began to

understand that she was to be moved somewhereelse, perhaps onto the river. Pale-Beard motioned several times toward the waters. 18

For a brief moment, Li Mei believed that theymeant to drown her.

But as this thought came to her, she realized it would be a senseless

thing to do. If the warriors had gone to all the trouble of binding her down, when she had given no struggle (at least in her recollection), to throw her in the river so soon after, made little sense.

The men soon finished their deliberating. And Pale-Beard

reached for his long knife, cutting the binding around her neck.

He motioned for her to sit up, which she did, slowly, for the soreness

of the stones on the ground still numbed her body. She felt her mind reel only slightly as she did so, and as Pale-Beard cut the rope

around her feet as well, she adjusted her eyes to her surroundings.

Before her was a great mountain pass, so far in the distance that she could scarcely make it out. But the lands immediately before her

were green and full of hills and scrubby trees, as though theyhad lived in the wind for many years. On the bank where moss and

stones grew, were camped the warriors, not many, but enough to

take a village, Li Mei thought, if necessary. They mostly seemed to

look the same, with their blond beards and braided hair. No women were present, which only strengthened the idea that they were strictly a war party. Li Mei knew they were not from her native

country. Their pale skin and hair told her this. And although the

fear tempted to come back and frighten her into a greatpanic, she watched silently.

Pale-Beard had left her,stalking back toward the other men,

clustered around a fire. It was not cold, for summer in the valley was only cool and green, if they were still in her homeland. Pale-Beard had left her hands bound, which continued to ache, but Li Meisaw that he was preparing to return.

Li Mei suddenly realized that she was very hungry, and perhaps 19

had been so for days. She knew that the fear was losing its grip on her, for those who were fearful were rarely hungry.

He soon returned with a crude looking bowl of wood and an

empty goblet in one hand, crafted of what appeared to be a rough gray clay. Li Mei did not recognize the color of the clay, and

wondered where it had come from. But for the present, she was

more interested in finding out what lay inside the bowl. Pale-Beard

gruffly laid the bowl in her lap and pounded off toward the river with the empty goblet. Inside the bowl lay a boiled egg, much to Li Mei's delight, (despite her situation), and a piece of greasy meat. She

thought perhaps it was chicken. She could not tell what, exactly, roasted over the fire as the men were all gathered around it too

closely. She began to eat the bowl's contents, her hands still tied together.

The food was very bland, she found. Likely these men did not

care what it was they ate, but she knew the egg would be nourishing and would help bring back her strength. Pale-Beard returnedfrom the river with the goblet now full of water. He handed it to her

bound hands and she took it carefully, for fear of losing any of the water. The food had made her realize how thirsty she was.

Pale-Beard stood there, watching,as though he could not decide on something. As Li Mei slowly took a drink from the goblet, he finally

spoke some harsh words, throwing his arm down. Li Mei set the drink aside on the stony bank. Pale-Bear took out his long knife and cut through her bindings. Li Mei looked up at him, and nodded in the traditional manner of Cathay. Pale-Beard spoke a few other unintelligible words and walked back to the fire. But as Li Mei

watched him leave, he looked back over his shoulder from time to time to be sure she did not have any intentions of escape. 20

Li Mei had no such intentions. It was quite obvious to her that if

she did attempt to run, not only would her quick steps be heard on the stones, but these fierce warriors would surely hunt her down

before she might even enter the forest so close to the river. Instead, she finished the boiled egg and the strip of meat, carefully watching

the group huddled round the fire. When the bowl was clean of food, she finished the goblet of cold water and set it inside the bowl.

Pale-Beard saw that she was finished, shortly later, and stalked back over with a a fresh length of rope. He split the length in two pieces with his knife and tightly bound her hands first and then her feet.

Once this task was completed, he took her bowl and gobletwithout

another word and marched back to the fire. Li Mei saw that she was to be ignored for the rest of the evening. She wished they had

positioned her by a tree where she could have rested her back.

But there were no trees so near the river, and she could not even

cross her legs in front of her to relieve the tension in her back, as the ropes were bound also around her lowerlegs. Judging by the position of the sun, it was nearly seven o'clock in the evening.

She decided there was nothing to do but sit and wait. And so she did.

She must have sat there a long time. For finally the stars began to

creep into the heavens and the small peepers and fire insects came

out from the forest. The men continued their chat by the fire, and it

eventually seemed to Li Mei as she slipped in and out of drowsiness, that they were debating. Perhaps they werearguing over herself or

the next village to come upon, or who was to hunt the next day... but it seemed quite serious and their voices droned on into the night as

the fire flickered unearthly shadows on the stony shore. Towardthe late hours of the night, Li Mei finally slipped off into dreams and 21

scarcely felt her shoulder hit the ground as she fell over into a deep sleep.

To Sea

If Li Mei did dream that night, she could not remember what she

dreamt, for she was woken violently from her sleep the next morning. Upon opening her eyes, she was cut from her bonds and hauled to her feet. Her legs seemed weak, but she steadied herself quickly. The men were packing the camp into sacks and boxes, and

Pale-Beard approached her with a blanket of thick wool. She took it with another short nod and wrapped it around her shouldersas the morning was cold. She was then escorted toward the water, and as she walked, the rest of the men hauled the sacks upon their

shoulders and marched, following Pale-Beard and another man with a fierce face.

Li Mei did not look at any of them directly, but kept her face

turned toward the horizon. The pain in her bones continued as they marched, but she said nothing. They walked a good distance along the stone shore, perhaps a dozen miles in all. Li Mei could not feel

her feet by the end of it. And as the sun approached the noon hour, she saw that the river was opening up before them. It widened into a great mouth of water, and Li Mei soon saw the open sea stretched

before her. The great expanse almost frightened her; never before had she seen the sea. But these fierce men were obviously accustomed to such a place.

As they walked along the shore, Li Mei saw perched in the waters,

a great ship. It was constructed of a finely weathered wood, gray

and somewhat lichened on its hull. Carvings of warriors and animals wound around the upper deck, painted in bright reds and blues.

Long sturdy oars rested in the waters of the lagoon, and a great sail

hung taught in the outstretched winds. Therewas activity on board,

and though Li Mei had never seen a ship, she knew by the looks of it, that it was a ship prepared for long sea voyagesand battle. As they walked nearer, the hull towered above her, and Li Mei wondered

what it might be like once the ship left the land and she was on the open sea. She tightened her hands on the blanket around her shoulders as she was guided to the ship.

There, Pale-Beard hoisted her up to thedeck, where another

warrior steadied her. After this, she was ignored once again, and as she stared up at the great sail and the sailors rushing about the decks, she decided to remove herself as covertly as possible.

There were several planks set as benches along the railing of the

deck, and there she seated herself and rested her sore back against the wall of the ship. But as she watched the men run about with

sacks and ropes and freshly hunted game, shefelt her eyes growing heavy with sleep. And once again, her eyes closed to the scene before her, and she slipped into unconsciousness.

She had every right to be so tired. At thirteen, and being so little,

she could hardly withstand the shock of her kidnapping, the

unknown period of time already spent in captivity, the cold hard

night upon the stone beach, and the long march to the sea. Why her eyes had not closed on her during the journey, was hard to say.

But she was strong and would not be beaten. Unconsciously, in her mind, she knew that she would have to find a way back to her family 26

and her village, before the end came. But Li Mei knew to bide her time, and that there was no chance of escape while the fierce men were anywhere near in sight.

It was several hours later that Li Mei woke again. However, this

time she felt strengthened, and managed to sit up right away. She

had been moved to within the ship, and she could feelthe swaying of the hull against the water. They had set sail. Her opportunity of

escape had passed. She felt her stomach sink with the roll of the

ship. The lurch of hopelessness almost seizedher. But she would not allow it, just as she would not allow the questions to come.

The blanket had been laid on top of her and she now sat on a cot

in the wall. There was no light except for that which streamed

through the upper hatch where a small staircase led down to the

hold. Li Mei looked around her and saw that these fierce men not

only stored the sacks and meat from earlier that morning, but that

there were fruits and plants, many of which she recognized as being from her homeland. Li Mei was hungry from her long march and

sleep. However, she would not take without being given. As young as she was, she saw the wisdom of staying within a set of

self-created boundaries, until she could think through her situation more carefully.

She pulled back her long hair, which was no longer damp from the

night. Her sky-blue gown had been quite worn since that tragic

afternoon, and so she took a piece of the hem and pulled it out,

using it as a tie for her hair. Knowing nothing of the sea,she could still feel the pitch and roll of the ship,and decided that the wind

would likely be blowing against them. To tangleher hair would be a sorry thing. It was disgraceful enough that she had no pins with

which to bind it up. They had been removed since she was taken off. 27

And so the best she could do was anchor it down and braid it into a long tail. There was no sort of reflection in the hold to look at her face, not to her surprise, or not that it mattered much what she

looked like. She had felt her face and neck for any bruises or open

scrapes; however, she found nothing and after finishing her hair, she stood up from the cot. Not a sound had escaped her since the beginning of her captivity. Not even a sigh.

As she looked around the wooden boxes and sacks of loot, she

saw many things that discomforted her greatly. One sack seemed full of small gold pieces, hammered and carved in the Oriental

fashion. There was no apparent organization to the sacks, from one to another. However, the riches were many – jade pieces and

porcelain dishes (the kinds of which even she had neverseen),

painted pieces, and figurines and gods and goddesses embedded

with small jewels. Li Mei, however, did not touch any of these pieces, nor even the sacks in which they were stored. The sacks were so

heavy from their greedy loads, that they had begun to split open at

the top, and most of the boxes’ tops had shifted off in the rhythmof the water, as they too, had been filled past their capacity. Li Mei marveled at these riches, but it did not show in her eyes. Lapis,

diamond, emerald, ruby, jade, carnelian, sapphire… many stones she recognized. Even several precious silver and white gold pieces she saw gleam from beneath all the treasure.

But Li Mei could feel eyes on her, and for several minutes she did

not turn round, but knew she was being watched. Finally, she did turn, but kept her eyes on the floor where the light of the hatch

flooded patterns. It was Pale-Beard –she could see him out of the top corner of her eye. He was standing on the deck, watching

through the grate, although he did know that she saw him. He stood 28

there, watching her suspiciously, his hand again on his long knife. While Li Mei believed he would not harm her, she knew he did not

trust her and that he would often be watching to be sure shedid not step out of line.

But there were other things in the hold, and as Li Mei left the

sacks of treasure to cross the floor of the small room, Pale-Beard walked away from the hatch and preoccupied himself with other business.

Li Mei counted the amount of food in the hold â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the fruits and

meat, the small wheels of cheese and the few casks of wine. There appeared to be some sort of bread wrappedin cloth, however she

did not touch these things. It occurred to her as she examined the

amount of food that such a small hoard would not last very long for the number of men on board. She estimated that, though theship

was very large, less than thirty men were aboard. She decided that

they were planning another raid on a river village oreven a mountain village, before they reached their final destination, if any. Perhaps they were nomads, wandering the seas.

Li Mei saw the open hatchway, the stair back up to the sun and

wind, but she decided that to walk up on to the deck, might not be the best idea. She wished to see the last green shores of her homeland, if they had not sailed too far already; however,

superstition ran in her blood. And to look on her land as â&#x20AC;&#x153;goodbyeâ&#x20AC;? might mean she would never return, and she would not risk such a

thing. Instead, she finished her examination of the items in the hold and walked among the heavy wooden pillars supporting the deck

above. She leaned herself against one of them and heldon to it with her whole arm, for the rocking of the hull was foreign to her.

There was the tang of salt in the air, even if the hold smelled of old 29

fish and stank of a room that rarely saw a mop and water.

She wished to see what the sea might look like, but she kept to the hold and stood a short while, leaned up against the beam.

But it was then, she thought she heard a slight noise. Not a

rustling of rodents among the sacks, but more the sound of a small unconscious sigh. Li Mei straightened her shouldersmore as she

looked to the direction of the sound. The hold was dark enough for her not to be able to tell whether or not the wall of the hull extended farther than she had originally thought. Her eyes looked hard to

where the sacks of treasure lay stacked in haphazard heaps. The light from the hatch had distorted her vision, and as she moved

forward, the train of her tatteredgown falling behind her, her eyes

adjusted further as she passed the light of the stairwell. Pale-Beard was not watching her, nor were the other fierce men. She did not

hear the sound again, but as she walked forward,she saw that the wall did indeed lay further back than she had thought.

She walked quietly and steadily past the treasure heap,toward

the wall. It seemed to her then, that she saw a small movement from the darkness. And as she approached the other side of the solid hull, she saw that there was indeed another inhabitant in her

quarters. On another cot, similar to hers, she made out the body of a young girl, who was quite fast asleep there on the coarse wool.

Li Mei could not tell if she also, was from Cathay, or if she had come from some other place. Perhaps she looked like the fierce men

above. But as Li Mei slowly walked back to her side of the hold, she saw another dark shape, and yet another. As she backed further away, she thought she counted seven or so, in all. But all were

sleeping soundly, as though it were the middle of the night. Li Mei

suspected they might have been drugged into sleep, if perhaps they 30

had struggled upon captivity. Of course, she reasoned, they could still have the same pale hair, and might only be usual inhabitants of the ship. But Li Mei reasoned this was not likely.

There was nothing to do but sit back on the wooden cot and wait

until something else happened. And yet the stairway sat there in the light of the afternoon, worn and wooden. Dust floated in streams

through the light above it. Li Mei sat for a long period of time, and

thought that she heard the heavy tread of boots almost descend the stairs several times. Surely someone wouldcome soon to bring up dinner for the fierce men. But the wait seemed intolerably long.

Within the hour, however, she recognized the familiar and scarred

face of Pale-Beard descend the stairs in heavy thudsand angry

pounds of his fist against the wall above, where he nearly smashed his head, he was so tall. He looked about, to be sure nothing had been tampered, and beckoned Li Mei to come forward.

She did so, carefully and deliberately, leaving the woolen blanket

lying on the cot. Upon reaching the stair well, Pale-Beard walked

down two more stairs into the hold, and beckoned heragain to follow him to the sacks of food against the hull wall. There,he tore open a

sack of bright red fruits. Li Mei did not recognize them at first in the low light, but soon thought they might have been a varied sort of

dried apricot, the kind of which she had heard grew in the valleys.

Pale-Beard scooped up a great handful of these fruits and looked at them in the light several moments. Li Mei thought he was

examining each piece. He set them down carefully in their sack, and left only one piece in his hand. This piece he held up to the light of

the stairwell. And there, the late sun shone through the dried piece of fruit as though it were a piece of glass. Pale-Beard lookedat Li

Mei a moment and set the piece of fruit back in the sack. It seemed 31

as though he realized there was work to be done, and he quickly

hauled the sack up onto his shoulders. He gruntedsomething in his

strange language and pointed to a small sack lying by the now empty spot where the apricots had been sitting. Li Mei picked it up and

held it carefully in her arms. Pale-Beard indicated for her tofollow him.

Li Mei wondered at his oddness. Surely such a barbarian would

not care of the color of his dinner, but Pale-Beard had almost

seemed fascinated with the apricots. He hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;teven examined the

treasure horde upon entering the hold. It was most unusual, Li Mei

thought to herself absently. But as she walked up the stairwell with the small sack, a great sight met her eyes. The open sea stretched

off in grays and dark blues and the sky was full of darkened clouds. She thought she saw a faint glimmer of lightening far far to the south, as she followed Pale-Beard to theback of the deck.

The sailor barbarians took little notice of her as she followed him.

Several were chatting idly in their strange language, several more

were gathered in games on the floor of the deck, and others seemed to be calculating measurements at the prow. Li Mei decided she had accurately estimated the number of men aboard the ship. Provided the second hold was not completely full of barbarians, the number

of the crew could not have exceeded twenty-five. It was surprisingly

quiet, she thought to herself, as she passed the rough faces involved in their games and pipes.

Pale-Beard set down thesack next to a pit in the deck. It was

circular in shape and was lined with river stones and a mortar of

sorts. In the center of the pit was a small fire and a large heavy pot was suspended over it. Pale-Beard took the small sack from her hand, and opened the corner of it. Li Mei thought it smelled of a 32

kind of fresh basil, which often grew by the river. Pale-Beard had

her sit by the fire, showing her to stay there by holding out his hand. He walked back to the hold, disappeared, and soon returned with a

portion of the game taken down earlier that morning. Li Mei had the rather unpleasant feeling that he was going to have her prepare

dinner for the crew. She did not wish to attempt such a large feat, as each of the men were enormous in size and could likely eat four

bowlfuls apiece. However, Pale-Beard did not indicate so. Instead, he did not even look up, but allowed her to sit as he cut the meat

himself and placed it in the pot with several handfuls of the apricots. As the fire roared beneath, he returned to the hold again and

brought a cask of glass, unevenly shaped and black as ebony. From its spout he slowly poured a small amount of its contents over the

stewing meat and fruit. From its thickness, Li Mei presumed it was a sort of oil. And for the next hour, as the meat cooked, Pale-Beard

hovered over the great pot, and stirred the stew with a great spoon crafted of a black metal.

Li Mei relaxed her back against the mast of the ship and watched

the patterns of the dark clouds rush across the skies.

The lightening seemed to flicker more often in the south, and nearer. Yet the men at the front of theship continued their calculations with various tools, and the ship never entered stormywaters.

The vastness of the open water thrilled Li Mei. The spray of the salt

at the prow flew back toward the stern of the ship, and she breathed deeply of the cool air. As the afternoon progressed, the sun had disappeared behind the great expanse of cloud, and a colderair blew. She tucked her legs up toward her under her gown, and

watched the stew bubble under Pale-Beardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s watch.And still, the questions would not come to her.

In time, the meat was finished cooking and Pale-Beard brought a

great stack of wooden boards from the hold. Li Mei observed that they were like rectangular-shaped bowls, but quite flat across and only lipped at the very ends. It seemed most inconvenient to eat a stew on a flat board, particularly with the roll of the ship on the waves. But she soon saw that the men ate quickly and all was

cleaned before the pot was empty. What was left, Pale-Beard saved for himself. But Li Mei had not been forgotten. He must have assumed the stew was not fit for a young girl to eat, and so he returned once again to the hold and brought back with him a

trencher laden with a piece of thick bread, a wedge of one of the

small cheese wheels, and a piece of small soft-skinned fruit, which Li

Mei did not recognize. And once again the water goblet was brought and dipped into a great wooden barrel of coldwater, anchored to

the back of the ship. She again thanked him with a nod, and ate her meal with the lightening flashing to the south and the roll of the waves under the ship into the night.

Not Alone

The next morning dawned gray again in the skies and Li Mei woke

when the sun would have risen just beyond the sea. Shehad slipped back to her cot when Pale-Beard waved heroff as night had come

over the great water. But there was no sound from the hold where she had seen the young girl and the others, and she could not

decide whether they were still sleeping or had passed on during the

evening. She decided not to inspect the situation. If they were living, she reasoned, they would come out soon.

Li Mei knew that, despite the great sadness of situation, if she

began to despair, she would lose her sanity even at such a young age. The best she could do for the present, to keep herself

focused, was to draw a plan, one which she would conduct daily, in order not to lose track of time or a sense of where she was.

She could, at least, count the days. The walls of the hold were solid planks, but near the floor the boards were always moist and the

wood was spongy and splintered. And so Li Mei began to wedge small crevices into the floor beneath her cot. A sharp stone was

found lying on the floor next to the food store, likely having fallen off the boot of one of the barbarians when loading the ship.

Picking it up with her two fingers, she carefully got down onto her

hands and knees and looked beneath the cot. No flashing rodents' 37

eyes greeted her, and so she reached out her hand to the wood floor. It had been three days at least since her captivity, and

knowing this, she gouged carefully, three short marks into the damp

wood of the floor. They were all three made deep enough for her to identify their presence with the touch of a finger. She would cut

such a mark every evening before dark came, indicating the passing of another day. She placed the stone beneath the coarse woolen

bedding of the cot, and tucked herself back on top, thinking of the

next thing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to determine where she was and how far she had come, perhaps.

Truly,she had no idea where she was in the world, in the great bed

of water. However, thinking carefully as she sat tucked on her cot,

she reasoned that as the sun had set that first night on the sea in the far right corner of their horizon, they could only be sailing to the

southwest. And that morning, the sun rose in the opposite corner, which meant the direction of the ship had not changed.

Once, her father had shown her a map of the known world,

painted carefully onto an ancient scroll. While the map had been old, her father knew which parts were accurate and which had changed since the writing of the map. He showed her the location of their village high up in the mountains, and where the sea had begun.

And while Li Mei had been fascinated with the map, she couldnot remember much of what she had seen. She recalled the sloping

coastline along the eastern side, where the ocean lapped the shore. And as she remembered this, she thought that if she had awoken in captivity while still sailing the southwest course, it meant that they

would skirt the many islands of the great ocean. Shelaid against the wall of the hull and closed her eyes, listening to the rhythm of the ship in the waters. She wondered if the fierce men would drop 38

anchor in a cove of one of the many islands, some wherecannibals

roamed freely. But as she tried to rethink the map in her mind, her

eyes were suddenly startled when she realized that these men were

heading toward the great India, the continent of Africa and even the most mysterious and ancient Europe where kings dined at long

tables in the strongholds of castles. Li Mei had heardgreat tales of such places from the travelers whosometimes stopped at their

village for food and supplies. They werefascinating tales of great

castles and fortresses, monarchs and battles, places she could never have hoped to see. But who knew where she might end after everything.

Li Mei was greatly tempted as she sat there watching the light from

the open hatch, to think on the possibility of being in captivity for

many years on the open sea. The thoughtthat her family might no longer be living, that her village was most likely gone, and that she

might never see her father, her mother, sister, or grandmother, was

more than enough to strike terror into her heart. But she reminded herself many times, over and over, not to be afraid, and as she sat

there, she tried to put the thoughts out of her mind. Perhaps it was for the best that she was distracted by sound coming once again from the other side of the hold.

It was not a sigh that interrupted her thoughts that time, but more

a shifting of cloth, as if the young girl had risen from the other cot. Li Mei stood up from her own bed, and walked a few steps toward the staircase. And as she did so, a figure slowly approached from the dark corner of the hold, and walked forward, quietly. Li Mei

swallowed quickly, pressing her hands against the sides of her gown. And as the figure finally reached the patch of light from the hatch, Li Mei heard a little gasp and the young girl appeared. 39

L When standing, the girl was almost the same height as Li Mei, and

she was certainly from Cathay, her long black hair pulled back from her face in lose pins. Her gown was not as tattered asLi Mei's but

was still soiled several inches from the hem,all around, as if she was made to cross a small stream. Li Mei tried very hard to place her face, but could not. She had hoped that the girl would be

recognized from her own village. But she could not be sure until she spoke to her.

“Greetings,” she spoke quietly, and nodded in the traditional

manner.

The young girl, equally pleased to see a face from the Orient,

bowed likewise. “And to you.”

Li Mei knew there was little need for formalities in such a situation,

however, she had been raised to respect formalities, no matter what the situation. And she did not wish to alarm the young girl by speaking so suddenly about their predicament. “Are you very hungry?” Li Mei asked.

The girl nodded. It was obvious before Li Mei asked, that the girl

was already weak from lack of food. Li Mei looked up at the light of the hold, and contemplated whether or not she should venture to

the top and find Pale-Beard, who would surely bring food to her, as he had not been entirely unkind. She looked back at the girl and saw that it was necessary to do so.

“Wait here,” she motioned to her own cot, and walked carefully up

the stairs, holding her tattered gown ever so slightly above her ankles, so as not to tread upon the soiled edge.

She had not thought to venture up to the deck without being told to 40

do so, and she kept her eyes to the ground until she reached the top of the staircase. She then looked around, apparently still

ignored by the rest of the sailors and barbarians who sat around the

deck, laughing and playing at board games. But she saw Pale-Beard sitting at the stern of the ship, smoking a long pipe, and gazing out

to sea. As she walked forward, he looked up in surprise and almost a grimace, as though she had crossed a boundary by entering the deck without permission.

But Li Mei did not think to be frightened by his look. She knew

the girl needed food. Thinking, unconsciously, that to sign to him

without speaking, might make her appear mute, she spoke in her own language while using her hands to the best of her ability.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Please, may I bring food to the girl in the hold. She is awake now.â&#x20AC;? She spoke quietly, but she heard the stirring of barbarians behind her, whose attention had now drifted to her.

She pointed to the hold and drew her hand to her mouth, as

though she were eating. Pale-Beard held the long pipe in his right

hand, the other folded under his arm. His grizzled beard blew with his long braid in the wind and his eyes were still ice and fierce.

But Li Mei kept her eyes rooted on him, so as not to show fear.

It somehow seemed to her that whatever made him so gruff was none

of her own doing. He was not angry at her. And Pale-Beard seemed to understand her motions. He motioned to her to follow him back

to the hold, setting his pipe on the floor of the deck. He received a number of jeers and whines from his fellow men as he walkedto the hold. Li Mei knew they laughed at him for listening to a woman,

young as she was. But the barbarians soon went back to their own business, muttering, arguing, laughing loudly, and smoking their pipes.

Once in the hold, Pale-Beard stopped at the end ofthe staircase

to watch the young girl carefully. It was as though he was pondering whether or not to share several of his glass-like apricots with such a young thing. But he grunted to himself in consent, it seemed, and marched over to the food sacks. Apparently he was pleased with

the fact that Li Mei had asked him for some of his food instead of just taking whatever pleased her. But instead of the precious

apricots, Pale-Beard uncovered the bread,setting the cloth aside.

He took his long knife once again and sliced off a piece for each girl. And then from a small barrel, he took two small brown eggs and

handed them carefully to each girl, after supplying a new trencher. He then produced two of the gray clay goblets and filled them with

cold water from the deck. Li Mei wondered how the water managed to stay so very cold. Both girls nodded solemnly at Pale-Beard as he set the goblets on the floor by the pillar, not saying a word even to each other. He was about to ascend the stairs again, when he

turned back to the food supply and hunted for something. Both girls watched him search, standing still by the pillar in the hold.

Soon, Pale-Beard retrieved what hesought â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a small tightly woven

sack. He untied the leather binding around it, and reluctantly held it toward the girls. Li Mei was most surprised to see that its contents

contained the white spice of the Orient â&#x20AC;&#x201C; salt. She almost smiled at Pale-Beard as she looked up, and carefully placed two fingers into the mound of white. She withdrew only a very small pinch and

carefully sprinkled it in the corner of her trencher. The young girl did the same and Pale-Beard quickly withdrewthe sack, tying the

leather cord around it carefully, and placing it back with the food

trove. Then, without even looking at either, heturned back to the stairwell and pounded up the deck in his heavy boots. 42

It was then that the girls were alone to enjoy their breakfast and to

make the attempt of discovering what, exactly, had happened to

them. But Li Mei knew that the young girl needed to eat and did not say a word until both their trenchers werecleaned. Although, in the

end, the girl was so hungry that Li Mei gave her the other half of her bread and most of her egg. The shells of both eggs Li Mei swept

together and laid in a small pile under the cot. The young girl was so intent on eating breakfast that she did not ask why Li Mei had done so.

But shortly the trenchers were finished and Li Mei stacked them

near one of the barrels. The young girl finished her goblet of cold water and Li Mei set both aside as well. The young girl seemed

prepared to talk with Li Mei, and Li Mei offeredthe edge of her cot

for the girl to sit upon. She gathered her own gown off the floor and sat cross-legged, her back to the wall of the hull. Li Mei joined her.

“My name is Xia,” she began. “I suppose it does not much matter

the name of my family now, as they are not with me.” Li Mei nodded and gave her own name.

“My village was in the high mountains, a large village. And Imust

admit that I was hoping you lived there as well, so I might have

information of my family. I remember nothing of the barbarians raiding it.”

“You recall nothing?” Xia seemed surprised.

“No. I remember only the sound of running on the mountain, a

great and terrible noise.”

“And the name of your village?” “Lei Long.”

Xia's eyes grew wide.

“That is my village also. Are you certain we have not met before?” 43

“I don't remember if we have,” Li Mei tried hard to think. “Our

village is big. My father's home was on the eastern side of the village.”

“Perhaps that is why we never met. My father's home was on the

very northeastern corner. His farm was on the other side of the Tao River. Our paths would not likely have crossed often.”

Li Mei decided this was likely true. The Tao River,while very thin

and passable, was not often crossed by one side of the village orthe other, as there were two markets on either side. If crossed, the

person in question was likely conducting a political matter with the upper court on the southern side of the village. Xia would never have found the need to do so.

“Can you tell me then, what happened, when the barbarians

came?” Li Mei knew there would be time later to discuss other things. But the thought weighed heavily on her mind, and she could no longer avoid it.

Xia nodded, pressing her chin to her knees, which she had tucked

up toward her.

“I will tell you what I saw.” she sighed quietly. “I did hear this great

sound of running, as you did. But I thought it was only a strange wind from the mountains. I am sure you have heardthem pass

through the village from time to time. But it was not the wind, I do not think. The sound grew louder and louder until I hurried from my

father's house, to the gate by the stream, which is across a great

green field and path. Once I arrived at the gate, I saw the fierce men running with long knives.” She shuddered slightly, ever so slightly, and continued. “I turned my eyes as they ran through the streets

and many men were cut down. There were many warriors. Hundreds, perhaps. I began to run back to my father's house, but I had been 44

foolish. One of the barbarians had seen me, and before I could even reach the stream, half-way between the gate and my father's house, I was taken by the barbarian. I tried to scream formy father and mother. But they could not hear me, and the man tied my hands

together tightly with hard ropes, and though I struggled very hard, I could of course, not free myself from the barbarian. And while I tried to keep my feet planted on the ground where I stood, he

carried me off, and would not release me. Terrorcame to me as he carried me past my father's gate. But though I tried to scream, my

terror was too great, and there was no one who could help me there. The people in the streets had hidden themselves, or else had died in

the streets from the barbarians' knives. It was then that my vision left me and I was in darkness for a short period of time. But the great sound had left when I opened my eyes, and I found myself just

outside the village, being carried to a ship moored by the river in the valley. It was then I found my voice and screamed for help from our village, but no one could hear me then. I was placed in the hold of

this very ship and given a drink by this very barbarian who brought

us our breakfast. And since then, I slept, I believe. I had not opened my eyes till now since that terrible day.”

Li Mei was not surprised at the calmness of Xia. All young women

of Cathay were taught to be calm in the face of terror, loneliness, and confusion.

Xia continued, “And so, as you,I have no thoughts as to what

happened to our village, nor to my father and my mother, or to my grandmother.”

She sighed again, slowly, thinking carefully throughher words.

Li Mei sympathized with her in several words, and related her own

brief tale of the same incident. And while both thought it very odd 45

the great sound upon the mountain face (which could hardlyhave been created by the running of even five hundred warriors on the stones of the path), this would be a matter they couldnot solve.

And they laid it to rest until a later time. There would be much to

discuss over their time on the sea. And Li Mei showed Xia the stone beneath the cot and the markings in the wood to tell the number of days.

From Xia's story of the barbarian raid, Li Mei began to believe that

little time had passed between when darkness first fell on her and when she woke on the stone beach. And so she left the three

notches in the wood. The egg shells, she explained to Xia, she might use later to mark the days in a different manner.

It was also concluded that Xia and the other figures on the dark

side of the hold, had been deeply drugged from the drink given by Pale-Beard.

“Have you spoken with any of them?” Li Mei pointed to the

sleeping shadows across the hold.

“No, I did not even know they were there until I woke this morning. When I was brought here, I was the only one in the hold.”

“Perhaps, then, the drug has not yet worn off of them. But to go

without food so very long... Are you no longer hungry yourself?” Xia shook her head.

“I will be fine until supper, if we are given any. But I wonder if we

should wake them and perhaps the barbarian will give them something to eat.”

“If we wake them, though, they will only fall asleep immediately

again. The drug is amazingly strong to keep one in sleep for so many days. Let us wait awhile, and perhaps Pale-Beard will bring us up to the deck.”

Li Mei explained her name for the barbarian who had shown them

kindness, and Xia almost smiled at the name he had unknowingly

adopted. She had cause to smile, for young girls should not live in

such constant fear and grief. Yet neitherhad broached the question of why they had been captured. In both their minds, they pondered the notion of being sold into slavery, or being made into slaves for

the barbarians themselves. But neither would mention such a thing for a time.

“How many do you think lie over there?” Li Mei asked Xia, pointing

again to the dark side of the hold.

“I could not tell very much. Although my mind was not set on

counting their number after first waking.”

Li Mei was unsure whether she wished to know. Perhaps there

were other girls of the village who knew something of what had

happened to her family, and she did not wish to hear the dark tales. However, she walked over to the other side of the hold, and Xia

followed her. Their eyes soon adjusted to the darkness and after a short spell, both thought they counted six or seven resting in the shadows. It was very difficult to tell, and neither wished to cross

back over and walk amongst them, for fear of tripping over them ni the dark.

“We will wait then,” sighed Xia. “I must confess I fear that one of

them will know of what happened to my family, and I will hear hard things.”

“I share the same fear,” Li Mei confessed.

And yet both knew they could not continue in their fear, and

instead, watched the happenings of skies past the hatch at the top of the staircase. And both talked quietly for a long while, sitting on the lowest step, viewing the patterns of clouds in the sky. Xia had 47

not seen the ocean either, and Li Mei recounted to her all that had happened since her captivity â&#x20AC;&#x201C; of the stone beach and the stewin

the fire, the march to the river. And both discovered that they were the same age, thirteen, though neither knew which day they were born. Such a thing was not often recorded, for superstition.

And over the next several hours, they discussed all there was to

discuss for the present, that would cometo their minds. For two

young girls to meet for the first time, and find that they shared the

same village, begged questions and stories of innumerable length.

But as they sorted through the many details and tales of their past

thirteen years, they spoke quietly so as no one could hear them, and they did not mention their fear. It was unsaid between them, that fear would not be tolerated, and there wasno need to discuss it.

L The late afternoon had come, and Pale-Beard eventually

appeared over the mouth of the hatch. Both girls drew silent and

Li Mei rose from her seat. Xia did the same, and both seemed to wait for Pale-Beard's next inclination. He raised his hand and beckoned them to emerge from the hold. Li Mei looked at Xia, almost silently

signaling that she would finally see the sea. The skirts of their gowns were once again tucked carefully, and they rose into the gray sky and the far blue sea. Li Mei heard Xia gasp everso slightly at the

beautiful sight before her, but neither spoke. Theship was flying, it seemed. The waters flashed by so quickly. The barbarians on the deck glanced casually at both, but their attention seemed to be

directed to the apparent leader of the clan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a magnificently dressed warrior â&#x20AC;&#x201C; his hair braided back the same as Pale-Beard's but fitted 48

with many more glass beads and silver pieces. A great cape of

brilliant red and fur flowed from his shoulders and a chain of heavy

silver hung from his neck. A staff of thick dark wood was held in his right hand, upon which was carved the figures of warriors and

animals, such as graced the ship's rim. His face was even more

fearsome to behold, and several deep scarslined the one side of his

face. He was seated at the prow of the ship, a great sense of power flashing from his eyes, though he had not yet spoken to the barbarians gathering before him.

The girls both looked at Pale-Beard, whohad crossed his arms

over his chest. He appeared to be intent on the gathering counsel,

however, looking down at the both of them from his towering height, he motioned for them to sit toward the stern of the ship, and they

did so. The wind was beginning to blow cold as they sat and waited to see what would take place. Their gowns were very thin, but Pale-Beard could see that theywere cold, and after silently

deliberating, quickly stalked down to the hold, bringing back the blanket which Li Mei had kept on her cot. And once again, he

received the traditional nods from both girls as they accepted the

blanket and pulled out around their shoulders, sitting close together on the floor of the deck.

It seemed to take a very long amount of time beforethe

barbarians were finally situated together, which gave Li Mei the

opportunity to count their number all together. Even at twenty-six, the thought of so few warriors managing to carry off eight or nine

girls, perhaps, without being prevented, was almost unthinkable in

her mind. Hadn't Xia thought she'd seen â&#x20AC;&#x153;hundredsof warriorsâ&#x20AC;? in the village? And yet she did not think long upon this â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no matter what the current situation, the unthinkable had happened. 49

As she thought these things, the counsel came to order, and the

great warrior began to speak. His voice bellowed across the ship

and seemed to echo in the waters. The barbarians gathered below him were silent as he went on for a time in their strange guttural

tongue. Li Mei and Xia kept their eyes focused on him as they each tried to pick up certain words they might recognize as being

repeated. And while this initial lesson in the barbarian's language

took place, the late afternoon sun began to sink lower behind the gray skies. The counsel must have dronedon for many hours, for after the great warrior had finished his initial speech, many of the

barbarians took the stand of the prow next to him, and spoke their own piece. But as darkness hinted on falling, Pale-Beard left his

place near the great warrior, and stomped back down to their hold to prepare dinner.

Li Mei wondered how he only seemed to prepare food once daily.

Did these fierce men not eat breakfast perhaps? Were they to ration their food until land was reached again? Li Mei knew that their food

store was very small for such a horde. Surely with their immense size, these giants would consume half a large forest animal in one day. But, Li Mei reasoned, perhaps Pale-Beardprepared their earlier

meals of the day while she slept. Although the tread of his boots would surely waken her, she thought, when he entered the hold.

Such small things brought more mystery to the situation, but were never thought on long.

The night soon fell as Pale-Beard prepareda different stew of

meat. Yet this time, instead of the beautiful dried apricots, he used a sort of bland onion and a purplish vegetable, which Li Mei thought was perhaps a beet, however the light was growing dim from the

setting sun, and she could not tell. As Pale-Beardsliced these soft 50

vegetables into the great pot, the greatwarrior continued his talks with the barbarians, and after a short while, Li Mei thought she began to recognize the rather abundant use of several words,

though she could not tell as to what they meant in her own tongue. And so the night droned on and Pale-Beard passed the trenchers

round once again to the barbarians. But the great warrior continued to speak loudly. And after Pale-Beard gaveboth girls another slice

of bread, a wedge of cheese, and a goblet of the ever-cold water, he motioned them back to the hold.

The girls returned to their cots to pass the dead of the night. But

Li Mei first crouched below the cot and, finding her sharp stone,

retraced the three notches with her finger and ground a fourth notch into the wood. She then tucked herself under the blanket and fell quickly asleep to the lull of the waters.

Although at some late hour of the night, Li Mei was vaguely aware

that Xia walked over to her side of the hold and shared the cot with her. Xia was almost frightened of sleeping amongst the unknown

little girls, even if they were harmless, and Li Mei could not blame her. The sleeping shadows were nameless and faceless, as of yet.

And they both slept through till the early hours of the morning.

Trueto their prediction, the next morning brought thesound of

many stirrings, little by little, from the other side of the hold. Li Mei was fully awake already, as she had suspected such a thing might

take place. Xia, who had been lying silently awake, fearful, before climbing into the other cot that late night, was still sleeping. Li Mei did not disturb her and quietly left the edge of the cot, laying the blanket on top of Xia. Again, she walked toward the staircase,

carefully treading across the wooden floor. The stirrings continued, and she thought she heard someone rise from the floor, and then

another. Over the several minutes that followed, it seemed they all

had awoken. Li Mei thought this very strange, as even she knew that drugs reacted variously according to each person. But with those

minutes, she saw the shadows crossing the floor toward her. One by one they emerged, with confusion written on their faces and fear,

but as Li Mei and Xia, all were quiet and determined to keepthe fear

away. Xia rose from her sleep and silently joined Li Mei. All in all, six more girls appeared. Li Mei and Xia bowed to these girls, who despite their confusion, did likewise.

But there was one more girl to come from the shadows, and this

one girl brought overwhelming joy to Li Mei. For there, from the shadows, small and frightened was her younger sister. 55

Li Mei ran the few steps to her sister, grabbing her by the

shoulders.

“An!” she cried. “An!”

An swayed somewhat under the shock of seeing her lost sister.

Li Mei realized that she remembered little, after having slept for the three days. But there would be time later to explain.

“Li Mei,” she managed, trying very hard not to cry.

“It will be alright, An,” Li Mei spoke to her quietly, hugging her

close. “We will talk later. Let us see what has happened here.”

Li Mei felt it was her duty to speak first, as she had seen more events take place, than the rest of the girls so gathered. She nodded her head to them all and began.

“My name is Li Mei. I have been here on this vessel foronly two

full days, after having been kidnapped from my village, bound hand and foot on the stone beach of a great river, and marchedto this

very vessel moored in a great bay. The ship was then releasedinto the waters two days ago, and I found all ofyou gathered here,

sleeping in the shadows. One of your companions, sleeping, awoke

early yesterday and told me her tale, for she was also taken from the village of Lei Long. And this is my sister, An, who I did not know was taken as well.”

She paused and looked at the poor girls gathered before her.

“But you must be very hungry. Perhaps you will share yournames

with us later. I will see what our captors might prepare for your breakfast.”

Li Mei turned to Xia and said, “Would you mind helping to make

them comfortable while I find Pale-Beard?”

“I would be happy to do so. I do not think I will often be asking

favors of Pale-Beard,” she smiled, thinking of his gruff appearance. 56

Once again, Li Mei walked the deck of the great ship, as the

barbarians continued their sport of board games and pipe-smoking. It was a wonder, she thought to herself, as she crossed the deck,

that they had not begun to count their treasure in so much spare time.

But there was Pale-Beard sitting in his same seat by the stern,

smoking his pipe. And once again, he followed her to the hold with more jeers from his fellowmen. This time, upon entering the hold,

he looked almost in surprise at the other young girls gathered there â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all of the Orient. Apparently, several more had been stowed

aboard the ship than he had news of. But while LiMei decided that

he wrinkled his brow slightly in wonderment at the thoughtof how he might have enough food to feed them all, he drew himself up to his full height and walked over to the food store, ducking his head slightly so as not to hit the ceiling beams.

This time, as the girls sat and watched quietly to the hum of the

fast moving ship, Pale-Beard gave a stack of clean trenchers to

Li Mei. She observed to herself that it was also most strange that

such a barbarian would clean his eating utensils. She passed them

around and Pale-Beard carried over to thema handful of nine eggs, placing one in each trencher. There was no salt to pass round that

time, for the store of it was very small. But there was a slice of bread apiece. In the end, after more cold water, Pale-Beard consented to handing each girl a tiny handful of blue berries from one of the

barrels. And once again, he received nods from the nine girls before marching back up to the hold.

There, Li Mei and Xia shared the extra parts of their food with the

girls who seemed especially hungry. No one spoke. Li Mei shelled

her egg and split it into four pieces with her fingers. Xia did likewise, 57

and they passed seven pieces round to the others, splitting the last piece in half for themselves. The bread,likewise was split the same and their berries were cut in half with Li Mei's sharp stone, after

having been cleaned with a little of the cold water. And once again, Li Mei saved the collected egg shells, storing them with the rest of the pile, which was drying nicely despite the damp of the floor, underneath her cot.

The food was cleared before very long, the girls still taking dainty

bites. One would not have known all seven were famished after

having had three days without food. It then seemed an appropriate time to ask for information from the six girls and An, in regards to how they had been captured on the barbarian ship.

Xia shared her story with them, as she had with Li Mei. Then

Li Mei asked if any would be willing to share her part of the incident, as all had confirmed their capture from the same village on the same day.

A girl who gave her age as thirteen and her name as Fen,

volunteered first. She wore a gown much like the others, of a light color, and her slippers were neither dirtied nor stained.

“I will tell what I know,” she spoke strongly, standing from her

place on the floor. “Please, do.”

Li Mei stood back, and allowed Fen to stand before the girls.

“I recall nothing but darkness after I was first placed in this hold

several days ago. However, I do think I may have seen several of you waiting outside the ship the night I was brought on board. As Ihave

sat here, I believe that the barbarians brought us on separately, one by one. We were then each given a goblet of water mixed with some

strange drug and carried into the shadows with the others, once the 58

drug had quickly taken effect. There was something strange about the barbarians who administered these drugs. Something about

their faces... but I cannot remember. They were not like the man who just served us our food.” She folded her hands carefully in front of her, beneath the silken waves of her sleeves, and continued. “But

allow me to begin further back, when I was first taken from Lei Long. My father's house lies in the center of the Yi Min district, which I

assume you all have been through or heardof. Although I do not

recognize any of your faces, and so I must assume that you do not live in this district.”

The girls nodded their heads in agreement, as all had lives

elsewhere.

Fen continued. “My father is the tailor of Yi Min and his house is

behind the shop. But on this particular day, the shop was closed,

and he had taken my mother to the lake country outside the village. This, of course, gives me great hope that they are unharmed.

My two older brothers were already off at university in our sister

village across the mountain peak. And so, my one loss of course,is my own kidnapping, which I believe we shall remedy. But onto that fateful day...”

Fen spoke with a power to her voice, and Li Mei was happy to hear

it. Fen would provide a sense ofstability and leadership to their

consul of young girls, as it would likely be much needed in the days to come. Fen went on.

“That day I was in my father's shop, reading a scrollfrom the

university which my eldest brother had brought back for me. I had just prepared a cup of tea. I recall it was in the late afternoon,

as you all will doubtless concur, that a great noise came over the village. At first I thought a great storm had come across the 59

mountain, which I thought unlikely as the sun had just been out only ten minutes before. However, I opened the door of my father's

shop, and as the Yi Min district is situated toward the very southwest corner of our village, I had little time to prepare for whatcame.

As most of you will know, I am sure, the barbarians came at our

village from the very same southwestern corner, and as the noise

grew even greater, I saw that the sky was suddenly filled with black

birds. And before I could step further into the street to distinguish

from where the great sound came, a mad horde came running rapidly toward the center of the square. They had seen me. I quickly ran back within my father's house and braced the lock of the door,

which I knew would do little good. My father had a secret door built

long ago into the shop where he kept his earnings from tailoring, and to this very door I fled, which was only several yards from the door.

And if the lock had held only two seconds longer, I would have been undiscovered. But the barbarian at the door had seen the very last

inch of my hem slip into the room, I presume, and he was soon at the hidden door.

After which the barbarian took me from my father's house, I was

carried, as Xia, out of the village and down to the embankment. I think that I arrived at the ship before Xia, however,I was not

drugged immediately. The ship was anchored a distance from the

shore where I was let down by this barbarian. And for a full day, in complete sight of my village, I was kept down on the rock of the

beach, tied similarly as Li Mei. And although I could see our village stretched high above the mountain face, I knew that no one would see me from so great a distance.

And so I struggled with my bonds for many hours, once even

removing my wrists from the bonds, but in my haste I foolishly 60

wrested the bond from off my neck and sprung forward to untie the bonds from around my legs. I was seen and tied down even more

greatly, and there I lay for many hours. I must have fallen asleep at one point, though the ground was very hard, for I awoke some time later at full dark and wide awake. A fire blazed across the shore,

which I presume may have been the fire of the camp where Li Mei was taken. And falling back asleep, I next found myself carriedto

another shore, where the ship lay, and where I was given a piece of bread, taken into the hold and given the drugged cold water.

And this is all that transpired from those some four daysuntil now.” Fen took her seat with the other girls as Li Mei returned before

them and thanked her for relating what had passed. Another girl stood, quietly and steadily.

“I will be happy to speak next,” she offered. The girls nodded in return.

“My name is Jia Li and my young cousin is gathered with us -

Xue.” She indicated her hand to a young girl seated next to An.

“I am not yet thirteen years old, and Xue is now eleven. My father's

house is where Xue resides as my uncle and aunt, her parents, are no longer living. I will speak for us both. Our tale lines with that of the others, as of yet. My father's house is in the very northeast, and I

think that we must have been of the very last two taken to the ship, as the distance was a farther stretch. We too, were tied down to a

similar beach and were likely in ear-shot of Li Mei and Fen. However, our journey, it seems, will not be remembered well. Upon the

barbarians reaching my father's house that late afternoon – and,

yes, the great noise was also present there – Xue and myself were

both situated in the garden. Yet when thebarbarians arrived, both

of us were knocked senseless, it would seem, though I do not recall 61

(nor does Xue),” (Xue shook her head), “how this came about. The last thing I remember, beforewaking this morning, is the

recollection of a barbarian in my mother's garden with a club with a

wooden nob atop the end. This would naturally seem to explain how we came about having slipped into unconsciousness.”

Li Mei pondered this unusual happening. None of the barbarians

had been brutal to the young girls on the ship as of yet, and carrying out such a deed seemed far more ruthless than they had thus far

exhibited. But Jia Li's story was also taken into account as she took her place next to Xue.

“And your father and your family?” Li Mei asked her. “What of

them?”

Jia Li bowed her head.

“I cannot say. Neither my father, my mother, or my three older

brothers were present at the time of the raid. They were across the mountain, as a special request of some old friends, who they were visiting.”

She raised her head.

“And so I havehope, as Fen, that they are well.” The girl – Jing – came forward next to speak.

“My name is Jing, and I am twelve years. My father’s house lies on

the northeastern border of our village. My mother, two brothers, and my grandmother also live in this house. My father farms, as Xia’s, on the rice terraces.

“But on this sad day, as the barbarians crashed through to my

father’s land, I was sitting on the front green before myfather’s house. There was a celebration inside for the birth of my little

cousin. I was outside attending to washing berries in the stream,

as there was no room left inside. But once the great noise appeared, 62

I was surprised to see that none of the party from within came out to see what was taking place. I began to believe that my earswere

deceived, though as the great sound continued over the mountain,

I held my hands to my ears, so much did I think that this great sound were ghosts from the high mountains. But it was then a barbarian

crashed through the gate and ran toward me. I was paralyzed with fear and could not move. I tried to run back to my father’s house,

but my legs were weak. The barbarian carried me off and I tried to

beat him away, but he was too fast and too strong. I found myself a short time later, being swept down the hill of our village, and later

tied down to the same stone beach. A short time later, I was carried off to the ship as these other girls, and was drugged the same. I recall little, as I must have been stunned and in a state of shock. But I was never harmed.

“And I think,” she turnedto Jia Li and Xue, “that while I do not

mean to contradict your story… that violence towardthe group of

us seems very inconsistent with these barbarians. While they seem

very brutish and quite capable of violence, I propose another d i ea.” “Please, present it,” Jia Li motioned her on. “I also find it very

strange that they would show brutality to only mycousin and myself.”

Jing nodded.

“As I was carried past the village structures themselves, I noticed

distinctly, that many walls were vibrating with the greatsound on the mountain. And as the barbarian rounded a particular turn in the path, I did indeed see a wall crumble before my very eyes.

My thought is that perhaps, instead of this brute striking Jia Li and Xue, that the wall of the garden fell at that very moment.

And perhaps it was the brute which pulled you from the rubble, 63

and not his staff which fell upon your heads. I saythis also, as there

appears to be an abnormal amount of soil to your hair, for you both. Even though tied to the stone beach, I think that the remains of rubble, and not the dirt of the river bank, colors your hair.”

The girls looked at the hair and the gowns of both girls, and

nodded, all in agreement.

“This is good to hear,” Xue spoke for the first time. “I was afraid

their viciousness would bring great trouble upon us.”

Jia Li also conceded, a bit of relief evident in her face.

But there were two girls left to speak and Li Mei made room next

for a young girl, who was, however, slightly taller than the rest.

She held herself well and smoothed her lavender gowns as she rose from the floor. She nodded in Li Mei’s direction.

“My name is Li Na,” she spoke steadily. “Lei Long’s western corner

is where my father’s house lies. There, I live with my father, my mother, and my grandmother. My father deals with the royal

treasury in the city, and I have no brothers nor sisters. I am in my thirteenth year.

“As the restof you, I did hear this sound. I was in the cellar,

collecting cabbages for the late day meal, and my mother was in my father’s house, preparing noodles with mygrandmother. As I collected the cabbages in the cellar, I heard the great noise.

Thinking, as most of you, that it was merely a strong wind,as my

hearing was muffled from the earthen walls, I finished gathering my

cabbages and left the cellar. However, upon reaching the green and closing the door of the cellar behind me, the noise grew. And I hurried inside, not thinking to watch the sky, as the noise now

seemed to echo from the ground. I hurried toward the front of my

father’s house, and was then greetedwith the face of a particularly 64

ugly barbarian. And from there, my tale mirrors the rest.”

There was murmuring amongst the girls as the last girl rose calmly

and seriously, her hair somehow still pinned together after her adventures.

“I am Ting Ting,” she began. “I am also thirteen years and live in my

father’s house, wherealso lives my father, my mother, two brothers, and my grandmother. My father’s house is in the far southeastern corner of our village. And I find that while all of our circumstances have been most sad and most strange… I believe we must see a

general pattern developing. I, as well, was taken from my father’s house while out on the green with the family cats, and heard the

same deafening noise, and was taken to the beach far below the

village. There is something unusual about our capture. This strange wind may be something more than it seems. And I believe we must do our best to sort it out. Many of us grieve at the loss of our families and village left behind. Though we saw it still standing after our

capture, we fear for the lives of those who were left within the gates. However, we should draw comfort from the idea that we may have

been the only nine to have been captured, and that this unearthly event will be used to our advantage in the future.”

Li Na sat with the others and Li Mei took her place.

“It is true, I believe, the idea that Li Na has brought to us. This

great sound heard on the mountain face is most strange and

supernatural in appearance. And while we now have no apparent

way to prove this, perhaps, as Li Na suggests, we will have a way in the future.”

“There is... something else,” Li Na spoke suddenly. “Have none

noticed but myself?”

The girls looked at her blankly. 65

“Our eyes. They are not black.”

In the dim of the hold, none had thought to look at one another.

“Indeed, mine are not black,” said Jia Li. “It is a hard thing to say

from the reflection of lake water. But I have been told that they are almost green.”

“As aremine,” said Jing. The others concurred.

“And did you not notice, for those of you who remember, that

when the warriors took us each, that they did look at our eyes, as if they already knew what they were looking for.” The girls were silent, thinking on this.

“I have never met another girl in our village who has eyes like

mine,” Li Na continued. “And perhaps there are moreof us still.

But it is very unusual. I think that this might partially explain our capture, why we were taken as opposed to the others.”

And so the girls continued discussing these strange events among

themselves, and began to become further acquainted with one

another concerning their past short lives, their families and histories, occurrences of interest, and the like. Li Mei also showed to them the method of counting the days, so as they would not lose track of

their time of captivity. But she proposed a new method, in lieu of the rock-wedged crevices in the floor. The seams of the planks of the hull wall were not completely sealed with a tar substance in many places, for the ship had not seen service for several years, she

imagined. And so the crevices left between these planks, Li Mei would fill with egg shells. One small piece of egg shell would be

wedged tightly between the planks, nightly. And the rock would help wedge the piece securely. In this manner, Li Mei was not obliged to tear at the ship's floor. And all of the girls agreed to save their egg 66

shells when the current supply gave out.

The composure of these nine young girls truly amazed the pirates

of the ship, and as the girls spoke together over the following hours, many of them gathered near the open hatch and listened in

wonderment at the calm and deliberate proceedings of their counsel, though none of the brigands knew more than three wordsof their quiet Orient language.

But Li Mei knew that many matters still needed to be discussed,

although many things were still unknown to the nine there as to why they were captured, where they were being taken, how long their journey might be if it ever ended, and many other things of this nature.

But the girls were wise and coherent, and it seemed to all of them

that a leader must be established amongst them, even if they wereall in captivity together. It was Jia Li who rose, several hours later to confront the issue.

“I believe that it is necessary for us to establish a form of

government amongst ourselves, even at this early phase of our

journey together. If we are to live some time in these circumstances, I propose that we have two leaders, to balance one another, and be

a guide to the rest of us as we live on this ship, and perhaps after, if we are to disembark at some place in the future.”

The girls nodded in agreement and Jia Li continued.

“I request that we establish Fen and Li Mei as our commanders of

sorts on the expedition, as it were. They will be our captains and will advise us on what to do as the time comes.”

The girls nodded their heads unanimously. There was no doubt

among them, even after only having known each other fora full morning, that Li Mei and Fen were the obvious choices for 67

leadership. Jia Li bowed to both girls and stepped back to her place near Xue. Fen and Li Mei walkedforward and nodded to one another.

Pale-Beard at that verymoment had been watching from the

hatch above, from a slight distance wherethe girls below could not see him. He paused in wonderment at the young things below,

leading a counsel and bowing in respect. His pipe rested absently in his rough hand, and he rubbed his chin with the other, thinking over the unusualness of it all. The great warrior, standing momentarily

next to Pale-Beard with his great arms crossedover his chest, saw what took place below as well, and stood watching, his facenot

hinting as to his thoughts. And there they both stood for a good while, not speaking to each other, Pale-Beard puffing at his pipe.

Below, the girls had settled on their new system of government

quite magnificently. Each girl was to have her own responsibility

while on the ship, as time went on, provided the journey was quite long. For the present,there was little to do but be sure each girl

received her needed portion of food. Someone was also needed to keep track of the days, for which Li Mei had already taken responsibility.

And another was needed to recall in detail the daily events. It was soon discovered that Xue and An, the youngest of the crew, had

excellent memories, and would memorize memoirs of each day, no

matter how dull. And so, they would rehearse between the two of

them events which occurred, hour to hour, and would recite to each other their memorized portion of the day. And it so happened that An would memorize the events of the morning and early afternoon

periods and Xue would memorize that late afternoon and evening. And in this manner, two days passed. 68

Aboard Ship

It was soon very apparent to Li Mei, after six days of captivity,

that the girls desperately needed something to do with their hands.

Sitting and talking amongst themselves worked well enough for those two days, but they would soon run out of things to discuss, and both Fen and Li Mei felt it was vital to produce somesort of work for the girls.

“I fear I must approach Pale-Beard and make him understand that

we can work somehow on the ship,” Li Mei confided quietly to Xia the second afternoon.

It was a restful day on the sea and the wind was dull and the oars

were put to rest for the present. The girls below played a sort of

checkers with fragments of the egg shells. Li Mei voiced this concern as she watched the game pieces, half of them white from the white eggs, and half of them brown from the brown eggs.

“I believe you are right,” Xia discretely cocked her head toward

Li Mei who was sitting next to her by the pillar. “But I would not be

brave enough, I think, to approach Pale-Beard with such a request. He has not even invited us up to the deck, none of us, forthe past two days. Perhaps we are ill in his favor.”

“I think, more like, it is because the weather has not been so

inviting these past days. But perhaps you are right. I do not want to 71

risk his anger. However, you know as well as I – and they would all

agree, I think – that their minds will slowly leave them if they continue on in this manner for weeks, months, perhaps longer. Yes, the

barbarians must eventually find port for more food. But this does not mean we will be released from this hold.”

Xia nodded. “Yes, and I do agree with you. Perhaps tomorrow

morning, the both of us, or whoever wishes to volunteer, should attempt to communicate to Pale-Beard. I think, that if there is

anything on the deck – a brush, a pail of water, a spoon in the great pot... we might pick up one of these tools apiece and begin to work. Perhaps Pale-Beard will understand and call us to chores on deck.

Although these men seem little prone to paying heed to young girls.” “This is a good idea, Xia,” Li Mei tucked her robes around her

ankles. “I will present this thing to Fen and tonight we shall draw a counsel and present this idea to the others. Itis a simple thing,

perhaps, and yet if we are not careful, these barbarians may find us too forward and bring harsh methods upon us.”

And so it was planned with Fen's consent, to address the others.

And that night, as the barbarians gathered around the fire waiting

for their supper, Li Mei asked the girls their opinion on such an idea. The vote was unanimous that it should be attempted. And while

several volunteered to begin the initial approach toward Pale-Beard, it was decided in the end that Ting-Ting and Li Mei would first

approach him with their signed request. Li Mei because she was first

to make contact with him, and Ting-Ting because her slightly greater height drew more advantage and presence to herself. Andthey

would invade the deck the following morning, not forthe first time, but for a new purpose.

L On the dawn of the eighth morning of captivity, the girls combed

back their long hair with fingers and the other girls helped them roll back the long sleeves of their robes. At the correct time, both set foot on the stairs and climbed.

Li Mei was happy to see the deck in the early morning against the

sun. There was more activity as the sail was hoisted and the crew

was just setting about to their activities of the new day. However, this greater activity only aided their plan in order not to draw as

much attention as they looked for loose tools with which they might employ themselves.

In the early light of the sea, Li Mei managed to see in the stern of

the ship â&#x20AC;&#x201C; two rough-bristled brushes. It couldnot have been a

more opportune sight. Ting-Ting had also seen the brushes and smiled. Both hurried quietly to the very spot in the corner.

The deck was quite dirty and it was apparent that the barbarians

had not washed it in many weeks. Water was still left in the pail from the last rain the ship had seen. There wasnot near enough water to wash the entirety of the deck. But all they needed was a start.

Li Mei walked across to the port side and Ting-Ting stayed on the starboard. And there they began to brush, on their hands and knees.

At first, they were not noticed. The other girls waited in the hold,

for some sort of indication that their new friends had been

discovered. But for a great while they worked, undetected. Li Mei

realized after awhile, that this was doing little good. The sun had still not yet fully risen and clouds were dark and covering it. However,

she moved from the shadow of the back mast more boldly toward the 73

center of the deck. But still, the barbarians ran about, doing this and that. Finally Li Mei moved herself into the verycenter of the ship, and within seconds was nearly tripped over by a great barbarian with a particularly ugly face.

He swore at her loudly, though Li Mei could not tell this, and only

looked up at him from her brush, kneeling on the deck. She nodded and the barbarian drew quiet, somewhat unsure as to whether he should haul the young maiden over the edge of the ship for her

impudence, or whether he should ignore the matter. He chose the

latter and walked off, looking at her over his shoulder in half-disgust and half-wonderment.

Li Mei went back to her brush, as did Ting-Ting, who did not look

at each other. Both knew that they were now being watched by a dozen pairs of eyes. But they kept to their brush.

It was several minutes later that the great warrior himself, walked

across the deck to Li Mei. His boots pounded on the surface of the deck with a cold echo across the sea. She knew that all the

barbarians were now watching her, wondering what their greatchief might do to such a bold little girl. Li Mei continued to scrub until he stopped directly before her. She set down her brush, still kneeling in the dirty water in which she washed. And slowly she raised her

head, in respect to the great warrior, nodding low to where her face was only several inches above the deck floor.

The great warrior's hand was on his staff and the braid of his hair

wept wildly back in the morning wind of an early storm. A bolt of lightening flashed off in the west and he looked down upon her menacingly. Although his face never softened, he looked back

toward the stern and spoke several gruff words. And Li Mei saw out of the corner of her eye â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Pale-Beard â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whoentered the hold, and 74

shortly brought back with him the other girls, frightened but happy to be once more in the fresh and open air.

The great warrior stalked off again, back to the prow wherehis

men calculated the winds and the seas.

Li Mei looked out of the very corner of her eye to the seven and

smiled ever so slightly. She returned to her brush as Pale-Beard set about finding brushes for the others. He returned soon with the

brushes and several buckets to which Jing and Li Na soon attached ropes and lowered them over the edge of the ship. There, in the fast-moving waters of a fresh storm, they hauled salt-water and swept it over the deck. It was an art to land the bucket in such a

manner so that the water would not sweep away the ropes from their hands in its great strength.

To theothers, Pale-Beard brought a sort of veryprimitive soap.

These girls of the Orient were mostly used to sweet smelling herbs and blossoms with which they used for laundering and washing.

Honeysuckle was often used in soaps as were redbuds and sweet

white flowers from the fields. However this form of barbarian soap

had no pleasant smell to it, no smell at all, and was amber-like in color and much like a solid rock of hard glycerin. But these soaps they

soon managed to be softened with the sea water and scrubbed into the hopelessly soiled deck. In this manner, the entirety of the

morning and a portion of the afternoon was passed. And still, by the time supper was prepared, the deck was not finished with the removal of its grime.

For supper in the early afternoon, each was granted yet another

egg and a piece of fruit apiece, although none got the same.

Some received a wedge of peach, another a dark fruit, and another a slice of apple. Li Mei saw that they had received the scraps of 75

what had been placed with the meat for the barbarians. They had received no meat since the day she and Xia had each taken a strip from Pale-Beard.

But it was good to have the fresh air on one's face and the sea.

Li Mei thought that the girls would be far more content to busy themselves on the deck, even in aid to the barbarians, and she

thought it might bring sleep to them easier in the night and help make them forget their troubles until a remedycould be made.

L As it turned out, there was plenty for the girls to take care of in

order for the barbarians to return to their consuls, pipes, and study of the seas. Over the next twelve days, they were instructed on the rigging of the ship. And the deck was washed daily and very

thoroughly. A small portion of meat was even added to their diet, once every two days, by Pale-Beard who knew they neededmore than eggs and bread to continue in such rugged chores. On the

twentieth day of their captivity, all the girls were capable of climbing the rigging with their long gowns tucked under up through their legs and latched into their belts like pantaloons. The brigand sailors laughed to see such a comical sight. And they would appear as

brightly colored flags hanging from the rigging during the day, their long black braids flying in the stiff winds behind them.

Although Li Mei was still surprised to find that the food supply

had not run out over the weeks at sea. Her best guess led her to believe, along with the rest, that the second hold (where the

barbarians dwelt themselves) held a larger storeof food than the small remaining pile on their own end of the ship. 76

There was also the dilemma of the language barrier. After three

weeks, the most they had managed to learn from each other were the names of Pale-Beard and the great warrior, for the other brigands rarely spoke to the girls in their gruff language.

Pale-Beard was named Gunnbjorn and the great warrior was

Hafgrim. There were also words for “water” - vatn, “bread”- braud, “rope” - festr, and many other small words, which helped them in their daily work on board.

On the end of the twentieth day, a consul was called above the

deck as well as below. Dinner had been finished and the glowing

embers of a night fire burned beneath the great pot, which Jia Li had

just completed scouring with hard salt – yet another task distributed evenly between the girls.

The pirates above joked heartily with each other. From their tone,

Li Mei knew their high spirits meant their sea voyage was coming to a

rapid close, and that a landing was not far off. For the brigands had been mostly foul amongst themselves the past week, growling and

muttering at each other, becoming bored with their pipes and talk. And as they deliberated over their own concerns above, Li Mei

watched through the deck floor from below, standing behind the

seated girls, her hands folded before her. Fen was talking over the coming events.

“As we have seen this very day, the barbarians attitudes have

begun to quiet and they are more friendly toward one another.

As Li Mei and I discussed, this can have only one meaning. Our journey is coming to a close, for at least the present.”

The girls listened quietly, their shining eyes staring at their leader.

“And so, we must be on our guard. If we draw into port, wherever

that may be,” Fen paused momentarily, “wemust be prepared for the very worst that may come. If, as we have discussed before, we are

not sold into slavery and separately, we may be separated and only some of us sold and the others taken again onto the sea.” Fear

seemed to light her eyes only very quickly, and vanished. “With this

as a most likely event, we must think quickly and carefully in each of our separate situations, as how to best act. We know, I think, what each will do as her crisis arises, if necessary. But for now, we will

keep these thoughts to ourselves, if all are in agreement. Speaking of them aloud will only keep our minds on things which bring fear. And this is a word we will not know.”

Each girl there, knew of what Fenspoke. Fear – it would always

be present – known as a crouching tiger in the lives of the Orients. But it would be pushed aside as it always had been, and none of

them would give themselves over to it. With this speech aside, they pondered other things amongst themselves, taking care not to

mention the possibility of terrible things quickly coming toward them. But there was little need to fear for that night, and all were tired from work. The dark lull of the sea drew them quickly to sleep.

!e Island

The next morning dawned brighter than usual, as the weather had

been quite foul the night before. This only more greatly indicated

the arrival of land, as an omen – whether good or bad – was yet to be seen. Li Mei was the first to awaken that morning, and saw the

streams of bright sun washing through the open hatch. She almost

timidly gathered her worn robes about her, rolling her long sleeves to a more workable length to her elbows. Though she knew land must

be fully in sight, she would plan to go about the work of the ship as usual.

And thinking it was inappropriate for her to enter the deckalone,

with her co-leader, she carefully awoke Fen. She, too, was almost nervous about what might lie directly beforethe ship. They had

heard no cries from above ship that might indicate land, and the ship continued to move in the sea, though not as quickly perhaps.

Both left the other seven, sleeping soundly from a hard day's work

and approached the stairway. But even as they climbed, they heard

an abnormal amount of activity aboard ship, and the sound of crates and barrels being moved about nearly made their hearts pound. And just as they set foot on the deck, there was a great cry of: “Land!”

And though they did not recognize the word in its harsh language,

they knew well what it meant, and both hurried to the prow of the

great ship. And indeed, there lay ahead by a little more than thirty miles – the sparkling crest of a great mountain and strips of far

distant lands of sand and stretches of palms. Though it took a good many miles before the sands and palms were visible.

The other girls awoke shortly later, as the barbarians ran about,

preparing to dock within the hour.

“What might this place be called?” Jia Ling pressed her folded

hands tightly against the railing of the ship as the nine were jostled about by the scattering crew.

“Could it be one of the many islands in the south seas?” Li Na

asked in general.

“I think it must be,” Li Mei replied.

She recalled the map her father had spread for her that one day

in the royal library. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of islands lay

strewn about the great ocean, and it pleased Li Mei greatly to think

of there being so many lands to be explored and visited, though the thought of actually ever seeing such places, she never thought

possible. Yet a slight tingle in her heart betrayedher, as she realized despite their dangerous circumstances, she was quite thrilledto be approaching one of these exotic islands.

“Yes, it must be,” she spoke again to Li Na. “Thereare many

hundreds of islands such as these in the south seas. Andif we are

very fortunate, she lowered her voice, we shall not be sold as slaves here. I do not believe colonists are plentiful on these particular

islands, but only gangs of pirates and marauders. I think…” she eyed Gunnbjorn out of the corner of her eyes, “that we may be spared such a tragedy, at least here.” 82

Li Na thought this was most encouraging news and rested her

hands on the railing of the prow with the others,somewhat lost in thought.

There was no need to call a new counsel. After all, everything that

needed to be said was spoken the night before. And if Li Meiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

prediction was correct, there would be no need to even heed what had been discussed for the present. Fen and Xia concurred with

Li Mei on her idea, and nothing more was said on the subject as land drew nearer.

The shapes of palms did begin to appear on the sandy shoreline,

and the girls watched in a state of awe as the ship drew into the

islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s waters. None had ever seen morethan the green mountains of their homeland. Sand was practically foreign to themall and the

image of palm trees was unthinkable. Even the tales of the travelers passing through Lei Long had never described such a tree to them. The waters turned a brighter shade of blue as they approached. And within the hour, land seemed so very close, they could

practically reach out their hands and brush the trailing fronds of the palms, clustered together in groves on the shoreline. G.bjorn began shouting orders and H.grim calculated on the seaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s instruments.

The speed of the ship had greatly slowed, and a port was near in sight.

Half an hour later, the port was in full view, and a village of

thatched huts, streets of hard dirt, and bright colors of native cloth and flowers, greeted the eyes of the nine new visitors. Even in the bay, the smell of spices wafted across the waters and bunches of bananas of many colors swung from the vendors booths on the street. Never had the girls seen such a sight, simple as it was.

It was then that the exact location of the shipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s port came into

view. Li Mei began to understand that this ship had entered thebay before, as the villagers of the island showed no signs of fear, some of them helping to guide the ship into its dock.

Soon, the peculiar red and white striped sails of the great ship

were lowered, the anchor weighed, and the barbarians began to

cross the gangplank from the ship onto the shore. All nine pairs of the little girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; eyes seemed to turn at once to H.grim, as though to ask if they were to leave the ship. Though most of them were

hesitant, thinking of the discussion of slavery the night before, they were all the same, terribly interested to see the land and look about. H.grim did not seem to bother for some time, as he looked over

several charts spread before him. A native of the island had just

hopped on board to examine the charts with him. Butas he did so,

he stopped very short, the bright red of his shirt flashing in the sun. Apparently the sight of nine young girls on a barbarian ship was unheard of. Li Mei noted his surprise. He was quite young and

dark, far more dark than Li Mei and the other young girls. His teeth

were quite white and he had a pleasant smile about his face. And yet the structure of his face and the slant of his eyesclosely mirrored that of the men of Cathay. Yet,recovering from his surprise, he began to help H.grim with the charts.

Li Mei found it surprising that the native would so similarly

resemble their own race of men, and decided that in three weeks'

time, they might not have ventured quite as far as she had thought. Although they had certainly docked in the berth of an island, she had no other option but to assume that they were situated in the south seas.

But H.grim would not look at the girls for some time as he

examined over the charts with the natives. Jing, having very good

eyesight, could not even see from where she stood, what was written on the charts. She pronounced, however, that they appeared to be lists and made out in runes, which the native himself seemed to

recognize. Although, even if Jing could have seen clearly what was written, it would obviously have been indecipherable to the girls.

And as the two talked, most of the barbarians left the ship. G.bjorn remained on board as he was scouring the pot from an early

breakfast. Apparently the girls had missed their opportunity to dine with the pirates. However, as H.grim continued with his charts,

G.bjorn eventually brought them each a generouspiece of salted

chicken from the hold. Li Mei knew he was able to give them such a delicacy as the barbarians would now restock their food supply.

However, she knew that meat was often passed around before a

good walk was taken, a long journey. And she could only hope that

the barbarians had no intention of leading the girls to far corners of the islands where they would, indeed, be sold as slaves. But she

removed the idea from her mind, though she could tell that Fen and Xia had the same idea as the meat was handed over to them.

The meat was no sooner finished, then H.grim rolled up his detailed charts and spoke with G.bjorn for a short spell. The native had

disappeared back over the side of the ship. Li Mei strained her ears to perhaps gather several words she might recognize from their

conversation, but they spoke too low for herto make anything out.

It did not much matter, however, for they soon found out the nature of their discussion. H.grim and G.bjorn approached the nine girls,

with their usual indifferent ugly expressions, and H.grim spokea few

words to them, as though they would perfectly understand whatever 85

he said to them, and directed his hands to several of the other

barbarians. From the movement of his hands, the girls could still not understand what he had in mind. But it was all soon apparent.

G.bjorn beckoned Li Mei to follow him to the stern of the ship, which she did so quickly and quietly. There, in the back were many sacks of stuffs, small sacks of which Li Mei did not know their contents.

Most appeared to be quite light, however. G.bjorn reached to the

top of the pile and pulled two sacks. He handed both to her,which she placed in both arms. They were, indeed, light. Turning round, she saw that the other girls were following the pirates to the same store. G.bjorn walked back toward H.grim, beckoning Li Mei to follow him. She did so, cradling the sacks with care.

G.bjorn examined the charts once again with H.grim, as though to

be sure he had selected the correct bags from the store on deck.

And with that, Li Mei scarcely had time to look back to the other girls before G.bjorn walked off the gangplank, in stiff long strides, his

blond tail flying behind him. Li Mei hurried to follow him, but she no longer feared the possibility of any danger befalling them at the

island. The other girls came after, each carrying one to two sacks,

keeping close behind the barbarian who had given them the sacks to carry.

Off the wharf, G.bjorn led Li Mei along the sand path toward the

thatched huts of the village. Li Mei was now only curious as to the

contents of her sack and her exotic surroundings, and nearly hadto run from time to time to catch up with G.bjorn, who did not seem to remember that she followed him. The sun was harshly bright that morning, made even brighter so by the piercing blue of the sky.

Great white clouds like the sails of ships, blew across the sea, casting enormous shadows over the surface of the blue waters. The sand 86

was golden and glistening on the shore and the giant palms rustled slowly in the breeze, their green fronds waving at her from high

above. Far off, the grand peak of the mountain twinkled still under the sunlight, its very cap clothed in snowy white.

As Li Mei looked about her in awe, the light sacks began to grow

heavier from having held them so long. For though the thatched

village seemed very close, the walk was a half hour from the ship's

dock. And having been at sea for weeks without walking a straight

line of any considerable distance, put strain on her legs. Although the energy of the sun and the work of washing the deck and daily climbing the rigging had strengthened her arms and they were

already glowing a shade darker from the bronzing effect of the sun. Her sleeves, now thoroughly tattered, were cuffed up to half-way

past her elbows, and the hem of her skirt she had lifted from trailing

the ground by tucking the top of her skirt under her belt and pulling it through to hang as a second train down her back. In the heat of the southern sun, she decided that her thin gown was almost too

warm to walk in. But she would not complain. She was too happy on the thought that they would not be sold as slaves, that day.

But they soon approached the village, a good bit ahead of the

last barbarian and Ting Ting, who was also trying very hard to keep up. Ahead, Li Mei thought she saw the bright red shirt of the native who had discussed the charts with H.grim. However, she soon

realized that most of the natives were dressed in bright colors â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

colors of which she did not know existed in garments. A shade of

bright orange that seemed to melt her eyes, flashed from the dress of a young girl who ate peanuts, hiding behind a freshwater well.

Her skin was even darker than the first natives', however, her slanting eyes proved she was still of the Orient. She was so intent on 87

removing the shells from her little basket of peanuts, that she did not see Li Mei walk past her. Nor did she see an angry woman hurrying her direction, looking beneath stall shelves and around thatched

walls. Li Mei smiled, as the woman must obviously have been the girl's mother. And indeed, upon the woman seeing her child eating a full

basket of peanuts, she began to scold mercilessly and quickly took the basket of peanuts from the little girl, who tried very hard not to

cry, being found so guilty. But Li Mei was surprised that the dialect the woman spoke was still so very foreign. Perhaps they were

further from Cathay than she had guessed. For the dialect hardly

resembled her own language at all, but moreof what the barbarous Mongols spoke in the southern part of Asia.

G.bjorn pressed on past the colorful stalls. Li Mei enjoyed

looking at all she passed – the bright bananas - which she had never seen. The papayas and coconuts, which she also did not recognize. There was a small stall of chickens in one corner ofthe square, and another which held great bunches of brightly colored flowers, the kinds of which Li Mei could not have even imagined, they wereso

beautiful and wild. She was surprised that in one of the buildings which she passed, she thought she saw scrolls tucked in many shelves which lined the walls.

“A library!”she thought to herself. “For the common people,” she

noted, as a young woman and her sister walked through the open doorway of the small building.

But the buildings, too, not just the vendors' stalls, were vibrantly

colored. The roofs were made of heavy red tiles and the walls were of stucco – a substance for which Li Mei did not know the name. And this stucco was painted in deep blues, russets, and yellows

brighter than the sun. The windows were open and there were no 88

doors in the doorways, for the heat made them unnecessary.

Their walk continued past a good mile of such shops and stands.

The natives were mostly occupied with their own affairs, it seemed.

But nothing would wrench their attention from the greatbarbarians and their little minions from the Orient. And though the natives

watched and talked excitedly amongst themselves as they passed, Li Mei could see that there was a healthy fear of the barbarians. And no one greeted them or approached them in the streets.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the same reaction to the other girls and barbarians as they followed.

But after the mile of road had passed, Li Mei saw that a hill was

rising at the end of the village, and that the winding streetsand rows of buildings began to trail away. Indeed, within several more dozen yards, the buildings no longer rose out of thesand and the chatter

of the marketplace died away. Li Mei walked directly behind G.bjorn and did not dare deviate from her path to see what lay past him.

However as the hill grew larger before her, it rose past the blond

head blocking her view, and she saw, much to her surprise, a stone staircase winding up the face of the hill.

The hill was quite rocky, Li Mei could see this. Little vegetation

grew there, and the stair climbed high â&#x20AC;&#x201C; further than Li Mei could see in the glare of the sun. She looked back once again to see how far behind the others walked. But she was surprised to see that

somewhere, they had branched off, disappeared into the crowded streets of the market. It was suddenly made much clearer to her â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the nature of their disembarkation onto the island. They were

needed not only to carry the merchandise, but to be used as a sort of propaganda, perhaps. Whatever the barbarians planned on for bartering, they intended to use the girls as a method of payment. 89

The sickening feeling was revived in Li Meias she considered once again, the possibility of slavery. The more shethought of it, the

more it made sense to her, and it took great efforts to push aside her fear as her foot fell on the first stone step of the hill.

In the end, she counted five hundred stairs, although her memory

was blurred as to what occurred on the ascent. Her mind

unconsciously counted the steps, her eyes fixed on the hot gray

stone. And in her thoughts, ran the fear of being sold into slavery. For the entire hour it took to climb the steps, she battled with this terrible fear. To be taken on a ship fromone's homeland was one

tragedy, but to be sold yet again, and split from her sister and the others, would have been far worse. Asailing ship provided the

opportunity of return, while a remote island in the south seas, was finality.

If Li Mei had turned round and looked toward the shore, however,

she would have seen that all of her companions were safelybeing

escorted back to the barbarian ship, having completed their work

for the day. But Li Mei was dizzy from the sun and the climb of the great cliff, and would not have seen far in the scorchingsunlight.

Her fears would not be long in being abated. The pinnacle of the

cliff was reached. And as Li Mei's eyes watered from the stretch of her senses, she beheld a beautiful blue sea stretched for miles

across her horizon. She paused on the brink of the high cliff, both

arms numb from holding the sacks, and her slippers quite worn from the climb. She watched the far horizon, and turned in every direction in one slow circle, the sacks still tightly clutched.

The horizon was smooth across. Only the small sails of a south seas

ship glided across a far lagoon near the mountain range to the north. The wind of the plateau swept warm winds across herand ruffled 90

through her faded gown. G.bjorn had paused as well to watch the

sea. But his eyes were more turned toward the sky, and he muttered strange things to himself as he watched the darkening clouds of the

north take the place of the great white monsters hovering far above the sea.

But when Li Mei gathered her senses and turned to see where

G.bjorn would go next, she saw before her, nestled in the cliff wall â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a magnificent house.

!e H(se

It was built of white stone and glazed blue tiles, its roof of the

same red tile from the marketplace below, and great bushes of

blood-red blossoms waved in the winds from beneath the windows.

Before the open door lay a great white cat, and as they drew nearer, its pale blue eyes winked mysteriously at them.

Li Mei was intrigued by this dwelling, and began to think such a

magnificent place belonged to the governor of such an island, or

maybe even a prince of the south seas, so elaborate was the outside of the house.

But as G.bjorn crossed the threshold, Li Mei smelled fish frying

from somewhere within, and decided that a prince's dwelling could

not smell of fish, and so she abandoned the idea. Instead, there was a bellowing from G.bjorn which sounded very much like a greeting.

And as Li Mei followed through the simple white stone of the entry,

she soon found herself in a moderately-sized room,still cut of white stone. On the floor of smooth rock was laid a great skin rug, which Li Mei identified as a form of cheetah, and on the floor were darkcolored cushions and a low-set table of dark mahogany. In the

corner stood a tall glass vase of deepest green, where sparkling peacock tails royally emerged. And across the wall were four

windows cut into the stone. All one had to do was lean out and 95

straight below would be a cove of the sea between two high cliffs,

one on which sat the house, several hundredfeet high. And straight across this canyon was the rest of the island and the sound of the sea washing upon the sand far below in many directions. This was indeed the dwelling of a most curious person, Li Mei thought, still bearing the sacks in her arms.

But G.bjorn's greeting had just been answered, and from the

direction where the fish fried, and small native scurried into the room and bowed low, her face nearly touching her knees in respect.

However, Li Mei knew this could only be a servant as her hair was pinned tightly to the back of her head, and her gown was drably stitched and modestly colored.

G.bjorn uttered more strange words to the younggirl, and she

hurried off. Li Mei was most surprised that the servant understood

his rough language. But there was little time to think on this, for from another room, a curtain was lifted, and a woman hurried out toward G.bjorn.

She was a very large woman, and bellowed back a greeting nearly

as loud as G.bjorn's. She spoke very quickly and hurried over to grab him by the neck and kiss him on both sides of his face as

greeting. But what surprised Li Mei nearly enough to have both

sacks fall from her arms, was a most curious thing. This woman was

white-skinned and her hair matched nearly that of G.bjorn himself.

Perhaps her skin was not as white as when she was born, for Li Mei recognized the bronzing of the sun on her face and arms. Her hair was braided back in a similar manner as G.bjorn's and her clothing was coarse and of the color of ripe plums. A silver band was

fastened on both her upper arms, one being etched with runes and the other with a chain of mountains and little suns. But the woman 96

was big in the sense that her arms were full and muscled and her

height reached nearly six feet. Her eyes were ice blue, nearly the color of the cat's on the front of the dwelling. And instead of

slippers, she wore soft leather boots whichwere strapped with

leather cords. The sleeves of her dress were short, and almost did not exist altogether. And a great many freckles were sprinkled

across her nose and cheeks. Her laugh seemed to rumble as she

talked furiously to G.bjorn and directed the servants about, all of whom seemed to be natives.

And to Li Mei's surprise as well, G.bjorn seemed to smile at this

woman, as though she were a long-missed sister. His barbarian sense seemed to have left him almost completely for a spell.

But it was not long before the woman noticed Li Mei. Sheseemed

heartily surprised and then gasped, rather loudly. Li Mei suddenly felt very self-conscious and bowed her head,in respect and in

shame. The sacks then felt as though theywere attached to her arms and could no longer be freed.

The woman spoke even more rapidly as she stood there by

G.bjorn, her hands waving in every direction and she seemed to be

either very upset or very excited. But she spoke so fast that Li Mei could identify none of her words. Except that she thought she heard her name spoken once as G.bjorn spoke with the great woman.

But there was evidently the business of the matter to get down to.

And the great woman walked over to the skin of the cheetah and

offered one of the dark cushions for G.bjorn to sit upon. He did so

after the great woman was seated. The woman spoke a few words to G.bjorn, eyeing Li Mei. And G.bjorn indicated that she should be seated.

Li Mei walked to the very edge of the set of cushions upon the

floor, and without removing the sacks from her arms, lowered herself

carefully onto the floor until both her knees touched the rug and she sat upon her heels. Her muscles were relieved for a spell, but she could feel great cramps crawling up her legs, and she wished she

could stretch them out, but it was not her place to take up any more room than was necessary.

Food was brought out by the servants, snail shells, it appeared to

Li Mei, and a sort of cheese. The fish was obviously not to be

served. A silver pitcher was brought next, which smelled of mead,

and two small goblets. Li Mei's stomach began to turn from the heat and the cramps of her legs, but she kept herself sitting upright.

And it suddenly seemed to occur to G.bjorn that Li Mei should have

something to drink. He spoke quickly to the woman, who, looking at

the pale face of Li Mei, seemed to pity her somewhat. She called for the servant who returned with a goblet of very cold water, colder even than what G.bjorn served them on the ship. And after she

gratefully lay down the two sacks, her cramped arms retrieved the

goblet, and she drank slowly. She was next offered a slice of thick

bread and a bit of the cheese from the mahogany table, after which she bowed short, and took without a word. Her arms were red and lined from the creases of the sacks, and once the goblet of water

was emptied, she sat still, rubbing them quietly as G.bjorn and the great woman talked of things.

But after twenty minutes had passed, G.bjorn saw that the sky

was beginning to darken for rain, and he beckoned for LiMei to

bring both sacks forward. Her arms had somewhat recovered and she picked them up, carefully, not knowing their cargo, and

presented them to G.bjorn. He took both and set them on the table 98

which had just been cleared.

The long knife came from his pocket as he nodded for Li Mei to

return to her seat. As she walked back, she heard his knife rip

carefully into the top seam of the sack. The greatwoman exclaimed with happiness, as the contents were revealed to her. Upon sitting on the rug, Li Mei curiously looked over to the open sack.

There, filled to its very brim was a white substance, thick and dusty â&#x20AC;&#x201C; flour. It occurred to Li Mei just how valuable such a commodity would be to a south seas island where wheat rarely grew.

The thought crossed her mind, that if these barbarians had brought wheat kernels with them instead, this would have been much more of a valuable piece of merchandise. But then again, she reasoned

quickly, there would be no need to return for more profit, as the island would begin its own wheat crop. But her head whirled unconsciously with these things as the late heat of the day whispered past her ears and caused her eyes to blur.

The great woman was most pleased, and Li Mei wondered almost

deliriously how long such a small sack of flour would last. She then

remembered the many other large sacks which were piled on the ship that morning. Perhaps, she thought,this was only a sampling, and if

the lady was very pleased, they would bring back more the following

day. Li Mei did not want to consider the possibility of carrying even

larger sacks of flour such a great distance and dismissed the thought until it might be necessary.

G.bjorn placed the sack next to him where Li Mei sat. She saw

that the inside of the sack was coated in a waxy substance, and had a smell of citrus. Perhaps lemon, orof lime. It was a clever way to carry dry goods while at sea.

Yet as far as the purpose of her presence at the business

encounter, Li Mei was utterly confused. The woman had no

intention of buying her, and G.bjorn had no intention of selling her. G.bjorn could have easily brought the two little sacks himself and in much less time, for Li Mei could not walk as fast as he. For that

matter, why had they brought any of the girls with them onto the

island? Her head whirled. There would have been no fear of them running off while on the ship, for H.grim and other pirates had

stayed behind to guard the ship. It made little sense to her, and she pushed the whole ordeal from her mind.

G.bjorn was about to open the second sack. And as he did so,

Li Mei saw that the great women's face lit up exceedingly. Sulfur â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

that odious-smelling yellow stink in the form of soft powder, as soft

as snow. It was a wonder Li Mei had not recognized the horrific smell of the concentrated substance through the sack. Shesaw shortly after, however, that the inside of that particular sack had been

greased with tar in order to prevent the sulfur from contaminating

other items in the hold of the ship. Li Mei looked at the golden stuff for a short while, the smell only adding to her dizzy state.

She remembered the smell of sulfur before, when her father had

shown her his battle uniform from a decade before. It still bore the

faint scent of sulfur, which the people of Cathay would occasionally

use in weaponry. Though what this great woman could possibly want with sulfur, Li Mei had little idea. Was she planning on war besieging her small island, remote as it was?

But it was obvious that this great woman was well-pleased with

what lay before her. And yet the rain clouds drew on, and it was apparent that G.bjorn wished to finish the matter of business as

quickly as possible. Li Mei prevented a yawn from escaping as he 100

pulled a chart from the pocket of his vest and laid it across the table. The smell of fried fish had wafted away in the warm winds of the afternoon, and Li Mei settled herself more comfortably on the

cushions while G.bjorn and the great woman apparently discussed their transaction. Li Mei vaguely wonderedwhat G.bjorn would be receiving in return.

It did not take very long. It seemed logical to Li Mei to assume

that this was one of many business dealings G.bjorn had conducted with the great woman over the course of his years. And so, as the

rain clouds piled in the north, G.bjorn pounded on the charts on the table with his fingers, as did the woman, both good-naturedly

haggling their goods. In the end, it seemed as though both were

amply satisfied, and rising, the great woman gave G.bjorn her hand in good faith along with the same custom of the greeting. She looked

once more at Li Mei with almost a wonder in her eyes, which mortally confused Li Mei. And that was the end of it. The chart had been

rolled up and placed back inside the inner pocket of G.bjorn's vest. He beckoned Li Mei to rise and both left the dwelling, the great

woman waving them off, holding the blue-eyed cat in one strong arm, still looking after Li Mei.

The descent went rapidly, and G.bjorn did not even begin to look

in Li Mei's direction. Li Mei wondered what hehad received in trade for the flour and sulfur which would surely be delivered. But there

was little need to wonder about such things, for both their attention was soon diverted by the oncoming rain. The cloudsstirred

furiously, as though they might produce some sort of watery funnel in their contorted spinning. Lightening flashed. But the clouds

moved on without great danger. And it was only a half hour later

upon just having passed through the marketplace, that theheavens 101

broke and the rain poured in great torrents overthe island.

On board the ship, Li Mei was sent immediately to the hold, where

upon the grate was closed. Thankfully several lanterns of sorts lit the interior, where the girls were playing at their checkers of egg shells.

“We were not sure you would return before therain,” Jing broke in

first, “and so I placed another shell for the end of the day, into the plank, in your place.”

“Thank you, Jing. Indeed, we almost did miss the ship before the

storm broke. As you see,” she began to wring the rain from her gown. “I am quite drenched.”

Ting-Ting brought her a blanket as the othercontinued their

game, asking questions from time to time.

“It is a most peculiar place,” Fen began. “And whywe were all

conducted to various places about the island, makes little sense to me. These barbarians are far more capable of carrying sacks of

goods than us small girls. What good did it do them to have us trail

behind? For a small spell I feared that wewere indeed to be sold into slavery after all, in exchange for goods.”

“I must confess the same things crossed my mind,” Li Mei

admitted, continuing to dry her gown with the wringing of her hands. “Most peculiar things are afoot, I believe.”

“What things?” Xia looked up from the game.

“I cannot be sure as of yet, but as we stay on this island, be

observant. I saw another of these barbarians today, dwelling on the island, one who made a business transaction with G.bjorn.”

The girls all looked up, surprised. And Ting-Ting brought herthe

remnants of their dinner, saved for her.

“A woman,” Li Meinodded at Ting-Ting gratefully, and took the 102

trencher.

The game was indefinitely paused as Li Mei recounted the most

strange events of the afternoon, even down to the veryarticles of the house and the sulfur and flour of the sacks.

“That is very strange,” Jia Li said shortly afterwards. “All ofour

sacks were filled with peppercorns. Nowhere did I see flour or sulfur. With what could this woman want sulfur?”

“I could not understand this either,” Li Mei became quite serious

over the matter. “Though I have come to the conclusion that the

contents of these bags are merely devices which by the barbarians

received the possessions they store in the hold. The treasure they are collecting is vast. It would seem they are on a great crusade to

gather the riches of the world. For what purpose other than sheer wealth and power, I cannot imagine.”

“Whatever its use,” Xia added, “the sulfur and flour, the

peppercorns are of little matter to us. Moreimportantly is the odd manner in which you were discussed by this barbarian woman, and why she is here on an island in the south seas.”

“Truly,we do not even know where from these barbarians hale,”

Fen said. “And so perhaps it is not so very strange that on this

remote island we would find another of these barbarians, though she is a woman, alone and with power.”

Li Mei nodded, tired from the long day. Fen noticed this and

continued, “But let us put these things aside until tomorrow,for we are all tired and could do with a night full of sleep.”

All girls were fully in agreement on this and before the next ten

minutes had fully elapsed, they were tucked in and settled down,

some of them already asleep. The hum of the rain droned on long

into the night and lulled their minds to rest. And though the tragedy 103

of their captivity was always front in their thoughts, theywere

learning to make the best of it, and would find their way back when the time came.

104

In Trade

The next morning the sun no longer shown. The heavens had not

finished washing itself, and so under a very gray sky, the girls woke.

Li Mei found herself quite sore from theclimb, but the others seemed fine and proceeded with the scrubbing of the deck. The rain had

only aided their chore, and all that was now required was the soap. However, this would not be able to take place until, as Li Mei had predicted, the barbarians carried the great loads of sulfur, flour, and pepper from the ships.

But instead of washing the deck, Li Mei was not altogether happy

to see that they were to leave the ship once again, however this time, each girl was given an empty sack, a good needle, and a waxed

thread. The sack was big enough fora man to carry, when full, but not for a young girl. And once again, they were paired with a

barbarian and headed to the marketplace. This time, G.bjorn

remained on the ship, looking over the same charts, and directing the disembarkation of supplies.

But Li Mei needn't have worried about the high trip back up to the

plateau. Instead, she and her fellows would be gathering supplies for the next leg of their journey. For being barbarians, Li Mei

thought them to be very organized and rather clean altogether.

Each man had been given a list as though he were a servant goingto 107

market for his master. Li Mei had been assigned with a nearly

ruddy-headed pirate - Gardar - the only one of his color on the

ship. He led her to a stand nearly falling apart at the seams from the weight of its wares â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fruits. Li Mei had never seen such a colorful

collection of edibles in her short lifetime. In Cathay, shewas used to the reds and greens of vegetables, and occasionally the yellow of

peppers. But there was mostly the white and brown of rice and the

white of noodles, which would be eaten more plentifully in the north.

Here before her was every color and shape imaginable in the form of blueberries, oranges, sweet apples, bananas, papayas, guavas,

lemons, apricots, melons, limes, plums, (many of which she did not recognize).

And so the sack began to grow as the barbarian loaded it from

the bottom to the top. Li Mei found it also odd that hechose the heaviest and thickest-skinned fruits to place first, which was only

logical â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but for barbarians â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it was odd. The sack grewto be much

larger than Li Mei had first anticipated. How many fruits could grow on a such a sand-strewn island was very peculiar. Althoughshe recalled the view from the great barbarian woman's house the

afternoon before, and there had been several lush greenvalleys off to the north of the island.

The sack continued to grow until the happy fruit vendor seemed

to have sold most of his stand. At the last of it, the sack was heavy

enough for Li Mei to scarcely hold it up on end without it toppling on top of her. The very top came nearly up to her shoulders. Even as small as she was, the load of fruit was enormous. Thebarbarian

muttered something dark to himself, slapping his hand against his

forehead. Apparently he did not have enough room for the last item. He looked darkly at Li Mei as though it might be her fault, and 108

beckoned for her to hand over the thick needle and waxed thread. She did so, and in several moments the sack was tightlyclosed.

He threaded the needle back into his vest with the rest of the waxed thread. Then, opening the great leather pouch at his waist, he produced a good amount of money and counted it out to the

vendor, who delightedly clutched each coin as it fell into his hand.

Li Mei looked hard at the golden ring in the ear of this particularly

moody barbarian, and felt like giving him a good kick in the seat of his pants for having blamed her for his mistake. Butthis thought

surprised her, as she would have never thought of such an impish

and silly thing to do back in her own village. She began to fear that the foul moods of the sea pirates werebeginning to influence her. But as the barbarian finished counting over the the coins, he

picked up the last of his produce and handed over to her six large

bunches of bananas. Not seeing as to how she was meant to carry

so many bananas altogether, she pointed to his vest pocket for the waxed thread. Seeing what she had in mind, he gruffly handed it

over to her. With a clip of his borrowed knife she quickly secured

three bunches to either side of the sturdy thread and with a slight heave, placed the waxed string across her shoulders and three

bunches of bananas swung from both sides. She looked back up at the Gardar. He shrugged his shoulders with a grunt and without looking at her again, heaved the great sack onto his shoulders.

Nearly forty minutes later, they arrived at the ship, the waxed

thread having rubbed Li Mei's shoulders verysore, and the bananas still swinging happily from her shoulders. Shelifted off her heavy

load and retreated to the hold, with no one's permission that time, to rub her reddened shoulders with the water from the rain barrel

below. After having put on the water to cool her shoulders, she 109

rested her back on the cot for a short while until the other girls began coming back from their own excursions into the market.

Over supper they shared their tales of the vendors they met and the heavy sacks that were filled.

Jia Ling spoke of having seen a monkey sitting in the very top of a

palm on her walk into the market.

“And then,” she went on, “the brute who led me, proceeded to fill

an entire sack of potions, it would seem, many little boxes of stuffs of which some smelled peculiar and some sweet and good.

He opened all to inspect their contents. I thought perhaps some

were the rare and strange spices we hear of from the traderoutes.

But others were cream-like substances as though they weresalves.

But all were tightly shut, so much so, that he could barely open them with his bare hands. Several times he was forcedto bring out his knife and wedge off the lid.”

Li Na spoke of the vendor she had visited. “All his shelves were full

of vegetables, such as I have never seen. And all colors and sizes,

textures... Many were bright like the peppers we would eat at home, some were composed of individual kernels, it seemed, and others

were like turnips, root crops. But all were clean with no traces of the soil from which they had emerged. Although I find,” she said quite

seriously, “that these barbarians care nothing for leafy vegetables. And so, I must report that the cabbages were untouched and we shall likely have none of it for a very long spell.”

This was, indeed, a sad thing, as cabbage was a staple in their

village and was often used in every meal, when available.

But An spoke next, quietly, of her own ventures. Li Mei was

surprised to hear her speak, for she had been so very quiet for the past few weeks, that little had escaped from hermouth, unless she 110

was talking with Xue. Even then, Xue spoke mostly, and An listened. To be sure, An had alwaysbeen quiet, but then again, there was

something different about her. Li Mei hardlycaught An's last words, as she became lost in thought.

“Sugar and cinnamon...” she was saying. “Although the cinnamon

was already prepared and not dried in sticks as we so often see it laid out at market.”

But Xue bounced in before Li Mei could ask her sister any

questions.

“I saw the most peculiar fish. As Li Mei and Li Na saw beautifully

colored vegetables and fruits, these fish were of the same color.

Many were silver with streaks of the most fantastic blues. But many others were the brightest of colors and the most brilliant red and

blue, some the color of emeralds. And they all shone in the sun like gems. Several had spots upon them that seemed to be they would

glow as underwater candles, as the great sea-anglers we sometimes see caught by the deep-sea fisherman from below the village.

But there were several the color of the sunset. And I do hope you

are able to see some of them beforeG.bjorn makes our dinner, for they are the most fantastic creatures I have ever seen.”

“My sack was smaller than the rest,” Jing said later. “And as a

result,” she sighed, also rubbing her back, “the brute I walked with,

had me carry it full back to the ship. Though he carried one larger, himself.”

Li Mei made room for Jing next to her on the cot in order to rest

her back as well.

“What filled your sack then?” Xia asked sympathetically. “Glass bottles.” “Of what?”

111

“I do not know. They were small and labeled in a strange hand.

I believe they were medicines, for their smell was most strange, and

they were corked tightly shut so as not to leak. The glass of these bottles looked as though it was frosted, as though it had been

tossed many years on the sand. And some were filled with colored liquid and potent, others smelled of mint, some were syrups,other powders. One I thought, looked as though it crawled from the inside.”

Xue shivered. “How awful. I hope none of us ever falls sick, or we

may have to sample one of these peculiar glass bottles.”

“I doubt they'd waste any of their precious medicine store on us,”

Jing replied. “The barbarian whom I accompanied handled every

bottle so very carefully, and had me wrap each piece in coarse wool several times, before placing it in the sack. On our return journey,

he turned and glared most horribly if he heard the slightest shift of the sack upon my shoulders.”

Ting-Ting spoke next, the girls having shortened her name to

Ting, as their situation became less and less formal by the day.

“My sack was filled with a rather insignificant item,” she began,

stretching her back against the hull whereshe sat. “Mine was filled to the brim with walnuts and peanuts.”

Li Mei smiled, remembering the little girl by the well.

“I don't really know why they are necessary, however, the

barbarian seemed keen on selecting certain types, and only the very

best as he could find. I arrived last, as I do believe he examined every piece before placing it into the bag. The most I can assume is that

these wares are to be taken in trade, most of them, for more valuable supplies later on.”

112

“With what were the barbarians paid upon having sold their

peppercorns then?” Li Mei asked, curious. “With coin,” they all replied.

“How odd – there was nothing handed to G.bjorn up at the house

on the plateau.

“Perhaps what he will receive in trade is what they have really come

for. And the peppercorns were only given in return for coin, which bought these supplies and trade goods,” Ting-Ting replied.

“Perhaps we will know soon what exactly it was that G.bjorn

received,” Li Na looked up from the floor where she was arranging another game of checkers.

“You are right,” Li Mei answered. “But let us hear what Fen and Xia

have to say of their encounters in the market.” Xia urged Fen to speak first.

“I believe I must have had the lightest of all sacks to supervise,”

Fen nearly laughed, but then recalledJia Li's and Li Mei's sore

shoulders. “I could have carried the load myself, had the sack not

reached as high as my neck. It was filled to the very top with cloth.” “Cloth?” Jia Li groaned, wishing she had walked with that

particular barbarian.

“Yes, cloth – though fabulously colored and thedesigns were so

intricate, I could not imagine how any loom could concoct such

patterns. Some were of stars and flowers, others bore patterns of trees and animals, mountains, and other such recognizable things.

But primarily they consisted of undefinable patterns. As to where

such finery is loomed, I must believe they come from individual homes across the island, as none were uniformed in pattern, length, or

color. This, we must presume is purely a trade good, for I could not imagine our hearty and foul pirates to wear such royalstuffs.” 113

“Very true,” Li Mei smiled at such a funny thought. Toimagine

G.bjorn wearing, perhaps, a red cloth with flowers stitched through it.

But at last it was Xia's turn to relate what she had seen.

“My sack contained only nick-knacks,” she told them. “They would sell for some reasonable value, I believe. Somewere mirrors, others were beads of glass and clay, and others were leather pouches of dried herbs. But the sack was piled high with these trinkets.”

“We must conclude that this ship is not only for war and barbaric

raiding parties,” Fen spoke, “but for honest trading. Howpeculiar

for the two to co-exist. If only the natives of this island knew what treacheries these men have committed.”

The girls discussed more of these things into the evening as more

rain clouds approached over the horizon. However, Li Mei was

nearly concerned for her sister, and wished to speak with her alone

whenever there was a chance. Perhaps as the others fell asleep that night she might talk to her in the corner. The sound of the rain

would drown their voices. Li Mei did not wish to keep things from the others, but it was her sister, she wished to speak with, not just another member of their small counsel.

But just before the next shower broke upon the island, therewas

a bustle on deck. The girls were already above it, preparing to scrub it down after the heavy traffic and dirt of the day. As Li Mei had just picked up her brush and cake of soap, she saw a group of three

natives running toward the ship, which brought the bustling. The one in the front carried a chart, which he handed to G.bjorn and the

other two, who had pulled small carts behind them, and began to

unload what lay inside. In all, four chests werebrought on board – locked well. The native with the chart handed over the key to 114

G.bjorn, and then produced a letter from the pocket of his shirt.

With that, the natives ran off back to their homes before the rain came.

G.bjorn slipped the key into his vest pocket and slipped open the

letter as several brutes carted off the chests to the hold.

Li Mei got down to her hands and knees to continue scrubbing,

however, as she did, she looked up, and saw that G.bjorn was staring at her, the letter hung suspended by both hands before his face. He hardly moved as the lightening flashed in the north. His eyes

seemed to her ice cold, as she stared back at him. However, she thought she might have seen a glimmer of fear in his eyes.

But the storm saved her from further thought. For a largecrack

of thunder was heard just above the mast. She lookedup as it

roared, and when she looked back, G.bjorn was at the prow of the ship, conversing with H.grim.

But then the rain began to come and the brushes and soaps were

put away until the next opportunity. The girls scuttled into the hold, and were served bread and cold cheese by G.bjorn, who apparently had pretended to forget the situation.

That night, the rain fell heavily, but there was no wind, and the

drone was enough to have a quiet conversation and not wake the girls. But when the lanterns were snuffed out, and the other girls

were finally asleep, Li Mei tried to make her way over in the dark and saw the idea was a bad one.

“An,” she whispered ever so softly. There was no response. “An?”

“Yes? Li Mei? I was just talking with Xue. Is there something

wrong?”

115

Li Mei was disappointed.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;No, no. Go back to your talking.â&#x20AC;?

An wished her good night, and as the rain kept falling, Li Mei

could hear their voices, quietly. She wished to stay up until Xue fell asleep and then she could speak with her sister in private. Butat

some time, Li Mei drifted on to sleep, and it was morning before she remembered that they had not been able to speak.

116

!e Storm

Li Mei awoke with this thought on her mind, as well as the incident

with the letter that G.bjorn had read, presumably from the great

barbarian woman. None of the other girls had noted his reaction, as all had been furiously scrubbing at the deck before the rain came.

And Li Mei did not mention it to any of them. Perhaps hehad read

something of a disturbing nature in the letter and had taken out his frustration with a piercing glare toward herself, just as the ruddy-

headed barbarian had done so at the fruit vendor. But the spark of

fear she was positive she had seen, and it botheredher to remember it.

Nevertheless, the rest was forgotten fora spell, for commotion ran

aboard. The sun was out once again, with puffy white monsters floating above the sea as had the first day. Some brute had just

called out to hoist the anchor, as the girls heard it rise from the sea below.

Knowing they would be needed next to furl the sails, they all

hurried to tuck in their skirts and braid back each other's hair

against the wind. For they could already hear it whistling through the hold. Within minutes they were out on the deck, together, climbing

the rigging. And so the the small port of the south seas island, which had brought much mystery, faded into the ever blue of the ocean. 119

Li Mei watched it from the high rigging as it seemed to slip beneath the waves. She wondered if she would ever see it again.

Below, the deck was furiously scrubbed and the whole day was

passed in the manner of sea-faring chores. Once dinner arrived, a famished crew of pirates and little black-haired girls, crowdedthe

decks with their trenchers of fish stew. And they did indeed see a

string of silver and red fish go into the pot by the hand of G.bjorn, after all had been scaled.

But it was on the next day of sun and wind, that Li Mei

encountered a new experience, using the tools of navigation at the

prow. She had often watched in wonderment from the rigging at the barbarians using the instruments, guessing how they might work to direct their path, and how they managed to steer the way past the

doldrums, where wind rarely blew. There were times, however, when

the wind would stop and the barbarians would grumble loudly, taking their turn at the oar. But this was on a rare occasion. While the ship was very large, it was light enough for the wind to fly it across the open ocean toward their next destination.

She was high in the rigging one afternoon that week, observing

the three barbarians at the prow, when one of them, looking up at

her, began to consult his fellows. He then turned, looking back up at her, and smiled, his blond braid whipping back in the wind. It was the first smile Li Mei had ever received. And she climbed down carefully, hoping he might have called her to work one of the tools.

And indeed, upon reaching the prow, she was explained to in the unknown language, but slowly, how to use the instruments. She recognized several words at least, and by the barbarian

demonstrating how the instruments were used, shebegan to

understand the pattern and method of their use. Overthe next 120

several weeks she was trained in their operation, and a full month

later, no land yet having been sighted, she began to operate them daily, without the aid of any of the pirates.

During this time, the girls got on particularly well each day, and

were rarely bored with their daily chores. The open sea often

provided such interesting novelties as kelp beds, whales,flying fish,

and occasionally sea birds from near-distant islands. The scrubbing of the deck, the rigging, and other chores were attended to, which took up most of the day. And they had even begun to prepare

meals under the supervision of G.bjorn. Li Na and Jing also took

their hand with the navigation equipment before long. There were games of checkers in the late evenings with the light of the lamps, and an egg shell piece was wedged into the board every night. At the end of fifty-seven days of captivity, the girls began to

understand more and more of what the barbarians bellowed to one another. And in return, they began to recognize several words,

though not many, as the girls always spoke quietly, and were not often heard.

Li Mei had still never found a moment to speak privately with her

sister, for there were always people about. And An herself grew happy, it seemed, which helped the situation. Li Mei began to

wonder if she had only imagined the great solemnness she thought she had seen while they were docked at the south seas island.

What was more, their good humor seemed to have been wearing off on the pirates. Li Mei's fear of their foul moods,seemed to have

disappeared. And it was no longer uncommon to hear theguffaw of a sailor below or the chuckling of a brute as he played at board

games. Li Mei wondered what lay in store for them next after a good four weeks of uneventful days.

121

Another two weeks passed in this manner, quiet and serene, as

the red and white billows of the sails stayed ever strong and steady, full of the wind which carried them on. It seemed now, that many of the barbarians' words were understood by the girls. And often,

while serving meals, or scrubbing the deck, they would listen and compare notes on various words in the evening.

But on the eve of the seventy-first day, a mass of clouds was seen

boiling off to the west. Flashes of great white light lit up their

interior and booms of thunder drifted across the open sea and the

hot dead air. The barbarians had taken up their oars once again the hot late afternoon. And G.bjorn and H.grim preparedfor bad

weather. They apparently decided there was no possible way to

outrun the storm which came on, and there was no land anywhere

near to pull into and dock. Indeed, there had been no sight of land for forty-one days.

H.grim beckoned Li Mei and Fen to his side. “Lower all sails,” he

smoke grimly, “after which we will collapse the masts.”

Li Mei and Fen bowed in their usual manner, and all nine of the

girls hastened to reach the top of the rigging. Within half an hour all

ropes were secured and the sails had been removed and fastened to the deck. For these barbarians were geniuses of the sea. Not only were the sails stored away and anchored down as in no other ship

the girls had heard of, but as well – the masts were made to collapse in a most extraordinary way. Each mast was split into five pieces,

hinged to one another with a strong sort of metal and lockedtightly down, each piece fitting into one another like puzzle pieces, the

spike of one end fitting into the head of the one beneath it. Though these pieces were heavy, two men climbing the rigging could lift each piece, slip the loops of ropes (already tied and set aside for this 122

purpose) around both ends, and slip it down to the crewbelow to

store until the storm might pass. Naturally with all threemasts, this took a good hour or so, which was why G.bjorn summoned them early, before the storm drew any nearer.

Once all was prepared, the storm had drawn much closer in the

past hour and a half, and the girls were told to secure themselves

below the hold. The hatch of the deck closed over them and only two lanterns were let burning beneath.

“Keep guard over these,” the ruddy-headed barbarian had

cautioned them carefully, passing them down to the hold. “Never let them burn unattended.”

They heard this warning daily, and were rarely given lanterns

without one of the crew watching nearby. But H.grim and G.bjorn

must have been expecting a foul storm, for theywould not have been

given such a great responsibility if they had thoughtthey could last a short time in the dark amongst themselves.

Li Mei set the lantern on one corner, and sat by it fearing to let go

of its handle, though the ship still lat motionless in the water.

Jing took the other, illuminating the other side of the hull, casting

gleams of reflection from the treasure trovestacked on the wall of

the prow. And as the hold sparkled like the tomb of a king, the girls sat there thinking their own thought for the space of a goodhalf

hour. But it was not long after, that the ship began to move in the waters and the wind could be heard. The dead warm air had been replaced by a mighty wind. And it suddenly struck the ship with a furious tow. The girls could feel the weight of the anchor holding the ship back in the water.

Jing and Li Mei held tightly to the lanterns as each had tucked

their legs around the pillars of the hold and clutched both the 123

lanterns and body of the pillar simultaneously.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hold the pillars tightly!â&#x20AC;? Fen calledout to the others as she

helped little An and Xue to the nearest beam.

And they did hold tightly. For the space of a full two hours,the

ship rocked back and forth in the furious waves. Forthe girls could hear them crashing over the railing of the ship. From time to time

there was the great shout of a sailor at the helm. Inside, the sacks of food and the treasure store toppledover several times. The girls

had not thought to unstack them and spread them round the floor of the ship. At one point, a great wooden box of coins tumbled over onto the ground, hitting Xue on the upper part of her back.

She shouted out in pain as the weight crushed her shoulders and

she fell into the pillar. Jing and Li Mei could not leave thelanterns,

but Jia Li and Xia went to her as the others began to steady the rest of the boxes. Though nothing much could be attended to, for the rolling of the ship was great, and the boxes were far too heavy for even three of the girls to manage one at a time. And so they removed themselves toward the other side of the hold.

But Xue faired ill from the incident and Jia Li looked quite worried

as she watched over her cousin. The poor girl had been crushed

heavily by the weight of the coins, made twice-heavy by their being gold. In the motion of the ship and the flickering light of the lamps

the girls had great trouble in even holding her flat on her stomach so as not to have her tumble about even more and land again on her back. There was blood on her gown and Jia Li greweven more

alarmed upon seeing it. Fen carefully pulledaside the back of the

cloth, where it had been ripped and examined the wound as best as possible in the rolling of the gale.

124

“Could they have stored the sack of medicines in this side of the

hold, do you think?” she asked aloud, holding with one hand fast to the pillar, and the other held over Xue's back.

“I cannot think they did, but we have not thoroughly searched,”

Jia Li replied as steadily as possible.

“If only there were some form of salve or alcohol as we use in the

village. Or bandages...” Fen trailed off.

She did not appear mortally concerned, which helped Jia Li's

nerves to calm.

“If only our gowns weren't so dirty,” Jing called from where she

clutched the lamp. “Perhapsif we washed them very carefully, a strip or two would suffice for the present.”

“It will have to do,” Jia Li spoke quickly. “Here – I will strip what I

can from my own.”

“Allow me to do so,” An broke in. “Your gown has been soiled more

from the rubble of your garden in the village.”

Jia Li nodded, and An stripped what she could with her bare

hands, the sharp rock still stowed beneath the cot,used as an aid. It was not long before several goodsized strips had been removed

from the long train of her gown and Jia Li proceededto wash these as carefully as possible in the remaining cold water of their dinner cask. For G.bjorn no longer filled each goblet separately, but

provided a corked barrel filled from the deck, every day. And so the cloth was cleaned as much as it could be, without the aid of any soaps or alcohol of sorts.

Meanwhile, Fen and Ting-Ting began to remove thetorn cloth

away from the wound as the ship continued to pitch about, but not as greatly, the storm seeming to begin to lull for a period of time. The cloth was ripped clean and none of its fibers had fixed 125

themselves into the wound itself, for which theywere grateful.

But the line from which the blood flowed, was a good three inches

across, from where the corner of the box had landed. And though Xue was good to not cry out from time to time, tears welled in her eyes.

Fen took one of the clothpieces and cleaned off the blood, which

no longer flowed. A very small amount of water was poured over the wound, and Xue tried very hard not to move greatly from the pain.

Upon closer inspection, Ting-Ting thought the wound was not deep enough to merit any surgery of sorts. However, she and Fen both

agreed that her back would need to be bound very tightly, in order for the wound to seal shut. If infection followed, theywould not

know what to do. But if the storm subsided, perhaps the barbarians would come back over to the hold and help with what tools they carried.

As the seas began to calm beyond the hull of the ship, Fen and

Ting-Ting carefully wrapped the bandages around Xue's back, the other girls managing to help from time to time and Jia Li holding

Xue's hand to comfort her. The lanterns had been brought closer

and the stacks of treasure and sacks of food spread evenly on the floor of the hold. The spilt coins (every one) were returned to the offensive box. And things began to quiet somewhat.

Soon, the bandages were fixed, and a creaking of the hatch told

them the storm had currently abated. The sun still did not shine, and G.bjorn made his way into the hold, pounding down the staircase.

He brought with him several bundles of rope. And then he saw the

state that Xue lay in. In almost a concerned manner, he hurried over in three long strides and knelt down by her. He examined the

bandages, and Fen, to the best of her ability described what had 126

happened.

“Watch for fever,” he warned, glaring at the wound. “If she begins

to burn, you must come and find me.”

He returned to his rope and without another word, lashed every

box and every sack together in great heaps, flat across the floor.

He then tied these heaps at several points to the bases of the pillars stretched across the hold.

Before climbing back up the hatch, he brought them a colddinner,

and upon walking back up he called down to them, “The storm will return tomorrow.”

These words were anything but inviting to the girls below.

Normally such a phrase would have thrilled them – the thought of a good storm was always welcomed in their village. There was

something terribly mysterious and devious about a storm, as though the gods were active in the heavens. But nestled in the hold of a

great ship as captives, and one having been wounded, did not make the circumstance appear very bright to them.

“What else must we prepare?” Ting-Ting looked about, talking to

herself. “There seems little left to do.”

“I suppose we are ready, mostly, but we must be prepared to help

Xue at any costs tomorrow, when it breaks.” Xia said, watching Xue, concerned.

Jia Li helped Xue eat her supper.

“How bad do you feel?” she asked.

“It is not so much that I feel bad,” she spoke quietly, “but more

that I feel weak and turn dizzy at the sight and smell of blood,” she smiled slightly. “I believe I will mend.”

“We will take no guarantee until you pass the first few days without

fever,” Li Mei spoke from the other side of the hull. 127

The others agreed.

“Rest now,” An urged her, “and sleep well through the night

before you become worn out with the tomorrow's gale.”

Xue nodded, and Jia Li brought her the blanket from the cot,

which she folded carefully and tucked beneath her head. Ting

brought the other and placed it lightly over her back. Both lamps

were snuffed out. And one by one, they began to fall asleep in the hold above the uncertain waters.

The night was long and uneasy. Though Xue never complained or

cried out in the night. The girls seemed to naturally wake during the

night at intervals to see if she had begun a fever. But she seemed to remain cool throughout the entirety ofthe night.

128

Recovery

The morning dawned tired and sore, though for all they knew, it

might have been the middle of the night, still, for the sun would not

shine and the clouds were darker than when they first saw them pile

in the distance. They saw the skies for onlya quarter of an hour as

G.bjorn led them up, all but Xue and Jia Li, who remained in the hold. The skies and the sea both seemed to boil. The barbarians who

were on board seemed as uneasy as the girls had been during the night. G.bjorn would not let them above any longer than those

fifteen minutes, just enough for fresh air to recirculateinto their lungs.

“Enough,” he finally spoke with a dread in his voice. “Back to the

hold. You will not be able to come out for many days.” Li Mei bowed her head to him.

“I will bring you the water barrel,” he continued, as the girls were

led back to the hold. “You must eat whatever you need as you need it. And someone will bring you more lamp oil before the hatch is closed.”

“We will watch the lamps,” Fen assured him, before G.bjorn said it

again.

It did not take long for the girls to gather themselves within the

hold. The afternoon was already approaching quickly,and though 131

the sea was currently calm, Li Mei could feel the density of the heat above the water, and it seemed as though the wind would only hold back a short while longer.

G.bjorn did as he said, and soon there was a light supper set out

for them and a cask of lamp oil was placed within the hold.

“I will call you when it had passed.” G.bjorn called down to them

just before the hatch closed.

Li Mei shivered in spite of herself. If only the hull would hold

through what was coming.

Ting looked quite solemn, but only said softly to Li Mei, “We must

talk some things over while we can.” Li Mei nodded.

“Perhaps we could have Jia Li begin a game of checkers with the

younger girls. There is no need for them to discuss this with us.”

Ting drew Jia Li aside and Jia Li was more than willing to consent.

She quickly gathered An and Jing together next to Xue, where they arranged the egg shells. Li Mei was pleased to hear that Jia Li kept her voice calm and steady and brought the girls into a rather lively conversation, in order to muffle what the others spoke on. Li Mei hurriedly gathered them into the other corner of the hold, and spoke quickly and urgently.

“We must have some sort of idea – what we are to do – if the ship

does not withstand the storm. Xue, for one, could not support herself in calm water, let alone stormy seas.”

“What would you suggest then?” Li Na asked.

“I think we must lash barrels together into a form of raft,” Xia

suggested.

“If we can manage to empty them before the galehits,” Fen added,

“we should hurry.”

132

With this, all girls in agreement, they set about to lashing the

barrels. There were already several which had been emptied after six weeks of food had been eaten. They worked in haste, though Li Mei encouraged Jia Li to continue their game. Five girls were

enough to work on the two rafts in construction. And after an hour had passed, the empty barrels had been salvaged and securely

fastened together into two acceptable crafts. Although none were

entirely sure they would survive the crash and tumble of stormy seas. There was little more they could do in such a situation, however. And so, for the next half hour, they sat together, mostly quietly

amongst the game of checkers, all taking their turn advising which pieces should be moved.

But then they heard it again â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the same blowing of the wind from

far off. And it fell full upon the great craft with all the fury a

hurricane might possess while the girls did their very best to protect Xue from tumbling and tossing about.

However, they were not prepared for the full fury of what was

coming. In the end, it was four full days and unceasing storm.

Never did it abate until the fifth morning, when all was calm and

almost free of clouds over the sea. But it had been a terribly rough time of it.

Several times they though Xue might not pass through without

becoming very ill. Her fever spiked from time to time, but they could not have left the hold if they tried. For surely, all who ventured on

board the deck would have been washed away by the terrible seas.

But she remained steady as possible for the course of the four days, despite being jostled about significantly. And on the fifth morning, the wound, though not healed, showed great improvements.

133

How they did anything those four terrible days, they could

scarcely remember themselves. The misery was truly great of being whipped back and forth and about without cessation, for such a

period of time. And how the ship managed to break through each wave unsunk and unharmed was a true impossibility it seemed.

On that fifth morning, they could not have been more greatly for

the calm of the seas when G.bjorn opened the hatch of the hold and called down gruffly, “All well?”

“All well,” Li Mei replied. “Has it passed over now?” “It has completely.”

With this, all girls were allowed to come up on deck to take in the

fresh air of the sea. Even Xue was able to walk carefully up the

stairs and sit near the railing. Though all were moresore than they

could say, and could barely walk as none had slept more than fifteen minutes at a time over the course of those four awful days. But the sea was nearly calm that morning, the waves bearing only a slight

resemblance to the days before, dark and a little choppy, perhaps. But the storm had indeed left. And so it was on the seventy-fifth

day of their captivity that they discovered the ship had been blown far across the waves and that their next destination was arriving quickly.

L “We shall be in port by tomorrow morning,” Li Mei heard one of

the pirates speak to G.bjorn at the helm.

Li Mei knew it was time they called another counsel. And yet all of

the girls were so very tired, she thought it might be several days

before such a thing could take place. G.bjorn and the others, while 134

they spoke to the girls, did so only briefly. And they would never

discuss more than the signs of the sea, the preparation of dinner, and other such things. Never was anything further mentioned. How could master and slave, kidnapper and captive – discuss

anything more? Li Mei, no matter how terribly she wished to know, could not ask G.bjorn nor H.grim nor any of them – what they

intended to do with them. It was completely out of the question to even entertain such an idea.

And so, Li Mei kept silent, and during the entire courseof the

afternoon, evening, the night, and all of the next day, the girls slept quietly. They were not even awakened by the call of - “Land!”

They were not even aroused as the ship dockedin port and the

anchor was lowered. The gangplank was let down in the harbor, and dinner was served amongst the loud barbarians aboard ship.

Nothing would wake them until two full days after first falling asleep, they all awoke, feeling quite as normal. And Xue's ugly wound was healed.

And finally, for the first time in a week, the girls walked up onto the

deck full of strength from the their long sleep. They were greeted

with a hearty breakfast served at the hands of G.bjorn. Andupon turning around, they saw the magnificent port of a great island –

what is currently known as Sri Lanka. The green mountains rose far and high above the port where the ship was docked. The beauty of the island stretched before them: tea fields to the east, groves of oranges and avocados sloped from the foothills to the west,and

high in the jungle the scent of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg sifted

down to them on the winds. Butterflies and lilies seemed to cover the overhanging foliage of the peaks and jungle forests. Red-faced birds flew in flocks near the harbor, waiting for an early morning 135

breakfast of good sea fish.

“Have you ever seen such a beautiful place!” Jing spoke in spite

of herself as G.bjorn handed over her trencher.

G.bjorn did not respond, but grumped to himself about things, in

unintelligible words.

“It is at that,” Fen replied for him. “I wonder where we have blown

into now? So many miles we've crossed this past week.”

One of the pirates spoke to them as he passed on to the prow of

the ship, “It is the pearl of the sea, an island below the peninsula of India.”

“What a name,” Xue mused. “Of course it must have some other

real name...”

Meanwhile, as the girls ate their particularly delicious breakfast –

though they did not know if this was because they had gone so long without food, or if G.bjorn had taken extra pains in preparation – they watched the shore only a little ways past the dock.

Natives crowded the sand of the beach, not far off. But they

were not coming to meet the ship with the white and red striped sails. They were coming for another purpose. The women no longer bore the same resemblance to their own culture. The slanted eyes were no longer visible, and their skin was quite brown, which only made

their teeth shine all the whiter. Long gowns of bright colors, which might have been silk, flowed over their bodies, and gold and silver bangles and earrings covered their bodies. Some of them, who

stood closer to the ship, seemed to have a form of painted design on their arms and hands. And their hair, though very black and long, seemed to be more coarse than the girls'.

But what was most interesting, was what they were doing.

Some of the men were busy on the shore, diving into the clear 136

waters, hunting, it seemed, for pearls in the deeps. But almost every one else at the water's edge held a great flat basket outstretched in their hands. And in each basket was piled high an arrangement of

tropical flowers or a dish of food – mostly rice and orange and green vegetables.

All were elaborately prepared. And as each girl entered the mouth

of the sea, the ocean splashed up against the hem of her silk gown, and she waded as far as she was able into the quiet surf of the

island. Li Mei and the girls watched them with utter amusement. “What are they doing?” An whispered to Li Mei.

One of the barbarians - Thord - the same who hadtold them the

name of the island, answered her instead, “Theyare worshiping the Buddha for his mercy to them in the storm.”

“Were they not hit as we were?” Ting asked him carefully, from her

seat at the railing.

“Only slightly. They have already heard of our own battle on the

seas, and of others who have come in during the night.” They continued to watch, Thord as well.

“Do you see what lies in the bushes by the sea,” he pointed

toward the shore where the girls waded.

Jia Li squinted her eyes. “It appears to be a statue.”

“It is an idol,” Thord corrected her. “A stone idol of the Buddha

himself. And so these women bring sacrifices and gifts to him of

flowers and rice. They will continue to worship throughout the next days, lighting candles at night. And the monasteries will be full of chanting.”

The girls thought this was not terribly unusual. In most parts of

Cathay, the ancestors were honored,and yet they had never

brought baskets of food and flowers to him, nor to a stone statue. 137

Their own people believed in the spirits of the mountains, near their village. And to bring gifts to an idol of stone seemed quite silly to all of them. But these thoughts were not exchanged, and they finished their breakfast in silence.

Shortly after the trenchers were collected, Li Mei began to worry

of another ascent into the mountains with goods from the last island with which to barter. But it was not her turn to enter into the great green mountains. This time, Thord was to bring her with him. And the same charts were arranged before their departure.

However, this time Li Mei had the advantage of being able to

haltingly communicate with her guide. And she decided that she

would ask questions this time, if her courage could hold herto it.

The sack she was given to carry for that particular journey, was so

very small, that she slipped it into her pocket. It was so light, that

she scarcely knew whether there was anything but heavy air within it. She could see that the inside had been coated again with some sort of rubbery substance to protect the contents. And before she headed out, she noticed that the others' sacks were heavier.

She would be curious to see what they held upon returning to the ship later that evening.

This time, she was not taken through the market, but further

around the shore, where wooden huts (though not as brightly

colored as the south seas island) were arranged in rows on the hills by the shore. And all in all, it seemed to be a more civilized place.

But her trek would take her through the jungle on a slow incline, so slow, in fact, that she did not realize they were three hundred feet

above the sea, until she looked through a clearing of the jungle path. For a long while, Li Mei did not speak. Thord neverturned around

to tell her of anything, and she became quite preoccupied with the 138

jungle path. The tropical blooms grewvery large and fragrant.

Some of their petals were so thick and sweet that she thought she

might suffocate from the aroma. Amongthe ferns and wild mosses which grew along the way, she saw one flower in particular – the

largest she had ever seen. Its petals were the color of a blushing

terracotta, and in its center was a large porous redbelly. The petals were spotted, and it gave off such a terribly peculiar odor, that

Li Mei picked up her pace every time she passed one. But after half an hour of silence passed, and all Li Mei could hear was the crash of waves on a distant shore and the drone of butterflies in the winds, she could bear it no longer. She carefully chose her words and attempted to speak. “Thord?”

He replied with a gruff thump of his boot against the forest floor.

“Might I ask you if we are to meet another woman with white hair?” Thord seemed evidently amused and surprised by this question.

He turned around, briefly, almost laughing. “A woman with white hair?” he repeated, almost to himself.

He marched in silence for several minutes, whereupon Li Mei

sighed quietly to herself, thinking he would not answer, as she had feared. But Thord did hear her sigh, and turned his head over his shoulder once again.

“Why would you ask me such a thing?”

Li Mei thought she heard his own sigh escape. It suddenly seemed

as though he were a weary man, searching the seas for something he could not find. She tried to explain.

“The last island we came to, in the south seas, G.bjorn took me to

a great plateau, where lived a woman with hair the color of your own.”

139

Thord appeared to contemplate his thoughts, as though he were

unsure he should tell her of whom she had seen. But finally, he

spoke. “Her name is Herborg - the woman you saw on the plateau.

She is a priestess of Thor, one of our greatest gods.” He paused for a time and then went on, as the incline steepened slightly.“She

speaks for him. You would know her as an oracle. And she tells us of what is to come, and of what may come.”

Li Mei could tell that he chose his words carefully,so as not to

reveal too much. And silence elapsed for the rest of their climb. Neither would speak of anything else, and Li Mei had to satisfy

herself with the new information given her by the secretive Thord.

But after a small time had passed, the jungle ever unchanging, the

end of their climb was in view, and the reef thundered far below, as

another inlet stretched before the otherside of the mountain. Li Mei was very surprised at how high they had actually climbed with so

little weariness to accompany it. Although the jungle warmthhad grown over the climb.

But at their stop was a small wooden cottage – a rather largeand

sprawling house on several flat acres of greenest grass, still dewed from the early morning. A flock of white-haired goats wandered about, feeding on their sweet green breakfast.

140

Tofa

Li Mei wondered how such a farm could be so hidden in the jungle,

but there it was. It was a most peculiar arrangement. Thord did not stop to take in the view, however, and proceeded directly to the

door of the haphazard cottage. There he knocked strongly on the rather small door.

No sooner had he knocked, then a figure greeted them at the

door.

“Thord!” she cried. “Welcome!”

Li Mei was suddenly quite surprised and almost smiled upon

seeing the rather small woman crush the greatbarbarian in a big

embrace, as though he were a long-lost brother. Thord appeared

almost embarrassed, as embarrassed as a barbarian could be under the circumstances. Apparently he felt the need to explain to even Li Mei.

“This is my aunt, Tofa,” he told her.

Li Mei bowed low. Tofa smiled at her in spite of knowing,

apparently, that she was a captive. She seemed to be an elderly

friendly sort of woman, small from having aged a greatdeal longer

than Thord. But she hardly portrayed the look of a barbarian, much less even, than Herborg, the priestess. Her own hair had grayed considerably, and was pulled back, though pinned up, much as 143

Li Mei would do so to her own, if she had not lost her pins those

many weeks ago. The woman wore a gown of deepestblue and a

sweater of sorts, as the ocean winds blew much colder than they did in the jungle.

“You are welcome too,” she told her. “Let us come into the

house.”

Li Mei followed the two across the thresh-hold, to a much

different arrangement than that of the priestess' home on the south seas island. Instead of the peacock feathers and fat cushions lining the floor, her home resembled much of what a farmhouse might have looked in Thord's own country. The walls were not gloomy, but lit

with the shine of several candles. And a crackling fire, though small, filled the stone hearth directly before them. In a wooden chair by

this fire, was laid a basket of woolen yarn in various colors, which the woman had been winding into balls. Li Mei saw, out of the corner of

her eye, in another room – a great loom with a clothhalf-way finished upon it.

But Li Mei forget to look about the rest of thegreat room, for

directly before her was a great soldier, it appeared. His skin was

bronze as the natives, and upon his head sat a piece of white cloth, wrapped twice around his head. His clothes were light and a ring of gold hung in his ear, and a great knife lay suspended fromhis belt. His boots were heavy and black as Thord's.

The three of them then began to communicate in a language quite

foreign to Li Mei. She felt that once again, she failed to understand the meaning of her journey. This feeling was compoundedwhen

Thord ordered her to hand over the sack in her pocket, which she

did so without thinking. Thord took the small sack and placed it on

the table on the side of the room and with his knife, much as G.bjorn 144

had done, he slit the very top of its lining and pulled open the sides. A sweet aroma filled the air as he stirred his finger in the contents. Li Mei took several steps closer, hardly fearful of Thord.

Dried violets. Li Mei recognized them, having only seen them several times from the travelers in the mountains. Could a soldier reallybe

interested in such a commodity, she wondered absently to herself. But she did not need to wait long on finding it out.

The soldier examined the contents of the sack, and tying it off

with a bit of waxed thread, bowed low to Thord, Tofa, and even Li Mei, who nodded back awkwardly. The soldier than exited

through the doorway, and Li Mei saw him run off through the jungle. “Ah, he shall be back at tomorrow's first light,” Tofa exclaimed.

“He serves his master well. And what beautiful violets, Thord. They will be put to good use in the halls of his master.” “Potpourri,” Li Mei spoke in spite of herself.

“Yes,” Tora answered her, apparently also forgetting (orfailing to

acknowledge) the fact that Li Mei was second to a slave. “Potpourri – more precious than spices on this island.”

She invited Thord to sit in another chair near the fire, which he

declined, as he was quite warm from the jungle trek. Li Mei, to her surprise, was next offered the seat, and so she sat with much hesitation.

“We have things to speak of,” Thord escorted Tofa toa seat at

the table.

And then Li Mei heard him begin to speak an entirely new

language. She did not like this new turn of events. Fornow she knew that they were discussing about her, whatever G.bjorn had reviewed with the priestess. Li Mei recalled her most peculiar reaction to

whatever G.bjorn had told her. And so Li Mei watched the face of 145

Tofa very carefully. Thord used no motions of his hands to indicate about what or of whom he spoke, but Li Mei knew it was about

herself. Tofa showedno surprise, however. She only looked over at Li Mei with wise eyes from time to time.

After a good hour of discussion, Li Mei had not moved fromher

chair, nor had Thord. Only at one point did Tofa enter another room and return with a pitcher and several claycups, Thord still

talking in his strange tongue. Tofa poured the cups full of a cold ale of sorts, and offered one to Li Mei. Li Mei attempted to rise and nodded her head slowly, taking the offered cup after Tofa had

indicated that she should stay seated. But Thord continued to talk, Tofa hardly saying two words together.In fact, she gave no indication as to what went through her mind.

But after that hour had passed, Thord seemed to have exhausted

his store of words, and the roomgrew quiet a short time. Li Mei

scarcely breathed. After several moments, Tofa retrieved her gaze from the crackling fire, and took Thord’s hands in her own.

She shook her head slowly, her head down. She spoke several

words, almost as if they might have been prophetic. And a look of satisfaction passed across Thord’s face, Li Mei was sure.

And thus, the visit seemed ended, both reverting back to the more

familiar tongue, which Li Mei recognized.

“I shall return tomorrow with the rest of the store,” Thord

promised Tofa.

“Wonderful. I shall see you again before you returnto the sea.”

Tofa smiled at him, and Li Mei would not have been surprised if she had reached up and tousled his hair as though he were a little boy again.

146

To LiMei’s greet surprise, as they were leaving, Tofa bowed

toward her. Li Mei, startled, bowed back to her. But perhaps she

had been mistaken. There would have been no need forher to have shown her a gesture of respect. All that Li Mei could decide for the present, was that whatever Thord hadpresented to her, Tofa had taken quite seriously.

And so they were off once again through the jungles of the island

and within the next half hour, they found themselves at theharbor

mouth. Li Mei did not find it necessary to ask any more questions of Thord. There was no need, for he would certainly not tell her of

what he discussed with his aunt. But Li Mei was confused and did

not like what she had seen. She hoped, however, that she would no longer be singled out by these strange occurrences,but that the

others would have similar stories to share upon returning to the ship. Upon arriving at the ship, she took a seat by the rigging and waited for the others to return. For surprisingly, only Fenhad come back and the others were still in the market.

“Yes,” Fen was saying, “I was the only one not neededto

accompany our fair barbarians into the market.” She sighed, as if

she were almost bored, winding a piece of waxed thread around her hand.

“I think something strange is in the air,” she continued. “Tellme

what you saw and what you heard while with Thord. I overheard

some odd things while you were away. And I do believe they may have concerned you.”

“What? Tellme?” Li Mei was intrigued.

“Let me hear your tale first, please,” Fen implored.“It may not

have concerned you at all.”

147

Li Mei quickly divulged what had taken place at the cottage farm,

high in the mountain, trying to remember any details which passed

between the four who were gathered there, including the information she had gathered from Thord regarding thepriestess of the south seas island.

“Well then, it is as I might have suspected then,” Fenalmost sighed,

continually winding the waxed thread around her fingers. “It was

Gardar I heard, speaking with G.bjorn at the gangplank. I suppose they thought I could not hear them, as I was up in the rigging,

attending to some rope or other. But the wind carried their words upward to me.” She paused, as if trying to remember exactly what transpired.

“Have you forgotten then?” Li Mei asked her after a short time. “Not really. The precise words… well, I can only tell you what I

think I heard.”

“Well, tell it then,” Li Mei was most anxious to hear.

“I believe, if I am not mistaken,” Fen looked at herfor emphasis,

“that some great event happened just as we werekidnapped. We all spoke of that great sound upon the mountains, you cannot have forgotten.”

“Of course not. What was said?”

“They spoke of it, I believe. Although they referred to it as a

great light, not a great wind, or a great sound.”

“A light?” Li Mei did not expect this. “What light could they mean?

I recall no great light.”

“Neither do I,” Fen replied. “But as they spoke about this, and I’m

sure they were referring to the mountain of our village, I heardyour name mentioned and that Thord was to take you to some greatold woman who might tell him more on the matter, by seeing you.” 148

“This does make sense after all then,” Li Mei said. “But why?

Why would they only take myself to both these priestesses?”

“Perhaps it was because you werethe only one among us not to have been drugged, and would seem to have a clearer memory of what

took place upon our kidnapping. Perhaps they thought you saw something the rest of us did not.”

Li Mei shook her head. “I think not. There was a point I was not

awake. For I do not recall what happened as I was kidnapped.

I never saw the barbarians until I was tied down on the stone beach that very same afternoon...”

“Well, then I am as stumped as you are,” Fen sighed again.

“Of course I think it would do little good to ask themwhat all of this is about. After all, they have taken good pains, apparently, to

conceal these things from us. Perhapswe should not let on that we know anything.”

“You are right,” Li Mei scowled at herself for having been so

foolish. “I should never have said a wordto Thord about the matter on the south seas island.”

“It is of little matter,” Fen assured her.“They must already be

suspicious as it is.”

“And I did not help the situation.”

“Have no fears, Li Mei. We really must not think on this again until

necessary. We will keep our ears open and share these things with

the others. In the evening, if there is anything unusual to report, it will be reported.”

Li Mei agreed with her, and shortly afterward, Jing and Xia

returned within minutes from each other.

“Well then, what experiences there seem to be upon these

islands,” Jing said, stretching her back against the railing. “I think we 149

carried our fair share of sandstone today.”

“Sandstone!” Fen exclaimed.“So that is what filled those sacks.

What monsters to have you carry so great a load of it.”

“Oh, it was not so bad, really,” sweet Xia assured them. “We were

given a sort of cart in the end. And we carried only the smaller sacks to the doors of the houses themselves.”

“Houses? What could they have wanted sandstone for?” Fen was

curious.

“Walls, I think,” Jing answered. “I believe they have begun to lay

rock walls around the boundaries of the farms in the hills. I saw the start of one myself.”

“But why with sandstone? Any mason would know that sandstone

is a sorely weather-beaten material.” Li Mei broke in. “Itwill be worn away before very long.”

“I can’t quite understand it myself,” Jing went on. “Perhaps it is a

fashionable thing to have. For we only deliveredto wealthy farms, though what they farm, I have not guessed at.”

“Tea,”Fen replied. “I heardthe pirates talking amongst

themselves.”

“How lovely,” Xia mused. “We haven’t had tea for a long while now.

Maybe they did some trade for tea.”

“You didn’t see what it was they traded for?” Fen thoughtthis

odd.

“I didn’t where I was taken,” Xia explained.

“Nor was I,” Jing agreed. “Perhaps they barteredfor money again,

and will take us on a trip to the market as they did before.”

“I would like to see the market,” Fen said. “I have not been off the

ship as of yet.”

150

The others slowly came back to the ship with their own tales of the

afternoon. Although there was nothing exactly deviant from the first excursion to the south seas islands. They had all dealt with natives only – no one with skin as white as the barbarians.

L That evening, the girls held another counsel – the first they had

had opportunity to hold for a good many weeks.

“I say,” Fen had started it, “that wekeep very good care of what

we say to each other, even in our own language. For all weknow, these men have also begun to understand what we say to one another, and are at this moment listening into the hold.”

“But what would they care about what we have to say to one

another?” Xue asked, doubtfully, scratching at the middle part of her back. The wound still bothered her from time to time.

“We cannot know for certain,” Li Mei spoke cautiously. “But there

are odd things afoot.”

“Perhaps, Fen, you would like to explain your part of the story –

what you heard this afternoon.”

Fen did so, followed by Li Mei’s own observances and dealings

with the barbarian women.

“It is most strange,” Ting spoke next. “What strikes me most is the

way Tofa, as you said, bowedto you at your departure. This cannot be more uncommon.”

“Agreed,” Li Mei said. “I find it all most baffling.”

They talked on quietly into the night, everyone adding their own

piece but An, who remained abnormally still as the ideas ran back

and forth among them. Li Mei noticed this, and knew that sometime 151

soon, she would have to speak with her sister, alone.

But the chance never seemed to make its wake. The following

morning they were split again to travel to the marketwith the barbarians for supplies.

Li Mei had scarcely more than seconds as she walked past her

sister to say, “We must talk this even, An.”

But An never heard her, for it was at that very most inhospitable

and annoying moment that Gardar strode between them, laughing heartily and deeply over some piece of nonsense. An’s headhad

also been down, so she did not see Li Mei’s attempt. And by that time the moment was lost. Li Mei could not help but feel most frustrated at Gardar for the remainderof the day.

But in the market, she temporarily forgot her troubles, being sent

not to a fruit stall as before, but to the lower hills beyond thevillage. It was a pleasant walk, trailing behind Jokul, a particularly quiet barbarian, if such a thing were possible. And he seemed more

pleasant than the others. He even carried the empty baskets with

him, which they were to use. Li Mei felt no apprehension in asking him of their destination.

“The pear orchards,” he called back to her. “They grow wild in the

hill jungles.”

Once again, it surprised Li Mei how much these terrible

barbarians seemed to know about these foreign islands. Had they not kidnapped? Had they not held hostage? Had they not burst into a village and raided it? And yet some of them almost seemed

tenderhearted in ways. Why else would they have never even raised a hand against one of the girls?

Within a twenty minute walk, Li Mei and Jokul had arrived at the

edge of the pear groves. Indeed, they appeared wild, though 152

trampled dirt paths lay through the rows, for at one time, man had planted the seeds which grew into the trees. The jungle had an

earthy sweet smell to it, and Li Mei found it quite pleasant to fill the

baskets with the plump green fruits, some of which had already been visited by honey bees. The jungle seemed more of a forest in that region – more of moss and fern than of palm and swinging vines. Far off, Li Mei heard the trumpet of a wildelephant, in the valley

below. And she thoroughly enjoyed the hour they spent gathering the best fruit they could find among the low-hanging branches.

When the baskets were full, Jokul lifted his own to rest on one

shoulder. Treading across the way to where Li Mei’s stood full, he almost laughed looking down at her.

“I would like to see you carry this yourself,” his eyes seemed to

twinkle, as he hoisted the second basket onto his other shoulder. “Lead the way, my lady,” he nodded at her.

Li Mei could not understand the situation. She nodded back and

proceeded hurriedly down the path, for she was afraid Jokul might step on the frayed end of her train. Eventually she managed to

gather the end of it with her hand and the ship was reached within ten minutes.

153

!e Go/s

Soon they were all gathered together over their excursions once

again, talking of the wondrous things they had seen. An, Jia Li, and Fen had all visited ancient ruins in the northern jungles where the

hives of honey bees were tucked amid the mossed stones. They said they had never seen such places before – full of mystery and forgotten, over-grown by thejungle.

“And I think,” said Fen, “thatG.bjorn unearthed a skeleton while

finding the bee hive where we took our honey. It was wedged

snuggly between two great boulders. I would have never seen it

myself. But G.bjorn only shrugged his shoulders as though he saw one every day as it is. And I become more convinced, daily, that these are blood-thirsty pirates who own us.”

“No, Fen, no one owns us,” Xia laughed. “We are merely temporary

prisoners.”

Gardar had taken Xue to the marketplace for more of the usual

vegetables and staples from before.

“Nothing terribly interesting,” she recounted to them. “Although

the natives seem to be rather wealthy. Some I saw, were wearing

pearls. And Gardar did purchase a lovely set of pearls himself, from

his own pocket. I believe he has them in mind for a gift. Which means, perhaps, that we will shortly be taken back from where they 157

originally came. To imagine a colony ofbarbarians! And little barbarians running about their fathers, in long blond braids themselves. No, I cannot imagine it.”

It was a most amusing thought, and they had several laughs on the

subject.

Jing, Li Na, and Ting had all been sent to a fresh water stream with

Thord, and two other brutes – Gunnar and Herthjof, who seemedto be cousins. And Xia had been sent with a lively rather loud fellow– Idmund – to gather wild berries in the forest.

“And he did complain the entire time,” she smiled, “saying over and

over to himself how disgraceful a thing it was to gather berries for warriors. In the end, I’m afraid, he uprooted an entire bush and

placed it inside his basket, stalking off down the path before I was half-finished. I do believe he entirely forgot that I was there.”

But as they laughed over such things, the issue of clothing was

presented. All their gowns could not have grown more threadbare.

And Xue’s had been stitched up herentire back with waxed thread,

from the wound. Their slippers werewearing so badly, they seemed to threaten to break in half every day.

“One of must speak with G.bjorn or H.grim,” Fen said finally, as

though there were other thoughts on her mind, aside from the gown itself.

“That is nearly shameful,” Ting objected.

“Nearly, but not completely,” Fen responded.“I will volunteer if no

one else will.”

Silence pervaded. And so it was decided that Fen would ask

G.bjorn the following morning, what they were to do about the state of their clothing.

158

L In the end, the ordeal seemed to be quite easy. Fen returned from

her discussion just after daybreak, which had taken no more than two minutes altogether.

“Someone has already attended to this,” she informed them all. Directly behind her, G.bjorn descended into the hold with a

barrel, which looked as though it had been sealed tightly for a short amount of time at least. Once G.bjorn had left with no words and a nod of his head, Fen answered their questions.

“Apparently, hewas only waiting until these gowns would be of no

more use to us. They have had these stored in the hull since the south seas island those eight or so weeks ago.”

Li Mei looked at her tattered gown and smoothed it with her

fingers. There were secrets she had not yet said. She knew that An had the same, and did not know it.

“An,” she whispered to her, “do not toss away your dress. Give it

to me so that we may keep it for rags.”

An nodded without another thought. At least what Li Mei had

told her was partially true.

The rest of the girls were quite pleased with this announcement,

(though Li Mei did note that at least the older girls also looked at

their worn gowns in contemplation) and proceeded to examine the

contents of the barrel. Within, were enough pairs of small boots for

each girl, of a soft leather, the sort that would conform to their feet as the leather shrunk and molded in the rains and the elements.

There were two gowns apiece for the girls, of a sturdy cloth, not

coarse and woven roughly as the barbarian’s garments, but of a light cloth which would serve in both cool and warm weather. And all were 159

of astonishingly bright colors – the sorts which werefound on the south seas island. Some even had items of interest stitched on

corners of the fabric, at random. The backs of the gowns lacedup to the base of the neck and so fit each girl perfectly, according to

their size, though they hardly deviated from one another, they were so small. There were several miscellaneous cotton garments which

would come in hand, along with a cloak of sorts for each girl and long woolen stockings, the kinds of which they had none in Cathay.

At the very bottom lay what the girls were most surprised to see –

lengths of cording with which to braid back their hair,pins in which to bind it up, and several cakes of sweet-smelling soap.

They were all unable to explain such niceties from pirates, and Fen

and Jing in particular, were almost skeptical.

“Do you think, perhaps, that they are now preparing to sell us?”

Fen inquired with a raise of one eyebrow.

“Why else would they give us such ridiculous things?” Jing agreed

with her counterpart, examining a gown which had just been handed her – which bore the stitched image of an island crab on the hem of the skirt.

“Girls,” Xia smiled at them, amused, “aren’t you grateful for these

things? Have you not seen already that many of them havesoft spots in their hearts as it is?”

There was no further commenting on the matter and the girls went

about their own business, each changing into their own unique gown

and boots, folding and tucking aside the spare gown. And the soap, needless to say, was an ever invaluable commodity, for the stink of the hull had grown to a great almost intolerable wreak.

All in all, the new gowns were an excellent success, and Xue would

have run over to give G.bjorn a great hug, had not Jia Li stopped 160

her.

“Think! Xue – they are our kidnappers.”

“Yes, but they have given us very nice clothes,” she objected,

twirling her deepest purple skirts in the sunlight. “I ratherthink they are becoming more tame anyway.”

Jia Li was not convinced, but had to admit that the lovely new

sapphire-blue gown was lovely. Wherethe islanders obtained such

vivid colors, she was unsure. Each girl found her own color – Ting’s was a russet plum sort, Li Na’s was thecolor of a blood-red sunset, Jing’s was the green of thesouth seas, Fen’s resembledthat of a

banana so bright and golden it was, An’s was a shade of orange that of one would see in the sunrise of a spring morning, Xia’s was the

color of the fruit of limes, and Li Mei’s was the same blue of the sky,

what her old gown had once resembled. Though their second gowns were all the same – an ebony so black, it might match the night sky.

But the old gowns were saved, carefully. It was over the next days

that Li Mei noticed it – each girl (save Xue and An) carefully unfold their old gowns and remove something from a hidden pocket, after

ripping the tight stitching around it. But they kept these things from each other. Li Mei knew that the idea of hidden pockets in dresses was something not uncommon back home for dangerous letters,

sacred writings, etc. Yet she wonderedthat each of them (for even

Jia Li took care of Xue's gown, and Li Mei saw to An's) had a secret pocket. She carefully removed the object from her gown and An's and made new secret pockets for the insides of their new gowns

(while An slept in her black dress). Soon, all the girls had secured

the new pockets. And nothing was said amongst themselves about it.

161

L And so the day was spent walking the deck and the rigging in their

new apparel with their hair braided tightly back with the leather

pieces. And soon they furled the striped sails and the “pearl of the sea” slipped into the northeast as the waves washed up against the barnacled hull of the great ship.

And yet Li Mei could not get it out of her head that something was

very wrong with An. Perhaps she only imagined it, partly, as An was always quiet and Li Mei was often concerned for her. But she had

been distant in an odd sort of way from the other girls – hardly cold

– just quiet and almost frightened, it seemed. But there never would seem to be a time to speak with her.

As the island had escaped into the horizon, the girls were

summoned to watch the rigging for the next several hours. And Li Mei was called away to the prow for the navigation

instruments. Dinner passed and the deck was scrubbed into the

evening. Li Mei began to become quite frustrated with the situation. Surely she should be able to find at least two minutes alone with her sister, she thought to herself. And she waited until night.

162

An's Secret

As far as the other peculiar dealings with Herborg and Tofa,

Li Mei did not exactly forget what had transpired, but the duties of a ship were clear. And even though the scrubbing of a deck did not

require great concentration, it was most distracting to hear theidle chat of the sailors, speaking of home and the fishing and the

hunting. Often the girls would gather in the evenings and speak on what they had gleaned of their discussions with one another.

And on that day, Li Mei and some of the others heard Gardar and

Thord speak of the high mountains, from wherever theyhad come â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the snow in the peaks, the great forests wherebears and fox and deer would feed and be hunted. And for the first time, Li Mei

thought she heard the existence of children mentioned. And so, she reasoned, they must have come from a settlement, a village perhaps. Although there was no mention of sisters, wives, mothers,

grandmothersâ&#x20AC;Ś and even the children wereonly mentioned in

passing. Li Mei wondered if any of the barbarians had families at all. Perhaps they were sent out as the nomads of the sea, because they had no family, and their lives would not be as terribly lost if they did not return.

And such thoughts preoccupied her mind over the term of each

day, until she had unconsciously convinced herself that An was fine. 165

Was she not laughing that morning over something funny Xue had to say? Wasn't she smiling to herself over the odd camelstitched into the fabric of her gown? Was she not sighing contentedly overher

dinner of good meat stew at that very moment? Or was she content? Was there something she had not sharedwith Li Mei from that

terrible day when they were taken from their village? Did she know

something of their father, their mother, and grandmother, that Li Mei did not? Suddenly, Li Mei grew most impatient to talk with her sister. She finally decided that it would not matter if the other girls knew

they were having a private discussion or not – they would honor the quiet they needed.

And so, setting aside her bowl of meat, having just finished, Li Mei

walked over to where her sister sat next to the railing with Xue.

And as it would happen, things went very well just at that moment, for Idmund had just brought out his flute of sorts, to play for the

rowdy crew. And at such an opportune moment, Li Mei whisked her

sister away, as the music began to play and the pirates danced in the firelight.

“What, Li Mei?” An asked her as they entered the hold. “Is there

something wrong?”

“Perhaps there is,” Li Mei said, turning round to see her sister,

where she alighted from the last stair. “We have not been able to speak privately since that terrible day. And I know there is

something wrong with you. I've tried to dismiss it many times, thinking I only imagined it, and that you missed Father, Mother,and

Grandmother, as I have. But there is something else, something different.”

An walked toward her sister, where the great troves of treasure

lay mounded on top of each other.

166

“Li Mei, it does me good to know that you worry about how I am.

You always have.” She crossed the floor, the hem of her glowing

gown trailing behind her. She sat on the edge of the cot next to Li Mei. “You are right; it is not just Father and Mother and

Grandmother which have concerned me. Yes, I miss them terribly, how could any of us not miss home? It is terrifying, really...”

She watched the firelight flicker on the stairs. “But I think it is only a dream which haunts me.”

“Haunts you?” Li Mei looked sharply at her sister. “What haunts

you?”

“It was something I saw, Li Mei,” An spoke quietly. “That terrible

day... You never really knew, I suppose, what happened to you...” Li Mei tried not to become alarmed. Somehow the way An was

speaking, nearly frightened her.

“What did you see?” she asked, her hand clenching a fistful of the

blanket on which she sat.

“Li Mei,” An began, “let me say, that I have not told you about it

for so long, because I thought it might bring more trouble than not.” “Tellme, An, what it was you saw.”

“Don't become angry with me, Li Mei. I cannot exactly describe

why I don't want to tell you.”

Li Mei relaxed her hand's grip on the blanket.

“Never mind, An. You know I won't be angry. Butplease tell me.

There is nothing good you can do by keeping it to yourself.” An still hesitated. “Please, An.”

“Li Mei, I have kept quiet on it for so long.”

Li Mei sighed. “An, I do not understand why it has taken so long.

But there is no reason to keep it from me anymore. I will not blame 167

you if something ill comes from this. You know it.” “I wouldn't blame you.”

“Yes, An, but nothing bad will come of it anyway. At least tell me

what happened so that we can begin to piece together what happened, and how we might return home.”

Li Mei spoke very quietly, so as not to invoke the ears of any

lingering barbarian standing near the hatch. In truth, she knew little of how An's secret might help them find their way back to their

village. Countless times, Li Mei had awoken in the night, determined and ready at that very minute to march across the deck of the dark

ship, waken the barbarians, and demand that she be informed as to

why they had been taken. But such things had become awkward, for the barbarians had been so very friendly, there was no broaching the subject. In the end of it all, Li Mei was entirely frustrated that she could not ask such a simple question. Nor could she hardly demand that they be returned to their country.

“An,” she urged her again. “Just tell me; it will soon be over.” An looked at her carefully.

“Very well, Li Mei. But do not puzzle yourself nor concern

yourself greatly with what I tell you. For you may not believe me, or perhaps, I might have dreamed it.”

Li Mei nodded, and An looked to the back wall of the hull, not

moving her eyes from where she planted them. Afterward, Li Mei thought she must have never blinked.

“You will remember that we were out near the garden, preparing

noodles for supper. Mother was inside with Grandmother and

Father was at the royal library. He had not planned on being back

for another day. We were laughing and talking of things, and quietly, so that we would no wake the kittens napping on the wall.” 168

An swallowed hard and continued.

“And as we sat there,we heard a great sound upon the mountain

face. We both heard it. You rose from yourseat on the ground, leaving your bowl there beside me. And as you stood, the noise

increased, and I felt as though I should have plugged my ears, the

sound was so great. But I could not. I can still hear it now, thinking

upon it. You thought it was the greatsound of running, as though a great mob had suddenly taken to the streets, perhaps. But as you

stood, you turned round toward me, as the sound reached its peak. And it was then, Li Mei, that you seemed to transform before my very eyes. You changed so frightfullyquickly.”

An's eyes seemed almost to flash blue in the dim. Li Mei gazed

intently at her sister, bewildered.

“I saw, from a great height in the mountains, likely from the

pinnacle of the sky itself – a great glow - descend rapidly. It moved

faster than anything I had ever seen or heardof.” An's voice seemed to grow slower and Li Mei thought that she felt her sister's hand grow very warm. “The glow was a great whirlwind from the skies.

It glowed of colors and silver that I could not begin to describe to you. It was not lightening or a strange sort of fire, but a pure and

whirling light. But as it flew downward to touch the earth, it seemed

to end, instead, right where you stood, Li Mei. It hovered above you in a pillar which might have reached from the very ends of the

heavens. And then it was, that you looked back to me and I saw that your hair was a shining white, so very white that your face seemed to glow. And then you fell from where you stood.”

Li Mei could not reply to her sister. There was nothing for her to

say. An continued.

169

“I did not know what to do, Li Mei. Youlay there several minutes,

before I found that I could move my hand. I rose quickly from where I sat and hurried over to you. Your face was cold and you would not

answer me. But as I sat there, bewildered, G.bjorn and Thord came

through the open gate with their long knives and axes at their sides... But they were looking for you, Li Mei. I knew they were. They had seen what had happened from off in the road. AndI found myself powerless to keep them away from you. They were not cruel, but

they stood there looking over you in your darkness, as though you might have been a deity, a spirit whom they could not come near. But Thord saw that I was frightened, and perhaps they were

suspicious of what had happened. G.bjorn pulled me away, and I

was too dumbfounded to cry for help. Thord carried you off and so we were taken through the village. Not another soul did I see, and

the light had vanished. It disappeared as soon as you fell, and I did not see it again.”

Li Mei did not know what to say, it seemed to her so very

astonishing. There had always been legends and tales of the gods and spirits in the mountains, but they had always been legends.

Until then, there had never been such a thing. Perhaps the pillar of

light had been a spirit, roaming the upper heavens. Many thoughts came through Li Mei's mind as she sat there.

Finally, An spoke again. “I did not want you to know this because I

was afraid you would not be happy hearing it. It frightened me when I saw it, and I thought perhaps, at first, that it had killed you.

Your face and your hands wereso cold...” she trailed her words a

few moments. “But Thord and G.bjorn lookedat you for so long, I

thought some trance had fallen over them. And then when we were carried through the city, they separated us, and I was taken to the 170

ship shortly later where I received the same drugged water.”

Li Mei suddenly remembered her last moments in the village.

She had forgotten somehow, in the haze and the chaos of all that had followed. She looked at An.

“I remember seeing your face now, An. I had never seen you look

more frightened. You would have scared me myself if I had kept awake.”

“I was very frightened,” An seemed to shiver a moment. “There

seems to be no explanation for what happened there that day. And I often try to remove it from my mind when I cannot think of any ways to explain it.”

Li Mei thought quickly through, what she could.

“An, don't trouble yourself with this. There is always an

explanation for everything, even if we do not know it ourselves.

Remove it from your mind now, and only let me think in it. Perhaps after a time, we will know more.”

She stood from the cot, but changed her mind and sat back down.

“An, you must promise me not to let this worryyou again. Nothing

terrible has come from this. You must admit, that even knowing these pirates, wicked though they are, has brought us some good...” An nodded, and Li Mei saw that she was greatly relieved, as

though a shadow had left her.

“And do not worryabout having told me,” Li Mei continued. “I

think it is much better now that I know. You will not regretit.”

An nodded. “You are right. But please do not let it burden you as

it burdened me.”

“You shall have no worries on that accord,” Li Mei smiled,

assuringly.

171

Li Mei, though alarmed from her sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s revelation, would by no

means concern An with it further. There was never a poor time to be prudent, and this situation called for even more of it. Instead, LiMei

pushed it from her mind for the present. And on into the night as the pirates danced about on the deck of the ship, Li Mei and her sister talked of things.

And in the end, An found herself much moreat ease, and as Li Mei

predicted, the light returned to her eyes and she was able to join in the play of an eleven year-old.

172

Passing Time

Over the next weeks, there was much to be done. The pirates’

language became all the more easier to comprehend. The girls had nearly mastered the art of the rigging and the sailing of the ship. For each was given her opportunity to take hold of the helm.

And several times, some of the oldest ones had been given their turn at the oars in calm waters. Though only two orthree strokes would ever be accomplished.

Sometimes, in the later part of the evening, the girls would help

lower the sea nets. And in the wake of morning, they would aid in pulling them to the surface. There – a treasure trove of the sea

would be seen – fish of all sorts of colors and shapes, sea stars and sea cucumbers, small creatures calledsea horses, blow fish, small

sharks occasionally, urchins and all sorts of fantastic things… In the belly of one shark Jing found a beautiful red shell which seemedto

curl over itself in a roll, several times, of which she was so very proud to find, that Jokul let her keep it. He even carefully drilled a small

hole through the very top and placed a sturdy waxed thread through the top and it became her necklace. But now that they were in

deeper waters, such a thing as gathering the nets became a weekly event, and it was the best part, in all the girls’ opinion.

175

Gardar had also taken a fancy to entertaining the girls, and set

down to making them a fantastic set of checkers when the seas were calm and there was little to do. The girls sat and watched him every

afternoon as he carefully carved the cedar wood into small spheres until there were sixty small cedar marbles. And because he often seemed nervous having the girls watch him so carefully, he

proceeded to let them sand each piece with a rough stone until they were smooth. Once this was accomplished, he brought special

polishing stones from his berth in the hold of which theyall took

turns polishing each piece. The sailors laughed from time to time – the comical sight of a barbarian sailor seated at making a game of checkers with nine little girls sitting as his students. However,the

rest of the pirates themselves occasionally joined the making of the checkers over the three weeks. While each piece was sanded and

polished, Gardar commenced to carve a round board for the playing of the pieces and at the end of three weeks, the board, with each marble, was carved and polished completely.

“Oh, but we must have colors for the marbles!”Xue exclaimed

without thinking.

“Colors!” replied Gardar, as if he had not thought of it before.

“But of course,” An added, smiling. “If they are not colored, we

cannot tell which piece belongs to which corner of the board.” “Hmpf,” Gardar said, trying not to smile.

And so that very evening, he went about scratching his head, and

soon produced for them the next afternoon, a set of six wonderful things for making colored stains. The colors had alreadybeen

chosen by Gardar – black, sapphire, emerald,red, violet, and white. And to make these colors, Gardar had provided several clay bowls wherein lay colored stones and burnt stuffs, plant-life and shells. 176

He had also brought several mortars and pestles ni which the girls would take their turn grinding the materials. This process took a

good week of work, and when all was crushed and added to a certain amount of water and oils, the girls painted their cedar marbles,

painting only one side at a time, allowing it to dry in the tropic sun and then painting the other. Five good coats wereadded to each

marble and after a full month of work, the masterpiece was finished. Even H.grim himself, who usually had little time to concern himself with such trivialities, commended the piece.

And that very night, twenty-eight days after leaving the pearl of

the seas, there was another time for music and dancing. And this time, the girls were taught some of the group dances of these

barbarians. It was a curious and humorous sight, and by the end of the evening, most of the girls were laughing so very hard, that they

could barely stand straight. Never before had their level of decorum fled so rapidly. For at home in their village, suchoutbursts of laughter from little girls, were unheard of.

But Li Mei, though she enjoyed the event, had been almost solemn

those four weeks. Although thankfully, whenever An was present,

she managed a rather good smile and An never suspected her mind was often on the phenomena of that strange day. But Xia saw it,

and the evening following the dancing, she walkedover and spoke with Li Mei.

The moon was quiet over the cold waters, the night just having

passed into the first watch. The barbarians were at their talk and

legends over the the still-burning coals of the fire. The other girls, weary from the activities of the day, were sleeping soundly in the

hold. And although Xia could have used the sleep herself, she knew that Li Mei needed to discuss what was going throughher thoughts. 177

Xia smiled a little to herself as she sat next to her friend at the

railing. All seemed quite calm. Only the chuckle of a barbarian from time to time, and the lap of the waters.

“Li Mei, what troubles you?” Xia asked.

Li Mei sighed a small sigh and replied, “Xia, we have been captives

four months now…”

She placed both hands on the railing in front of her. “I cannot

think why we are here. There is no purpose in that, really. We will find our way back, of that I am somehow sure. And yet…”

Here she trailed off for a moment. Xia did not say a word, but

watched her friend.

“I was told nearly a month ago now, of a very absurd event.

An relayed it to me – of the day when we were first captured in the

village. Until then, she had not told me all that happened after I lost all consciousness…”

And from there, without Li Mei hardly realizing it, she retold the

tale to Xia as accurately as she rememberedAn telling her the month before. She gave her what details she remembered, and saw that though Xia was quite surprised, she was not alarmed.

“And so I havebeen sitting here these past weeks, deliberating as

to what may have caused such a great event, and what these brusque sailors believe it to be. I am at all loss to decide.”

Xia thought a few moments before speaking, but then she folded

her hands over the railing, and said, “Li Mei, you are right to speak

of all the legends of the spirits in the mountains. And while this light could have been such a thing, I believe it may be less of a calamity than you had originally thought.” “How so?”

Li Mei seemed slightly comforted by Xia’s manner. 178

“Well,” Xia continued, “I have heard of strange things in the past in

our village, very strange things… of villagers having seen great lights in the heavens, of stars reflecting in bright rays off the great sun… odd things that have come and gone over the centuries. However,

no matter what this great wonder happened to be, youare unharmed from it. There is nothing wrong; you are perfectly healthy.”

“But, Xia, this is perhaps one reason why my sister and I arehere

today. If the light had not mystified them so, they would have perhaps let us be.”

“Li Mei, remember that no great light shone above the heads of

the rest of us nine. Several of us, in fact, lookedto the sky as the

great noise sounded. We would have seen such a light if it had been there. And although none of the rest of us saw this strange

phenomenon from the heavens, I do believe we hadall been carried off by the time it appeared.”

“Well,” Li Mei sighed, “if it is nothing more than star dust, let it be

so.”

Xia went on, “And if the pirates think it to be more, than we shall

not discourage them. It may be that such things have excited their curiosity in the supernatural, the gods, or whatever they may

worship. And if this light is significant to them, then we shall hear more of it in the days to come.”

“Just do not forget of the strange dealings I have had withthese

barbarian women on the islands,” Li Mei added.

“You will, perhaps, know in time what they discussed, concerning

you. I would venture to say that they connected some special or

perhaps even supernatural quality with you. You must admit, as I

have seen, that these barbarians are rather superstitious in nature.” “You are right,” Li Mei agreed.

179

The moon hung low and nearly golden above the sea. And the

waves continued to lap where the anchor was sunk.

“I will dismiss what I can of it, for now,” Li Mei reasoned finally.

“There is no cause it thinking on it every day, thoughI must admit I

have been amply distracted by the making of this chess set thepast four weeks.”

“Good,” Xia laughed. “Then its making arose at an opportune

time. Perhaps we will find some other project in which to use your time and your thoughts over the next weeks.”

“Ah, then you have heard how much longer it shall be till we find

land?”

“Jokul was discussing the matter at the prow this morning. I do

believe I heard him say that it would be another two weeksbefore landfall.”

“Oh, well. Just as good,” Li Mei replied. “After all, Iam not

altogether anxious to meet another barbarian woman. Although they were both very pleasant.”

She mused on her welcomes to both houses.

“Then let us join the others for the night,” Xia urgedher.

“There will be much more to come that will require our energy, I imagine.”

And so the girls departed for a night of deep sleep and dreams,

and Li Mei thought she dreamt of gathering fish in the ocean with a

great net, swimming through the waters. And upon surfacing in the moonrise, she imagined she saw the far green mountains of her village.

L 180

The next two weeks, indeed, were full of activity for the girls.

As usual, there was the maintenance of the ship, the fishing and

cooking, and examining the sea treasures which made their wayonto the deck of the great ship.

It was one such morning, as they sorted through one of the

treasure nets, that Xue spoke quickly, almost without thinking, and to no one in particular:

“What is the name of this great ship?”

Her question caught the girls in surprise, for they were unused to

asking questions of the barbarians. If questions were asked they concerned the duties of the ship, what they were to cook for

supper, and the like. Li Mei had trembled upon asking Jokul whom G.bjord had taken her to see on the south seas island. “Xue,” Jia Li whispered to her.

“It is a simple question,” Xue responded, not even looking up from

where she held a puffer-fish in her hand.

The little fish had bloated itself up quite importantly, and seemed

to stare at her obstinately. She giggled at the stubborn ball sitting there so smugly, and walked over to the railing.

“Farewell, my little friend,” she laughed and carefully slipped him

back over the side into the dark blue waves.

She returned to her seat by the net and realized that all of the

girls were looking at her. But Vika, a younger member of the pirate crew, had heard her question.

“Well, miss,” he said slowly, as he whittled on a pine piece, “what

would you say to it, if I told you the ship was named after my own mother?”

“Your mother!” Xue laughed, and An joined her.

181

“Oh, oh, you musn’t laugh. She might hear you and strike you

with a great lightening bolt,” Vika replied seriously, still carving on the wood.

The girls continued to giggle.

“Then what is the name of your mother?” Ting asked him as she

continued to comb through the net.

Vika continued seriously, “Her name is Hairy Cheek.”

The girls began to laugh very hard, despite themselves. And Xue

seemed to fall over onto the deck, she laughed so hard.

Meanwhile, Jokul overheard the conversation and came over. “He jests with you,” Jokul punched the Vika on the shoulder.

“The name of this great ship is – Grimhild Groa. And I might add that the name of his mother, no one knows.”

At this point, Vika commenced to rattle in some gibberish.

No doubt he spoke of things their ears wouldnot have enjoyed hearing. However, Jokul only laughed and shook his head. And Li Mei knew he was only jesting back with him.

“The Grimhild Groa,” Xue repeated, as if the name were the

prettiest one she had ever heard of.

“Very like the name of a barbarian,” Li Na said.

“Why, Li Na, that almost seems ungracious,” Jing teased her.

“Oh, on the contrary,” Li Na realized how her response had come

across. “I meant more that the generaltone of this language is quite guttural. Never before have I heard such tones and grumblings.

The language seems to emit from the stomach,and it vibrates my

teeth in such a manner that makes my lip tickle from time to time.” Fen laughed. “You are right. I am quite glad this is not our own

native language.”

182

“Though I suppose we would be used to it by now, if we had

spoken it all our lives,” Xia added.

“At least or own tones are higher and softer,” Jia Li added.

“While difficult for the foreigner, I have heard, they seem to take on less of a harsh ring, and more the sound of bells if one speaks correctly.”

“True,”Jing spoke again, “but there are many who do not treat it

gracefully. I make reference to a certain merchant in the streets of our village – a seller of oysters from the river bed in the valley.

His voice had a way of grating over every syllable until I no longer thought that he spoke our language.”

Li Na laughed, “I know the very one of which you speak. His voice

was a most unusual specimen of the dialect.”

The afternoon went on, the net being combed throughcompletely

with several handsome finds. A grouping of kelp had also been

skimmed from the surface and later, Fen and LiNa prepared it in a stew for supper.

But two weeks had neared an end, and as they sat about over

supper that evening, they heard G.bjorn call from the prow to make ready, for the next day they would see land.

“And to which port has the great Grimhild Groa sailed us to this

time?” Xue called back to him.

G.bjorn called back to her, “To the southern port of themany

islands.”

183

Harald

The next morning dawned clear and beautiful over the sea.

A refreshing rain had fallen in the night, and all were anxious that the sun might shine that morning, in order to see the land ahead.

And thus it was so. As the eighth hour came about, a rather long green strip of land was seen several miles beyond theprow.

And within two more hours, the port was in full sight and the Grimhild Groa was prepared to dock.

Li Mei was not entirely sure she was happy with this arrangement,

of visiting another island. After all, on the last two, she hadmet with powerful women of the barbarian tribe. And though they seemed perfectly harmless, the matter of which they discussed – being herself – caused her some bit of anxiety upon docking. Xia saw her concern, and walked over to her.

“Li Mei, put it from you mind,” she reassuredher. “Do not even let

it come to your thoughts. If you are taken again to such a person,

do not let it concern you at all. Put your thoughts to other things as they discuss what you cannot understand.”

“It will not disturb me,” Li Mei assured her.

And so, the day went as it had before, on the other islands.

The sacks were unloaded from the sailor’s quarters, and set in

masses on the deck of the ship, sealed tightly. And it seemed this 187

time, that the sacks might hold light contents, as they had before.

But as usual, Li Mei’s sack held otherthings, for the weight was much more dense and the sack, smaller.

“What’s inside?” Xue whispered to Hoketil, her guide.

Hoketil seemed in good humor, and decided to oblige her

question. “It’s a parcel of mint, miss. From the shoresof where we found y…”

Hoketil had apparently decided not to finish his sentence.

However, Li Mei, overhearing, was sure the sentence would have

finished with “your village”. The brutes had never spoken to them of their village in Cathay. Perhaps theywere trying to make the young girls forget of their home. No doubt they thought they were

succeeding, as the girls had not, (as of yet), even hinted of their

homeland to the barbarians. It was satisfactory, they all thought, that the pirates had not yet learned their language, apparently.

Li Mei frowned at Hoketil, though he did not see her. And she soon found that Frithjof, one of the tallest of the brutes, was to escort her to her next meeting on the island. And it was not in her good interest that Frithjof was her guide, forhe was in foul humor that

morning. It seemed the stewed kelp had not agreed with his stomach during the night, and it was more than once he had been overheard relieving his stomach of its contents over the side ofthe ship in the

early hours of the morning. And so Li Mei thought it unwise, and yet unfortunate, to ask any questions on their trek into the village. So the walk commenced, Li Mei trying to forget her anxiety.

Her small bag was picked up carefully, and slipped into her pocket.

She was at once grateful for the new gown. The strength of its fiber

held the sack in her pocket quite stably. If she had been wearing her old thin gown, it likely would have crashed right through, onto the 188

floor. She wondered if the secret pocket within would be as strong through the next months.

But Hoketil would surely not be amused by any lingerings that

morning, and so Li Mei marched right behind them off the ship.

Xia waved her off with an encouraging smile, the best she could manage. And so the day began.

Li Mei soon found she was right about Hoketilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mood for the day.

He did not turn round once but muttered strange things to himself as he plowed his way along the port. The village was much like the first south seas island they had visited. It was, perhaps, slightly less

civilized than the pearl of the seas. And the land was mostly flat,

wooded in areas, but quite desert in a great many parts beyond the village. Li Mei noticed, as well, that not only was the area sanded, but that great granite boulders were arrangedin odd heaps along the shoreline, as though some giant had collected them and then

arranged them in formations, much as someone might build a mound out of sand. Li Mei watched these strange rocks as they passed by and thought them most odd. But she did not say a word as they

went on. She did not even stop to pick any peculiar shells along the

way, for Hoektilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stride was so verylong, that if she had stopped for two seconds, he would have already distanced her too greatly. They walked, perhaps, an hour along the sanded beach.

The desert palms managed to keep away a great deal of the sun.

And the air was dry, which was merciful to their journey. Li Mei even

found it pleasant to be walking the shore with a cool breeze blowing from the east. The skirts of her sky-blue gown ruffled in the winds. And if Hoketil had turned round, his heart would have softened

toward the little girl. For she was doing her absolute best to keep up with him along the deep white sand of the shore. But Hoketil was 189

determined to be angry, it seemed, with the results of the seaweed stew. And he partly blamed Li Mei for her share in preparing it.

Although the stew had been delicious and to everyone else, it had settled their hunger quite nicely and without incident.

However, as the walk progressed, Hoketil seemed to grow less

intense as things went along, and by the end of the hour, he seemed much improved. He even smiled when he saw Li Mei laugh at a small green lizard stop in his tracks along the sand and stare at her.

He must have been unused to a girl such as herself,she thought –

with black hair and slanted eyes. True, theblue of her gown was so

startling that even she would stop and watch such a color with dazed eyes. But the lizard moved on and their walk continued.

It was at the end of that hour, that they rounded a small inlet on

the shore. And Hoketil seemed to stop short suddenly, so that Li Mei nearly ran into him.

“There,” he pointed, finally speaking.

Beyond them only a short distance was a small islet, so very small

that nothing more than a house could fit upon it with a small lawn accompanying. And that is exactly what lay there in its middle.

For the islet was mostly rounded,and unlike the beach on which they walked, there were no large granite boulders to graceits surface.

And it seemed to Li Mei that the house was shaped as an octagon,

perhaps. In facing it straight on, it would seem as though theremight be eight sides or more. But on all its sides, the boarding which was

used to build its structure, was painted brightest white. LiMei could scarcely look full upon it as a result of the sun’s glare of its walls.

A fence of brick had been laid all around it, and on the rocks grewa

sort of fantastic flower – a color redder than blood which shone like wax. In the yard of sea grass, Li Mei saw the flash of some metallic 190

color. Upon adjusting her eyes to the gleam, she thought she saw

peacock feathers fanned in a corner of the lawn. But therewas little

left to observe from that distance, and Hoketil had alreadybegun to walk toward it.

It was fortunate, Li Mei thought, that there were enough granite

boulders and part of a sand bank between the island and the islet in order to construct a natural path. Thus it was very simple to cross, it being high tide and the sea would never fully wash over the

boulders. Li Mei tucked her skirts as best as possible, so as not to weigh them down with salt water, and walked behind Hoketil, who was already half-way across.

Upon reaching the sand and sea grass of the abode, Hoketil

suddenly turned round and said to Li Mei quite seriously,“Ask no questions.”

Li Mei nodded toward him, knowing full well she would never have

the courage to do so whether he had forbidden her or not. But she was rather curious as to why he warned her. Perhaps Jokul had

related her one question to him when they were in the pearl of the

seas. Yes, she thought to herself, that must certainly be why Hoketil told me this. And as Hoketil proceeded to pass through the gate of

the stone fence, Li Mei followed, trying not to think of what might be said about her at this particular visit.

Entering the yard, Li Mei saw that she was right – two lovely

jeweled birds stood in the corner of the yard, fanning their

obnoxious plumage in the late morning sun. Li Mei recognized the

coloring of their feathers as that of the same feathers in the vaseat

Herbjorn’s house in the plateau. The birds walkedquietly, the two of them, hardly acknowledging Li Mei’s presence, orthat of Hoketil’s. But Hoketil paid no mind to the regal fowl, for he had just knocked 191

upon the door of the white house.

To LiMei’s surprise, it was not a servant or a woman who answered

the door, but a small creature which Li Mei had never seen before.

Upon looking quite hard at it, she realized that the little animal was looking back at her with equally surprised eyes. It was a small monkey, no bigger than Hoketil’s two hands put together.

Around his neck was a collar of leather, with a small bell stitched to the center. Li Mei tried not to laugh upon seeing him.

“Why he is arrayed just as one of our cats!” she thought aloud to

herself, realizing that she had seen not cats since the greatball of white fluff on the plateau those months ago.

The monkey, not frightened, though timid, hopped back away

from the open door and seemed to lead them into the house.

Hoketil did not seem surprised at the creature’s presenceand

followed. Li Mei, just beginning to feel the weight of the small bag in her pocket, also followed. Once inside, the monkey left open the door as though he had forgotten it, and continued to crawl in bounds toward an open room to the right wing of the house.

It was an unusual design, the house. Forafter just walking in, one

was greeted with quite a large expanse of open space. The first level of the house was one great room. There were small partitions

leading out several feet toward thecenter of the octagon at each angle of the room. On these partitions were lined scroll cases.

And some held shelves of novelties of the sea and other curiosities. The second level was also entirely opened, though there were more windows to each wall, as there was only one window to each wall on the first level. But on this top level, a garden ran in a great ring

around the top and the center of its floor was non-existent, so one could see everything of both levels by simply walking in the front 192

door. The garden seemed exquisite and the fragrance of many

tropic blossoms wafted down to the first floor. From the ceiling of

this most strange abode, hung a great lantern. It was as wideas two Hoketils put together, standing back to back, and it hung

suspended from a great black iron rod,until the lantern itself nearly reached the floor of the first level. And the floor! Li Mei just did

notice was lay at her feet. A vast mosaic of color stretched across the entire octagon. Each piece was of glass or ceramic which was

put together to create the image of a fantastic barbarian ship, and the effect was stunning.

But Li Mei had no more time to examine what lay beforeher.

From up above, she heard a voice,though muffled. And looking up, she saw a strange sight. Instead of the anticipated priestess or other sort of woman, Li Mei was surprised to see an older man

standing in the garden circle with the monkeyperched on his back. Well, perhaps he was not so very old, Li Mei thought. A long thick

braid of silver hung back behind him, braided with even more glass and bone that H.grim himself. And he looked most amused to see them.

“Hallo,” he called to them.

Li Mei could not decide whether he would begin in the unknown

dialect or speak the barbarian language she had come to know.

The silver-haired man leant over therailing of the circular garden.

“Hallo there,” he called again. “It has been a long time, my friend, Hoketil. What takes you so long in coming to see our strange island?”

Li Mei was sufficiently satisfied that the man would speak the

barbarian language. Hoketil almost smiled broadly at the silverhaired man.

193

“Harald,” he called to him. “Long has it been since you visited our

own shores. Since when, old man, did you last see them?”

Harald of the silver hair seemed to chuckle, a most un-barbarian-

like thing to do, as walked down a staircase to the lower level.

“My young man, it is good to see you. One day I shall revisit the old

country. But perhaps I will do so in spirit once my body has left me.” Hoketil grasped the hand of the old man. Li Mei thought his

behavior most strange. After all, Hoketil was always so stern on the ship, and now he was laughing. Could they be related?

She wondered to herself. But Harald had seen her and walked over toward her in haste.

“My boy,” he called to the young man, “have you a daughter here

with you?”

“Harald, what can you be thinking?” Hoketil looked half-

scornfully at the old man. “Why she is half my age. And where, do you think, I would find a wife from Asia? No woman but our own would have a barbarian, as we are known.”

Li Mei had never heard one of the pirates speak about themselves

in such a way.

“Well at least they know they’re brutes,” she though to herself,

almost looking smugly irritated.

But Hoketil laughed heartily and began speaking quickly in the

foreign tongue. Once again, Li Mei knew they spoke of things about which she could not ask. Harald did not even have the opportunity to speak to Li Mei. For Hoketil did not stop speaking. And after a

good ten minutes or so of incessant talking, Harald contined to listen as he escorted Hoketil over to a table at one of the eight walls.

Li Mei did not know whether or not she should remain where she stood. She had not been told otherwise, however, and so she 194

remained there in the foyer of the great hall.

For a good while, there was nothing more she could do but

observe the interior of the room. But the longer she stood, the more the brilliancy of the colors began to blend into one another and mix in a magnificent swirl of scrolls, mosaics, and greenery. The next

thing Li Mei saw was the great lantern from the ceiling which seemed to swing before her eyes. She closed them again, and the lantern stabilized.

195

Ano.er Ba+er

“Young one, are you alright?” It was the voice of Harald, who

peered over at her.

Li Mei realized that she was lying on the floor, just then.

She nodded at Harald, and attempted to rise. But as she did so, she saw that the lantern before her began to move about, and she put a hand to her head. She felt a pair of strong arms lift her up, and as

her vision seemed to darken momentarily, she felt herself carried to a sort of lounge by an open window.

“Hoketil, you are a beast to have her walk through the hot sun

so,” Harald spoke harshly to the young brute. “What do you sailors think of to have such young things carry on so?”

Hoketil was silent, but stood to the side and watched Li Mei.

Even in her delirium, Li Mei could see that he was concerned.

Why she had fainted, she was not completely sure. She had been

standing for a good while, she imagined, and the sun had been very hot on the walk over. But regardless as to why, Harald's reaction

had been unusual. She was, after all, next to the status of a slave, and there was no need to show such concern.

“Answer, my child,” Harald spoke gently. “Are youfeeling ill?” Li Mei opened her eyes and nodded to the old man.

199

“Will you say nothing?” he asked. “Youare no slave here. I will not

have it.”

He looked sharply at Hoketil as though he were entirely at fault

for her condition. Hoketil looked away and walked off a few steps. Harald turned back toward Li Mei. “What is your name, child?” “Li Mei, sir. It is Li Mei.”

“She does speak Norwegian,” Harald seemed amazed. “Incredible.

And she was not formally taught – only learned from hearing these

past months. True, Hoketil, shemay be of a greater intelligence than I thought possible. Your theorymay be correct.”

Hoketil turned sharply and began to rattle on in the other

language. Apparently Harald had said too much. Li Mei looked down to where her hands lay folded in her lap. And so it was

Norwegian that she spoke. And more importantly, her suspicions were confirmed that the barbarians suspected something of her. Her face grew even more somber as Hoketil finished his irritated speech.

“And what harm wouldit bring if she knew what you spoke of?”

Harald retorted in the Norwegian. “Hoketil, your... spoils of war, I have nothing to say to you about it.”

He flourished his hand toward Li Mei.

Hoketil only shook his head and muttered, “Not our spoils of

war.”

The little monkey who had sat upon the floor during the debates

suddenly scurried off across the floor to the outdoors. Li Mei

watched him go, as did Hoketil. But Harald kept his gaze on the pirate.

Finally, he turned back to Li Mei. “We will have no more of this.

I am not at liberty to say why you are being held.” 200

Li Mei was silent. No one had spoken in any reference

whatsoever, to why she and her eight fellows had been taken those months ago. But Harald had already changed the subject. “Do you carry the package in your pocket, child?”

Li Mei had forgotten about it, but removed the small but heavy

sack and handed it to the silver-haired man. She tried not to smile, but did anyway, for she was pleased to learn that this kind old man was not a pirate after all.

“Thank you,” Harald smiled back at her, taking the package. Li Mei nodded toward him.

“Come and see what you carried to my abode today,” he said,

beckoning for her to follow him.

He walked to the table where Hoketil stood, rather angrily, Li Mei

thought. But she did not look at him. She knew he would be cold

and severe toward her for the remainder of the evening and perhaps for longer.

Meanwhile, Harald had undone the waxed thread sewn across the

sack. His eyes seemed to twinkle.

“Ah, my friend, you have carried here a valuable commodity,” he

nodded toward Li Mei.

Li Mei placed both hands on the edge of the table as she leaned

across to examine the sack's contents. A gleaming substance met

her eye, reflecting from the light of the open sea across the window. “Copper,” Harald spoke, in answer to her silent question.

“Copper.”

It was obvious that the silver-haired man was pleased. He walked

over to Hoketil and slapped him on the back in thanks for his

success. The rest was said in the foreign tongue and Li Mei once again, receded into a corner of the room.

201

The next half-hour was spent in Harald and Hoketil bargaining

over the copper. Several times Li Mei wished to ask for what Hoketil bargained. The treasure in the hold hadincreased many-fold from the two islands, and Li Mei was almost beginning to loose patience over the matter. She had answers to nothing that had occurred

since their capture. But still she kept her silence, for as young as she was, there was prudence. And she would not forget what her parents had taught her over her few years. She kept her head

bowed as she stood, thinking over these things. And once again, she was reminded of the color of their eyes, hers and the others,

blue or green. And she wondered further about it as she sat there. When she looked up next from her thoughts, the discussion had

ended. And Hoketil was prepared to go. Li Mei followed quietly,

being careful not watch Hoketil as Li Mei was sure hewas quite angry with her. But Harald was not finished speaking.

“Young one,” he called, “take care to be on your guard.” Li Mei looked at him. Hoketil had already left the room.

“You would do wisely not to listen to notions of the supernatural,”

Harald continued, leaning forward and lowering his voice. “Theyare rash. And they will see signs as more than they really might be. Does this make sense to you, child?” Li Mei nodded. “Sir.”

Harald leaned back again, crossing his arms across his chest, in

which one hand held a small scroll. His blue eyes twinkled.

“You will do well, child, I think. Do not fear these barbarians. I will

assure you now, that you will not be harmed or sold or abandoned.”

Li Mei knew she had to ask the silver-haired man a question, which

she could never have asked the pirates. She swallowed very hard and and tried to bring her eyes up from the floor. Harald waited 202

patiently for her to speak.

“Sir,” she spoke very softly. “Do you know where they are taking

us?”

Harald expected this question, and answered, “My child, that I

cannot tell you, for Hoketil has forbidden it. Iwill say to you, that I am sad to see you here in such a situation. But I will also say that wherever you are taken and wherever you must roam across this world, you must see that you return to your home.”

Li Mei looked at him in concentration, remembering what he had

told her.

When Harald had finished, she bowed toward him and he escorted

her to the door of the island abode. There, Harald and Hoketil

grasped one another's hands in leaving. And Hoketil even seemedto have recovered some of the humor he had possessed upon arriving. “Remember what I have said,” Harald called after them.

Hoketil did not turn round, but replied, “Yes,Harald. Until next

time.”

But as Li Mei turned around, she saw that Harald had spoken to

her, and she nodded toward him.

The long walk back to the ship seemed almost dreadful, though

Hoketil's mind was on other things. If Li Mei had known this, she

might not have taken such great pains to be so silent. Yetthe sand muffled her footsteps, and the roar of the surf was quite strong. All in all, she had only become more confused by the visit to the

island. Although she felt, in a way, that she had found a helping

hand in Harald. Though she would likelynever cross his path again, it was pleasant knowing that he would have helped her if he could. Li Mei could not concentrate on anything but the roar of the

waters during that hour. Her mind would constantly try to think 203

through what Harald had said to her, but she could not concentrate. And so she arrived frustrated and quiet at the ship that afternoon.

An ran up to her. “Where have you been so long? You have been

gone for a very long time.”

“Have I?” Li Mei was surprised.

The sun was already low across the sea.

“Yes, where have you been?” Jing called to her. “We were almost

beginning to worry.”

“Never fear, Hoketil was my guide. He could never become lost.” “Well then, tell us what it is you carried this time,” Jing went on. “Copper.”

“Copper!” Fen exclaimed. “You docarry the most strange things.” “The rest of us carried indigo seeds,” Ting said. “And I think they

must have been lighter than the copper. But are you alright, Li Mei? You seem rather flushed.”

“It has been a long walk, I admit,” Li Mei said, and then she added

slowly… “I have had more news…”

“What sort of news?” Jing asked, seeing that she was concerned. “News that cannot be held off any longer, I think,” Li Mei said

cautiously.

The others had gathered around, and Li Mei was afraid that

Hoketil would begin to suspect something was afoot, if he turned round from where he spoke with the other pirates.

“Let us speak this evening,” Jing urged, seeing that Li Mei was

uncomfortable.

“You are right,” Fen agreed.“Come, let us prepare for supper.” And no more was said on the subject until that night. Fish was

fried over the open flames of the deck with great plump red berries

and fennel from the woods. An and Li Na had been sent out earlier 204

with Alrek and Svip to gather such things for the dinner. Even a

great basket of mushrooms had been taken up for thecoming week. It seemed to have been a profitable venture.

But once again, as the others chatted, Li Mei could not keep her

thoughts on the meal before her. Gardar brought out his flute and played soft old tunes as the stars began to come out. But Li Mei

was not pleased with what had come. And as the sailors discussed their tasks for the next morning, Li Mei did not even hear whatwas said between them.

It was later that night that they all gathered together for their

council. Li Mei spent several minutes composing herself in the corner before she entered the circle. Despite her best efforts, she had

been battling with a strange fear all the evening. And though she

tried very hard not to be frightened, she could not help it. But with a deep sigh, she left the corner of the hold, and walked over to them.

Xia gave her an encouraging smile, for she knew that something had managed to frighten her.

But Li Mei handled herself well. She relayed everything she could

remember – everything she had told Xia and what An had told her.

And the more she told them about the situation, the better her mind was relieved from the fear.

“And that, my friends, is what has happened,” she concluded.

There was no need to ask why Li Mei had not said anything about

it before. Such things were not even considered in their culture.

There was a short amount of silence. And then Fenrose from her seat on the ship’s floor.

“These are startling events,” she began. “But as of now, I see no

cause for alarm. After all, as you and Xia have pointed out, there are phenomenon of the heavens from time to time. And this is likelyall 205

this wonder was.”

“Then are we to do nothing?” Fen asked.

Li Mei looked up from her where her eyes had wandered the floor.

The others were watching her. She sighed. “Perhaps I have worried over nothing all these weeks,” she said finally. “There seems little

matter in it. Instead, we must keep in mind of what Harald spoke.” “You are right,” Xia said from her corner. “We must remember to

get home. And how could we forget it?”

“Thank you,” Li Mei nodded to them all. “It will be forgotten.”

And in her mind, she decided to say nothing more on the subject.

She would watch, wait, and listen, enjoying the wonders of what they saw during their wanderings on the seas.

206

Treasure

In the end of their two days at the island, Li Mei truly did begin to

forget as much as possible. She would think about it from time to

time while on the deck watching the breeze of the sea. And as they left the port of the island, there were other things to keep her

occupied, and her thoughts away from what had happened the months before â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the light from theheavens.

And so the journey continued. But for the next stretch of

voyage, there were other things afoot. Here they were â&#x20AC;&#x201C; nine young girls, kidnapped from their home village in Cathay, taken on a ship

across the world for reasons they did not know. And yet they asked no questions. Only Xue had been so bold, and she being the

youngest of them all, it was appropriate that she was curious.

But the others, even An who was only a very small bit older than Xue,

knew that to ask questions was not always wise. And yet despite the trouble in which they seemed to be, their captors were good to them. The strangeness of their situation was apparently taken calmly by them all. And perhaps it did them credit to remain so very calm. Few others couldhave done so.

The things which rose to the surface of the next seven weeks

certainly did allow Li Mei to set aside her thoughts toward the light, Herborg, Tofa, and Harald...though she could not forget Harald. 209

Down in the hold, the store of treasurehad grown to great

quantities, to a size the girls had not ignored. Xue especially, had not forgotten her experience with the box ofgold coins.

“To think,” she often mumbled to herself, “heroically wounded by

a box of coins. It is almost shameful.”

The others would laugh. But at the same time, they could not

forget that she had been in a very serious situation, only a short while before. And yet, she was no longer in pain. Only the scar

remained on her back from the incident and it would only make her

sore from time to time for no apparent reason. And yet Frithjof, who seemed more skilled in the medical side of things, was certain that she was restored to health. And, indeed, she was quite normal.

But to the matter of the treasure below... the girls began to watch

its growth. At only three ports, the hold had grown to fill a good

third of their sleeping quarters. Thesupply of food was only half the size of the treasure.

In fact, the weight of the treasure had certainly caused the ship to

sink lower in the waves. The girls thought that if the increase

continued over the next months, the ship might sink altogether the

next time a good rain and wind blew up. But therewas little to fear.

H.grim and G.bjorn were quite careful, it seemed, and would often be seen below shifting about the boxes, barrels, and sacks, now that

the load was so great. But until then, nothing had been said about it. The sailors never mentioned it to one another, and Li Mei noticed

that little care was taken to be sure that no one prowledabout the pile. Yet each box was handled carefully. Never was one shaken unnecessarily.

Li Mei happened to be in the hold one day, lying on the cot on the

darker side of the floor. She had had a headache a good part of 210

the afternoon, and was resting. The headacheseemed nearly gone, when she heard footsteps on the stairway of thehold. It was H.grim with one of the quieter brutes, Odd, close behind. They were not

speaking, and Li Mei could only hear their boots echo on the steps. She decided to keep quiet and not draw any attention to herself.

But when they descended to the floor, she saw that they began to rearrange the boxes. Perhapsthey had shifted during the night

before, for they were adjusted and tilted only slightly, hardly enough to make a difference. When finished, both stood tall, holding back their shoulders. And just as they were about to turn back toward the stairs, Li Mei saw them pound their fists to their chests. They

both then bowed low toward the boxes gatheredthere. And then,

turning, they walked back up the stairs still silent. Li Mei was quite confused.

In fact, it was enough for Li Mei to rise from her cot and sit still

several moments to think it over. She walked back up onto the deck to where the girls were just finishing washing the railings.

“Xia, Fen,” she called to the two nearest girls, “we must talk this

evening. Something has risen.”

“Urgent?” Fenasked, concerned.

“No, not urgent, I do not think. However, it may provide some

answers. If only we could discover through it, for whom is this great treasure horde…”

“No doubt some great royalty of the barbarians,” Fen went back

to the washing of the railing.

“Some Norwegian prince or warlord,” Xia detailed Fen’s idea.

“You may be right,” Li Mei nodded, “but I wonder… I will tell you

tonight when it seems less conspicuous.”

211

In fact, the girls had enjoyed becoming secretive about such

things. It was terribly exciting to speak around dark corners n i low

whispers, as though the barbarians might begin to understand what they spoke of, and become spies to their conversations.

Their councils were held almost nightly before retiring, to review the

events of the day, even if they had nothing to do with their captivity, which was most of the time.

But the day was not spent entirely on thinking of the treasure.

There was so much more to be done, as usual. And by the time

nightfall had come, a fresh supply of fish had been loaded in the

other hold by the pirates. And the Grimhild Groa was one day closer to their next destination.

And what was more, Xue could no longer seem to hold back her

questions anymore. That day, she asked more questions of the

pirates than Jia Li or the others could prevent herfrom doing so.

At one point, she blurted out rather suddenly, as she twined rope around the railing, “Odd, are we visiting another island now?”

Odd, to Li Mei’a surprise, did not seem very startled by her

boldness.

“No, little maiden,” he continued the smoking of his pipe. “We are

off to a grand mass of land. A continent…” He puffed his pipe. “A place so dense with jungles and spread with deserts, that we

could hardly hope to find our way through it…” He paused, watching the spray of the mist at the prow before the gray skies. “You might see a mysterious thing or two in the next port,” he winked slyly at her. “There be monsters in those forests…”

Xue was captivated, but nearly jumped when he spoke of

monsters. Li Mei did not quite believe what Odd spoke of; however,

she thought his description of Africa quite amusing. Rarelyhad they 212

heard of the great continent, and never had theyseen a traveler

come through their village who had been so far south and far away in the world.

But there was little more to discuss concerning their destination.

Odd had told them enough, and even Xue seemed to know that she should not ask anything else concerning it. And so, the afternoon

passed into the evening, and following dinner, another council was called for the nine.

“So what secrets must we discuss this time?” Jing sat, laughing,

with her robes tucked round her. “It seems there is always something new and interesting upon which to debate.”

“I must agree with you, Jing,” Li Mei agreed, “and I'll admit that we

do take precautions likely unnecessary, considering out captors.” She smiled. “However, I did observe something most unusual this very afternoon.”

“Well, tell all then,” Fen encouraged her.“Let us all know.”

Li Mei nodded toward them. And Li Na listened from her perch on

the third stair down, taking care to watch forany pirates wishing to

intrude on their council. Li Mei proceeded to relay the details of the pirates in the hold.

“And so I begin towonder if our voyage is not more than a mere

treasure hunt for pirates,” she concluded,her hands folded together in front of her.

Ting rose to stand beside her. “And you are sure theydid not see

you there as they rearranged the treasure?” sheasked. “I am sure; I lay perfectly still.”

“And they never spoke to you?” “No, they did not speak at all.”

“Which rules out the possibility that they were only jesting.” 213

“Why would they jest about such a silly thing?” Fen asked.

“I am not sure. But it might have occurred to them to make us

think odd things for no apparent reason to us. However, if theydid not see Li Mei or even speak to one another, I think that this is not possible,” Ting concluded.

“Well then,” Jing entered into the conversation, “of what

significance could this be? Is it only that more valuehas been given to this treasure than we had originally thought?”

“I don't think the value of the treasureis as important as much as

what these jewels and relics may be for...” Li Mei spoke carefully.

“You think, then, that they are destined for a greatperson?” Xue

asked.

“I think, that they may be destined for a great person,” Li Mei

replied, “but perhaps even a deity of sorts...” “A deity?” they answered in surprise.

“Possibly,” Li Mei replied. “I only thought it could be so, because

of the way in which they paid honor to the relics. It was nearly as

though these gems are intended to be presented to a god. I cannot exactly say why I think so...”

“Well this may mean different things for us,” Jia Li said slowly.

“We may be destined for things from which we cannot escape.” “How so?” several asked.

Jia Li rose to her feet to stand with Ting and Li Mei. “If we have

been captured on the same voyage of which this grand treasure has been collected, we may as well be intended for this deity.”

“As sacrifice do you think?” Jing asked, suddenly concerned.

“Perhaps,” Jia Li went on. “Or that we are gifts, there to serve the

deity for which these treasures are meant.”

“This does make sense,” Fen said absently. 214

Jia Li suddenly turned her head towards Xue. “Xue, you must say

nothing to these pirates concerning these things. You must ask no questions.”

“Yes, Xue, you must say nothing or they will become very

suspicious,” Fen added.

Xue looked around the room to see all the girls nodding in

agreement. “I will say nothing,” she replied, “if I can remember to be quiet about it.”

“Please, Xue, you must remember.” Jia Li implored. “I will. I will remember the best that I can...”

Jia Li decided that this was the best reply she would receive for

the present and did not mention it again during the council.

“Once again, we find that there is nothing we can do.” Li Mei tried

not to sigh.

“Do not worry, Li Mei,” Xia spoke up for the first time. “The great

light, our capture, the barbarian women and Harald, this treasure...

we have not forgotten any of these things. And there is nothing for you to fear. Harald, for one, would not have spoken to you about our escape if he did not think it was possible.” Li Mei sighed.

“Of course you are right. But we cannot avoid the thought –

every one of us here – that we have not tried very hard to escape from our conditions.”

“Surely we were not instructed to protest,” Ting put in, “but to

follow wherever we were meant to be led.”

“But even by our captors,” Fen sighedwith Li Mei. “And yet, truly,

there was nothing we could have done to save ourselves. No one heard us... No one saw us.”

215

“The village was so quiet...” Li Na whispered from her perch,

staring up at the stars. “I cannot think that anyone else was truly there, it was so quiet.”

“What was that great sound?” Jia Li asked. “Was it the light?” “Was it really a wind?” Fen mused.

“We may never know,” Xia spoke. “But in truth, we have done what

we could. These questions may bring answers one day. But until

they are found out, what more can we do but live on this ship as we

have, and bide our time. There are good things here which we have learned.”

“And as it has been said before,” Tingadded, “our captors have

treated us well. We have nothing to complain of but our original captivity. Until then we must guard what we have...”

Li Mei looked up at Ting as she trailed off. “What, Ting?” “Nothing, nothing,” she said quickly. And the conversation was changed.

216

Af*ca

And thus the weeks passed as the others, the girls staying about

their business, perhaps a little more somber than usual. And yet there were pleasant times, of course, which occurredevery day.

And the days passed quickly. They never lingered. From the dawn of the sun to its setting, whether on blue folds orgray, each day passed as quickly as the next. And before long,six weeks had

disappeared from the time they left the pearl of the sea. And a dark coastline was seen on the horizon.

“Land!” was called out once again from the top mast where

G.bjorn took watch.

“Oh, how magnificent!” Fen spoke from whereshe scrubbed her

corner of the deck. “I don’t believe I could have stood many more waves upon that horizon.”

Another several hours brought them into close range of thenew

strip of land. There it sat on the shore –a beacon – a tower of stone and clay shining at them, even in the light of day.

“A lighthouse,”Vika explained, as they drew toward it.

So tall and silent, a blaze of fire within its observatory, gulfing

orange glory to the heavens. Li Mei surrendered her gaze in wonder at its presence.

219

L Later, as the anchor was dropped, Xue seemed rather

uncomfortable.

“Xue,” Li Mei asked her, “are you alright? You seem somewhat

chilled.”

Xue tucked her lower lip in slightly and glanced over at her, then

back to the land. “It’s only…” she began. “It’s only what Odd said

that makes me think… about the monsters.” She held onto the railing rather too tightly.

“Oh, Xue,” Li Mei tried not to smile too broadly. “Odd only jests

with you, I am sure. If there are monsters, they are likely not

anything that you would picture. Think on the dragons of Cathay.

Surely these beasts of Africa are nothing compared to the monsters of our own legends.”

“Yes,” Xue relaxed her hold somewhat. “But I think that he was

telling me seriously. What if we see one of these creatures? And we are always sent out with only one of the pirates. If weshould come across one of these beasts, what could the strengthof one barbarian accomplish?”

“Xue, it is true that even these great barbarians could not attack a

dragon of our legends, with merely their strength. But our captors are cunning. And I think that were one to meetsuch a creature on

these new shores, with the weaponry of the bow and arrow and even the spear, these creatures would be conquered.”

Xue seemed satisfied temporarily. “But all the same, Li Mei,

I would much rather have it that you or Jia Li or one of the others

were with me. I never liked walking off into even the village with only one of the pirates.”

220

Li Mei was surprised. “But, Xue, you seem to always make such

excellent conversation with these sailors.”

“True,I do enjoy talking with them about such things as their tales

of the sea. But I have always been sent with a brute who has been in a bad mood for the day. It is most unpleasant asking questions of a pirate who has no humor.”

Li Mei laughed. “Well out of us all, Xue, you would be the most

likely to turn him out of it. And so let us hope that for this venture, you are paired with a strong, intelligent, talkative, and good-

humored pirate. Then hopefully any monsters you might come across will be frightened away from your conversations.”

Within the hour, landfall was made. The shore was sandy still, and

rather warm, despite the low latitude on which they were perched.

A bit of a chill was in the air and a forest of strange pines lined the edge of rocks behind the sand.

Li Mei clutched her sky blue skirts around her as the spray of the

waves washed up over the gangplank. They had been given little

time to prepare for their latest venture. Indeed, Li Mei did not even see what she had been handed from the pile. It had been slipped

into a satchel which she placed over her shoulders. And no sooner had this been done, but she was beckoned by one of the older sailors, Bard, to follow him. She gave one encouraging parting glance to Xue who stood by the pile of sacks to be taken. Xue waved at her.

And soon, Li Mei and her guide were walking across the docking

yard. On first look at her surroundings, she thoughtherself in

another world. The natives were dark, as dark as the ebony of her mother’s jewel box. Andin contrast, their teeth were so very white, that Li Mei thought they might dazzle her eyes if the sun hit right. 221

She could see that they were just as amused by her own foreign looks, and many stares were exchanged as she followed Bard

through the streets. But Bard was kind, and walked more slowly that Li Mei’s previous guides.

“Keep up by me, little one,” he called to her. “I can’t be losing you

in this crowd.”

Li Mei managed a smile at him, and scooted forward. And Bard

carried his own heavy sack, which Li Mei could see was filled much heavier than her own. Her shoulders were not weighed down by what she carried.

Li Mei was light-hearted that fair morning. The air was cool and

the sea was surprisingly warm in the lagoon wherethe ship had

docked. Even the winds from the desert across the peninsula were not overly irritating. For often such winds broughtblinding bits of sand and pebble. Instead, the winds were clean of such

disturbances, and Li Mei felt that even Xue could not be concerned on such a beautiful morning.

The village was crowded and full of noisy vendors and children

playing in the streets with various objects – balls and sticks and

such. Perhaps the scene was a trifle obnoxious with all the vibrance and color of the market. But Li Mei was intrigued by it all.

Even though she stared at the natives in wonder, and they stared

back at her, she was not intimidated and neither were theyby her.

She did notice that once again, a certain awe was taken toward her

great guide. He was strong and tall and much larger than any of the natives. But his kindly face caused the natives to not fear him. They had seen him before, Li Mei was sure of it. Meanwhile, Bard spoke to her again.

222

“Over this way, little one. I want you to taste one of the

specialties of the market here.”

Li Mei wondered why she had never before seen how kind Bard

was. He was likely the least harsh out of all the brutish men. And he – a great leader in their Norwegian circle. Li Mei could tell by the

links of silver in his braid and the great chain upon his chest. He was highly revered. Perhaps mercy and gentleness werenot so looked

down upon after all, among such pirates. Li Mei shook her head,still not fully understanding the oddity of the entire situation.

Bard had led her to a small shop, open to the air. A wonderful

smell elicited from the windows and Li Mei found that she was quite

hungry. For breakfast seemed to have been forgotten in the great rush to arrive on shore.

Bard led her to the front of the shop where several tables were

lined up together. A brick oven stood just outside the back door, so as not to let the heat into the building on very hot days. And behind the tables were three very busy woman. All wore the same sort of smocks as the other villagers, of bright patterns, though simple. Their fuzzy heads of black hair were tied tightly back from their

gleaming faces with pieces of the same sort of cloth. All three did

not stop from running back and forth from the oven and the tables,

mixing things in great wooden bowls and adding bits and things from certain pots. Each wore a form of apron around herwaist.

And Li Mei watched in fascination, how quickly each task was performed.

The shop itself was rather crowded already, at such an early

hour, and most of the customers waited at small tables. Many were men, with cups of what Li Mei thought to be a mead-ish sort of

liquid. The smell of the whole shop was sweet. And the walls were 223

covered in pieces of artwork, the likes of which Li Mei was very

unfamiliar. Some seem made of long cords of copper,wrapped

round each other in odd shapes. Some of these pieces were able to hold potted plants. And other pieces were boards (as though they had been taken from the hull of an old ship) and werepainted brightly in colors and fashions most peculiar.

Li Mei was quite mesmerized by the activity and smells and colors

of the shop, so much so, that she nearly forgot to follow Bardto the front.

Bard then stopped at one of the front tables and spoke quickly

to one of the women there. And as she listened, completely

unabashed by the arrival of a white-headed brute, she continued to mix some edible inside a bowl. Then a great white smile flashed

across her face as she replied to him in the strange tongue. Li Mei began to wonder how many languages these Norse men knew.

When they were finished speaking, Bard directed Li Mei to be

seated at one of the small tables.

“We need only wait a short while,” he said. “These South African

women make good food, and as you can see, they are quick about it. Far more quick, I fear, than our greatship the Grimhild Groa.”

Li Mei smiled, and continued to watch the women at work. It was

fascinating to her, for she had never seen sucha sight. In Cathay,

the men would work quickly when necessary, but especially for the

women there was a sense of peace while working. She would never

hurry with her work, but do each thing deliberately until it was done well. Never was there a sense of hurry in the village from where she had come.

In ten minutes time, the woman who had spoken with Bardbrought

over an earthen dish – one which had been painted with crooked 224

lines of bright orange and yellow. It had then been glazed and fired. And on this exquisite dish, there lay what appeared to be two large

pouches. One pouch was much larger than the other, but both were

good-sized and were still steaming from theoven. Bard smiled at the woman, thanking her, as she set it on the table. And he placedtwo

silver coins in her hand which she graciously took and bustled back to the tables in the back of the room to prepare morefood.

“I think you will like what she has brought us,” Bard told Li Mei.

“Try a bite of it.”

Li Mei took the great pouch in her hand, and looked at it

carefully. It seemed to be made of a sort of white flour and the

outside almost gleamed in the light of the open window as it had

been brushed with a sort of sugar. Although it was not an all white sugar.

“Cinnamon,” Bard said to her. “Cinnamon which has likely come

from the Grimhild Groa when we were here last. And that is what you now carry in your satchel.”

“Cinnamon sticks,” Li Mei smiled. “I thought the weight was not

very great.”

Bard nodded for her to eat. And Li Mei took a small bite out of

the corner of the pouch, which was shaped mostly like a triangle.

And on the outside, a print of a sheep had been punched into the

dough before it had cooked. Li Mei looked up in surprise after she had taken the bite.

“Good?” Bard asked her, beginning to eat his own. Li Mei nodded. “Quite good. What is inside?”

“That is the secret of this shop. The women who prepareit would

not tell you for all the silver coin you could find.”

225

Li Mei smiled – a secret recipe. The pouch was good, and she

could not make out at all what its contents contained. It could have

been a sort of meat or a sweet mix or anything. There was no telling

what it contained, but it was good. And despite the greatsize of the pouch, she thought she might be able to finish it. But then she

paused, wondering if she might save the other half to be split among the others.

“Won't you finish?” Bard asked her as she hesitated to continue. “I was hoping to wrap it up and save it for the girls,” Li Meisaid,

carefully laying the pouch back on the plate.

“Never mind it,” Bard said. “We will bring back enough to split after

I have discussed the matter of the cinnamon with the owner of the shop.”

Li Mei smiled at him. Bard truly was kind, and she never would

have thought of him as a barbarian. Perhaps, she thought, hewas captured as we, when he was young. And he has never left.

The thought frightened her momentarily, wondering if the same

outcome would befall the girls themselves. However, her mind was

soon eased as she realized that Bard looked just as the others – the same great white braid, the height and build and even the eyes. He could not have been taken from some other land.

But Li Mei was tempted to ask him questions about their captivity.

After all, out of all the brutes gathered on the ship, he so far,

seemed the most likely to answer her without becoming angry.

But she held her tongue. Had she not just promised the othersthat she would not ask questions? As had all the rest made theirown

promises. And so she dropped that matter. But Bard had already

beckoned her once to finish her pouch, and so she continued to eat.

226

“Little one,” he said to her, “we must now go speak with the

owner. He is upstairs. Will you follow with your food?”

Li Mei nodded, and tucked the rest of the pouch into her satchel.

She stood up from her place at the table. The shop was still quite crowded.

“Come,” Bard called to her.

He had walked over to a small fountain in the corner. Li Meihad

not noticed earlier, as the splash of the water had been so quiet.

The fountain lapped quietly at the edge of its stone basin. About it grew small potted plants – fronds of greenand large brightly

colored flowers, but all very simple in construction. Small statues,

idols perhaps, lined the front of the fountain which seemed to have been carved out of the wall. There, Li Mei washed her hands

together thoroughly while Bard waited patiently for her, as he had

already washed his own hands. He stood by the wall, his great arms crossed over his chest, watching the others gathered there in the

shop. His ice blue eyes seemed to penetrate whatever might have been going on, undetected by anyone else. Li Mei would have

shuddered, had it not been that he had been so kind to her already. She hurriedly finished washing her hands and dried them on her skirts.

“Come now,” Bard told her, seeing that she had finished.

Li Mei quietly walked over to the wall and followed him upward.

For there was a staircase on theside near the fountain, of dark

wood, smoothed and polished as though it had been worn by many hands over years. The staircase immediatelywrapped to the left

after three stairs, and so the rest ofthe crowd was cut off from their view, until another ten steps had been taken against a wall and the stairs wrapped to the right. Li Mei looked down, as the wall had 227

disappeared and saw the crowd once again. She was surprised she had not seen that the ceiling was so high while sitting below. She hadn’t thought to look up. But therewas a low ceiling above the

tables where the pastries were mixed. She had noted that earlier.

Thinly hammered sheets of metal wereplaced on the ceiling, having been stamped with patterns while the metal was still malleable and then painted various dark colors.

But on the stairs, toward the back of the shop, ran a wall to the

left. And then they veered to the left once again, with walls on both sides. Five steps later, they entered a dark hall, quite long. Li Mei

thought it was surely long enough to stretch across the entire line of shops set next to one another on that particular street. And along

the walls of the hall were many doors. Between the doors there was an occasional narrow table with a flickering oil lamp set upon each.

“This is what is known as the dark heart,” Bardspoke cautiously,

almost poetically. “Few have seen this place.”

Li Mei waited for him to continue, but he did not. He had only

paused his walking for a few moments, and then continued forward once again. Li Mei counted the doors unconsciously. Five on the

right, seven on the left… Another four on the right and three on the

left. Finally, she lost count and kept her eyes only on the light at the end of the hall. She could see that there were several lamps

gathered there, though she was still too far away to see what they lit. “Only a little further,” Bard said to her.

He must have sensed that she was becoming uneasy. Li Mei was

not used to such dark and closed places. Surely the ship’s hold had been the first place in which she had ever been enclosed so tightly. And the hall’s beginning was already quite small behind her.

However, another hundred paces brought her close enough to see 228

the other end where the light sat.

There seemed to be a shrine set there near the light, where idols

glimmered fiercely of basalt and obsidian. Some were cut from a softer stone and were a sort of green and blue in color. Li Mei

stared at these hideous faces set between thelights. Some were

more menacing than others, but all were angryit seemed. They were nothing like the gentle spirits of Cathay, of which Li Meihad so

often heard tales. There werenot green plants set there among the

lights on the low tables. But Li Mei had almost not seen the door set between the tables. But there it was – the deepest red and cut into fantastic shapes over its surface.

“No need for fear, little one,” Bard spoke kindly to her. “These

idols can do you no harm. Myths of Africa; nothing more.”

Bard set his hand to the door and knocked loudly. The three

pounds which he inflicted, rang through the hallway in a tremendous echo. Li Mei would have jumped had she not been more sound of spirit at the moment.

Several moments passed, but not enough forBard to remove his

eyes from the door before him. Li Mei, too, watched the engravings upon its face – of demons and spirits and angry devils. She didnot

like the door, she decided. But then the door was gone, swung open and gone.

229

Lady B*e

A small woman stood before them – dark-skinned and shining in

the light. But her skin was not as dark as that of the women below, who fixed the pastries. Her eyes were the brightest green and her

robes were richly ornamented, shining with beads and small mirrors and golds, silvers, and colors which shimmered in transparency.

Her hair was blackest black, though it hung in long tails about her shoulders and a band of thin silver sat on her head.

“Ah!” she spoke aloud, pressing her hands together before her.

“I see the great Bard has returned once again.”

“Lady Brie,” Bard bowed shortly to her. “We meet again.” “Come,” she nodded her head.

Li Mei thought she saw a hint of a smile about her face.

Her accent was quite heavy, though Li Mei could understand what she said.

Lady Brie led them through the open door. Li Mei was at once

overwhelmed by what met her eyes. The room was dark, yet lit by

many candles and oil lamps. She could see there were many riches – silks and tapestries, jeweled pieces, and colored glass. However, as her eyes adjusted, she could see that the room was many rooms, which stretched further than her eyes could see in the dim light.

However, as she walked in further, there was opening of greater 233

light. And four figures began opening the shades of many windows

on both sides of the many connected rooms. All down the side they continued to draw the wooden shades of the windows, until there

were at least thirty drawn on both sides. It was as though the room were a great open hull of a ship hung high above the desert floor.

And indeed the light of that same desert now flooded the room in

streams and was met with winds from the sea, and LiMei could see the blue of the southern lagoon stretching far beyond the

northeastern wall of the rooms. Forthe great room was split by

partitions of carved wooden panels in various colors and some were

filled with glass or hung with wooden or silver beads. And the strong

curls of incense coiled round curtains of silks. Green plants wereset amidst the riches on the various levels of floors. And Li Mei was

certain she had never seen such a spread of wealth before her eyes. She had indeed been so overwhelmed, that she did not see what lay directly before her.

Lady Brie had gone ahead as the servants were opening the

windows, and was now sitting on a dark chair of ancient wood. Li Mei did not know whether she should stand where she was or continue to follow Bard, she was so overtaken by what lay before her. But Bard seemed to know his place, and continued forward. And soLi Mei

followed. The strong odor of the incense began to turn her mind and for a short time she was afraid she might lose her senses.

However, when she next looked straight at the scene before her, Lady Brie was already speaking.

“You have come to us again, great Bard,” she spoke strongly.

“Have you brought us the same?”

“The same,” my lady, Bard spoke immediately. “I hope you find it

as good as the last visit.”

234

“Twoyears has it been?” Lady Brie asked, an eyebrow cocked.

“What could have apprehended the crew of the great Grimhild Groa? Is not your crew the darkest of the seas?”

Bard would not reply to this directly, but only said quietly as he

bowed, “not my crew, madam.”

Lady Brie seemed to wish to drop the subject and turned to

Li Mei. “A prize of war?” she n i quired.

“No, madam,” Bard replied as calmly as ever. “No?” Lady Brie seemed surprised. Bard’s silence was her answer.

“Unusual for a Viking crew,” her green eyes flashed. “You will

inform me on this happening. The law of slave trade had been altered.”

Bard’s eyes were steady, and he did not comment. Li Mei’s

stomach nearly turned as she heard the cold intonation of Lady Brie when she said slave-trade. She could not help but look up suddenly at Bard. His eyes did not move.

“Very well, we will discuss this later,” Lady Brie almost sighed to

herself.

Li Mei noticed that the servants, wherever they had come from,

had disappeared once again. The pause in the room lasted several moments more.

“Let me see what you have brought,” Lady Brie continued, as

though the other subjects had been forgotten.

“Show her little one,” Bard directed Li Mei forward.

Lady Brie’s eyebrow arched once again on hearing Bard speak of

Li Mei in such a way. “Little one,” she repeated herself. “Have you taken a daughter her, Bard?” she asked coldly.

235

But she did not expect an answer. Suddenly she warmed her

voice. “There is no need to fear me,” she spoke directly to Li Mei.

“It is my duty to be sure that all slaves or cargo are treatedwell by this barbarian horde.” She looked meaningfully at Bard.

There was no sound from Bard. Li Mei relaxed her gaze

somewhat, for the lady (as cold as she seemed toward Bard) looked quite harmless toward Li Mei herself.

Li Mei drew herself to her senses and pulled from her satchel the

small package of cinnamon sticks. She noticed her hands as she

pulled them out. Hers were now quite brown from the sun, and rough from months of the winds and the seas. She held the package

carefully in her hands and placed it in the dark but soft and strong hands of the lady before her.

“Thank you,” she paused, waiting for Li Mei to give her name. Li Mei was surprised and gave her name to the dark-haired

woman.

“Li Mei,” Lady Brie repeated. “You carry a small load,” she

continued. “I will not speak of your present situation. That is

apparently something for me to discuss with the pirate here. As you see, I am not one of them as the other elders of their council tend to be. I come from a far off country for which there is no name.

Though it has been called France by mycountrymen. But that is all to say, that I will allow no harm to you here. You are free to wander about where you will. Takecare to eat a bite before you leave.”

She pointed to a table set further back in the room. LiMei bowed toward the lady quietly.

“Thank you, madam,” she said quietly, and hurried off.

From further away, she heard the strong voice of Lady Brie and the calm responses of Bard. However she could not distinguish their 236

words, for once again, they had lapsed into the dark.

Li Mei looked at the spread before her. On a round dark table

was laid a white cloth of lace. And on this cloth was a large platter of beaten silver, but thick and heavy. And on this platter was set many divisions of foods, many of which she did not recognize. She did note the orange color of a southern rice which did not grow in

Cathay. There were many sorts of beans which had been boiled until they were soft and made into a spread. Mostly the colors of the

beans and the rice and the spreads were oranges and browns,the

colors of the desert. There were spreads made from various roots and ground vegetables. And then on another dish,though not of

silver â&#x20AC;&#x201C; copper perhaps â&#x20AC;&#x201C; was laid a stack of many white tortillas. They were still steaming from the oven which had cooked them.

Li Mei found that though the pocket had been quite filling in the

shop below, the table before her was inviting. A pitcher of some

cool drink sat also there, and she poured herself a small cup of it, quietly.

The voices continued. After twenty minutes of sitting there by the

table, she decided she might wander around a bit. The windows

were still open to the now afternoon sun and she walked overto one of the open shades. The wind was blowing quite stronglyas she

approached and the silver stings of chimes wereheard from about the shops below and even from within the room near the billowing curtains of the other wall.

She sighed quietly to herself. The sea shone in the late sun, a

great blue with waves of white beyond the lagoon. The air was clear and the sands of the desert were blown back to their hills of white, away from the city.

237

Li Mei poured herself another small cup of the cold drink and

spread some of the platterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s divisions on a tortilla. An hour or more in addition to the twenty minutes, passed, before she thought she

heard voices being raised. She looked back to Bard and saw that he was sitting there calmly. Lady Brie seemed to be speaking loudly

over some thing which had caught her attention. Bard was still not

speaking, seeming to let her ramble on about whatever she pleased. Li Mei wondered if, once again, the lady spoke of herself and

whatever strange things Li Mei had not been able to understand.

But her voice soon calmed and Lady Brie went back to her strong and steady tone.

It was no less than three hours which had gone by when Bard

finally rose from his seat on the floor. Li Mei had spent the time looking about the various compartments, but not straying far.

There were things of fantastic natures strewn about the ship of the

air. There were butterflies under glass of magnificent size and colors. A game set of heavy jade lay upon one table which she had hardly

dared to touch. Although she must have examined it for at least ten full minutes, marveling at the natural color of the stone and the

perfection of the carved pieces. She did not recognize the game;

however, she thought through how it might be played as she looked

it over. In another compartment she saw in a bowl of polished stone

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a pile of marvelous sun-filled fruits. They were lemons. Lemons, of which she had never tasted. Once a traveler had come through the mountains of her village with two of the fruits. However, the other village children had taken their taste of it before Li Mei had her

chance. She found later, speaking with Jia Li and Ting, that they had been two of the children which had tasted the fruit.

238

“It was quite sour, a tang which oranges don’t know,” Ting had

tried to describe the flavor to her. “Perhaps you did not miss much by not having your taste. Although I think it would not have been quite as tart if it had been mixed with some other fruit.”

Li Mei almost wished she could have taken one of the lemons back

to the ship. How fun it would have been to share with the other girls. But she had not been offered a lemon. And besides, Bard had

promised to give the girls a pastry each on the way back to the ship. And so Li Mei left the lemons as an opportunity not taken.

However, the collections from foreign lands intrigued Li Mei.

There were paintings of places Li Mei had only everheard of – of

castles in the great land of Europe. And tapestries of folk in strange dress from lands far to the west of her lands. Statuettes from the mysterious and ancient deserts of Egypt – there were several of these. Li Mei could not tell if these were actually as old as they

appeared or if they were simply taken from the earth where they had been buried with the dirt of the desert left on them. It would have taken her weeks to examine such things. And there were books,

many books. So many, in fact, that Li Mei could not tell how many there might be. They were stacked carefully into shelves amidst

scrolls which must have been older than anything Li Mei could have guessed. Li Mei had trouble, however, picturing Lady Brie as a

woman who read much. Her mannerism seemed to suggest that she

did not read herself, but that her servants might read a volume to her from time to time in the afternoon when she was not busy with managing the affairs of the shop below.

Li Mei's mind wandered as she studied these objects. She did not

dare open one of the books, as she had not been given permission. She wondered what languages she might find them written in. 239

But the other doors... so many. Li Mei wondered at so many; her father had seen the royal palace beyond the village. And he had spoken of many rooms, more than the eye could count. Li Mei

thought that perhaps there were more doors in the palace than there were above the shops of the street. But there were indeed, more than she could keep count of on walking through thehall.

It occurred to her then, that the top level of all the shops on the

street were connected to one another. And there surely would have been room on the connecting levels to house all the doorsand their respective rooms.

Li Mei walked back over to one of the windows on the

southeastern wall. She rested her arms there on the great ledge,

which was nearly level to her elbows. She watched the winds on the sands and the activity of the city beyond. The sea still gleamed in the sun of the early evening.

Where were her parents, her grandmother? Where were the

families of the other seven girls who were brought with them on this grand voyage of the south seas? Li Mei thought daily on her lost

family, her village, and her homeland. How could she not? They had

all been very courageous to keep calm throughout the months on the seas. Never had there been a cry of anger from any of them, nor a bout of tears, nor a speech of great regret. It had been discussed very little, in actuality. Each knew that the others weredeeply sad over the loss of what they left behind. There was no question in their minds that the others were just as sorrowful as themselves.

But such things were not delved into at great length. Forthere was

little use for lament in the Asian way. What good would itdo to them to speak of a past event, bad is it might have been, if it would not

bring back what was lost. As Harald had spoken solemnly to LiMei, 240

they would figure they're own way to get back to their homeland.

And Li Mei vowed to herself that it would come to pass as soon as the opportunity lent itself. She would be ready. “Come, Li Mei.”

Li Mei was startled back to the present. Lady Brie was calling her.

She hurried back to the front of the room where she had first

entered four hours before. She bowed low to the lady, still sitting on the throne of dark wood.

“Li Mei, it would seem that Bard knows what he is about doing

after all.” She looked carefully at Li Mei and then at Bard. “I will not

keep him from what his Viking crew is about doing. However, I am not

given permission to speak more on the subject, as I am sure you know by this time. You have alreadyspoken with three of the other elders.

And I, as the fourth, will not discourage what is about to take place.” Li Mei did not allow her confusion to show in her face. And

perhaps it was not so much confusion which came to her mind, but more of a realization of another piece being added to her speculation.

“I will not assume anything,” she told herself, as LadyBrie

continued. “This matter of the elders, I will discuss later with the others.”

“I am not altogether unconvinced of Bard's notions,” Lady Brie

said carefully. “Although youmust be warned, that of what you have

no idea, will take place soon. And then, you must be prepared to do as you see fit.”

Li Mei was desperately trying not to be mortally confused.

The lady's words were well-meant and Li Mei knew that she should remember what was spoken. And yet, she realized that her words were very much like Harald's. Although she did not speak of any 241

form of escape. Perhaps this was because Bardwas standing right there before her.

“You have heard my words, young one,” Lady Brie said.

The winds of the evening billowed through silk of the curtains.

There was a mystery to which Li Mei could not understand.

The small bag of cinnamon sticks still lay on the table before the lady.

“You have heard my words,” Lady Brie repeated.

Though she did not seem to wish spoken confirmation, Li Mei

merely bowed in respect, looking once more into the deep green

eyes of the French woman before her. Lady Brie looked upward to Bard.

“We shall meet again,” she said firmly and calmly.

She then rang a small bell which Li Mei had not seen before – a

bell of glass - which rang clearly as though the whole town might

have heard it. And almost immediately a formreappeared from the shadows.

“My servant will show you to the door,” she spoke quietly.

“Farewell.”

Bard bowed low to the mysterious lady, and backed toward the

door. Li Mei did the same. And the servant, whose face remained quite hidden in the shadows, pulled back the great reddoor.

Then they were walking back down the great hall, the door having

closed heavily behind them. They walked quickly, for Bard seemed to be in a great hurry. Li Mei was not entirely sure she should ask

him any questions. He did not exactly seem troubled,she thought,

however the quiet was too great to break it. Only the thud of Bard's heavy boots echoed through the lamp-lit hall. But soon they

reached the staircase, and Bard turned to her, suddenly smiling as 242

before.

“Come, Li Mei. We must find your friends some of those pastries

you enjoyed so much.”

Li Mei smiled back at him, not wishing to reveal theconcern she

experienced at that moment. But below, the shop was full of gaiety

and music. For out in the streets of thetown, were drums and flutes. Torches lit the streetsand in the shop were more oil lamps and

colors. For a different crowd came to the night and there would be

song and dance and feasting. The same women still worked behind the tables and in the setting sun of the south seas, the oven still baked hot and red and the blue of the sea tumbled beyond the lagoon.

Bard spoke to the same woman with the beautiful white smile.

And there was soon a great basket of the hot pastries, which Bard carried himself.

“They will sing long into the night,” Bard said to her, gripping the

handle of the basket with a solid hand. “But they will bring you no harm.”

“Are they celebrating?” Li Mei asked carefully.

For the noise was rising to a loud degree at that moment.

“Ah, they sing and dance every night,” Bard laughed. “When there

truly is a celebration, then the very sky will light up red.”

Li Mei wondered at this. Perhaps it was only an exaggeration on

Bard’s part, for thesky could not light up as red. She asked no more questions. And Bard led her through the crowds on the

streets. Most wore brightly colored robes which flashed in the

torchlight, and many more watched the dances from balconies above

the street. There were drinks of various aromas being passed about. And Li Mei could not quite tell what they drank – sometimes the 243

glasses smelled of sweet honeysuckle, and other times of spices.

But she was surprised to see that Bard had taken hold of her arm and moved her forward to walk beside him.

“Do not get lost, little one,” he cautioned her. “There are

thousands here tonight.”

Li Mei nodded and hurried her steps to be sure she did not loose

her place beside Bard. But he had been right – the crowd seemed harmless. Whatever they drank had either not taken hold of their senses by that early hour, or, the drinks were as harmless as

themselves, and they were simply overcome by the music in the

streets. But Li Mei had never seen such a crowd, and she kept her

face hidden with the hood of her cloak pulled close about her face. But looking back once, she thought she saw in the fading light,a shadow on a far balcony near Lady Brie’s quarters.

Back at the ship, Li Mei loosened her hold on the cloak of her

hood and followed Bard up the gangplank to the deck. The sun had mostly set and the crew and the girls had already finished supper.

They were all quiet, listening to the noise of the nearby city and the cries of the desert.

“Oh, Li Mei!” Fen cried from her seat on the railing, “where have

you been?”

Li Mei smiled rather wearily as Bard chuckled to himself almost

and walked over to the pirates around the fire.

She relayed what she could of the tale to the eager girls.

They were not quite used to hearing of such encounters.

“But I will not even attempt to analyze what Lady Brie was

speaking of,” Li Mei said, finishing her exposition. “And, please, let

us forget about it for the present. It is not thetime to contemplate it further.”

244

Xia smiled at her and addressed the others. “We will do as Li Mei

wishes. After all, I believe that we have other news from Xue, regarding her own unique experiences at this new port.”

All eyes turned to Xue, who seemed most anxious to begin her

narration.

“Well,” Li Mei urged, “let us hear what happened today.”

“The most fantastic thing you could imagine…” she began

impulsively. She stood from her seat in the circle and came round to face them, her back to the sea and the awakening stars.“I was

assigned to follow Hrok and I carried what therest of you took.” “Which was?” Li Mei, of course, did not know.

“Oh, yes. We took samples of rosewood. And Hrok took me

through a great forest on the eastern shore. It was so dense that I had to tuck all of my skirts into my belt so that I should not have

caught them all in the brush. There was little cool air to reach me

even from the sea which was not more than twenty yards from where we walked. I thought that I might suffocate after an hour of such hacking through the brush.”

“Were you given a knife then?” Jia Li asked.

“Yes – a large one at that. I believe the particular blade is foreign

to our pirate friends, for I have not seen them carry such a knife

before. The blade was curved at a substantial angle and it must have been sharp enough to slice through an entire pig in swift stroke.

I could see that Hrok was very hesitant to allow me to use such a

weapon. And so in the end, he only allowed me a small knife. But I

did hold the great blade and swung with it several times. And aside from the knife, I believe it was after an hour of being in the great

jungle, that Hrok suddenly made a great opening before him with

several slashed of the blade. And before me was an expanse in the 245

forest. The sunlight streamedthrough the cover above and I saw a sight such as I do not believe I shall ever witness again.”

She paused, her eyes watching some foreign objects far off above

the city. The girls sat forward. Foralthough Xue was not a very

good story-teller, they were suddenly captivated by her tone of voice.

“It was, it was a great mass of white bones!” she finally exclaimed.

“A skeleton of such enormous proportions, I thought itwas the remains of an ancient temple.”

“What?” Jia Li thought her cousin might have not seen correctly.

“A skeleton – how large?”

“It was as large as our house in the village, I think,” Xue said, trying

to be convincing. “I cannot even say. Perhaps it was larger.

The bones were ancient, Hrok said. You wereright, Li Mei. It was the remains of a great beast, a monster.

“A monster, Xue?”Fen was most intrigued. “So then it’s truewhat

the brute said.” She spoke more to herself than to the others. “It was a thing you should have seen for yourselves,” Xue

continued. “I did not think that such creatures could exist anywhere on the earth. Yet there it was – right before my eyes. A pile a

sparkling white bones as though the beast had fallen where it stood only weeks before. Each bone was in place whereit had fallen.”

“To think…” Jing said softly,“such beasts may even still roam this

country.”

“I think they are all gone,” Xue replied. “Hrok saw that I was

thoroughly amazed. But he informed me that he had seen such

bones before. Not as magnificent, perhaps, as the ones of which we

came upon. Particularly as they werequite white for having lain there so long. However, he said that the natives had not heard tale of a 246

live beast in this territory for hundreds of years.”

“Incredible,” Fen whispered. “If only wecould see such a sight…”

And they spoke of these things as the waves of the water lapped

quietly against the ship’s hull in the night.

247

Shannon

The next morning dawned a great blue sky, with no clouds. Li Mei

wondered if this meant that storms would be coming that night, for it seemed all too often that the morning began clear and the late

afternoon boiled in clouds from across the sea. Li Mei did not mind

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; she loved hearing the rain on the sea. But they were still docked in South Africa. The city was already alive at the early hour before the sun had quite risen. And the girls, who set about preparing a

morning meal, took turns watching the activity from the railing.

The city was a distance off, but voices and chants could still be heard from the streets and the monastery high off in the hills.

The colors of the city seemed to vibrate across the desert to the lagoon where they sat waiting for the barbarians to cart off the

goods to the appropriate vendors and the ladyin the great hall.

The air seemed especially fresh that morning, as it came from the sea and brushed hard up against the land and the city. Several small

fishing vessels were heading to the harbor as the sun came up and

Li Mei enjoyed watching the fisherman hurry about the decks of the boats, sorting the fish in the warm morning.

But soon it was time to leave. The last of the barbarians headed

back to the ship with the empty carts, all the goods having been

passed to their new owners. Li Mei watched from the railing, her 251

black hair pulled forward by the greatwind. It was a moment in time

where she even more desperately missed her father and mother and grandmother.

Perhaps it would not be long before they reachedtheir

destination. And then the girls could concentrate on finding a way

back to their home. It seemed longer than the matter of months they had spent on the seas. Who knew how many thousands of miles

spanned between them and their own family and village. She knew

there were many, and the instruments which she still used on the ship would not tell her how far, for she, as of yet, still did not understand the great maps spread before her. No one had said where their

country was located on them. She could only guess. For the map which her father had shown her from the royal library the years before, only crudely matched the barbarian’s version.

As she thought on these things, Li Mei was feeling very small and

alone. If it weren’t for the happy chatter of the girls behind her, she would have drawn back to the initial sadness she experienced the

day she was taken. Although more than ever, she wished to be back in her own village with her family. How much had happened since that dark day. She wondered whether her parents were still

searching for them, if they were now traveling the earth in search of their daughters. And were the other girls’ families doing the same.

Were their brothers out now in the mountains, still calling their names and searching for any remains in the woods to lay them torest if

found. Li Mei shuddered – terrible thoughts. If only she could have sent a message in the winds to them to let them know wherethey were and that they were safe. “Li Mei?”

Li Mei snapped awake from her reverie. Xia stood behind her. 252

“Li Mei, do not be sad,” she said softly, coming over to lean her

own arms on the railing.

Li Mei was quiet for a moment and then turned to her friend.

“We all miss our families, our homes. I cannot help but think that we could have made our escape earlier.”

Xia listened, the early morning sun lighting her face.

“It just seems to me as though it could have been prevented

somehow,” Li Mei continued. “Perhaps if wewere all as Xue, we would have been long at home, safe.”

“You cannot blame yourself for our presence here,Li Mei,” Xia

said firmly. “Even if you had kicked and screamed and yelled as loud and as long as is possible, even if we had all raised our voices

together, we would not have been heard. And you know as well as I

that we would have easily and quickly been caught if even one of us had tried to escape.”

Li Mei nodded, trying to accept what Xia was saying.

Xia continued, “We are here for some reason, even if we cannot

say what it is.”

The girls stood there awhile longer as the sun continued to rise.

And soon the shout of “Weigh anchor!” was given. And within hours, the coast of South Africa had slipped off into the distance of the sea.

L It seemed a great long while on the sea over the next stretch of

ocean. Li Mei, in fact, did not even seem to be able to keepcount of the number of shells lodged within the hull wall. True, she never failed to place a small white piece, in honor of the day at sea. 253

However, she rather wondered if she had not, at times, placed more than one daily. For suddenly,the days had piled up to many. It was

another four months before land would be seen again. One hundred and twenty long days and nights on the sea. Despite theyellow

pallor of their Asian skin, all of the girls had taken on a brown skin

and their hair flew wildly and black in the wind. Their garments were

sturdy and kept well in the biting salt water and the storms and fierce suns and waves. But Li Mei did not enjoy counting the shells.

One evening, however, as the girls laughed and chatted about the

fire with the pirates, she did count them.

“Twohundred eighty...” she whispered. “Twohundred eighty.

No, it is not possible.”

She stepped back from the hull wall, a hand clasped to her mouth,

as though she had spoken too loudly. Could it really have

happened that they had been voyaging nine months on the wide blue and gray of the seas with the brigands on deck? It nearly made

Li Mei wish to cry as she stood there, her eyes recounting the pieces over and over, unconsciously.

But, yes, it must have been that long – nine months on the open

sea. And Li Mei was not the only one who was saddened by such a realization. However, she would not tell the girls how long it had

actually been. Although all they would have had to have done, was

to count the little pieces themselves. It was the barbarians who were

beginning to miss their homeland, as was evident by their stories and tales around the fires at night. Li Mei took away most of the shell pieces, digging them out with a small knife from the hold. And instead, she counted one piece for every ten days.

Up on deck there was excitement. And Li Mei quickly forgot the

shells. For once again, land was in sight. There was no small joy 254

upon hearing this. Li Mei hurried to the prow of the ship.

And indeed there was a brownish haze far off. She dared not hope they had returned to her home shores. Indeed, all of the girls had put such a hope aside in their journey across the greatseas.

But land was inviting after so long on the open water. The foodhad begun to taste slightly of must, beside the fresh fish and other bounty of the seas.

Li Mei climbed the rigging there, as did Li Na. For both had

managed to tackle the upper masts of the ship with more easethan had the others.

“Did land never seem more inviting?” Li Na asked breathlessly, for

the wind whipped wonders that morning. “Never,” Li Mei agreed.

Her hand was braced against the wind and salt of the waves.

The mountains of the distance took several more hours for their

shape to draw more true. But surely, they grew greater in size and

darkness as they drew close through the fog of the sea. The waters were unusually gray that morning and the girls heard the barbarians discussing how strange it was that the sun was not shining. “Does it often shine here?” Xia asked Vika.

Vika laughed at such a question. “Shine? My girl, here, the sun

shines without ceasing. For we arearriving upon the shores of North Africa. And for it to rain here is unthinkable.”

Xia did not seem satisfied. “But it has rained already.”

“No, not rain. Only mist,” Vika attended to the rigging above him.

“The fog will clear, but the rain, I think, will not come.”

The girls did not attend to their usual chores that morning.

They watched the land grow over the horizon of the sea. Never did

they look more like a band of pirates there, knives in their belts and 255

several up in the rigging, watching the sea.

But it was late noon by the time land was docked and it seemed

that there would be no hope of ever escaping under the

circumstances. Particularly in this place, it would be unlikely.

The village to which they had come was set right up against a great mess of cliffs, of hard rock and sand wherethere were no paths or

footholds, for the incline was too steep. LiMei wondered what sage

might live in the town whom she would be broughtto for examination. But escape was not mentioned among the girls. They rather

wondered how the village folk traveled to the plateau where ti

seemed more civilization must reside. They came to the conclusion that they sailed from one port to another forsupplies or information.

This time, Ting was curious, rather than the most inquisitive Xue.

“Where have we come?” she asked Hrok, who was busy preparing parchments.

“Well, lass, it would seem that we have arrived at another desert,”

he almost laughed. “But this place is still on the continent of Africa. Only we have arrived at a much northern port.” “Does it have a name then?” Ting asked.

“A name it has, althoughit has not been called such for very long.” “What then?” “Morocco.”

“Morocco,” Ting repeated slowly, letting the word spill out rather

awkwardly. “Morocco,” she said again more smoothly. “A beautiful name,” she decided aloud.

Hrok did not respond, but continued to look at the charts while

Ting shared this information with the other girls.

256

“Morocco?” Li Mei mused aloud. “Funny I would never have heard

of such a place before.”

“Hrok said that it had been lately named Morocco,” Ting informed

her. “Perhaps that is why it never appeared on your father's maps.” “Perhaps. Although I would like to know how far north we are.

Maybe Odd will show me the maps today.”

Ting shook her head doubtfully. “They are always so vague.

Perhaps they are afraid wewill discover where our home is. Although surely they expect us to be ignorant of such things. Their countries are not even labeled on their maps.”

They did not ponder this for very long, however. For the docking

was about to commence. Li Mei did not even wonder about the little sack she was given to carry. She thought it was rather light, but she knew that she would discover soon enough what it held. Her guide was once again to be Frithjof, of whom she had grownrather fond,

for he seemed as though he might have been a good brother under different circumstances. He smiled down at herfrom his great height.

“Are you ready, Li Mei?” he asked her rather quietly. Li Mei nodded and pocketed the small sack.

“Then let us be off,” he replied and marched down the gangplank

to the sandy shore.

Li Mei said little as she followed his dusty black boots through the

sanded pathway of the dock. But Frithjof seemed to be in the mood for some sort of conversation. He kept calling overhis shoulder to

her, pointing out small things here and there, suchas the kittiwakes in the cliffs and about how tasty their eggs were,and that perhaps

they might get some before the voyage. He showed her a small shop made of hard mud bricks where sea urchins were sold. Li Mei 257

thought it most strange to see the creaturesstill alive in the stone basins of salt water. They were odd things. But Frithjof had no intention of purchasing one.

“They have a foul taste,” he told her. “Aside from that, thereis

hardly any meat to the little fellows. You'd need about three dozen to fill a decent pie.”

Li Mei was not aware that there was such a thing as urchin pie.

She could hardly imagine the northern brutes having the patience to peel such a pile of urchins for only one pie. But she only smiled to herself and continued to follow.

“Ah!” Frithjof stopped so short, that Li Mei ran into him.

But he apparently did not notice. His eye was on a dish of

brightly colored rocks in a store window.

“Good luck,” he said, pointing to the rocks.

Li Mei made her confusion apparent by the wrinkle of her brow,

but could say nothing before Frithjof explained himself.

“There is always something good about stocking up on rocks such

as these,” he told her. “Perhaps there is nothing to these things,but

I find that the voyage is always much smoother from here to Egypt if I

have a pile of them. After all the Mediterranean carries rough waters and winds this time of year.”

Li Mei thought that such an idea was foolish, but said nothing.

Frithjof spoke to the man who sat behind the counter in a different tongue. Several moments later he had handed over several coins in exchange for three stones – one of deepest red and chalky in

substance, another of darkest turquoise, and a third of yellowwhich had the same sheen of the sulfur.

“Now we are ready to continue,” he said to her.

258

But there was only a short distance to travel. Forthey had not

gone more than two hundred yardsmore when Frithjof turned

sharply down an alley of mud bricks and knocked sharply with his

great fist on a weathered door, which Li Mei knew had once been a deep orange color.

“Hallo? Hallo?” A voice called from inside, rather loudly and

almost vulgarly.

“It is I, Shannon. Open the door,” boomed Frithjof.

“You have given no name,” the voice replied frominside. “You know who speaks,” Frithjof retorted.

“And yet you have still given me no name,” the voice replied in the

same tone.

“Do not make yourself a fool, Shannon,” Frithjof urged. “Open

the blasted door.”

“With no name, there is no entrance,” the voice went on, unabated.

Frithjof scratched his head and chuckled to himself. He paused for a moment and looked over at Li Mei, his hand behind his neck.

“He knows perfectly well it is I,” he told her. “Shall I play his game

and continue this ridiculous encounter, or shall I break in the door?” Li Mei seemed rather alarmed at the thought of having to reply to

such a question. But she soon saw that Frithjof did not really intend for her to answer.

“Very well, Shannon,” Frithjof spoke again. “You shall have my

name, provided you promise to see what wares I bring your way.”

The voice did not answer immediately but then scratched out a

hearty, “Very well.”

“The name is Frithjof.”

Immediately, the door swung open and the mischievous grin of an

old sage greeted them.

259

“Frithjof, my boy, why did you not tell me thy name? I would have

granted you earlier entrance.”

“Shannon, you scoundrel!” Frithjof began and gave the little old

soul a great bear hug. “Youlive still!”

“And I shall continue to live still,” Shannon laughed heartily,his

voice cracking in deep rolls. “I think I shall outlive thyself.”

“Truly?”Frithjof asked him, his eyes twinkling. “I may place money

against that statement.”

Shannon laughed again at this remark and turned to Li Mei.

“Ah, this is of whom I heard spoken of,” he said, examining her

face as if she might have been a prized good.

“Yes, I anticipate that you received word from theislands?”

Frithjof replied, walking on in to the house. “Not the islands, but from Brie.”

“Brie?” Frithjof seemed surprised. “I thought that she had little

communication this far north.”

“She seems to have changed her ways,” Shannon replied “I think

her years have softened her strange stubborn ways.”

Frithjof settled himself down on a low cushion of the floor, his legs

sprawled across the intricately-woven rugs on the floor. Shannon seemed to waste little time, however.

“Business first,” he said, leading Li Mei into the darkened room.

Almost immediately two servants hurried forth with oil lamps and

other such trifles which Li Mei did not pay notice to, so odd was the little old man in front of her.

“Show us what thou brings,” Shannon instructed her.

With his arm he pushed aside the contents of the low table on the

carpets. The table sat no more than a foot above the floor and was inlaid with many green and blue stones and pieces of red wood. 260

The contents the old man pushed aside were whatmight have been charts of the heavens, the stars. Li Mei obediently loosened the cord of her packet and spilled the contents carefully over the polished stones of the table.

“Ah, you have done well, Frithjof,” Shannon eyed the table almost

greedily. “Our gardens shall well benefit from such a prize as this. And how many sacks have you of these for me?”

“Three such sacks and all of ten times this size,” Frithjof

straightened his back and raised his head a bit. Li Mei looked at the table.

“Pumpkin seeds,” she whispered to herself, so softly that no one

heard. “Whatever could they need pumpkins for?”

At least, she was sure they were pumpkin seeds. She had never

seen an actual pumpkin herself, but had seen seeds in the sacks of travelers.

“What colors?” Shannon asked.

“Red, white, green, yellow,” Frithjof answered. “Orange...” “What splendors they will bring,” Shannon said.

“You do not eat them?” It came from Li Mei's mouth before she

could stop herself.

“Seeds?” Shannon turned to her, unabated by her question.

Li Mei did not reply at first, realizing she should not have said

anything.

Shannon looked hard at her and then laughed. “No, we do not eat

the seeds, as neither would thou, I expect. I know what you mean.

Pumpkin is eaten here, however, most of thecliff dwellers prefer the pumpkin for decoration.”

Li Mei smiled a little, although confused. She wondered if

Shannon was another sort of elder from the barbarians' tribe. 261

And yet even though her understanding of the language was weak

still, she recognized that Shannon spoke a different form of it, using words that the others did not use fromtime to time.

Ta-es of Morocco

For the next hour, Shannon and Frithjof discussed the things in

the familiar tongue, not only of pumpkin seeds, but of the rest of the trade which had ensued on the islands. Li Mei heard what she

already knew and her mind wandered as she sat there. Shannon had insisted that she sit on one of the silk cushions which were also set down for himself and Frithjof. The servants moved quickly and

Li Mei had short time to protest, which she did not attempt. She had

the feeling that Shannon was a very wealthy and influential man in the province despite his rather eccentric appearance.

The hour seemed to pass quickly, however. And Li Mei soon

found that they had finished the business procedures.

“Tomorrowmorning I will deliver the sacks myself,” Frithjof was

saying.

“Good, my boy, good,” Shannon slapped him on the shoulder.

“And now to eat and to discuss more important matters.”

A sly look passed over his face, more of mischief than anything

else. And with a clap of his hands, three servants cameforth.

One carried a pot of strong coffee of which Li Mei could not abide

the taste. She did politely swallow a sip from time to time, however.

Though she imagined that Frithjof would not notice if she drank it or no.

265

Large steaming dishes were placed beforethem of lamb and

chicken dressed in honey, apricot, chickpeas, tomato, lemon, and

olives. They were the most extraordinary tastes and Li Mei ate small pieces of each, in order to report back to the others what sort of

foods these cliff dwellers ate. But the coffee seemed to grow all the more bitter with each bite of the food and so she was obliged to put it away entirely.

Over the next two hours the men conversed in some strange

tongue, which did not surprise Li Mei. The only thought on her mind

was how dreadfully scorched was her own tongue from the spice and tart of the food. There was no water.

Fried fish, honey pastries, and eggplant were brought forth for a

second course, but Li Mei could hardly touch them. Then a spiced red lentil soup, which she did not even think of tasting, along with another pot of hot mint tea. What odd combinations they were!

But the tea she did not attempt, for she was not offered it, and she could not imagine reaching across the low table or asking for it.

A dish of golden spice lay next to the pot of tea – its smell so strong that it nearly made her wish to sneeze. Berbere was its name she

discovered later as Shannon pointed it out in offering to Frithjof.

Li Mei noticed that Frithjof took a healthy portion and added it to his lentil soup.

Li Mei began to feel somewhat sick and she could feel the

perspiration on her forehead. She tried discreetly to fan herself with her hand whenever she could manage to turn her head away from the table. But Frithjof noticed her beforemuch time had passed. “Li Mei, what is wrong?”

Shannon noticed too. He called in a servant who brought a red

glass of iced water. He bowed short and handed her the glass which 266

she took gratefully. Within several minutes her tongue had cooled and she was able to dry her forehead with the fold of her sleeve. “Thank you,” she said quietly to Shannon.

“My dear, say no more. I should have seen that you were needing

a refreshing drink,” Shannon almost looked flustered in attending to

her. “But it will not be enough. You will be morethan parched on the way back to the ship. Frithjof, see to it that sheis comfortable on the walk home.”

Li Mei almost smiled in spite of herself. After all, it was only a half

hour's walk, at the most, back to the vessel. However, it did her

good to see the old man concerned. And as she listened to him, she noticed that he had the most fascinating eyes. No matterhow old

the sage was, his eyes were spectacular – a shade of blue the likes of which she had never seen before, nor was likely to again.

They shone steady as well, as though they were the eyes of a new

born, bright and not the slightest shade of dull to them. She found herself staring at his eyes as he spoke with Frithjof. But she soon

shook herself back to the present and realized that the gentlemen were back to the unfamiliar tongue, discussing herself, no doubt.

Throughout the next hour and a half, Shannon made sure that her

glass was always filled with cold water, for which she was very

grateful. She found that he was right and that she continued to thirst a great deal throughoutthe entirety of the discussion.

The thirst slacked little by little, but as the men roseto part, she

knew that she would, indeed, need another drink on the way back to the ship.

She found it odd, however, that not once during the interview had

Shannon looked over to her questioningly, as had the other

councils. He only spoke in normal tones and laughed heartilyfrom 267

time to time. Li Mei wondered what Frithjof was saying to him.

Soon, though they were off. Shannon had a few kind words for

her as they left.

“Now, my dear, take good care of my old friend here, Frithjof.

For thee knowest,” he whispered to her, “he misses his home much as thee misses thine. Do not hold it against him that thee are where thee are now. It will all work out in the end. Know that.” Li Mei nodded to him.

“Thank you, sir,” she said. “You have been verygood to me,” she

said hesitatingly, for she felt out of place.

“Any time, my dear,” the old sage chuckled. “Any time.”

Li Mei left, thinking that he would have been the sort of

grandfather she wished she had had at home. She had only ever

known her grandmother, the mother of her father. But she realized as she walked that they were trivial things she was thinking on.

There had somehow been something comforting about Shannon, even during the short afternoon. As she followed Frithjof, he

looked over his shoulder and seemed to remember what Shannon had told him.

“Come, little one,” he said after a short walk. “This way.”

Li Mei followed as he beckoned and he led her to a table outside

some sort of shop along the street. She could not read the writing above the door, but she gathered there were drinks being sold inside.

“Wait here,” he instructed. “I will return.”

Perhaps it dawned very strongly upon Li Mei at that moment – it

was almost a perfect chance to escape. If she had been alone, and the other girls hadn't been waiting for her... But she knew that she could not think of such a thing. Firthjof had been so kind. 268

And somehow, she was beginning to trust the pirates, barbarians as they were. There was something in the way Shannon had assured her not to worry. And thus she sat, waiting a good ten minutes. Perhaps Frithjof had not even considered that she might have

escaped during his absence. Nevertheless, he returned with two

glasses. Li Mei was surprised to see glass – for each tumbler was

made thickly of it and almost shone blue in the sun. She was only

used to the cups made of hard clay or wood on the ship. And back home she had rarely seen anything but china or porcelain cups.

The drink itself contained ice, which surprised her even moreand the drink seemed to pop and fizzle. Along with the drink had come a

small plate on which lay two slices of orange, another two of lemon, and two more of lime.

Frithjof laughed at her surprise.

“Here,” he said to her, and handed her a very small silver fork.

With it, he speared one of the orange slices for her and handed it

to her. He picked up his own slice with his hand.

“Now squeeze your slice against the inside of the glass with your

fork,” he said to her, doing the same with his two fingers on his own. Li Mei took the fork and did as Firhtjof instructed, pressing it up

against the side of her glass. Soon, a small fresh stream of juice was added to her drink. Once the orange had been drained, she set it back on the plate.

“Now,” Frithjof told her, “don't touch the lime or the lemon yet.”

He took a reasonably sized sip from his glass and smiled a bit to

himself, very much unlike the way of a barbarian. “Go ahead,” he urged her.

Li Mei carefully lifted the glass with both her hands and held it to

her mouth. She took the smallest slip and let the cold slip down her 269

throat.

“What think you?” he asked her, almost anxiously.

Li Mei smiled. It was amazingly good. “It is delicious!” she slipped

back into her native tongue. “Oh,” she corrected herself and repeated the same in the barbaric tongue.

Frithjof smiled and took several moresips. Once the glass was a

third down, he added the lemon as did Li Mei to her own, and when the last third remained, they added the lime. “What is it?” Li Mei finally asked him. Firthjof paused.

“Who can say, exactly. It is a healing drink, of which I have not

tasted in years...” His eyes stared off somewhere beyond the ocean

and they seemed so blue, they were almost white. He looked back at her. “This was once my home,” he told her. Li Mei stared.

“Shannon is like a father to me, and was when I was very young.” Li Mei still said nothing. Could the pirate beforeher actually be

softening toward something? She thought it unlikely, but decided not to be too curious about the matter. And Frithjof seemed to

notice that he had said too much. He looked sideways at her where she sat, both hands folded in her lap.

“Well, little one,” he said, “you see we all miss our homeland.

But let us be going. The sun will not wait to set.”

And thus, he stood up, as did she. And they were off back to the

ship for the night.

“Well?” Fen askedupon her entrance.

Eight pairs of jet eyes stared at her eagerly. Li Mei paused

before she said anything.

“I suppose there is little to say,” she walked toward the port side

of the deck.

“Nothing of significance?” Jing asked her.

“Nothing to say of really,” Li Mei said. “The sage we visited was

named Shannon – an old friendly man. And if they spoke of me,I could not tell. For though they spoke in a strange tongue, they

never even looked to where I sat or indicated that they spoke of

something secretive. Forthey laughed throughout the narrative.”

“This is strange,” Jing admitted forthe others. “Perhaps theyhave

decided to forget whatever they discussed in previous places...”

Li Mei shook her head. “I think not. Shannon knew I was coming.

He received word from Lady Brie before we arrived.”

“They must have runners set out along the countries,” Ting

suggested. “How else could information travel so fast?”

“I think more importantly, is why she would bother to send

runners?” Xia mentioned. “Why would she go to suchtrouble to relay something like this if it were not terribly important?”

“Perhaps she sent the message with a bundle of other more

important things.” Jia Li said. “I am sure they alwayssend a good deal of information whenever they send runners. Only the

announcement of a battle won or lost could merit such a great run, do you think?”

Li Mei nodded. “Perhaps Jia Li is right. Thereis not need to

ponder it too long. After all, we have better things to think of. We must somehow determine how much longer we have on this ship before final landfall is made.”

271

The girls agreed and they called another counsel that night under

the heavens as the pirates shared stories and music around the fire.

They did not spend long into the night, for in the end, there was little to share and they themselves lapsed into the old stories from home

and the thoughts of their past. Several thought they had celebrated birthdays while they were on the last stretch of ocean as well. There were various things such as these to pass around.

272

Paulus

The next morning dawned rather cool, and it seemed as though

rain might be coming over the sea. And true to his word, Frithjof left the ship early in the morning with the three sacks of pumpkin seed. He whistled as he set about to haul it out to the sage’s dwelling.

Li Mei watched the activity of the barbarians as they prepared to

hoist the anchor and adjust the rigging. But she would not be idle,

so she took her wooden pail and brush from the cornerof the deck

where she tied it down every late afternoon. She let the pail down by its rope to the ocean and let it fill with the salt water. Pulling it back up, she set it on the deck and added some flakes of hard soap.

Even the barbarians seemed to have a sense of cleanliness, although they hadn’t always used the soap. Jing had introduced it to them

the month before on the open sea, suggesting as best she couldin their tongue that it might save them and the storesbelow from

disease. Soon, her pail was full of the primitive suds and her brush went to work, scouring the deck the cleanest she might make it. “Really, do you mean to scrub through the deck boards?”

Li Mei looked up to see Xia standing above her, her bright skirts

twitching in the cool of the late morning breeze. Li Mei smiled at her. “Shall I join you then?” Xia asked her.

275

“You may as well,” Li Mei sighed with a smile, “for I am getting

nowhere, it seems.”

Xia sat next to her there with her own brush.

“You have thoughts on your mind, have you not?”

“You know I have,” Li Mei said, although not smiling.

“They are not good thoughts, I think,” Xia went on, scrubbing her

brush in light circles.

“There is no need to discuss it yet again,” Li Mei told her. “You

know what goes on in my thoughts.”

“We are all tired of the same thoughts,” Xia agreed.

They scrubbed in silence awhile as the barbarians continued to

tend to the goods and what had been exchanged the previous day.

The other girls were busy laughing and scaling fish at the stern of the ship. Li Mei sat up straight and stretched herback out.

“Who can say where we will even be a year from now…” she trailed

off, aloud.

Xia allowed her to continue, dunking her brush in the bucket for

fresh water.

“At home now, I would have been fourteen years old. Mother

would have been preparing me to see the matchmaker. No, it would

already have been done. Upon the time of us being taken, she and Grandmother were already hard at work in the preparation of my gowns.”

“You did not like to think on it?” Xia asked, with a little smile,

continuing to scrub.

“No,” Li Mei began, thinking, “I suppose I did not. I rarelythought

about the idea of leaving my family. It never was a good thought for me. And so I pushed it from my mind.”

“I did the same,” Xia said thoughtfully. 276

“Ah, then I was not the only one,” Li Mei answered, almost

relieved, oddly.

“No, you were not. I think that there were likely a number of

maidens who shuddered at the thought of the match maker.”

“So you were going to be taken too?” Li Mei paused again,

looking at her friend.

“I was to go the very next month,” she replied, “and as I would

have my next birthday within the month or so after that, they were all hoping that I would be married shortly after.”

Li Mei sighed. It was not unusual for girls to be married at thirteen

or fourteen in their village. In fact, it would have been moreof a strange thing had they been seventeen or eighteen and been

unmarried still. But all the same, Li Mei could not help but feel,

(despite tradition), that they were still merechildren. She had heard

of worse cases in India, where children younger than themselves were made into brides, but thirteen was still quite young.

“Perhaps we were rescued then,” Li Mei said aloud. Xia glanced at her sideways, and Li Mei continued.

“As awful as it was to be taken from out families and our homes,

perhaps we were meant to be taken from such an early marriage.” Xia sat up straight with her brush and looked off to where the

other girls sat together, preparing the fish nets. “I think you may be

right,” she finally answered. “Think of it – you would not have likely

seen your sister often anymore. By this time back home, you would only belong to your husband's family.”

Li Mei shuddered at the thought, watching Xue's happy face as

she chatted freely with An. She thought of how greatly she would

have missed her sister, had she been married and moved to another house. How sad it would be. She dipped her brush back into the 277

pail and swirled it lightly over the just cleaned patch. Xia smiled at her friend.

“I think there may be greater powers at work in our lives these

past months.”

“The ancestors you mean?” Li Mei asked her.

“The ancestors,” Xia said, almost uncertainly, “were never greatly

spoken of in my father’s home.”

“How can that be? It is practically law that the gods and ancestors

are revered.”

“True,”Xia continued scrubbing absently, moving her pail up a bit.

“But my father always taught us differently. He believed, believes, that there is only one god, and that the ancestors... do not have anything to do with our present lives.” “One god?”

“Yes – he believes it is impossible for there to be more than one.

For if there was, they would war amongst themselves, and for them to war against one another would mean that one would be weaker than the other, and that they would not be holy, because of it. And they must be holy.”

“Holy? Why would the gods need to be holy?”

“If they are not, then what good can there be in the world? If the

gods created the world and are not holy themselves, how can we

expect anything of good to happen to us here? Howcan we hope

for anything in the afterlife, if the gods themselvescannot agree?” “But the holy texts… what of them?”

“Father believes they were created from myths, passed down and

corrupted from the true story.” “And what is that?”

278

“We do not know. But perhaps, when the world was first created,

man knew that there was only one perfect god. And through time, the truth was changed into myth and mere stories…”

Li Mei was startled. Things of this nature had not been greatly

discussed amongst the girls. Women at home did not talk on such subjects.

“Then how can we know anything, believe anything? How will we

be when we die? Where will we go?”

“I am unsure,” Xia went on, “and it frightens me. But Father has

been searching secretly for years,in the libraries and other texts, for this first account. He is looking for a text that might tell him of how everything began, not a mythical story, but one that is profound.” “And whereis such a text to be found?” Li Mei was almost

frustrated for hearing such things.

“Father believes that it exists outside of Cathay. He believes that

in the lands of other peoples, there is such a text, such a truth to be found. And he works day and night to find it, to hear of it, to find it.

He has traveled often to the low mountains and further to the west.” “And has he found anything?”

“There are rumors…” Xia said carefully. “Rumors of a man who

visited the far west, outside of Cathay. But his message was carried further by others, toward our home.” “And his name?” “Paulus.”

“Paulus? And what did he teach?”

“He taught of a man named Jesus, the Christ, who was also God,

who would save the world. Who has saved the world.” “How did he save it?”

“We are unsure, for that is all Father could find out.” 279

“How very speculative,” said Li Mei, more to herself. “You know

nothing of what he taught then?”

“Basically nothing,” Xia sighed. “Although myfather had

continued to search all his life, nearly. His father beforesearched as well.”

“And found nothing?”

“Well that is the odd thing about it. My grandfather did find

something – a manuscript from the far west. Andhe was on the

return from the journey where he had purchased the manuscript, when he was marauded by thieves on the open road.” “Gone?” Li Mei asked quietly.

“Gone. Only a servant of the caravan escaped that day. Twenty

died. And though the manuscript was taken, he relayed to my father that my grandfather had spoken often on the journey back of finding truth.” “Truth!”

“Yes, truth. He spent three months reading this manuscript on the

return journey, and I have hope that he did, indeed, find such hope.” “But what manuscript was it?” Xia was keenly interested. “He had reason to believe that it was written by Paulus.” “Paulus himself?”

“An exact copyof his writing.”

“So that is why you watch the market place, whenever we draw

near one,” it occurred to Li Mei. “You always seemed more interested in the curiosity shops and book stalls than anything else.” “True,you are observant.”

“Then why have you said nothing of this before to the others?”

“Li Mei,” Xia continued to scrub, almost a look of concern on her

face, “I must be careful. My father warned me when I was very 280

young, that I was only to speak of this great mystery to those I

explicitly trusted. There is a danger of sorts connected with this manuscript, and to Paulus, and apparently, most importantly to

Jesus the Christ himself. And know that I do trust you and the other girls, but I do not know what to expect of our friends just yet. There is something I have with me at all times, something...”

Bard had walked up behind them, laughing with Thord about

something in his hand which he had taken from the nets. He held it down toward Xia.

“Lilies,” Li Mei whispered.

Neither girl had noticed that the anchor had been lifted. They

were on the open sea. Not only were they at sea, but drifting

through a bed of sea kelp, spanning miles. And within the kelp grew

carpets of beautiful white lilies. The other girls werealready helping to unload the blooms on deck.

“They will keep the hold from smelling of pirate dredge,” Bard

said to them with a laugh. “Our stench is not an inviting thing to young maidens.”

Li Mei forgot what Xia was going to say. The addition of the lilies

to their crew had been an exciting event, and even Xia did not remember the conversation for a long while.

L That evening, the sailors sat around the fire counting coin for the

journey to the next port.

“And wheremight that be?” Jing asked, who was in a particularly

bold mood that day.

Vika smiled almost mysteriously. “Egypt!” 281

“Egypt,” Jing repeated later to the girls around the fire. “I have

never heard of such a place.”

“Have any of us?” Ting asked the council.

The girls were huddled there in the cold of a Mediterranean night.

Reports of foul weather were in the air.

“I have heard of this place,” Xia spoke up.

“I have not, and my father always taught me the modern maps,”

Li Mei said in surprise. “How have you heard of this place? Is it a city?”

“It is a country, on the northernmost and the very east corner of

Africa,” Xia drew her fingers in an outline on the deck of the ship.

Fen handed her the basket of pistachio shells, on which they had

been munching.

“Thank you,” Xia nodded, and began to outline the said

continent. She continued. “My grandfather journeyed to Egyptnot

long ago… Within the past seven years. Andit was not the first time. He had been there as a young boy. Full of ancient mysteries is this place.” Xia continued to arrange the shells as the girls lookedon in curiosity. “You see, we are here now,” she pointed to the western part of the continent.

Li Mei looked over Xia’s shoulder to wherethe barbarians sat

around their own fire; they were unaware of the girls’ proceedings.

“And although Egyptmay be many more miles than I can calculate,

I believe it shall be a bit of a trip before we arrive, although not nearly as long as our last stretch of four months.”

“Could you estimate, perhaps then?”Li Na asked hopefully.

“I cannot say for sure, but perhaps in a few weeks' time,” Xia said

thoughtfully, continuing to arrange shells. “Here si the

Mediterranean,” she tapped her finger on the location, “which we 282

must pass through – the Mediterranean Sea. Here,I have heard, are treacherous storms, which spring from strange winds.”

“Well then, what lies in Egypt that is so mysterious?” Jia Li asked

anxiously.

“Yes, what could possibly counter our own country in ancient

mysteries.” Fen asked impatiently, indignant that another country might rival her homeland in fascinating landmarks and heritage. “There are great buildings there,” Xia began. “Buildings!” Fen practically snorted. “Peace, Fen,” Li Mei laughed.

“Buildings to surpass our greatest imaginings,” Xia went on, as

though there had been no interruption. She began to rearrange the

pistachios again. “They rise toward the sun in a great point, for they

are giant pyramids made of great stones and dazzling white, crowned with gold. They are the marvels of the ancient world. And in them are buried great and ancient kings... And treasure.”

The girls were most engrossed by that point, and drew near the

fire to see Xia's sketching of the great pyramids with the pistachio shells.

“What goes on here?” a great voice bellowed.

The girls all drew back and looked up. Towering above them in the

shadows of the night was Vika once again.

Xia spoke first, “I was telling them of a great land.”

Vika smiled. “Egypt?” He nodded toward the pyramid on the

deck.

Xia nodded. Vika seemed to be seeing past the night sky, and did

not speak for a few moments. But it was not a foreboding way he looked. He was remembering.

283

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Egypt â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you will never forget it when you arrive,â&#x20AC;? he said shortly

later.

He sat down by Li Mei and adjusted the shells to more correctly

align with the geography. And then he explained to them the course that was still needed in order to arrive on their scheduled day.

And that was the sort of way in which the next days were passed,

with Vika sharing tales of former journeys to the Egyptian dessert,

tales of haunts and kings, treasures and thieves, mystery and hidden cities in the Nile and beneath the sands, tales of a great people who sent plagues and ice and fire from the sky. The girls were so

captivated by his legends and yarns that they practicallyforgot their greater chores and traded them with the other pirates for shelling

oysters and preparing nets while sitting in a circle about Vika and his incredible tales.

284

!e OďŹ&#x20AC;er

Li Mei could not forget the arrival of the pirate ship into the great

harbor there, in the Mediterranean. Formany nights she could not

sleep without dreaming of the great brown sands stretching far and far and the great Alexandria – a city of ghosts and whispers and ancient breaths. She had never before, nor hardlythought she could ever, seen such a sight before her blackest eyes.

Stone and dry mud brick stretched before her in what seemed to

be waves of never-ending city. Of course,she could not tell where

the city blended into desert, but so it seemed to continue – the same tone, but for the smashes of bright color here and there, like

butterflies, where cloths hung from windows and vendors' tables sparkled in the bitter light of the sun.

There were surely great things to be seen in such a place, and

none of the girls could wait through the night before the dawn sailed

above Alexandria and the Vikings prepared their goods to be carried away to the city.

Frithjof approached Li Mei quietly that morning at the cry of the

sailors heralded the opening of the dock. He had been very distant over the past several days, and Li Mei wondered if there was something wrong. “Li Mei.”

287

It was one of the few times, she had been personally addressedby

him onboard the ship. She looked up at him. He watched her for a moment. Li Mei could tell that he was debating about something.

“This is not the best time to tell you. I should not say anything to

you at all...” He looked out to the sea and gripped the railing of the deck. “The day we took you... We saw no one else.”

Li Mei's mouth was dry. She couldn't say anything.

“What I mean to say, is that, if your families were therein the

village, they are unharmed. We did nothing to them.”

Li Mei didn't know herself for the next seconds. Shethrew her

arms around Frithjof and hugged him hard. Hewas obviously

embarrassed, but he didn't remove her. Instead, he knelt down to her.

“If only I could have told you sooner,” he said quietly.

Li Mei drew back and looked at him. Her eyes were shining. Joy

was not enough to describe what she felt. “Will we see them again?” she asked, before she could think of stopping herself.

It was the first time she had asked any sort of question. Frithjof

looked down to the deck for a moment, and then back at her. His ice blue eyes were softer. “I hope so.”

Li Mei could only smile at him and run away to tell the others.

What had plagued them for so long, what had scared them to ask, was answered. There was happiness that day on the ship.

It affected the men. They seemed more brotherly that day.

More protective. As the girls prepared to leave for the market, and

the excitement of seeing such an exotic port was added to their joy, the day seemed to be a new beginning for them.

288

What still bothered Li Mei was the reason for the delay. She was

starting to learn how to ask questions. Why they hadn't been told

until then. Why they had been taken. Where were they going? And

Frithjof knew it. He had once again been assigned to take Li Mei into the interior.

Once the cargo had been unloaded, the girls waited in the port,

for their sacks. Li Mei lifted hers onto her shoulder.

“Enough of that,” said Frithjof, taking it from her. Li Mei was surprised.

“Ginger,” he said. “We're carrying ginger today.” He paused only a

moment and then said, “you maidens have been accompanying us to port carrying these sometimes heavy sacks, in order that no

questions would be asked of the villagers. If theythought that you

were merely slaves, as we hoped they would think, there would be no suspicions.”

And off he strode, Li Mei running to catch up with him. And so

that was all it had been. And they were not slaves. The mysteries that were suddenly being answered.

And Frithjof had changed. But he was mostly quiet as they

walked through the streets of the city. Li Mei was mesmerized by the vendors, the people (so dark and brown). Everything seemed so

ancient, so mysterious. The walk was maybe twenty minutes in length as the perfect blue of the sky sizzled under the sun. Li Mei rolled up her sleeves tightly as she kept up with Frithjof. She was awed at this

place. The toasted sands of the desert glistened so brightly against the horizon, that she couldn't watch the east.

Finally, Frithjof skirted a corner. Everything was suddenly

shadowed from the heat and bustle of the streets. The walls of the

buildings were tiled in ebony and carnelian from about ten feet above 289

the street and upward. Then at theend of the private street, a pool splashed at the entrance of the largest building where a large

wooden door sat in the wall. On it was carved a symbol Li Mei knew well: a dragon. She drew in her breath a little when she saw it. Frithjof was prepared for this reaction.

“You will be more surprised when you enter,” he said.

He knocked hard on the door. Seconds later, it was opened wide.

A woman, maybe in her mid-fifties, opened it, smiling. Li Mei almost laughed out loud in happiness. She was from Cathay.

“Frithjof!” she cried with a laugh. “How long I have waited for this

day!”

She threw her arms around the barbarian's neck.

“Sun-Jin,” he said warmly. “We've come at last. Home is not far

for you now.”

“Home,” she drew back, smiling sweetly. “How I long for that

place.”

Li Mei found her heart racing. Home. Was home Cathay? Would

they finally return to their mountains?

“But is this Li Mei?” Sun-Jin had turned her attentions to her.

“It is,” said Frithjof kindly. “She has come far with us, and I have

much to tell you about her. So has she. For today,” he paused for a

moment, as if relieved, “she will know what has happened. Finally, we may speak on it.”

Li Mei felt lightheaded. Frithjof saw it, and put his arm around her

to steady her.

“Come, come inside,” Sun-Jin beckoned them in. “I see we will be

long in explanations for today.”

But Li Mei was overwhelmed. After so many months. 290

Her questions would be answered, and by a woman, perhaps, of her own country. And after all that time, she had been respectful to her

native traditions. She had not questioned her captors, she had been true to her father's instructions.

“Li Mei...” Vika spoke softly to her.

But Li Mei had already walked inside.

Sun-Jin had already begun to set tea on a small marble table by

the window. Li Mei walked there to look over the city. The wells of heat floated between cool breezes toward her.

“Come, come sit,” Sun-Jin beckoned to her. “Let us hear what

your friend has to say.”

Frithjof looked uncomfortable just then. His great hands were

clapped together on the table as Sun-Jin poured the tea. His face was warm and his eyes were fidgeting. Then he broke the silence. “There is no time,” he said suddenly. Li Mei looked to him quickly.

“There is no time,” he said again.

Sun-Jin set the teapot on the table.

“You must take her now, Sun-Jin, before they have time to look

for her.”

Li Mei was silent. But for the first time in months, she became

worried again.

“They have ears on every corner. They will know the moment I

leave this room, what I have done.”

“Frithjof, peace. We will see that she has safe passage.”

Li Mei could no longer sit. She stood and wrung her hands

together. Vika drew her back down.

“Li Mei...” he said carefully. “This is the last time I will see you.

Sun-Jin is going to take you now. Back to your country.” 291

Li Mei could not speak. “Now?” she whispered. Alone?”

“I could not bring the others. If I had brought any others, they

would have known what I was about to do.” “The others?”

“They will already know soon. You must go. I will wait until you are

hidden.”

As calm as Li Mei could remain, her fright was betraying her.

“I cannot leave. I cannot leave them,” she whispered.

“You must, Li Mei. If you do not leave...” Frithjof could not finish. Sun-Jin put her arm around Li Mei's little trembling shoulder.

“You will be safe, young one. You will be safely returned.”

Li Mei could not even smile at the kind woman before her.

“I cannot leave. My sister is there on the ship.” “Sun-Jin, take her now before...”

“Frithjof!” Li Mei cried. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly.

“Do not leave me here, do not take me from my sister. I cannot leave her. Her heart would break. Do not do this thing to me!”

Frithjof threw his hands to his forehead. “Tell her what will

happen, Sun-Jin, if she does not leave now. Tell her what will happen. I cannot do this anymore.” “We are under oath, Frithjof.” “I must break that oath.”

“If you break it, you will have no chance of saving her.” “You must save her now. I cannot.”

Li Mei was silent. She knew nothing of what Frithjof and Sun-Jin

were speaking, but she was desperate to return to hersister.

Sun-Jin looked carefully at Li Mei. Something changed in her

eyes, and Li Mei knew that she would not make her stay. Sun-Jin turned back to Frithjof.

292

“Takeher, Frithjof. She cannot leave now.” Frithjof tried to protest.

“if you don't take her now, it will not come about as it should.”

Frithjof was quelled. He could not refuse the magnanimity of her

cryptic prophesy. Li Mei looked to him pleadingly. He looked at her a moment, then returned to his seat at the table wherehis cup of tea was waiting.

“Let it be remembered that I offered her safety,” he said aloud,

but more as if he were speaking to something in the air.

L For the next hour, it was as if the incident had not taken place.

Sun-Jin spoke with Li Mei of Cathay, of old places and traditions,

asking her questions of her village. Li Mei was warmed as she told of things of her past, things that seemed as though they came from

another time, another place. How good it was to speak of things long gone, and loved.

When Frithjof finally looked to the sun's position in the sky, he

told her that it was time to leave. Sun-Jin embraced Li Mei as she might have a daughter.

“Soon, little one, you will see much. Remember your homeland

when it comes.”

As Li Mei thought on these things, Frithjof looked back to

Sun-Jin.

“Tellme, Sun-Jin. Is she the one?”

Sun-Jin was quiet for only a moment. “She is the one.”

293

Ancient Tombs

On the return to the ship, Frithjof said nothing to her. He strode

quietly, silent, through the market. Li Mei followed, head bowed.

Somehow, she knew that she had refused his kindness. Just as they reached the sea, Frithjof lifted her to the ship's deck. “Say nothing to anyone of this meeting,” he said.

Li Mei looked into his eyes – icy blue. But they were kind.

They had softened since their first meeting. She nodded. “I will say nothing.”

Frithjof lifted her then to the deck, and nothing more was said on

the matter. But Li Mei thought on it long that night as the men roasted fish on the beach. The other girls sat around the fire listening to Frithjof's tales.

She didn't know what to think about what Frithjof had tried to do

for her that afternoon. On the one hand, she was grateful for his desire to help her, but on the other hand, she was frightened.

“Who” was following them? “What” was happening? “Where” were

they going? For the first time, Li Mei was giving in to her questions.

But she was still too frightened to ask, and too trustworthy to share anything with the other girls. Frithjof had asked her to say nothing.

And she had made a promise. But suddenly, questions had become very important.

297

It was Vika who distracted her from her difficult thoughts that

afternoon. The girls were waiting together for dinner when he burst into their circle.

“Takeyour dinner, girls,” he said, “and follow me. We have a great

site to see.”

The girls looked at one another in surprise as they gathered their

dinner, bread, dried fruit, and beef, into cloths and tied them together.

Xue predictably asked, “Where, Vika?”

“That,” he winked at her, “is a surprise.”

The walk through the town was quieter than it had been earlier

that day. Li Mei's thoughts were pulled between her unusual

encounter with Frithjof and Sun-Jin and the sites of the city around her. As they passed the alley to Sun-Jin's home, Li Mei paused. She felt as though she had been cold to Sun-Jin and wished to

speak with her again, and to thank her for trying to help herescape. But then she looked ahead where Vika led them through the city. He turned around just then and smiled to her, beckoning herto

continue. And she knew that she could not leave. She wondered at the strangeness of wanting more than anything in the world, to

return to her family and her village, and yet at the same time being

thankful for the pirates' kindness and excited about seeing so many new and beautiful places.

The desert began to peel away the layers of city, as they

continued. Fewer buildings, less road,and fewer staring faces. Vika had helped, however. The women of the city wore head

coverings, bolts of cloth around the tops of their heads. In order to

draw less attention to their small brood, Vika had found similar cloths which they also wrapped around their heads. 298

As the golden sun spilled across the west, it rose before them out of the sand.

“Oh!” Li Mei clapped both hands to her face.

If the lighthouse had brought awe upon her, therewere no words

to express the amazement of the enormous structurebefore her.

And not one, but two, built of stones stacked one upon another,

stones twice her height. But most of the pyramid's face was covered in brilliant smoothed white limestone, which would have been more

brilliant, still, if rain visited the country more often. Upon the very

top of the monument sat a capstone of gold, glistening perfectly in the light of the setting sun.

No one could speak. Only Vika, who had been there before,

could continue walking toward it, shuffling through the sands.

He rested his hand against the giant, craning backward to look to the top, nearly sweeping the sky.

“Beautiful, isn't she?” he said. “Never will there be anything else

like it.”

The girls were finally able to walk toward it, brushing their hands

against the stone, laying back upon the sand to stare at the enormity of the gleaming tomb.

“What is it?” Xue asked, when they were gathered together before

it later.

“It houses a king, a pharaoh,” he said. “Pharaoh,” Xue whispered.

“He once ruled all these lands. He made his people build this

tomb and fill it with paintings on the walls and treasures, so that when he died, he would be buried here and his spirit would live with the

things inside, in a world where the paintings in his tomb would come to life and he would live richly and happily.” 299

“It sounds very empty,” said Ting. “I would not like it if the afterlife

were like it.”

Vika was quiet for a moment. “No, it would not be very nice,” he

said. “I have hopes of other things.”

The girls were silent, no one willing to ask him what he meant.

The winds whispered across the sands. They were alone beforethe giant under deep blue evening skies. And Li Mei suddenly feltvery alone. She pressed her fingers against the secret pocket of her gown, unknowingly, and looked on into the Egyptian night.

300

!e Scrolls

The next morning dawned gray. Li Mei thought that maybe her

visit to the city had been a dream. After thinking over it for a few seconds, however, she knew that it had been real. On deck, the other girls were already up in the rigging to watch them leave the

harbor. Li Mei saw Vika at the prow, looking overa chart. The other barbarians were busy, and were not paying attention. Vika knew this. He walked over to Li Mei, and, pretending to show her something on the chart, said, very low:

â&#x20AC;&#x153;One more stop. Then to our home.â&#x20AC;?

He then walked away. Li Mei was battling her newly found urge to

ask him what he meant. Where was this next stop? Would shebe

brought to another mystical person to inspect her for someunknown purpose? And where was the barbarians' home? Why were they needed there?

L Li Mei indulged fears of every kind for the next week. As she

scrubbed the deck, prepared meals, looked over charts, watched

storms unfold in the upper heavens... she began to learn how to fear.

303

On one particular afternoon, she had been at the stern of the

ship, watching such thunderheads form behind the ship. Itwas then that, had the sun not been shining against the clouds at a certain angle, she would not have seen it. A flash of silver light on the horizon. Li Mei started forward, pressed against the railing.

There, it flashed again. She didn't take her eyes away from the

curvature of the Earth. But it didn't happen again. Li Mei looked

around her. No one else had noticed the peculiar flash. Even Vika was not paying attention, but was speaking with the captain.

Was this who was following them â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whatever had madethe flash of light? Li Mei put both hands to her head. The questions were

becoming overwhelming. She left her watch at the railing, and went back into the hull of the ship.

It was cool, dark, the rumble of thunder growled through the worn

boards of the hull. Li Mei had been long enough on the sea at that point to know that the worst of the storm would bring only rain to

them. The girls would still, however, be watching the storm on deck. No one was below, but herself.

She sat there on a crate of goods. She knew that there were

pieces in it from her own country: jade and precious gems. She had kept account more and more over the months at sea of what the

horde contained. She knew what every box held, what every sack carried.

She pressed her face against her hands, wet from the salt spray.

A sigh escaped her. And as she opened her eyes, now accustomed to the dim light, it was then that she saw it. A box in the hull which

was set in the dark, which she had never seen before. It would not

have struck her as being unusual, if she had not so carefully taken into account every piece in the hold. But there it was â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a new box. 304

She knew that the barbarian's quarters were on the other side of the ship. It would have been easy for any of them to bring a crate or a

sack to the other side. But the barbarians were protective of their belongings and never merged their things with theother hold. Li Mei's curiosity was pricked.

She wondered to herself as she crossed the hold to the box, why

she could not keep herself from being curious, from asking

questions. She vaguely felt that she was abandoning her traditions as she walked across the hold to open the box. She was nervous

enough to look behind her as she approached the box. No one was there. All was still quiet in the hold, but for the scuffle of those

above on deck. Li Mei knew that the lid would probably be tightly wedged into the box. But the desire to know what lay within,

overpowered her fear of being caught. She knew how to move quietly. The roar of the thunder was still growing, and as she

touched her hand to the box, it slipped away from its berth. Li Mei could not help but gasp, ever so quietly, at what beheld her eyes. Scrolls.

They were too perfect. Eight tiny rolls. Whatever was written

upon them, she was sure, would be too honorable for her eyes to see.

And then there it was. Li Mei gasped.

“No!” she cried in disbelief. “It cannot be.”

She withdrew one of the parchments from the eight. She knew it

too well. The edges were worn in that faded violet shade, from being stored next to paint pots for too many years back in the store room

of her father's house. She carefully unrolled it, away from its center. Still pristine, glazed wax, protected from water. How had it gotten there? For so long, it had been the store of her secret pocket. 305

“Takecare of this scroll,” her father had said to her that one day,

five years ago. “It will be safest with you, and the other scroll with your sister. Never let it be gone from your sight.”

Li Mei could still not believe it. She tore at her skirt for the pocket

beneath the lining of her gown. Yes,the stitching was different.

More poorly done, and in another color of thread. Her scrolls had no doubt been replaced with a roll of blank parchment.

She looked back to the box. Yes, therewas An's scroll as well.

She took, replaced the lid, and returned to her cot. There she sat and stared for several minutes, watching the box. There was little

danger of anyone returning to the hold. The girls were busy pulling in the nets from the sea.

She then walked over to the box again and removed the lid. “How? And why?” she whispered aloud. “Let me tell you.”

The lid fell from Li Mei's hand and clattered to thefloor of the hull.

Vika withdrew from the shadows, another scroll in his hand.

Li Mei bowed low. She did not wish to imagine what he might say

to her. He had been sitting there for a long time, unnoticed. Li Mei

remained bowed as his heavy boots fell with a strange metallic clack against the boards. There was a moment of silence. Then heknelt to her eye level. He raised her chin to meet him.

“You are not in trouble,” he said, almost laughing. “Youwant to

know what is on these scrolls?”

Li Mei stared back at him in shock. “Why?” she cried, barely able

to get the words to leave her mouth. “Why did you take them?

How did you know that they were there? When did you take them?” She was shaking in anger. How dare they take the property of

her father, the sacred writings.

306

Vika hesitated for a moment, thinking. He looked at her carefully.

“Do you know what is written on these scrolls?” he asked.

Li Mei shook her head, which she bowed to the floor, unwilling for

Vika to see the tears in her eyes.

“Come,” he said, and walked to the lighted patch of ground on

the hull floor. He drew a barrel next to the staircase and helped her up to sit on it. Then, taking a seat on a box opposite her, he

carefully, very carefully opened the scroll in his hand. Before reading, he looked back to her and said quietly:

“You are not to repeat what you hear,” he said. “Or there could

be trouble.”

Li Mei did not respond, and only tucked her legs under her and

folded her hands in her lap. Her eyes were still fresh with tears.

For the next half hour, while the girls and the sailors kept eye on

the magnificence of the storm, Li Mei listened with great attention to the words of the scroll. She could tell that Vika was translating to

her as he read. Li Mei did not understand the markings. No one in

her village could read them, her father had said. But as he read, she forgot where she sat in the hull. It was the first two words that grabbed her thoughts from the very beginning:

“I, Paul...” She remembered her conversation from weeks ago with Xia about

a man named “Paulus”, and the more that Vika read of the intricate passages, the more she believed “Paul” to be the same “Paulus” of

which Xia spoke. Then she rememberedthat Xia had almost told her

something, and was then interrupted. About something she had with her.

307

“Nine!” she thought to herself. “There are nine scrolls. Could it

be...”

The passage was interrupted by the call of Frithjof on deck. “Vika!” he cried from the stern. “Bring your charts, man.”

Vika responded immediately by marking his place in the scroll and

returning it to the box. He walked back to her.

“You cannot understand all now,” he said quickly, “but they were

taken for your own good, one from each of you. While your gowns were washed when you were in the city in the south of Africa, they were found. But no matter how they were found, this is more

important than you could think. Be quiet on this, and we will speak more later.”

Without another word or look to Li Mei, he had returned to the

deck, and Li Mei was left in the darkness to ponder the wordsof the scroll. She sat, dazed. For so long, her father had desired to know of the writings. What they said. The scrolls had been passed

through generations, secretly, for perhaps hundreds of years.

It was the greatest secret Li Mei knew. Never could it be breathed to a soul that they carried these documents. This is what her father had told her. And she had honored it.

But the words of the scroll, in some fashion, were confusing to

her, and in others, they were beautiful, as beautiful as the white rolls of the scrolls themselves.

But it was time for dinner, and all thoughts had to be put aside, or

she knew that the others would know that something was different about her. And though questions did not become them, she knew

that her sister would ask, at least. She pressedcool fingers to her

eyes, hot from holding back tears, and warm with the overwhelming event that had just taken place before her eyes. 308

So while the storm became the subject of interest for the girls

throughout the evening, Li Mei was distractedfrom hour to hour for the rest of the night, into her dreams, and through the next several days.

H&pania

It was several weeks later that they arrived aside the coast of

Hispania. The morning was brisk and warm. The shores were cliffs, but no port could be seen from their position in the water.

“Takecare,” Vika warned her as he passed her on the deck that

morning. “If Espania knew we were here, there'd be trouble.” Li Mei was getting used to the idea of trouble.

Throughout the past weeks, her mind had been halved between the

writings of Paul and of “who” might be pursuing them, “who” might be lurking behind them in heavy seas. The feeling left herdisturbed,

and while the girls watch the coast of new lands, her eyes were kept to the southern horizon where she almost expected to see once again the unusual flash of light from some unseen place.

Nearly once a day, she and Vika had met together to read the

scrolls. They had almost finished reading through the nine.

And while Vika said nothing more to her on why they had taken the scrolls from them, Li Mei also said nothing to the girls about it.

For all they knew, they still possessed the true scrolls on their own person. What she could not understand, was how eachof them, each of the nine, from different places in the village, eachhad a

scroll hidden in their gowns. It was baffling. And she was not at liberty to ask.

313

Her distraction was at hand, however, for once again, shewas to

be guided on to foreign shores by Bard, who was once again, loading a small sack for her to carry.

Li Mei now knew that their journey was coming to an end, but did

not feel at liberty to share this knowledge with theother girls,

despite their strong bond. It caused her to wonder, as she watched the Spanish cliffs, whether a newly formed tie and promise to the kind seaman was more important than that of her kinsmen.

“Hoy!” Vika cried from the railing. “There stand the cliffs I thought

I should never see again.”

Li Mei wondered at this. Vika seemed cheered – perhaps because

their journey was coming to an end. The other girls were busy with their own sacks. Li Mei held hers tightly against her waist, not

wondering quite as greatly to its possible contents. Whatever it was, she could feel many small bulges throughthe leather. “Gemstones,” she thought to herself.

She found Bard, there, standing at the rigging. He was calm as

usual, smoking one of his pipes, observing the morning sun on the hills. He watched them carefully, as if he were looking for any

suspicious shadows among the rocks and grasses. Then he saw Li Mei, standing next to him. He looked at her closely for just a

moment, then he puffed long on his pipe, emptied it, and put it back in the pocket of his vest.

“Come young one,” he said. “We have more work to do.”

As the crew readied one of the small boats to enter the water, Li Mei watched the faces of the warriors. Some, she noticed, appeared to know the visited lands better than others. Each of the warriors

seemed to regard the shoreline differently, fromone to the other, as though some were remembering past deeds done there, that no one 314

else had seen. She kept this in mind as Vika helped her into the little craft.

“Stay close to Bard,” he said quietly to her. “He will take care of

you.”

Li Mei nodded to him, and watched as the craft struck away from

the ship for the cliffs. The sun was warm,but a cool air beat the shores. Li Mei held tightly to the little bag at her waist.

From somewhere, far away, she thought she heard music.

Sweet singing music – maybe a hundred miles away. The wind carried things long ways at sea.

Soon, they arrived at the dark rock of the cliffs. Li Mei could not

have seen from the ship that steps had been carved into therock face. Well-worn steps. Li Mei thought that theylooked very old.

As she stepped onto the thin strip of sand there on the beach,she

looked back to the ship where she could just see Xia waving to her.

She knew it was Xia, always the shortest. Li Mei waved back, into the wind of the sea.

“Come,” Bard said to her. “We have a climb to make.”

It was a long climb. As Li Mei followed Bard's long strides, she

stared upward to the height of the cliff, which had not seemed quite

as high from the sea. It might have taken a half hour or more to climb the steep rock steps. Bard was kind to her, however, and began to climb at a slower pace.

“How are you?” he would ask from time to time.

Li Mei would take a deep breath and answer, and after a moment

of rest, they would continue. As she climbed, however, her mind was still on the scrolls, the illusive light on the horizon, the questions that she hoped might piece together an answer for their presence there for so many months on the sea.

315

And before she knew that they were so close, her last step pulled

her to the berth of the sky. She was there above the waters, under a canopy of blue sky and white clouds the size of mountains.

Wind and weathered straw grass. The beauty of such a view took

away her breath as she held out her hands to wave back to the ship, scores below her.

Bard grunted a little to himself, as he, too, looked over to the

horizon and then back to the plain across the cliffs passing for miles into the distance.

Li Mei shielded her eyes from the sun, breathing heavily, still.

Brushing the perspiration from her face, with herback to the sun, she could see there, far off, was the dark line of a wood.

“Yes,” said Bard, as though he might read her thoughts. “To there

we go. The wood.”

Li Mei sighed for a moment, realizing that another long journey

was ahead of her. But the ground was level, the wind was cool and

playful, and she had many things on which to think. Thoughts best

left to long walks where no one might ask about the condition of her worry lines.

The warmth of the walk and the abundance of beautiful clouds in

the heavens, inspired her thoughts. She thought back to the day of their capture, the meeting of the girls, the visitations of the many ports, the mysterious commodities exchanged and the secretive meetings with sages, the treasure in the holds, the mysterious

“someone” following them, the rise of her questions, the increasing

kindness of the warriors, and in particular Vika and the scrolls... and though she could not conclude over the two hours of their walk

across the plains, what had happened completely,and what would

happen, Li Mei found that she was satisfied. She trusted Vika, and 316

most of the other warriors. Though what they had done in

kidnapping them was a horrible thing, something she could not

justify in her mind, she was beginning to wonder if something had changed in them over the past months. They were not the same

brutes they had met at the first. This was evidenced in the extreme by Vika's risk in helping her to escape.

By the time they had reached the wood, Li Mei was struck by the

color in contrast. The line of the yellow grass meeting perfectly at the dark green of the wood and the brilliant blue of the sky and

white cloud. She breathed deeply the scent of the wood as Bard led her directly into the interior.

The walk was suddenly cool and dark. As if drawn into another

world, Li Mei marveled at the wonder of the wood. Tall trees

engulfed in green shadows, fire flies whispering through the mossgrown boulders, and from somewhere,the gurgle of a fresh water

spring. And for a moment, Li Mei thought she might have been back in her Cathay.

After a short time, the path began to widen and the dirt became a

hard red, more well-worn than before. The hem of Li Mei's skirt

started to reflect the color of the path, and the leather bag at her waist began to feel more heavy.

She hadn't long to wait, however. Suddenly, the path opened

before her, and Li Mei found themselvesin a great clearing in the wood. From there, perhaps, had come the music in the wind.

Inhabitants of golden skin walked upon the path which had become a street of stone. But Li Mei sensed that these inhabitants were vagabonds. The houses were made of wood and very small.

Each house had an oven of stone where a mid-day meal cooked.

It was a large community of people. Most were older, bearded men, 317

worn from sun and wind. And while they didn't stare at her, Li Mei could easily notice that they were interested in her arrival.

“Pay no mind to them,” said Bard. “They are kind. They will not

bother you.”

And Bard continued his pace down the road as the villagers

glanced at them from time to time.

As the road went on, it again tapered until they arrived in a cove

among the trees, an ancient garden where a smallblack gate lay open to the path. Bard swept past it, as Li Mei looked on at the patches of velvety blossoms growing in the dim. And then, she saw it.

“The last place to stop,” she thought to herself. “Before the end.” She knew not what the end was, but she was anxious to learn who

this last person of significance might be. It was a little house, a

cottage maybe. But made of red stone. Several cats were curled on a large warm cushion in a small patch of cool sunlight near the open

window. As Bard neared the door, he looked down kindly at Li Mei.

“Joseph lives here,” he said. “The last of our elders. You have met

them all now... All but one.”

As Bard knocked upon the door, Li Mei wondered why the

barbarians were suddenly offering information to her. Were they

beginning to trust her? And who was the last elder? Li Mei pressed a hand to her forehead as though it would silence her questions. And then the door opened.

Bard suddenly found himself gripped in the hug of a gray-haired

man with a warming smile. “Welcome, Bard!”

“Joseph. It has been a long time, my friend.”

Li Mei was introduced to Joseph. She offered her hand,

wondering later if she should have done so. But Joseph did not 318

seem to mind.

“Welcome to my home,” he said kindly. “I know there is little time.

So let us get down to business.”

As the men began to speak to one another in a foreign tongue

(which was no longer a surprise to Li Mei), she looked about the

small room. A sort of long stemmed purple flower was in a vase on

the wood table, worn from years of use. The floor was laid with soft

gray stone. A fire was set in a hearth where another cat lay. And the walls were painted white. As Li Mei sat there by the fire, she began

to grow drowsy. It was not long before she slipped into a refreshing sleep.

Some time later, Bard roused her.

“It is time for us to leave,” he said softly.

Li Mei sat up quickly and waited a few moments until she

remembered where she was.

“Joseph has only a few questions for you.”

Questions were uncommon for Li Mei. It made her nervous.

“My child,” said Joseph. “You musttell me – what was the last

thing you saw the day you were taken to sea?” “My sister,” Li Mei answered immediately. “And nothing else?” “Nothing.”

Li Mei looked to Bard, who was watching her closely. “Can you tell me nothing more?”

Li Mei was brought back to that day. The sound of rushing above

her head.

“There was... a great sound,” she said quietly. “Like the rush of

many soldiers on the mountain.”

319

Joseph sat back in his chair. Bard looked to him. Joseph

nodded. Li Mei could say nothing more. No more questions were asked, and she could ask none.

Joseph walked to her, took her tiny hand, and said quietly, and

gently, “Take care, mygirl. Whatever happens to you now, you must be strong and wise.”

Li Mei nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

She bowed to him. Joseph smiled and bowed in return.

“Be on thy way, little one,” he said. “The night is coming.”

Li Mei looked to the window. The cool of the garden had grown

more dim. And there was a chill wind swirling through the trees. “Till next time, Joseph,” said Bard, gripping Joseph's arm. “Till, then, old friend.”

And in a whisper, they were gone through the garden, Joseph

waving a farewell from the lamplit doorpost wherethe cats still lay slumbering.

Li Mei hurried then, to keep up with Bard. Through the town,

which had become almost perfectly quiet, Li Mei could see the

silhouettes of the villagers behind their windows, the glowof fire, and the muffled talk.

Bard was silent. The walk through the wood wasquick. Li Mei had

little else on which to think except for the soreness ofher feet.

The light was low, and the gold of the last of the sun swept eerily through her, as the night approached.

With a burst of cool night air, they exited the wood to fields of

straw, almost white under the expansive black of the nightly heavens and shimmering trails of stars.

Li Mei did not remember the rest of their passage through the

field, nor down the sea-sprayed stone staircase. It was maybe an 320

hour or more later, that she remembered Vika carrying her from the

beach to the small boat, where she was helped back onto the deck. “Finally!” Xue exclaimed, as Li Mei sat wearily against the railing. Vika had brought her a cup of water. He looked concerned. “Are you alright?” he asked her.

Li Mei nodded. “It was only a long walk,” she replied.

“They shouldn't have taken you,” he said, standing with his arms

crossed over his chest.

Xia had come to her. “You're sick?” she asked,worried.

“No, Xia, not sick. Only tired. What have you all been up to

today?”

“We did nothing but wait on the ship, play at games... I was

beginning to become upset.”

Li Mei rested her head against her sister's shoulder. Ting Ting

had brought her a trencher of food.

“What happened this time?” she asked.

“I hardly know,” Li Mei said slowly. “I was weary from the walk and

fell asleep in the little house when we arrived. I do not even

remember what was in the pouch. No... I do remember. I saw it there on the table before we left. A green gemstone. Emeralds, perhaps...”

Li Mei was struggling with her words, trying to remember what she

should say, and what would be better kept to herself. “Do they say where we are bound next?” She began to eat the large chunk of brown bread on her plate.

“No, not yet,” said Xue. “But Frithjof says that we have a long

passage ahead. 'Many miles of ocean', I heard him muttering while you were gone.”

321

“Then we will have to invent new games for the journey,” said An.

“We are in need of new forms of entertainment.”

“Agreed,” said Jia. “But tonight is for rest for Li Mei. It is already

late.”

Li Mei smiled. Jia was intuitive. Fen had brought her a bowl of

saltwater and a tiny brush.

“We will give you some quiet, before you retire,” said Jing.

Li Mei finished her dinner in silence as the girls entered the hold.

She scrubbed her teeth with the salt water, and sat there under the stars.

The barbarians had also prepared for sleep. The night watch was

at his post. And as Li Mei sat there with her gaze on the heavens,

she was joined by Vika. He was quiet for a time as hesat next to her. “I am sorry,” he said.

Li Mei could not reply. The weariness of the day had taken its

toll. And before Vika could continue, Li Mei felt her eyes fill with

tears. She did her best to hide them. But Vika had already seen.

He put his arm around her tiny shoulder as her tears fell. And for the first time since the day she had been taken, Li Mei felt comforted. Almost safe.

Rea"ngs

The next morning, Li Mei felt ill. The roll of the ship had already

taken them back into the open ocean. She had missed her final chance to see land, perhaps for the last time in a long while.

The other girls, all but An, were on deck, cleaning and cooking as usual. It was a day for laundry. But An was concerned.

“You feel warm, Li Mei. I think you might be very sick.”

“I will be fine, An. I want you to stay on deck with the others and

get the fresh sea air. You cannot become sick yourself.” “I would like to stay here with you.”

“But the air is not as fresh. Stay with the others and enjoy the sun

while it is out. And try to smile.”

An did so, and left for the deck.

“Keep a firm hand on the railing,” Li Mei called after her, then

slipped back into deep sleep.

L Around noon, she felt a cool cloth touch her forehead.

She opened her eyes, bleary as they were, to see Vika standing over her. He held a plate of food.

325

“Eat some,” he urged. “I will bring you more water when you need

it.”

Li Mei nodded. She was weak enough not to want to hold the

plate. Vika sat next to her, then, and fed her the bread and broth.

Li Mei did not remember the rest of the day. All she did remember,

later, was that there was always a full glass of water by her bed and a cool cloth for her head.

L The next day, Li Mei was feeling better. She could sit up against a

sack of cloths, which was the best pillow she had had in months. Vika had become her guardian.

“How is our little one today?” he asked, with a smile.

He had brought her lunch, which she was able to eat herself.

Her fever had also passed. While she ate, Vika walked over to the box of scrolls.

“Shall we read?” he asked. Li Mei nodded. “Please.”

Vika stretched out against a sack on the floor where the light hit

the floor of the hull. And for hours, he read. He read slowly, and

thoughtfully, as he translated. Li Mei listened with careful interest as he read the words in his traditional tongue. Li Mei had a good enough grasp of it, to understand well. And as the afternoon

passed into the evening, they arrived at the end of the last scroll. As Vika carefully rolled it away, they were both quiet for a time.

The roll of the ship was soothing to Li Mei as she sat across from Vika, still propped on the bedroll.

“Should we read more tomorrow, reread them?” Vika asked her. 326

Li Mei nodded.

L Li Mei had recovered from her illness by the following day.

She and Vika continued to read, around the washing of the deck,the

rigging and masts, preparing meals, combing the nets, and navigating the seas... they found time to read together in the hull. Li Mei could only listen. She could not read the language of the scrolls. “How old are they?” she had asked.

“They are dated,” he said, “but poorly. The best that I can

understand is that they are maybe 700 yearsold.”

Vika explained that several of the barbarians, including himself,

had already read through a portion of the scrolls beforeLi Mei had also discovered them. Li Mei said nothing to Vika, but she was

beginning to feel guilty that none of the other girls knew about the scrolls being found and taken.

L Over the weeks, Vika and Li Mei discussed the writings.

They learned, through the writings of Paul, of a man named Jesus, both man and God, a savior of the world. These ideas were purely foreign to Li Mei.

It was one evening that she found herself gathered once again

around the deck fire as the wind blew in deep blue clouds of storms. The orange glow of the flames licked at the stone circle as the girls warmed their hands. “Xue?”

327

“Yes, Li Mei.”

“Do you remember when you told me about your father?

The writings about a man named Paulus?” Xue nodded.

“Is there anything else you know about him? Paulus.” Xue concentrated on the flames.

“I do not remember much of what he told me. The only other thing

he mentioned, was that this Paulus was on a mission in the East.

He was initiating institutions, places where the people of the land were to worship the one God.”

Li Mei poked at the fire with the cooking spoon. “I have been

thinking,” she said slowly, “all this time at sea. Reflection is inviting. We have all known, all our lives, that we honor the ancestors,the spirits... I begin to wonder if the idea of one god is correct.”

Li Mei knew that she had waited for the correct time to address

the issue. Though none of the nine girls thereknew much about the spirits and the ancestors, if she had raised such a question before

their capture, their loyalty to country and tradition would have made the question a most uninviting one.

“Perhaps we have never thought on these things much,” said Ting

Ting after the silence had passed. “We areso young. And I think that more instruction would have been given to other schools of thought if we were still at home.”

“Schools of thought – you mean cooking, cleaning,” said Jing.

“Shhh,” said Ting Ting, smiling, as though someone might scold

Jing for such a thought.

Li Mei smiled. “I am not certain that all the women of our village

were in the dark on religious thought. But we are, after all, still children, at least for a time.”

328

“Maybe only for An and Xue,” sighed Xia.

“Well, you have escaped that for the present,” said Ting Ting.

“And I am glad that you have,or we should have likely never met. None of us.”

The conversation had strayed to old subjects. Li Mei did not

mind. Her answer was clear enough that the other girls, much like

herself, had given little thought to any such things over their young years.

L Over the next few days, she thought about these things.

She found herself talking more and more to Vika about them, and

about the writings. Vika explained the system of their own gods and goddesses, but he did not go into a great detail on any of the

subjects. Li Mei knew that there was still a barrier between them.

There were things they could not discuss. The capture. The elders. The treasure. Everything was under the shadow of the unspoken. They could only speak freely about the scrolls.

“Tellno one,” Vika still warned. “There aresome who might not like

us to read them.”

Despite her worry of keeping these things from the others, Li Mei

enjoyed the days at sea. Through the morning and afternoons, she worked at her chores, talked with the girls, and waited anxiously for

the evenings when Vika would read the scrolls in the hull after dinner had been eaten and the girls sat on deck to listen to the sailors' stories and song.

“I think that I may begin to understand,” said LiMei one night.

“There is one God who has three parts - the Father, theSon, and 329

the Holy Spirit. The Son, Christ, was killed long ago. In his death,

He saved all different peoples from all times, fromsin. He then rose from the grave to ascend back into Heave. And we all sin. I think

that, I have always known that much, at least. No one has everbeen perfect, except for Jesus, who is God Himself.” Vika laughed a little.

“I think you summarized it well,” he said. He pulled his pipe from

his vest. But he didn't light it. He held it in his hand and was quiet

for a time. “I think it could be described as an invisible hand,” he said. “This invisible hand takes hold of your soul, your thoughts,and makes belief in God almost a natural thing.”

Li Mei agreed. “I must tell these things to the others,” she said

quietly. “They have to know.”

“They will soon,” said Vika, seriously, “It cannot be held off for

long.”

And such conversations became common over the next days.

They began to reread the scrolls until one dark misty gray evening on the waters when all was quiet.

330

Captive!

It came in from the dim on the sea that quiet gray night.

The horizon was black as the girls sat around their little fire and the

sailors exchanged stories at the hull. Thenight watch was playing a

lonely tune from stern. Vika and Li Mei talked in their usual meeting

place at the stairs in the hull. No one had yetquestioned them about their conferences. They were in the middle of one such quiet

discussion, when it happened. Li Mei felt it first. The cold air. She shivered suddenly. Then again. Vika noticed it. “You are cold?”

Li Mei nodded, and pulled her shawl tight around her shoulders.

But it wasn't helping. Vika continued speaking, but she found that

more and more, she could not concentrate. Quickly, her whole body became more and more cold and the shivering became nearly violent. “Li Mei, what is wrong?”

“I don't know,” Li Mei replied through gritted teeth. “I cannot

stop.”

Vika was outwardly worried. He gathered her into his arms and

swiftly brought her to the deck. “Li Mei!” An cried.

The girls and sailors gathered around.

“Keep her near the fire. She is freezing.” Vika commanded. 333

He combed the deck and holds for blankets and garments which

he wrapped around her legs and shoulders. But Li Mei was not getting any better. Then she saw it. The light on the horizon.

She thought, at first, that it might be a comforting light, but as she kept her eyes fixed on it, as she continued to shake, the cold became even more intense around her.

“The... light,” she whispered, pointing a blanket-wrapped arm

toward the shimmering speck.

The whole company turned then. Frithjof called to the night

watchman, “Ho! What see you?”

“They are coming!” was the returned cry.

The sailors ran in all directions. Some tothe stern, others to the

prow, many to the hulls. Things were turned upside-down, the fire

was put out, everything was moved and shaken. The girls sat around Li Mei in bewilderment.

“What is happening?” An whispered, frightened.

No one could answer her. Hafgrim rushed past them and spoke

harshly, but earnestly, “Say not another word.”

Then all activity ceased. Li Mei turned her head slowly to see

what was happening. All of the sailors werestanding, at attention, one arm at their side, another holding firmly to the hilt of their

broadsword. As if formated forbattle, they stood there, silent, still. Li Mei saw that her shivering had ceased as she was distracted by the violent rush.

It was then that everything became perfectly quiet. The ocean

itself was nearly as smooth as glass. Nothing moved. No one spoke. Li Mei could hear nothing. A void of sound passed around her.

Perhaps half an hour passed. No one could say. The light on the

horizon had vanished. Li Mei wondered how long they would stand 334

as they were, silent, waiting.

They all heard it then. The booming crash of mallet on wood, the

dip of many oars, the roar of a barbarian crew. Asthe water became interrupted, the shadow of an immense ship passed in from the dim.

There was still not a sound from the sailors as the ship approached. The deathly silence of their ship was eerily chilling to Li Mei.

The physical cold had left, but an oppressive mental chill had passed over her mind. She was suddenly frightened – something she had been taught to battle against in her homeland.

A cry echoed from the neighboring ship. Li Mei could now see

figures lined against the railing. Some of them held torches.

Others held spears. And all wore painted masks, twisted, with horns and red eyes. Li Mei felt An and Xue huddle closer to her as they sat there on the deck.

A loud voice echoed the cry. “Ho, Grimhild Groa! Who answers

the call?”

Hafgrim stepped swiftly and firmly to the rail. “I, Hafgrim do

answer the call.”

“Prepare to be boarded.”

The sailors continued to stand steady and ropes weretossed

from the other ship. Only two of the younger sailors caught the ropes, after Gunnbjorn had indicted for them to do so,and

anchored them to the railing. Quickly, four adept barbarians from the other ship crossed over. They stood there, after boarding.

One of them walked toward the girls, breathing heavily through his

painted mask. He bent low toward them in the dim light. He was only inches from Li Mei's face, but she stared back at the harsh redeyes. She did not even blink.

“Is this the girl?” the barbarian asked loudly, pointing to her. 335

Hafgrim stepped forward. Li Mei could see in her peripheral that

Vika made an attempt to rush to Gunnbjorn. Gunnbjorn held forth his hand as two of the sailors pulled Vika back into the shadows. “It is, my lord,” Hafgrim said, bowing low.

The ugly face had not turned from Li Mei. Even in the dim

flickering light of the torches, she could see the true eyes behind the mask – hard, almost yellow, but green. She still had not left the gaze of the painted mask. Something held her steady. The chills had passed and she almost felt warmed with a strange energy.

A moment of silence passed. The barbarian glared into her eyes.

Even in the dim light, she could tell that he was searching them, as if to satisfy himself that they were the color for which he had hoped.

The lapping of water against the ships was the onlysound among

the company. Then Li Mei felt a hard hand closearound her wrist.

“Nothing is set until proven,” the painted mask whisperedcruelly

and lowly in her face.

He turned hard around then as he let go of her wrist.

“Bind them in the hold!” he commanded the other painted masks.

Li Mei was roughly pulled to her feet and pushed toward the hold.

But she had not passed yet from the view of the ship. She saw them there then – six of the seven elders – bound with rope on the deck.

They watched the Grimhild Groa from afar, steady-eyed, all of them. Silent. The last thing Li Mei saw as she went below was the sadness in Vika's eyes. And she knew that he was sorry.

336

Land

They were two weeks upon the water. Quiet. No words were

exchanged between the crew and the girls. There were no painted

masks, no barbarians from the other ship, no word from the elders.

It was only the nine little girls clustered with one another in the hold, waiting.

Li Mei knew there were still things that could not be said to the

other girls. They talked carefully with one another, quietly. Li Mei

was unafraid. Two days after their initial displacement, Vika brought them their noonday meal. As he handed her the trencher, last, he said very quietly:

“The scrolls are safe. They are hidden.”

This relieved Li Mei enough to help comfort the younger ones in

their group.

“We will know what happens soon,” she assured them, a week into

their renewed captivity. “We will see land again before long.”

“How can you be certain?” Fen asked. “We know nothing of this

new ship, except that they must be strangely cruel next to our initial captors.”

Li Mei pressed her fingers together in front of her. She thought

about what to say. The girls were becoming tired after two weeks in the dim and the must, the quiet.

339

“What will we do if they separate us soon?” asked An. “Is there

any reason for them to keep us together?”

“I do not know for certain,” Li Mei replied carefully.“But I think

that we have all noticed that for a long time now, they have given

indications of needing us to be kept together for something... maybe something soon.”

An snuggled against Li Mei, tired, comforted by her sister's words.

“We have nothing to do but to wait,” said Li Na, sensibly. “We should do good to spend the time that we have in reviewing the swordplay, and in preparing for what we must do if ever separated, no matter what indications have been given to us.”

“You are right,” said Li Mei. “We will do this, and to help pass the

time.”

Li Mei was tired. Her mind was kept sound only by what she had

read in the scrolls, and the hope that one day, as Sun-Jin had told her, she would bring herself and the other girls back home to the East.

The girls took up their swords that afternoon, and for all the

others following. Each wrapped theblades carefully in cloth that

they might not ring out above to the deck. And in this manner, they began to prepare. Forwhat, they knew not. But each of the girls

felt that it was a wise thing to do. The softclap, clap of swordplay

pillowed through the hours as the girls matched one another two on two as the others watched. No barbarian voice was heard from

above to still the activity. If their play was noticed, they could not tell. No word from the other ship.

“I think that they must not be onboard with us,” said Li Na,one

afternoon. “Would they not have already comebelow deck to see more of us or the treasure here if they were here?” 340

“You are likely correct,” Li Mei replied. “But I think that if they had

left our side, we would have been let back on deck.”

She remembered how Vika spoke of “being watched”. Perhaps all

of their movements, no matter how distant, were still seen by the beings on the ship.

“What harm they must have planned for us...” Fen thoughtaloud.

“What strange things await.”

“Or they mean nothing more than to scare us,” Jing replied.

“If they mean to frighten us, they keep us better under their guard, with little effort. Perhaps theybelieve we will try to escape.”

“I wonder, though,” said Li Mei, “if they are friends of Gunnbjorn,

or foe. They cannot be very good friends. There is something sinister about that ship and its members.”

Li Mei had still not spoken to the girls about the elders bound

upon the deck. She did not wish to further frighten the them.

L It was one night that Li Mei woke from dreams in a cold sweat.

There it was, back in the day on the mountain in her village. But this

time, she was not in the garden. She was in the streets, being carried by Vika away from the streets, toward the open fields. None of the villagers were on the open road. But there were barbaric faces. Twisted, painted. That was when she awoke.

“It was not them,” she said with relief, as her heart pounded. “It

was not them.”

She brushed her hair away from her face and got up off of her

cot. She walked the floor to the stairs, flooded fully in moonlight.

She could hear the splash of the waves against the ship. And she 341

felt quietly comforted. She knew, now, that it had not been G.bjorn, H.grim, and the others who had been so cruel in her village. It had been the painted masks. She could remember it, even if faintly.

Vika had been rescuing her, as had the other girls been rescued by others of the crew.

L The days were long there beneath the deck. Gray skies kept little

light in the hold. Meals were thin soups and even thinner slices of bread to accompany. the water was cool, though, and sweet.

Vika, who had still spoken nothing more to LiMei than at first about the scrolls, continued to serve their meals three times a day.

“He must be watched by someone,” Li Mei thought to herself.

“Or he would say something.”

Vika was silent. His face was blank. He gave no indication of

anything. He served the trenchers to the girls and left back to the deck.

Li Mei happily, but quietly, shared her dream with the other girls.

They, too, were pleased to know that their friends above deck were

not as they had originally suspected – kidnappers and pillagers – if Li Mei's dream had been correct.

Sometimes the girls would take turns sitting at the base of the

stairs, watching the hatch, waiting for one of the sailors to pass by the opening. But when they did, they never looked to the hold.

They passed by with whatever duty they were already performing. She knew that for whatever reason, Vika had chosen to ignore

her, as had the other sailors; he was doing it for their benefit. She trusted him.

342

“Come, An,” said Li Mei one afternoon. “You are not yourself.” An walked slowly over to the cot where Li Mei sat.

“Tellme your troubles, and I shall fix them,” said Li Mei, smiling at

her.

An smiled slowly back at her. She had been worried since their

sentence to the hull.

“What is to happen to us, Li Mei?”

Li Mei put her arm around her sister and sighed.

“I promise you,” she said firmly, “I will let nothing bad happen to

you. I will keep you safe. You have nothing over which you should worry.”

An sighed more easily, lighter, and rested her head on Li Mei's

shoulder.

“I trust you,” she said.

“So...” Li Mei continued, trying to sound very cheerful, “Until we

see land again, let us make a game of things.”

Li Mei brought An and Xue to the square of light on the floor,

where the sun passed through the staircase. She took a bag of

seeds the size of marbles, dark brown, and groupedthem into twelve piles on the floor, four seeds in each pile. And for the next several

hours, she taught them how to play, a grouping game, where the girl who collected the most seeds, won the game. But the girls were

ready for something to change. The older ones were wondering if they were not to, perhaps, circle the seas indefinitely.

It was later that evening that the silence was finally broken. Li Mei

heard it coming before any of them, and quickly broughtthe girls

together in a corner near their cots. A thunderous stamp of booted feet landed on the top step of the staircase, billowing drydust into the hold. A harsh language came next, in foreign tongue, as a 343

familiar pseudo-face entered the hold. It was one ofthe painted

masks, but not the same one who had stared so intensely at Li Mei's eyes that dark night. Several of the younger girls could not move.

They were frightened. Li Mei and the older ones stood before the

littler girls so that the painted mask would not see them shivering with fright.

The painted mask, however, hardly noticed themthere. His build was different. He was not as large as the otherpainted masks.

And he seemed nearly oblivious to their small group. He looked,

instead, to the treasure trove, packed tightly together. He looked

over it with intense interest, touching nothing. He then lookedto the deck and motioned with his torch. Twosmall figures stumbled down

the staircase. Olive skinned. Dark shining eyes. Black hair braided down to their ankles. They wore simple clothes and silver bands around their right arms.

“Slaves...” Li Mei thought to herself.

The painted mask flew back up the staircase, and was gone. The two small girls stood before them, blinking their eyes in

wonder.

“They will not understand if we speak to them,” Li Mei thought to

herself.

She stepped forward cautiously and spoke a greeting in the

sailors' tongue. The girls smiled. They looked exactly alike, and had very white teeth.

“Probably An's and Xue's age,” Li Mei thought. “Do you understand me?” Li Mei asked aloud.

The girls looked to each other and giggled a little.

“We understand,” said the one closest to the staircase. “We speak

this language also.”

344

Li Mei couldn't help but smile.

“We have been here since we were babies,” said the other girl. “You are not slaves?”

“We were not until these bad men took us from this ship.” “What? You lived here before us?”

“Oh, yes. We would be at sea for months with our father.” “Your father?”

“Yes – he is the one with the red beard.”

“Gunnbjorn? Gunnbjorn is your father?”

Li Mei and the other girls could not have been more surprised. “He took us from our homeland after our parents had died of

disease. He has taken care of us since we were born. He lost us on another ocean when the bad ship came.”

“Where does the bad ship come from? Are they your people

too?”

“Yes, they are our people. But they live in another land. They are

bad men.”

Li Mei had to sit down. For having so many questions for so long,

she suddenly could not think. “I am Li Mei,” she said.

She introduced the others.

“I am Abha, said the girl nearest the stair. This is my twin sister,

Amala.”

“We have so much we do not know,” said Li Mei, as the other girls

gathered around. “We have been on this ship for many months,

stolen from our village. We have learned very little of why we are here. We have been told nothing.”

Abha and Amala looked at one another, amused.

345

“How can that be?” Amala asked. “Even we know why you are

here. I wonder that no one told you. Even Father saidnothing?” “Nothing.”

Amala then looked concerned. “You should be told,” she said.

“But we are young, and maybe do not know how to explain...”

“Anything would help us,”said Jing, who could wait silent no

longer. “Tell us, forwe miss our families, and must return quickly to them.”

The twins once again looked to one another and took a seat on

the floor of the hull.

“We will count the treasure later,” said Abha. “The bad men can

wait.” She turned to the girls. “Many months ago when our father

went to sea, we came with him. We were only a week away from home, when the bad ship came. They took us as ransom, my sister and me, until Father and this crew would bring the bad men a great treasure.

Father knew what they wanted, but he was too frightened to look for it...”

“He was not frightened, Abha,” Amala protested. “Father is never

frightened.”

“Any man would be frightened to look for it,” Abha replied.

“But even if he was not frightened, he should have been. There was nothing that Father could do. He couldnot take us back onboard

without danger, so he set out to sea to find the treasure. For many months we followed with the bad men on the bad ship.” “Many storms,” said Amala.

“And then we came to your country. We were docked beneath

your mountain, waiting to see what Father would find.” “And then it happened,” Amala cutin again. It was silent for a moment.

346

“The great white light.”

Xia cut a look to Li Mei. Li Mei pretended to be unaffected.

“A straight pillar of whitelight from heaven, down to the mountain.

The earth shook, and then it was gone. Amala and I werescared.

Even the warriors of the bad ship wereshaking. Hours later, Father rowed out to our ship to meet the bad man with the mask. He said that he had found the treasure, and that hewould now make the trade.”

“But there was a problem,” said Amala.

“Yes. The bad man began to shout and curse at Father. He said

that Father had brought danger. Hesaid that Father had tricked him and that the treasure was not complete. He said that Father

would have to visit all of the high elders and show them the treasure,

that they might confirm it as real. He was also to bring back harvests for the gods. Gold, silver, gems. They talked for hours. Father is a good man, and did not want us to be harmed, or any innocent

person.” She paused again, and looked to Li Mei. “Father took you for your protection.”

Li Mei sat, stunned, wondering if her dream could have possibly

been true. “My... protection?”

“He knew that if he had not taken you after the phenomena of the

heavens, that the bad man would have come and done worse to you and the villagers.”

The other girls looked to one another, confused, surprised.

“Once it was over, the bad men were surprised. They did not

expect Father to find the treasure.”

“What treasure?” Li Mei asked, fearing the answer. “You,” Abha replied.

Li Mei could no respond. 347

“Treasurealso means heavenly being, angel, advisor to the gods.

These bad men believe that you, all of you, are that. Deities. You, they believe, are their leader, Li Mei, because the great white light still shone on your face when they found you.” “And the others?”

“Their eyes,” Amala said, with a shrug. “They are green.

Something that the most powerful painted mask told Father... about a raid on a caravan many years ago, leaving a great countryof green mountains... I do not understand everything. But they are bringing you to our home to present you to all of our people, to bless our land, to make the bad men rulers of the world.” “They are evil,” Amala shivered.

Li Mei pressed her hands together and swallowed hard.

Perspiration shone on her face. But she couldnot show her fright, for the others' sake.

“Are you a goddess?” Abha asked, seriously.

“No,” she replied. Then she laughed, “No! I am no goddess. I am

a young girl and nothing more. What am I to say when they see that I am that, and only that?”

The twins looked to each other again.

“I hope that you think of something,” said Abha. “We all saw the

great light. It can't mean nothing. There must be something special about you. And we will be home soon. The bad men will keep you

prisoner until the festival. Think of something to say that will make

them believe you are truly a deity, or they will never let you leave for ruining their pride.”

As the purpose of the past many months rolled togetherinto its

order, Li Mei sat with her back pressed to the wall, allowing her mind to drift rapidly between questions still unanswered. 348

“Help us count the treasure,” said Amala, “or we will get into

trouble.”

The twins walked over to the stacks of boxes and motioned the

girls to follow. Li Mei could not move. Jing knew that Li Mei needed a moment to think.

“Come, girls,” she said, and followed the twins to the boxes.

Li Mei thought over all that Abha and Amala had said. So many

things. She could not even yet think on the future. Her thoughts

were on the past. Forthe rest of the evening, she sat, watching, but not seeing. The exclamations of the girls went unheard as they

opened trunk after trunk and counted gold coins and bars, precious stones, silk, religious objects, and other beautiful things. “What must I do?” she finally whispered to herself.

She remembered reading the scrolls, Paul's words.

“I cannot pretend to be a deity,” she thought. “There is only one

god. I could not make myself pretend to be a goddess...”

Then she remembered something her father had once said to her

long ago:

“Truth to whom truth si due.”

“Ah,” she thought again. “I cannot bring harm to these girls.

If they ask me to pretend to be a deity, it will be no different for me than if I were in a play at home. I will see what occurs. Perhaps the twins are mistaken.”

But inwardly, she knew that they were not mistaken. She

prepared for what might take place, in the unknown ahead.

And as she, the other girls, and the twins awoke the following morning to Thord's cry of, “Land!”

...she knew that the trials were about to come.

349

!e Ed% of .e M(ntain

The things that followed next came in a dream for Li Mei.

Afterward, she could never recall the exact order in which they

occurred. As she laid her head to rest on the bench of her cell, she pressed both hands to her head, trying to remember.

Only hours before, she and the girls were still gathered in the hold

in the early gray morning light of the north sea. The twins were

talking about how beautiful their country was, how they would love

the fresh mountain air, the fish and berries, of legends and deities... when again, the painted mask gruffly called loudly from the deck. Several other painted masks thundered down the stairs. Oneof

them grabbed Li Mei by the arm, tied her hands quickly with rope, and led her back up to the deck “Li Mei!” An cried out to her.

But Li Mei would show now fear. “I will be alright, An. Be still.”

And Xia was quiet, watching after her sister, trying not to let the

tears slip from their berths.

In the fresh air of the morning, the painted masks seemed less

sinister to Li Mei. But she was already being cruelly dragged across the deck to a small boat. She was shoved in to it and made to sit on the floor. As she looked back to the prow of the ship, she saw Vika watching her miserably. Li Mei kept her eyes steady upon the ship 353

as the painted masks rowed the boat to the shoreline. Sheheld her head high as her black hair whipped in the cold wind.

At land, the sand was black. The line of forest was thick and dark

green. And there to greet the small boat, were several crowds of

women and children. Li Mei looked on them with interest, and hope.

With women and children present, as the twins had told,she thought that perhaps her fate might be less severe.

As she watched, however, the words of Paul went through her

thoughts.

Her hope for mercy was somewhat stifled as she was roughly

pulled from the boat. One of the painted masks pulled hard on the

coarse rope around her wrists. Li Mei had to run to keep up with his pace. It might have only been several hundred yards to the cell. A small earthen structure, more earth than wood. It's roof was

sloped like a dome and on either side was a window, barred with

metal. The painted mask thrust Li Mei forward into the open door. Before she could turn round, the door had been shut heavily.

She heard a key grate in the lock. And then all was quiet. Her eyes adjusted to the dim of her prison.

“LORD, help me to be unafraid,” she whispered aloud.

And it was then that she knew she had said a first prayer. It made

her feel strengthened. She knelt under the window which faced the south, to the sea, to watch the shadow of the Grimhild Groa. “Keep them safe,” she said.

The arc of the room was inlaid with rough gray stone. A wooden

bench lay against the wall between the two windows. Nothing else

adorned the walls. And the wind blew, still, from one window to the next, whistling mournfully to her as she sat. She knew that she was

tired. Though the event had been so very brief, her body had been 354

tense throughout the night, and she ached. She laid herself down

upon the bench, her arms placed next to her side as the folds of her gown rippled to the floor, as did her black hair. The bench was rough and hard, but it was better than lying on the floor. Li Mei

closed her eyes and easily slipped into deep sleep. Not a flutter did she make of her robes. Her hands did not move. Nothing moved.

Her sleep was so deep. If one had been watching, one might have thought she was no longer living. The hours passed into the early

evening. The twittering of forest birds ended. The splash of small waves upon the shore whispered her dreams back to home where

she saw once again, for the first time since that fateful day, the faces of her parents. They were at home, talking with one another.

Her father held his head in his hands while her mother tried to offer

him a bowl of rice noodles. He refused. They were in mourning, still. A black cloth hung above the sliding paper door of her and An's

room. Her dreams took her further into the village â&#x20AC;&#x201C; her favorite

glades and fields, and streams, the mountain lookouts to the sea... and then the dream had ended.

She woke, again in cold sweat, and sat straight up on her bench.

The sun had just slipped away behind the forest bed. Light of many stars rained down upon the land outside the prison. The sensation

of everything about her was disorienting. The dark and thecool, the

wash of ocean, the crickets and quiet... It took almost the space of a minute for her to remember where she was. And then she knew.

She stood up from the hard bench and stretchedher arms to the

ceiling of earth. Her back ached still, but not as badly. The sleep had helped to remove some of the pain. She was no longer tired.

Her green eyes were wide against the dark. Somewhere far off, she heard drums.

355

She held on to the bars of her prison and pushed her head

against them to see what she could. The golden-orange glow of

torchlight was in the distance, perhaps near the shorewhere she first disembarked. She kept her head there, listening hard to the east shore, where she hoped to hear something she could recognize. But there was nothing that she could identify.

She pulled herself away from the window, hoping that before the

night had ended she would once again become tired, so that she would be awake for morning's light.

She was hungry. She had not eaten for over a day. She sat with

her back against the rough wall and thought about what she might be eating with the girls onboard, if they had not removedher: dried

fruit, brown bread, fresh fish fried over the fire, cold water from the

last rains... She tucked her arms tightly around her stomach. But it was difficult not to think about her hunger.

“I am in danger,” she said aloud to herself, “and I can think, now,

of nothing but my stomach.” She pressed her head back against the wall toward the ceiling. “Will I have nothing to eat? Will they keep me here until I die?”

As she sat there, she remembered what the twins had said to her

that night, which now seemed so long ago...

“Think of something to say that will make them believe you are

truly a deity, or they will never let you leave for ruining their pride.” It was then that she thought of something truly terrible.

“Perhaps they are testing me. They will give me no food and see

whether or not I survive. If I survive without food, they will say that I am a goddess, and they will spare me. If not... I will die.”

She put both hands to her head as she had seen her father do so

in her dream. She worked against the fear that pressed upon her. 356

She thought of Vika then.

“He will not let me starve,” she thought.

There she sat, quiet, her eyes closed softly against the cool of the

night. She wished that she had her shawl to guard against the

closing night. And as she sat there, the breeze from the sea passed through the windows, bringing a calm to her mind, to her thoughts. It wasn't long, then, and she heard the crunch and swish of boots

against grasses and gravel. Her eyes opened wide to the night as she heard the sound. It grew closer. But then it hesitated.

Came again. Stopped. Started. Stopped. Then a rush, as though

the person was running. Li Mei sat straighter still, pressing her back as closely against the wall as she was able. She knew she could not

hide. Whoever was coming, was coming for her. Her palms were wet from the dew of the night and the tensity of the moment. Then the running stopped again, close to her cell. “Li Mei,” someone whispered.

Li Mei, who had been holding her breath, almost called out in joy.

It was Vika.

“Vika!” she whispered, and flew to the other window. “What is

happening?”

“Peace, Li Mei. I cannot stay long. The others will wonder where I

am. Take this.”

He passed her a bundle of cloth between the bars of her window. “I will return tomorrow when they are distracted with other things.

I cannot tell you any more tonight.”

Li Mei looked hard at him under the starlight.

“Thank you, Vika,” she said, trying not to ask any further

questions. “I will look for you then.” And with that, he was gone.

357

Li Mei sighed wearily, but happily. Vika, she knew, would not

forget her. She took the bundle of cloth to the bench and laid it there to open it. Inside lay a cut of cold pork, a wedge of some

strange fruit, and a piece of brown bread. She ate slowly,despite her hunger, enjoying the flavors.

The night passed into shadows as she ate her meal and watched

the stars through the bars of herwindow.

L The next morning, Li Mei felt the ache of her body against the

cold floor of the cell. In her state of sleep she had still thought to wrap the cloth (which had held her food) around her shivering shoulders.

The day was long. From the beginning of it, the rain came.

Cold, soft, and ceaseless. Her thoughts were much, still, on how

long she might lay in her cell, what she might say or do to convince the strange light-haired people that she was only a younggirl who needed to be returned to her family, with the others.

Sometime in the afternoon, she heard the same rustling in the wet

grass. But this time, the feet were many, and small. She heard the

rough words of the painted masks again. Straining her head against the bars, she saw them, her sister and the others walking toward the earthen mound. They were pulled along behind one another, their

hands bound in the same stiff rope which had bound Li Mei's. She clapped a hand over her mouth as the other hand clutched the bar at the window. She would say nothing. Calling out could bring trouble for her sister and the others.

358

“Perhaps,” she thought hopefully, “they do not know that An is

my sister. That is less that they could use against us.”

She watched carefully as they pushed through the heavy wet

grasses down the unmarked path. And then Li Mei realized that they were being led directly behind her cell. She craned hard, pressing her head against the bars, until she could press no harder.

And there, dimly, was the curved earth mound of another cell, linked to her own. There was a room next to hers where the girls had been taken. She breathed a little easier, and sat back against the wall. She knew her task for the afternoon.

The painted masks did not even look to her direction after the

girls had been placed in the cell. They hurried, the four of them, back toward the shore. What was happening out there?

As soon as the swishing of grass had ended, Li Mei turned to the

southwestern wall of her abode. The inlay of stone in dirt was going to be difficult. Large gray stones, rough, and many. The dirt was packed hard between the stones.

“I will have to only remove a few,” she thought to herself, “and be

able to replace them if anyone comes near.”

She placed her fingers around the outside rough edgeof one of

the stones. It was thickly placed, and would not move. She saw the cloth still lying there under the northern window. Picking it up, she wrapped it around the fingers of her right hand, and began slowly

and methodically to pry away at the dirt. A small pile of dark dust

floated to the dirt floor. She continued to drag her covered fingers

against the stubborn wall, over and over, and over again. The small pile of dust, over the hours, began to slowly grow. And as she dug,

she continued to think. And as she thought, the quiet became more

intense, until all was quiet in her mind. She still saw her parents in her 359

dream, and An.

When she broke her reverie some time later, the dirt had been

removed from the first stone. With a hard pull around its rough

edges, it fell with a clatter to the ground. Li Mei sat back against the bench, realizing that a cold sweat had formed on her face, and her arm ached strongly. But she continued, hour after hour into the early evening. So that by the time the sun slipped beyond the

woods, she had removed five stones, behind which lay packed earth around beams of wood. With fierce jabs of her hands, she hacked away until with a solid punch, she broke throughto the other side. She heard the cry of surprise from the girls on the other side. “An! An!” she called through the hole there.

“Li Mei!” An cried back, running to the new hole in the wall.

“We thought the worst for you. You are alright?”

“I am fine, An. Hungry, only. Vika brought me food last night. I am

well.”

“I am so glad,” An said, who was trying very hard not to cry. “What

happened to you?”

“I have only been here the whole time. I saw nothing but a few of

the villagers when I arrived on the shore.”

“That is all we saw as well. They kept us in the hold until early this

morning. The twins were taken back, with Gunnbjorn, so they are safe, we think.”

“And what of theother sailors?”

“We think that they have been talking with the barbarians all this

time. There is something not right between them. Some of them are angry.”

“This cannot bode well for us,” said Jing from the other side.

“How long will they keep us here before they do as the twins say, 360

and have us speak of being deities.”

“What will you say to them, Li Mei?” Ting asked her. Li Mei thought for a few moments before reply.

“I've had some time to think,” she said slowly. “And Iwill not be

able to know what to say to them until I am there, at that moment.

I believe that it is wrong to lie. But if I must lie to save us from great danger, I will do what I must.”

“You know best what to do,” said Xia. “We trust you.”

“Unfortunately, the responsibility has fallen upon me,” Li Mei

thought to herself.

She would have much rather it had been Jia Li's, Fen's, orone of

the other girls. But for some reason, she had been selected as the

one upon whom the strange light fell. Why such a light had radiated upon her, she did not know. But it had, and the barbarians had misinterpreted its meaning.

“What shall I do?” she thought to herself.

“You cannot see the village from your window?” Li Na asked her

from the opening.

“I cannot,” said Li Mei. “Do you?”

“We can,” she replied. “Mostly the tops of small houses. Roofs.

Vegetable patches. We can sometimes hear voices. Although they

are mostly muffled. We will tell you if anything happens of interest.” Throughout the afternoon, as the girls became wearied of their

confinement, they took turns looking out the window and passing interesting pieces of information back to Li Mei.

“There are two dogs running through the woods. They are gray

dogs, nothing like we have at home.”

“A woman has come downthe path from the village to a large

garden in the field. She is carrying a basket. Here hair is long and 361

light and braided. She is young. A small boy with light hair follows her. He has a knife at his belt and is running, trying to catch butterflies.”

Li Mei smiled to herself at the thought of the little boy.

“The woman does not even look at us,” Jia Li whispered across to

her. “She keeps her head turned from our direction. It is as though she is purposefully looking away.”

“Perhaps,” replied Li Mei, “if they think us to be deities, they

consider themselves not worthy to look upon the divine.” Jia Li laughed, “Divine we are not.”

Li Mei sighed to herself. “No, we are not.”

L Into the evening, their conversation continued from time to time.

They were becoming hungry. And before much could be said on the subject, as night fell upon the valley, Vika arrived bearing two cloth

sacks of food. The smaller sack was for LiMei's cell, which he visited second.

“Open it,” he urged her quietly. Li Mei unwrapped the cloth. “Oh!” she gasped.

Inside, lay one of the coveted scrolls, wrapped carefully in a

waxed cloth.

“We cannot hide these words any longer,” he said. “My crew has

seen several of them. Youmust share these with the others now. It is

time. If I am able, I will bring one to you at every meal. Tell them what we have read together. Our time here may be short.”

362

Li Mei was happy to hear these words. But he left her saddened

by his last sentence. She knew by the state of his tone that

whatever was happening beyond the cell, was not of a goodnature.

As she unwrapped the scoll that night, she looked to the mountain

beyond, glowing in a nature of strange fire. And far into the night,

she read from the scroll to the girls. Their interest became increased as she read.

L This continued for several weeks. During the days, the girls would

watch for the villagers in the fields and discuss the scrolls quietly. During the nights, before they individually fell asleep on the cold

earthen floor, they would listen carefully for stray words in the winds from the conversations in the village. Though nothing could be heard to know what might take place next.

Revelation

“It begins here.”

Li Mei was quickly awoken from her sleep as she heard Gunnbjorn

speak loudly from the field. She flew from her hard bed to the

window. There was Gunnbjorn standing firmly between her cell and the cruel barbarians before the glowing mountain.

“It begins here,” he repeated. “And ends here. The eldershave all

admitted freely to you that these young ones are the ones foretold, the maidens. But from the heavens, they are not. Their purpose

here is not for war. Their purpose will be for peace, if you but listen to their words.”

“What words?” Li Mei thought to herself.

“And these wordswill bring hope to you,” said Gunnbjorn.

“No longer will you find need to burn and to pillage.”

One of the painted masks stepped forwardto Gunnbjorn.

“You have had your time, old man,” he said lowly and steadily.

“As you see, theystand alive after weeks of no food. And you say

to me that they are mere mortals? Once the one has been tested, we will then see who lies. Youand the elders, or the ancients. War is

coming. The world will lie at our feet. And it will come at the hand of these maidens. We will rule all days.”

367

The painted masks rushed back into the wood past the village as

Gunnbjorn stood still, watching the mountain.

Li Mei slipped back to the floor over her cell and thought on his

words.

“Words? I have no words,” she thought to herself. “Gunnbjorn

expects from me even more than I could hope. He knows I have nothing to tell them that could prevent them fromdoing terrible things. I have none of these powers.”

Then she heard the words from Gunnbjorn. She thought, at first,

that she did not hear correctly. Returning to the window, she saw him standing there, still, before the mountain, arms raised to the

heavens. He was speaking again, repeating himself, she thought. His great voice rang loudly toward the top of the mountain:

“Nine treasures by one, “Led by light, “Unite all men under one.” Again, he repeated the words. Over and over. Li Mei thought

that by now he must have woken the other girls, also, with his voice. Again he said it. Again. Perhaps his voice would become hoarse.

Li Mei did not know how long he stood in the field, his voice raised.

Then he dropped his arms to his side. But he did not stop repeating the riddle to himself. He began to walk to and fro among the field

grasses. They bent to the muddy floor beneath his boots. A path was made as he walked. His voice became lower and lower until

Li Mei could no longer hear what he said. He mumbled to himself, no longer merely repeating the riddle, but speaking to himself in odd

tones, as if he were attempting to solve it. This continued for some 368

time.

“What is happening to Gunnbjorn?” Li Mei heard Ting ask her from

the other side.

“He is trying to solve a riddle, I think,” she replied. “How long have

you been awake to see him there?”

“We only just awoke. He seems strangely oblivious to us.”

“He must think that we still sleep,” Li Mei whispered. “Let us keep

quiet and see what he says.”

Ting agreed, and warned the other girls, who were also beginning

to wonder what was taking place with the former captain of their

ship. Gunnbjorn had not changed his pace. He continued to walk

with his face to the path in the mud, on which he trod. A whisper of sun breathed above the mountain. And then Gunnbjorn stopped. He stood, almost motionless. His fisted hands relaxed a moment.

Then he spun on his heel toward the cells ofearth. Li Mei drew back into the shadows. He stood there, staring. “There. It stands,” he said lowly. Moments of quiet.

“There,” he said, pointing. “It stands.”

His pointed hand stayed raised. And then, in a twinkling, he

began to run, but not to the cell. His flight took him toward the

village. And at the speed at which he ran, Li Mei wondered if he

might pass through it entirely, and swim toward the ship. Something had struck him.

“Li Mei!” An called. “Did you see it? What happened to him? He is

frightened of something.”

“I do not think that he is frightened,” Li Mei replied quietly.

“He has made a discovery, and has gone to tell someone. I pray we hear of it soon. Whatever his revelation, it will apply to us in some way. That must be certain.”

369

!e Prophecy

For the rest of that day, the girls wandered about their cells.

Little was said between them. Li Mei tried to remember what it was that Gunnbjorn had said. The riddle.

“I heard him say it so many times,” she said to Jing, “and I cannot

remember it.”

She pressed her mind to remember, until her head began to hurt.

The words had been forgotten in the distraction of watching the

stern and silent Gunnbjorn become so animated in the pre-dawn of the glowing mountain.

Vika was late in coming for their dinner. Li Mei tried to wait

patiently, becoming more and more anxious to hear what he would

say about the riddle, when she asked him. She was past the point of hesitating to ask questions. No more would she wait.

As the sun began to settle for the evening, Vika arrived, running

through the rushes.

“Vika!” Li Mei called to him.

“Hush, Li Mei!” he cried quietly back to her.

He passed the wrapped cloth of food to the other girls, and made

his way to her with the smaller bundle.

“Say nothing, Li Mei. The spies are beginning to have ears here.

373

They will take you tomorrow morning. Be silent. Tell themnothing. Gunnbjorn has spoken with me. We have plans to keep you safe.

Do not worry. But keep silent. Anything you say could be turned against you.” “Vika...”

“Please, Li Mei.”

Li Mei looked hard at him in the approaching darkness. She could

see it in his eyes. He was very serious. He had asked her to be silent, and she would be. She nodded.

“Good girl,” he said, with a little twinkle in his eyes.

And he was gone. As soon he left, Li Mei thought she heard a

rustle across the field. The spies, as Vika had told her, might be already there at that very moment.

Li Mei pressed her back against the rough wall and ate her dinner.

After she finished, she could not remember what she had eaten. She pressed the cloth on her lap and folded it carefully for no particular reason. Her mind was wandering. Despite her

bewilderment of the last weeks, she was still at peace, in the deeper parts of her soul. They had Paul's letters to read together.

Vika would not forget them. And Gunnbjorn had been given a

revelation. Things would, she hoped, be better in the very end. Throughout the night, Li Mei continued to hear the rustle of

rushes. And not from winds, but from people. At one period of the night, she was certain that the footsteps in the grasses wereunder

her window. She broke into a cold sweat when she heard it. She lay perfectly still. She saw no torchlight, only the light of the moon, the

glory of the stars, the lap of wave against the shore, and the buzz of crickets, the rush of wind.

“Silence,” she told herself. “Silence.” 374

And then the being left.

The next morning, true to Vika's word, the painted masks came

running from the village. Li Mei heard themcome and called to the

girls to hide the scrolls of Paul. Each of the girls slipped one of the scrolls into the secret pockets of their gowns.

As soon as the scrolls were secure, and not two seconds too

soon, the door of Li Mei's cell was thrust open. She heard the door from the other cell also burst inward as two of the painted masks grabbed her by the arms and pulled her almost violently into the

fresh air. The overwhelming sense of openness washed through her senses. And for the first time in weeks, she saw the other girls as a

group standing next to her. She couldn't help but smile a little as a result. But the painted masks wouldn't allow them to stand there long. They were quickly marched to the village.

Despite the roughness of the march, the grasses were soft and

the ground was still fresh from the rain of the previous afternoon.

Birds trilled to one another from the great dark green trees, bristled like brushes on each branch. The air was full, pine, and sweet

flowers. The ocean mist. Li Mei knew not where they were going, but she was very pleased to be returned to that world.

The village soon came upon them. The earthen huts and white-

haired peoples. Then, amongst the crowd,she saw the twins. They were standing with a woman.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Maybe that is their mother,â&#x20AC;? Li Mei thought.

The twins waved shyly to her as Li Mei passed. Li Mei lifted her

hand low from her side and waved back so that the painted masks might not see her and suspect anything unusual.

Their march continued, past the crowded village. They all had

stopped their activities to watch the procession. Woman had come 375

from their homes with mixing bowls. Men had stoppedmending

fishing nets and chopping wood. Children had stopped playing with their dolls and games. They only stared. Full blue eyes. The little ones whispered and pointed occasionally.

Li Mei held her head high, as they were swept away from the

masses and further into the woods. Their march wasnot long.

The sea was still visible, even the smoke fromthe village cooking fires

was still curling above the trees, when the painted masks ended their brief journey. Before them was a great tent, black, and quiet.

The head of the painted masks called out a loud greeting, which

rumbled through the wood.

From the entrance of the tent came a reply and the flap was

opened. A figure emerged, quietly, slowly. He also wore a painted mask upon his face. But from his appearance before them, Li Mei thought that perhaps there was more of kindness about him.

The man bowed low to the other painted masks who held the girls.

They bowed in return, and then vanished back into the wood, running toward the village.

Li Mei watched the man. He walked toward them carefully. “Welcome, my ladies,” he said lowly.

Li Mei straightened. She remembered the voice. It was familiar.

She knew she had heard it, somewhere, at some time.

“Follow me,” he said, and turned back toward the tent.

Li Mei led the girls behind her over the remainder of the trail

covered in soft pine needles and red clay. She dipped her head into the tent as she followed him. Lamps lit the behemoth of the interior,

dressed in spices of cinnamon and cloves. The lamps lit the entirety of the tent. Some lamps were hung from strong rope from the

ceiling. Others were set on little tables. The center of the tent was 376

open. But on the sides were chests and boxes, tables, chairs,

swords, knives, and all manner of things. The girls' eyes widened as they looked upon the room. Several other painted masks waited within.

“They are here to test us,” Li Mei thought to herself. “Just as the

twins thought.”

The painted mask led them further into the interior. But he did

not stop at the end of the tent. Instead, he pushed past another

flap, which appeared to be woven from a different land, and was red. As he opened the heavy curtain, the girls felt the chill cool air of the cave on the other side.

But as they entered, they found that it was not damp. The cave

was also lit with lights. And before themlay a staircase cut into the stone of the cavern wall.

“Come,” the painted mask beckoned to them.

And he led them up. Further up into the mountain.

“This is the glowing mountain,” Li Mei thought to herself as the

ascended. “This is the mountain Gunnbjorn watched.”

At the end of their climb, the painted mask turned back toward

them at the top step.

“This is where you will stay,” he said.

He paused a moment and then continued: “For your safe-keeping.”

Then he climbed the last step and indicated that the girls

continue. Several of the girls caught their breath. The enormity of

the open cavern before them was overwhelming. As if in the interior of a hollow pyramid, the cavern opened to a chamber of incredible size.

377

Li Mei stood still, watching the lamplight of torches flicker there on

the walls. She could not see the end of the chamber; it grew back

into the mountain in a never-ending expanse of shadow. Passages snaked from open doorways cut into the stone.

“How long it must have taken to cut this into the mountain,” Jing

spoke softly to Li Mei.

The painted mask heard her. “The ancients built this place,” he

said, almost reverently. “None know how long ago. Some say... the gods' hands were involved.”

The silence echoed amongst them as they looked on the expanse. “Here is your sleeping chamber,” the painted mask pointed his lit

torch toward an open room cut in the side of thewall. “Stay now. You, follow me.”

He pointed toward Li Mei. She turned to follow him obediently.

She was now more curious. She wanted to know what further regions of the mountain she was to see for herself.

The four painted masks behind the girls led them through the

open doorway.

“I will return shortly,” Li Mei whispered to her sister.

She followed the painted mask through the open door of cool

and dark. She wished, then, more than usual, that Vika was with

them. But she did not feel unsafe. There was still something familiar about the voice behind the mask.

There was only the sound of foot on stone as they walked

through the dim passage. They passed countless doorways lit only

by the flicker of a single torch. Further up into the mountain. Li Mei was vaguely aware that several others followed behind her, but she did not turn around. The journey became moredifficult as they

climbed. But the stones were not wet from the dripping of cave 378

water. And she did not fall.

It was then that the painted mask stopped. He turned to the

other painted masks, two of them, and spoke: “Remain here.”

He turned to Li Mei and once again, beckoned her to follow him

through the stone doorway.

Through the other side, Li Mei gasped and threw herself back

against the wall. Her footing was sure, but the sight before her

forced her to the edge of the room. Above her was the high ceiling of a chamber nearly as large as the one below, covered in white

stones carved and smoothed in the shapes of blossoms. Li Mei had seen them before. They were magnolias. They covered the entire ceiling. The walls were inlaid with red stones cut into rectangles, which shone and glittered in the light of the torch.

Etched on the wall was a passage, a sacred writing, perhaps.

The language was unknown to her. It could, she reasoned, be the

language of the sailors. She had never before seen it written, only spoken. It was ground into the stones and painted in black.

But it was the sight below her that had thrown her against the wall.

The entire floor was a pool of water, clear to a fault. One might not have know it was filled with water but for the ripple from some

unknown whisper of wind. And underneath its crystal surface was a glitter that would have rivaled the wealth of Solomon – gold,

precious gems, statuary, silver, and coins. How many fathoms deep this treasure lay, could not be determined.

The painted mask spoke once again, “The water is said to be

sacred,” he said quietly. “It is not to be touched.”

Li Mei could say nothing. To sink beneath the mirrored waters was

not desirable. She kept flat against the thin path around the circular 379

of the room.

But their journey was not over. The painted mask continued to

walk around the path, leading her further to another side of the room where stood another doorway. Through this opening was

another passage. And at the end of its brief length, lay a door of stone. White and smooth. With little effort, the painted mask

opened it to the light of the late afternoon. Li Mei followed him into the air. And with a last step, she found herself there on the top of

the mountain, the glowing mountain. The glow, she saw quickly, was from the flat surface where she stood, laid with panels of gold. It

dazzled her eyes. She could not see beyond their glowing paths.

“Come,” the painted mask said again, and led her away from the

glittering ground.

Li Mei followed, dazzled. Away from the path to the edge of the

mountain, he took her, where a patch of pine grew. “Sit,” he said.

Li Mei did so, happy to rest her weary limbs upon the forest floor.

Below her was the open green valley, the village, the forest, the

ocean, and behind her, miles of wood into the northern reachesof the land.

The painted mask turned to her. The bright colors of the mask

were no longer alarming. And then he removed it, suddenly, but slowly.

Li Mei almost cried out. “Harald!”

He smiled. “Do not be alarmed at this,” he said carefully.

“You must say nothing. Theydo not know that I am here.” “They?” Li Mei repeated, shocked.

380

“The men in the painted masks. They arecalled The Kings.

Kings they are not. But they are brutal warlords, who control all

these lands of my people. And the treasure you see in the mountain is to honor the gods. If the gods are honored, they will remain powerful over these lands.”

“And what of myself and the others?” Li Mei asked carefully.

“You,” Harald sighed, “you are the means of an ancient riddle.

The riddle upon the wall in the treasureroom.”

“I have heard this riddle,” Li Mei replied. “But I do not remember it.

Gunnbjorn was speaking it to himself outside of our cells below the mountain.”

“Ah, Gunnbjorn. He is, at this very moment, meeting with the other

elders and Hafgrim in secret, to make a decision for the overthrow. It seems, my dear, that you and your companions have arrived at a crucial point in our history. In fact, you have brought itupon us.” “I am sorry,” said Li Mei.

“You are sorry?” Harald exclaimed. “It is they who have kidnapped

you. They owe you more than they can know after what they have done to you. And,” there was a twinkle in his eye, “this is long

overdue. You have helped us by coming. If you had not arrived, I think our people would have continued to live in ignorance.”

“Ignorance from what?” Li Mei was no loner shy of questions. “Ignorance about the gods.”

Harald walked toward the edge of the path and sighed. “You have with you the scrolls of Paul, as Vika told us?” Li Mei nodded.

“These scrolls have given us life. The eldershave read them,

copies from the ones that you now carry. And you have found them for us. The Kings have confused the riddle.” 381

“I do not understand.”

“The prophecy written on the cavern wall says this: 'Nine treasures by one,

'Led by light, 'Unite all men under one.' It was Gunnbjorn who solved it only now. For so long, as he

searched for the answer to this riddle, under the watch of the warlords...”

“The riddle was 'the treasure' of which the twins told us,” Li Mei

thought to herself.

“When the light shone from heaven,” he continued, “they thought

they had found their answer. 'Nine treasures' – you and your companions. 'By one' – yourself – indicated by thelight from

heaven – 'led by light'. 'Unite all men under one' – you and your

companions would be the handmaidens of the gods to bring power to them once again, the kind of power they possessed in the old times to once again control the earthly kingdoms.”

Li Mei sat there, silently, thinking about all of these things.

“The time will be here shortly,” Harald continued. “when the

peoples will be gathered here. And they will look to you, to see what you will do to summon the presence of the gods.”

Li Mei straightened and looked carefully at him.

“That is why I am here,” said Harald kindly. “You did not expect

that we were so easily caught unaware and brought to our homeland?”

Li Mei bowed her head, and smiled.

382

“They will expect you to be tested, to see if you truly are the one

of which the prophecies speak.” “What must I do?”

“We will make plans,” said Harald. “It will take time. We will be

working under the watching eyes of The Kings. They think me to be one of the long-lost Kings of the islands in the north. If my identity is concealed, then all will go well.” “And what of thetreasure?”

“It will be used in their final sacrifice to the gods.”

Both looked over the valley where curls of smoke still whispered

to the heavens from the village.

“It will bring great change,” said Harald, “everything that happens

next. And you, my dear, will see it all first hand.”

383

!e Test

Li Mei returned to the interior of the cavern with Harald following

her, explaining more of the details behind the mystery of the past months.

The seven elders (six of whom had been captured and taken), had

lived in far parts of the world for many years,waiting, watching for

signs of the answer to the riddle. For many years theyhad waited,

hoping that the revelation would be given to one of the nine before

the end of another age. They knew that The Kings waited, thirsting for power, for power over the known world. And while the elders

were their own sect, and disloyal to The Kings, they too hoped for an answer.

“We have long known that the riddle did not indicate the power of

men, but the power of a higher being,” said Harald. “But because we were never certain, it was not until we, each of us, met you on your

voyage. We have been given a, sense, of things in the world. There was no doubt in any of our minds that the answer to this prophecy would be handed to us through yourselfand your companions.” “We have no friends here?” Li Mei asked him.

“None who wear the painted mask. Should you meet any of the

villagers, they are harmless enough. But they fear The Kings, and

therefore cannot always be trusted. Butyou will be isolated here. 387

When the kings leave tonight, we will be joined by Tofa and perhaps

several of the others who have been able to transfer to the disguise, successfully. The others are still imprisoned on a remote shore. But they will release themselves at the proper time.”

Harald returned the mask to his face as they passed throughthe

stone door. And then, there was silence between them again as they met the other painted masks beyond the treasure roomand began their descent.

It was a shorter journey for Li Mei back to the girls. She had much

relieving news to share with them. Harald had warned her to stress the great importance of secrecy, especially to the younger ones.

It would be a heavy burden to bear if the painted masks suspected that anything was unusual.

L “And we must keep silent, all of us.”

The girls sat around the small fire in their cavern, listening to Li Mei

speak of all that Harald had told her.

Ting pressed her hands together under her chin in contemplation.

“Then, what must we do in order to return home?” she asked.

“I think that we must, first, address the matter directly before us.

The Kings are preparing for a greatgathering of all the peoples

where they plan to demonstrate the gods anointing the nine of us with their power, which, in turn, will be handed to The Kings themselves.”

“And what doesthat mean for us?” Jing asked.

“Harald and the other elders will show us what to do. He is, of

course, in disguise, which means that he will be obliged to administer 388

false tests for us when the other painted masks are present. Hewill

make it appear as though they are real. They trust him to be a seer. And there are other things...”

“What things?” An asked, looking somewhat worried.

“Harald has not yet told me. But whatever he has planned, be

assured, An, that he will instruct us for our good. He has not

spoken of our return home. But I am certain that he will in time.

I remember him telling me so back on the island that it is of utmost importance for us to return.”

L It was the following morning that Harald came, as he had assured

Li Mei the evening before. The night hadbeen cool and comforting within the cavern. Each girl slept soundly and deeply in her own

bed, away from hard dirt floors and cots within the hold of a dark

ship. And from the window of stone above them, Li Mei could watch the stars as she fell asleep, for thefirst time.

Harald was silent behind his painted mask. Li Mei and the other

girls appeared unmoved at his arrival. None smiled,none bowed.

They only watched as he was followed closely by two of The Kings. Li Mei knew, as soon as she saw him, that the shorter of the two

was the same one who had first stared at her upon the ship that dark night – hard eyes, almost yellow, but green. She shivered.

The girls were taken, then, one by one, to the taller of the painted

masks with large arms and pieces of human bone braided into his long blonde hair. He secured each of their wrists together with

twine, and then bound them to the length of a long rope. Once all of the nine were bonded to the rope, he pulled on the rough end with 389

one hand and led them out of the cave.

The light of the early morning sun was golden and dull above the

forest. Li Mei, who was at the head of the girls, strained to see

beyond the massive warrior only steps before her. But the path was

not visible to her. The walk was a short one. Soon, as they rounded the berth of the mountain, she could see it – the path that would become so familiar to her over the next weeks.

The painted mask before her stopped themsuddenly, when they

arrived at the path's base and showed them whereto sit in the grass. Then, releasing Li Mei from the rope,keeping the twine still bound

round her wrists, he pulled her to her feet, and began to escort her up the path. Li Mei looked over the back of her shoulder to where

the other girls sat with Harald looking over them. Harald nodded to her. He knew what was happening, she was certain.

Then to the path, twisting back and forth in strange sets of

switchbacks across the sloping green of the mountain's face.

From the summit, Li Mei had not seen it – the incline of woodland

flowers, grasses, and red clay path. The sun was still at a place in the heavens where she could see the object of their climb. A small structure of stone set there on the rooftop of the mountain. “What shall I do when we arrive?” she thought to herself.

One taller painted mask, followed close behind her, not allowing

her to lag for breath as they climb continued, ceaseless, to the top.

It was half-way to the summit, that Li Mei saw the care thatboth The Kings took to keep their garments from brushing against the shrubs along the path. Li Mei saw many wild vegetables and berries, herbs and beautiful flowers. But none would they touch. She saw, also,

that both men made subtly certain that she did not touch anything with the hem of her long dress. If she were to stray too far to one 390

side of the narrow path or to the other, the painted mask would

steady her shoulders and move her firmly back to the middle of the path.

Li Mei was becoming tired. At several points of their ascent when

the path crossed back nearly parallel to the stretchbefore it, she

looked hard to the valley. There the girls still sat, watching, waiting for her to reach the summit. Faintly, she could still see thebright paint of Harald's mask.

“Harald failed to tell me of this,” she thought to herself. “What am

I to do?”

She thought this over to herself many times on the last part of the

path. But she pushed herself past her exhaustion at the very end.

She knew that if she faltered greatly, The Kings could suspect that

she was not who they believed she might be. And then, even Harald might not be able to save her, or the others.

When the sparkling of the sun shone upon her dark hair, she sat

there on the red clay of the summit and waited, breathing deeply of

the pine air, while one of the painted masks walked toward the stone structure. Li Mei felt light of head and heavy of body. She waited, her bright eyes riveted upon the small body of girls at the base of the mountain.

The shorter of the painted masks approached the stone

structure. Li Mei watched him closely as he lowered himself before it, pressed his arms to the heavens, muttereda strange word, and then lowered his hands to the earth where they rested firmly on the red

clay still damp from the dew of the morning. He stayed there in this position, as though he were waiting for a sign from thestone.

The taller of the painted masks stood behind Li Mei with one hand set on her shoulder.

391

â&#x20AC;&#x153;As if I would be able tomove at all at this moment,â&#x20AC;? Li Mei thought

wearily.

But she was still intrigued. She wondered if, perhaps, they were

expecting the same strange light from heaven to descendupon her again in a wash of white and gold. But the painted mask was not looking to the heavens. He was waiting for something else.

For maybe a quarter of an hour heknelt there, waiting. Li Mei kept

her gaze split between the girls at the base of the mountain and the

painted mask before the shrine. She knew that below, Harald would be speaking to the girls from behind the mask, schooling them in

preparations for the appointed time. And she was missing his sage words.

By the time the sun's light had passed across the faceof the

stone shrine, the painted mask muttered to himself. Stretching his

scarred fingers against the red clay, he drew himself back to his full height. Raising a fist to the heavens, he cried loudly and turned to

Li Mei. He stared at her for a moment and then started toward her, as if he might strike at her. Li Mei did not flinch. He stared at her

thought the mask. Then he looked to the painted mask behind her and yelled some strange words. She felt the hand on her shoulder tighten as he drew her to her feet.

Back to the base of the mountain. Though weary from the climb

to the top, Li Mei was pleased to feel the downward tread of the

path, loping about from one end to the other of the greenmountain

face. She hoped that she might not have to climb it again. She could see An smiling at her, sitting with her legs crossed in the grass. She smiled back for An's sake.

There she turned to the painted masks. But both had vanished.

Harald was already leading the girls back to the cave. Li Mei hurried 392

to follow at the end of the line.

“Quiet,” Ting reminded her, whispering over her back to Li Mei.

“When we get to the cave, Harald will speak to us again.”

Li Mei nodded, though she knew that Ting could not see her, and

continued her walk. Both her hands were still bound with the

coarseness of the twine. She saw that the other girls were also

bound. If Harald had freed them, the other painted masks would have noticed something awry.

Back in the tent, Harald did not stop, but led them back into the

interior. Li Mei thought that she might cry by the time she had

finished the flight of stone steps. She had enough strength, then, to

settle herself against the stone wall and lie upon her back, waiting for what Harald might say.

Li Na and An, whose binds were quickly cut by Harald, removed

Li Mei's and knelt beside her, one with a bowl of water, and the other with a cloth.

The girls had discovered late the night before, the store closet

near their bedchamber, filled to nearly bursting with supplies and dried foods. Harald nodded assent. It was there for their partial use.

Li Mei felt the sweet drops of water cool her head and her hair

and whispered her thanks.

“My little one,” Harald said worriedly to her, “I pray they have no

intention of taking you to the mountain top again. You must rest

here while the others begin their studies. There is muchto learn and little time.”

He saw the concern in Li Mei's face.

“We will speak later, my dear, when the other elders have arrived.

They are near, and coming.”

393

For the rest of the day, Li Mei watched Harald's instructions to

the girls. She began listening wearily, trying to rub the soreness

from her muscles. Mid-morning, Xia brought herbs from the tent below to rub on her arms and legs. Her muscles slowly began to

relax as the lessons proceeded. When the pain began to recede, she began to listen with more interest to Harald. He was preparing them carefully for what was to come.

“When the clans have all arrived at the mountain, they will come in

submission, and fear, before The Kings,” he cautioned them.

“Do not think that any act of heroism by any of you here will be easily followed by the masses. They are already frightened.

Should any of them speak against the power-thirst of these evil men, they would be hung, and without ceremony. Keep this thought in

your mind. It would behoove you to say as little as possible, so that when the time comes, you may return home.”

But Harald was kind. He wished only to preserve them, and in so

doing, he grimly warned them.

“There will be a gathering when they arrive, after the sun has

passed for the night. It is then that The Kings will take you to the

mountain at the shrine, where they believe is housed thepower for which they so greatly desire. I know not what method they believe will unleash this power. But whatever it is, it will involve the nine of you, with Li Mei at the utmost. Be assured that they have no

intention of causing lethal harm. They must keep you living in order to please the gods. Tothem, you are the one key.” Li Mei listened closely as Harald continued.

“When the other elders have arrived, we will discuss plans for your

escape. Know that we have made it of utmost importance to return you to your homeland. But we still find that we must ask for your 394

help before you leave.”

“How can we help?” Fen asked forthem all.

“There will be a struggle...” Harald said slowly. “And if we areable,

your presence may be our answer to turning the minds of our people.”

“But you said that they are too frightened, Harald.”

“Frightened now, yes. But you would be surprised at the bravery

behind the eyes. They fear mostly for the well-being of their

families. The Kings rule tyrannically. In closed circles, the people speak of them as The Dogs.”

An and Xue covered their mouths against a giggle. Harald's eyes

also twinkled.

The lecture carried into the late afternoon as Harald began to

unwind the history of the people, the elders, The Kings, Gunnbjorn and the twins, Hafgrim, the countryside, the sacred mountain, the prophecies and shrine, tales of the gods, and the scrolls. The scrolls.

“They hold the greatest treasure for our people,” he said

seriously. “We the elders had heard often the rumors of such writings from tales of the past. But to see them before my eyes was...

incredible. Our purpose must be to translate these writings into

many copies in the tongue of the people so that they may be read and brought back with them to their lands. If it werenot for you

coming to us, it may have been many centuries before suchwritings would have reached these shores. For this, I and the elders, thank you.”

The girls instinctively nodded to Harald. They had also come to

understand the magnanimity of the writings, and were slowly

beginning to realize the impact of bringing them to another people. 395

And with this conclusion, the girls prepared to receive supper.

Harald held the painted mask in his hands, rubbing the wood carving around the eye.

“Walk with me to the tent, Li Mei,” he said. “We must speak on

some things.”

Li Mei left the others, and they began their walk down to the tent.

Harald walked slowly.

“I knew they were going to bring you to the summit,” he said

carefully. “It may not be the only time. They will test your metal again and again until they are confident that you are who they think you are.”

“I wish it were safe for me to say that I am not,” said Li Mei, wearily.

“But I promise I will not.”

She saw the look upon Harald's face, as though he might be

alarmed at the thought.

“I trust you to keep as planned,” he said. “The next several weeks

will not be easy. But there will be the evenings where The Kings will

not disturb you. You will have eachother and the scrolls to keep you company, and whatever things you might find in the larder to amuse yourselves.”

“I am not afraid, Harald,” Li Mei said suddenly. “I must get back

home with my sister and the other girls. I will do anything necessary to bring us back.”

Harald looked kindly at her. “I believe strongly that you will return,

all of you,” he said. “Andthe elders, as you will see, are all eager to help you in that quest.”

At that moment, they had arrived at the entrance to the tent,

which Harald pulled aside. Seated there was Vika. “Vika!” Li Mei cried, and ran toward him. 396

“Hush, Li Mei,” he whispered to her, as he held her tightly. “They

musn't know.”

“I am sorry,” she said, pulling back to look directly at him. “I am so

happy to see you.”

“Miss me after only a couple of days, eh?” he almost laughed, his

ice blue eyes sparkling in the lamplight. “I fear you and your companions are stuck with my company for now.” Li Mei looked to Harald.

“He is to assist in your instruction,” he said.

Li Mei looked happily back to her friend. “You will not be too hard

on us, I hope,” she said teasingly.

“I will do my best, ma'dam,” he replied with a short bow. “In the

meantime, meet once again the other elders who are with us today.” Li Mei had not yet seen the other figures standing behind Vika in

the low lamplight.

“Tofa!” shecalled, hurrying to greet Thord's aunt.

“Welcome again, young one,” she said kindly, pressing Li Mei

toward her. “Under different conditions we find ourselves. You are well, and the other girls?”

Li Mei nodded. “We are well, ma'am.”

“I find you changed already,” she said. “More emboldened,

perhaps?”

Li Mei blushed a little. “I hope not very much,” she said quietly.

“I was brought up to be respectful and to say little. This is wisdom.”

“I think that it is a good change,” said Tofa. “You look well. Hereis

another elder that you will remember.”

“The others could not get away,” said the figure, coming forward

from the shadows. “They were... delayed. But they think on you kindly.”

397

“Shannon!”

“It is good to see you again, dear one. We were much worried

about your plight. But seeing you, I think that you must have done well in taking care of yourself.”

“Vika and Harald have done the work,” said Li Mei. “They have

been very good to us.”

“I see that they have. Let us get to work so that we may return

you to your homeland. Your families will want to see what beautiful young women you have become these last many months.”

Summit

And so it began. Day after day. The instructions commenced.

Hour upon hour of sword practice, rehearsingthe language of the kings, use of the bow and arrow. They learned how to use knives and the history behind the fair-haired peoples, their legendsand

prophecies. In the evenings, they studied the scrolls. Vika was their night watch at the tent where the other elders sometimes sat under

lamplight and also read the scrolls. But the girls kept to their stone chamber and read together with Vika, who would often join them. They opened the wooden jars of dried fruit from the larder and

talked together, sometimes long into the night. And so, they became more close, friends, companions.

But it was the mountain that troubled Li Mei. She was unsure that

she would last long under the regular climb to its summit.

Every morning, before Li Mei had even begun to weary from the

exercises, The Kings arrived in the mountain chamber. Always the same two. Li Mei could tell by the beading in their long white hair, that they were the same from even far away. The taller of them

would bind her wrists in leather cord. And the other would lead her back down the stone staircase, through the tent, and around the forest path to the base of the mountain.

401

There she climbed, slowly and steadily, with the one painted mask

before her and the other behind. As the journey continued day in and day out, she learned more of the men who guarded her.

Harald told her quietly one evening that the shorter of the two was brother to the taller, and was ruler of all The Kings. He prided

himself on his hair, of which one part was red, stained a dye taken from berries and clays in the woods. Red hair was a symbol of

strength and power to The Kings. And by wearing it in his hair, he was proving to himself and the others that he wasfearsome and powerful enough to be lord over all the peoples of his empire. Little blue snail shells hung in weaves through his braids.

The taller of the two had silver bells in his hair, and when he didn't

want them to ring, Li Mei noticed that he bound his long hair in strips of leather. And his eyes were also blue, dark blue and cold. Li Mei could always see them in the early morning sun when they reached the summit, in contrast to his brother's –hard, almost yellow, but green.

Li Mei's body was cruelly beaten by the harsh path. She had

learned to keep her skirts from brushing against the ivies, the plants and grasses, berries and herbs flourishing beside the path.

The taller king behind her was less obliged to steadyher as the days passed.

Upon reaching the summit, the same ritual was performed.

The King would thrust himself to hands and knees before the shrine, pressing his rough hands against the red clayof the summit floor, and wait.

“He is waiting for a sign that you are the handmaiden to the gods,”

Harald explained. “I do not know for what sign he waits. Butwhen he sees it, you will know.”

402

Li Mei thought on this every morning during the long trek to the

top. She watched The King kneel there, so still, so silent, waiting,

watching for something. And as evil as Li Mei knew he must be, she

couldn't help but see him almost as an eager young boy waiting there patiently morning after morning, for a sign. Some favor, some

indication from the gods. She found that she began to pity him.

But during the climb, her pity turned toward herself, to her aching

muscles, her legs buckling with the exhaustion of yet another climb. It was then that she thought mostly of herself and of her pain.

Her thirst for water. The blur of her vision from the strain of the

climb. But then she saw the climb, as painful as it was, as hours to pray, to pray for her family, her home, her sister, and the girls,

Gunnbjorn, Vika, and the others... In time, she began to nearly look

forward to her daily trek. And with the prayers, she began to forget the pain. Her arrival at the summit began to arrive sooner and

sooner in the early white sunshine of the northern mornings, and sometimes in the gray mist or rain, and a rumbling of thunder.

Her body was becoming used to the climb. She was becoming stronger.

L It was one evening after reading of the scrolls, and the girls had

fallen asleep under the stars, that Li Mei found herself restless. She remembered the treasure room. She had not visited it since

Harald had brought her to the top of the mountain those several

weeks ago. There was something very ancient and quieting about the riddle carved in the stone. And she wanted to visit it again.

403

She lit her torch at the fire beneath the stars of the stone cavern.

Carefully and quietly she wended her way upward into the stone

heart of the monster. The silence comforted her as she ascended.

She knew that the time was coming soon where all thingswould come together for the end. Her torch flickered as she climbed, and then

she was at the stone doorway to the treasure room. She thrust her shoulder against the heavy door until it gave way and she found herself standing there on the thin ledge, theglint of much gold glittering back at her from the deep.

The strange words of the riddle lay carved before her once again.

And this time, she could now understand them. The words, at least, if not their full meaning:

“Nine treasures by one,

“Led by light, “Unite all men under one." She whispered it to herself slowly in her own tongue. “Strange words, are they not?”

Li Mei spun around, as the torch nearly slipped into the waters

below her. “Vika!”

He smiled at her from the opposite archway.

“I did not see you there,” Li Mei dropped her head, shamefaced. Vika stood from his lounging position. “No matter,” he said.

“I came here only to escape the night of the forest. There are times that the crickets chirp a man's tired thoughts into a restless insanity.”

Li Mei giggled. “Is it as bad as all that?” 404

Vika grinned. “Not much,” he replied. “In truth, I came for the

quiet, but also to think. I find my thoughts are best uninterrupted by the conversations of others when I am in such a way.” Li Mei bowed to him. “I am sorry. I will leave you.”

“No, no,” Vika assured her, as he walked over to her. “I did not

mean for you to go. Youcame to read the prophecy, didn't you?” Li Mei nodded.

“It is a mystery, admittedly,” he said, also looking at the ancient

carvings, “but you have heard that Gunnbjorn believes he has solved it.”

“And you know it?”

“He has not told me yet,” he said. “He wants to be certain that he

is right.”

“What does it matter? It could help us now.”

Vika stooped to trail a finger in the perfectly clear water. “I think

not,” he said, “or he would have told me earlier. That is the way of Gunnbjorn. Do not forget that in taking you from your home, he

also saved you, your life perhaps, and the lives of the others. He is, above all, a father, whether or not he would admit it. And he could not bear the thought of an innocent girl such as yourself,” he paused, “such as his daughters, being brought to harm.”

“He is a good man then,” Li Mei said softly, watching the ripple of

the wave Vika had made with his finger.

“The best,” he replied. “You will know in time, dear girl. I, myself,

have sworn to see you home safely once all of this has ended.

You, your sister, and the others. We here are dedicated to that.

You have, after all, brought thetreasure of all times to our homeland. Without it, we surely would have been doomed in the second life.”

405

Li Mei smiled. “Treasure,” shewhispered. A light came to her

eyes, slowly and surely. “Ah, Vika,” she said quietly. “I know it now, what Gunnbjorn discovered. It has come together.”

L Li Mei and Vika spent long into the night, speaking of these things.

As she told Vika of her revelation, he was silent, thinking carefully

over every word. He pressed his hands together in concentration, staring without blinking at the prophecy upon the wall. Li Mei

became nearly animated as she paced the floor, speaking louder as more of the riddle was answered in her mind. “Does it make sense?” she asked finally.

Vika was silent for several moments, his hands still pressed

together against his chin. Then he spoke. “Howcould they have

known?” he asked simply. “So long ago this was written. And yet, they knew not what it meant.”

Li Mei hardly knew the answer, and said nothing. She knew that

Vika was mostly asking himself, an unanswered question.

“Well,” he said, after several more moments of silence, “we shall

see if Gunnbjorn agrees with your revelation.” “When will we see him again?”

“Soon, I think. But not before the arrivals of the people. He is

illusive when he wants to be. He keeps away from here for the safety of his daughters. That is most important to him.” He rosefrom the

ground. “Come, dear girl, and go to your bed. There is much for you to do tomorrow.”

She nodded, and followed him out of the chamber, the light of his

torch glowing upon the blackness of the passage. 406

L The next days became all the more intense. Harald knew that

things were on the move. His disguise was becoming tighter.

He removed his mask less often. His voice was quiet. Sometimes the girls had to lean closer during sword practice to hear his instruction. He had not yet revealed his plan. And Li Mei could only wonder at what he told the painted masks about their progress, what signs

from heaven he had received from the gods, what sorts of tests they had passed... He was silent in that regard. He betrayed little of what occurred outside their cavern, outside the great tent.

The lessons continued. Ceaselessly the girls increased their

grasp of archery and sword fighting, languages, the culture and history.

“Why must we learn all this?” An asked one afternoon, tired from

holding the bow and arrow.

Harald smiled at her and put his withered hand to her young

bright face. “You will know soon, little one. Soon.”

It was then that Li Mei saw more clearly that the elders,

Gunnbjorn, and the others, had become aunts and uncles, brothers. They had become close to them, trusted, loved. And as Li Mei

thought about their departure, she knew that a piece oftheir young lives would be left in the northern countries. They wouldnever be the same again.

But her thoughts had not long to linger there. It was one morning

that Harald was even more quiet than usual. They wereonly just into the first round of tutoring that morning, when Harald stopped his instruction.

407

“It is almost upon us,” he said gravely. “Therewill not be many

more of these mornings together. Tonight we will tell youthe plan that has been drawn.”

Li Mei found herself gripping the hood of her gown. The morning

was cool, and she suddenly found her neck tingling with the chill. But it was more than the cold dew of the morning. The time had nearly arrived.

L During her ritual climb that morning, the tall one had loosened her

bindings, as he had for the past week. And because of it, she was more free to move at a faster pace. The air was sweet fromthe

blossoms. Rain had fallen the night before which left the path bright red and the grasses a green far greener than jade. The skies were golden honey with the rising of the morning sun. And there it was

that she sat on the ground, as always, upon the summit, and waited for the lord of The Kings to complete his daily wait.

Again, he pressed his hands to the cool earth, head bowed, silent,

waiting. Li Mei could see the perspiration shine mixed with the dew

on his forearms, the beads of amber and jasper tightly braided into his hair, shine against the rise of the sun. Ginger and incense

scented his coarse clothes. His sword glinted with faded writing

inscribed against the metal sheath. Li Mei watched him carefullyas he knelt there. Something was different. It came from the rush of wind in the north through the endless forestsof pine. A great

stirring that had begun so softly, Li Mei hardly heardit. It grew

greater and greater, until Li Mei saw herself once again back in her village that fateful morning with An. The same great sound. 408

And then, a shining light flew in from the sea, and she saw nothing else.

L Li Mei was woken with cold water. Smooth, ice, silken. She felt it

upon her forehead.

“Li Mei?... Li Mei?”

Her eyes fluttered open, once, then closed, then opened again.

She saw the haze of Xia before her. “Xia? What... happened?”

“Nothing, Li Mei. Wait until you are recovered.”

Li Mei felt the coolness of the cloth against her foreheadagain.

“Are you in any pain?” It was Vika, pressing the cloth into a bowl of

water and back to her forehead again.

“No,” Li Mei said quietly. “I feel no pain. It happened again, Xia.

The rush of wind, the light. What could it mean?”

“Whatever it was,” said Vika softly, “the lord believes it was his

sign.”

“You mean...” Jing trailed, sitting near.

“Yes,” said Vika grimly. “Our time has nearly come. Harald will

soon reveal to you the plan he's had preparedfor the last weeks.

And I'm thinking that he's kept it from you till now so that you have

less time to question whether not it will work.” He winkedat Li Mei as his back was turned to the others. “And now that I've put that thought into your heads, think on it while I bring you dinner. Your little friend will be well,”he said to the others.

When he had left, the girls gathered around Li Mei, who was still

lying there on her bed.

409

“What happened?” they all seemed to ask at the same time.

“I hardly know more than I told you,” she replied, almost laughing

at their enthusiasm. “But you tell me how I got back here.”

“The King, the taller one, carried you back to the cavern,” said

Fen. “It seems, now, as though it is worth their while to give you the greatest care because they are fully convinced that you are the handmaiden of the gods.”

Li Mei did laugh then. “What can they think I can possibly do for

them?” she asked aloud. “I can no sooner give them power than I can move the moon.”

“Yes,” said Ting, “but you must admit that even you cannot explain

the strange wind and the light from the heavens. We, none of us, saw it happen. But we remember the effects of the first encounter. Let us not forget it.”

Li Mei sat there quietly, thinking on these things, as Vika began to

distribute stew and rolls to the girls.

“Takeheart,” he warned her quietly. “There could be long days

ahead. Remember that your ultimate purpose is to return home safely, all of you. But one piece at a time.”

Harald had just entered the room. The girls sat at attention.

He folded his robes about his arms and said steadily, “Theyare coming. All will be gathered here within no more than two days. Tonight we speak of plans.”

!e Ga.e*ng

“So many of them,” Li Mei whispered. “Arethey all your people?” Vika nodded.

The two days had passed and a great swell of people were

gathered on the forested plan beneath the mountain camping

amongst rushes, speaking nervously to one another in low tones.

Vika and Li Mei were sprawled on their stomachs at the edge of

the rocky summit. The overhang was just above the shrine where

scrub brush, moss, and pines clung crumbling to the ledge. The sun

glint through the smoke of late morning clouds to the golden ground. Song birds trilled in the endless forest behind them. Li Mei's hood shielded her face from the sun. Her eyes carefully wandered over the masses. Many of them were children younger than herself. “There will be more before they all arrive,” Vika whispered.

“Pray that Harald is correct, that the people will rally when they hear

what we have to tell them.” He paused and looked at Li Mei. “It will be difficult.”

“I am prepared,” said Li Mei firmly. “We will do our very best.” Back in the cavern, the girls were nervously pacing as Li Mei and

Vika returned. They hardly noticed where Li Mei had been.

413

“Come!” Ting cried, “Harald expects us all in the tent. There are

things we have to do now.”

“What things?” Li Mei asked, looking to Vika. Vika shook his head.

“I don't know. But I think that it must be good,” said Ting.

“He smiled this time. He has something to show us below.”

Li Mei asked no more questions. The girls walked a hurried line

downward to the tent with Vika following behind. Li Mei noticed that his eyes never left the shadows of the recess of the caves. He had become more alert, as if he were always preparing for ambush.

Below, An was the first to burst through the tent. Harald rose,no

longer masked and greeted them one by one.

“You will remember the elders, Li Mei?” he said pleasantly.

He stretched his arm toward the figures seated around the lamps at the end of the tent.

“Oh!” Li Mei gasped, and hurried toward them.

The last of the elders. Herborg, Tofa, Lady Brie, and Sun-Jin.

Shannon was also once again present. They were all there, complete. All but Joseph.

“He escaped the Kings,” Gunnbjorn explained, also joining them.

“I think, my girls, that he was on the only one of us who did so.”

The girls were huddled round the group, which continued to grow

from the other seats in the front of the tent.

“So we are reunited,” Gunnbjorn continued, “the elders, our crew,

and the little maidens. What must happen next, Harald?”

“You know as well as I, old friend,” said Harald quietly. “Letus

gather for the pronouncement.”

There they were – the elders, the crew, Vika, Gunnbjorn, the

others, and the nine little Asian girls, warmed, brownedfrom sea and 414

sun, waiting to hear from Harald what would take placeover the last days of a very long journey.

“Please let it be the end,” Li Mei whispered in her mind. She could

almost taste the deep green mountains of her homeland, the quiet

and peace, the forests and rice terraces, everything she had missed

for so long, and on which she had hardly spoken. It was returning to her mind.

“When the sun rises tomorrow,” Harald was saying, “the peoples

will expect an announcement from the lord of the Kings. Theywill anticipate a ceremony at nightfall to bring power through some foreign entity (yourselves),” henodded toward the girls, “and

between the time of the rising of the sun and its setting, is when we must work our hardest to proclaim to the people.”

“How?” Xue asked, before she had thought to stop herself. “We will go out under the painted masks of The Kings,” said

Harald, “into the camp. We will spreadthe word of the scrolls to the peoples, tent by tent, and they, too, will pass it along.” “They will not be too frightened?” Li Mei asked.

Harald sighed. “We will not know until the moment we enter their

camp. But you, my little maidens, will not be able to participate. I am afraid,” he smiled, “that your tiny stature would easily betray our

disguises. Remain here with Vika atop the mount, whereyou will be safest during the day, and wait until night.” “And then?” Vika asked.

“Then we will continue as originally planned.” The girls nodded.

“While you escape with Vika,” Harald continued, “we will rouse the

peoples to overthrow the Kings. It is a simple plan, but if they are willing to listen to the prophecy, all will go well. Their courage will 415

return.”

Li Mei stood and bowed to the elders and the crew. “Thank you,”

she said quietly. “You haveshown us great respect. How can we repay this to you?”

“Repay?” Hafgrim exclaimed suddenly from the shadows.

He stepped forward almost grumpily, “It will be all of us who cannot even begin to repay you for what you have done for our people.

Victory or no, you have brought words of comfort,words of life, to

an oppressed people. We have stolen you fromyour home country. You shall be returned with thanks and many gifts.”

The girls blushed at this. To be so honoredwas a thing unheard in

their country.

L The discussions crept late into the night around the fire.

The elders took turns standing guard at the tent wearing the brightly painted masks. They were trained to hear theslightest of sounds in

the woods beyond, alert for sudden and subtle movements amongst

the trees. Despite the united power of The Kings, suspicion was not uncommon amongst them, as had been explained to the girls, and not all who wore the painted masks were trusted.

“It would not be extraordinary for a group of them to take it upon

themselves to spy on those of us in this tent, though theymostly

believe that we are part of their clan,” said Harald. “We must always be cautious.”

It was closer to the rise of the moon that the first stage of the plan

was put to test. Gunnbjorn and several of his crew would be

amongst the first to set out for the camp. Their job was to deliver the 416

message of the scrolls to the outskirts of the camp, praying that this message would be carried further in to the heart of the camp by the people themselves, those who feared least being caught by The Kings for suspicious activity.

“It cannot be said that any will even believe that the prophecyhas

come to pass,” Hafgrim sighed. “Not all will so easily understand that the scrolls speak to us truthfully. It was months amongst us before we were convinced.”

“And that is whyyou must pray for us, maidens,” said Harald.

“Pray for us throughoutthe night and into the morning before you take leave of us.”

The evening ended thus, with Li Mei and the other girls saying

farewell to the sailors and the elders,men and women they had come to know as almost an extension of their own families. An and Xue, in particular, could not keep away the tears from their eyes.

And Li Mei noticed that even Gunnbjorn and Hafgrim would say very little for fear of their own sadness becoming evident. It was cruel to part so quickly, with so few words, so little said, amongst them.

But time had not been on their side. Li Mei found herself waving

them off from the door of the tent before she could even remember the things that had passed between them, the girls and the elders, the crew. She bowed her head in sadness as they parted through the dim evening of the forest.

L Li Mei and the girls climbed the stone stairs toward the summit

ledge after they parted ways from the elders and the crew. The light of the tent's lamps illumined their painted masks, reds and blues, 417

snarling faces. But the copies of the scrolls were not on their

person. The decision had been made to keepthem safely placed in

the chamber's larder. The originals had been sewn carefully into the skirts of the maidens' new dresses by Fen and Li Na in the last days of their training, to be certain that nothing would happen to them.

The larder was thought to be a safe place for the scrolls shouldthe

elders and crew be caught in the process of speaking to the peoples and the scrolls burned.

And so they climbed, up toward the moonlight, hidden still under

dark rock. Vika led them slowly with the light of one lamp, humming

to himself a deep rumbling tune from his barbarian days. Li Mei knew he did so to keep their minds away from the danger before them. Escape was not certain. Any manner of obstacle lay ahead.

At quarter till the hour of eleven, Vika snuffed the lamp and

opened the door to the summit. The other girls could not help but gasp a little as they crept quickly into the bit of forest. The valley

before them was far and deep, a beautiful site under moon's light. And the sparkle of gold glowed, still, under the same moon.

But there was no time to stand in wonder. With the moon at full rise, anyone from the camp below could see them if they left the forest drop.

They were silent, waiting until the moment was perfect. When The

Kings were distracted by the uprising of the people, if they were as courageous as Harald had hoped.

A rumble was heard afar. Vika craned his head to thenorth.

The girls watched as the sky's lights flashed in the distance.

“This may help us,” Vika whispered. “If it means rain, our journey

will surely be helped.”

418

Li Mei looked to him, thankful that they would not travel alone.

Vika knew the way across the land. Theywould feel safe with him as guide. Vika was alert. Maybe a little tense, but he wasn't showing it much if he was. His long white hair was pulled back with a leather

cord as usual, laced with shells and beads. Collette saw the sheen of a pearl wink back at her in the moonshine and wondered if such reflections could be seen like tiny beacons from the valley.

Their wait extended into an hour. The rumble of thunder had

increased. The lightening flashed nearer and nearer. “When will we leave?” An asked quietly.

“I cannot say,” Vika whispered. “Until The Kings have begun the

assembly, we cannot be certain that their attention will be diverted enough for our escape.”

It was only several minutes more, and the sound of the long horn

was heard from the camp. Li Mei saw Vika's grip on the tree branch tighten.

“They have been discovered,” he said grimly. “We leave now.”

419

In .e Tent

It was over as soon as it had begun. Vika heard the drums first and

had run to the cliff's edge, looking over into the valley. It was as he

had feared. Below, the crowds had gathered together. The elders and crew were before the base of the sacred path. One by one,

The Kings stripped them of their painted masks. Therewas Harald, Shannon, and the others.

Vika said nothing at first, when he returned. His blue eyes went

back and forth between the ledge of the summit and the girls.

Then he sighed deeply. “Let us pray that the people have listened and will help them,” he said quietly. “There is nothing more that we can do.”

“Vika!” Li Mei cried without thinking. “We cannot leave them!”

“Hush, Li Mei,” he scolded, clapping his hand over her mouth,

“not another word. They will hear you. I vowed to bring your safely to your home. I will not break that oath.”

Li Mei thrust his hand away. “You cannot do this, Vika. Theyare

your friends, your people. We will not leave until you save them from those evil men.”

Vika looked down upon her. So small, so young, all of them.

And yet so brave. He hesitated. Li Mei could see that he was battling in his mind what to do.

423

“Stay here,” he said suddenly. “Do not move. Be still.

Say nothing. I will take the back path of the mountain and come

round to the camp. If I am able to free them, if the guards are light, which they probably will not be so, then I will do what I am able. If not, I will return before morning.” Li Mei nodded to him.

Vika took straight to the back of the wood towardthe north, as

the thunder continued to growl. “Keep silent,” he said again.

L The better part of a half hour slipped by. Thunder torein the

north, but seemed to have decreased in strength. “Is he captured?” An whispered.

Li Mei had to lean toward her, she spoke so quietly. She didn't

know how to answer.

“Wait,” she whispered back.

By the end of another hour, Li Mei began to worry. Vika was

taking too long. The storm seemed to have dissipated and the quiet of the mountain had mostly returned. And then, Li Mei heard the

crack of someone coming through the brambles at the edge of the

wood. An lurched forward as if to run. Li Mei caught her and held

her down. The others were silent. Not a wordwas said, not a breath

taken. Seconds passed as the noise continued. And then it ceased. Li Mei's eyes were glazed open against the night.

A shadow burst through the wood with a terrible yell. An cried

out in terror and shielded her face behind Li Mei's arm.

Before anything could be done, the dreaded painted masks of four of The Kings had jumped from the wood and caught them in their 424

wake.

Li Mei had to say nothing to the girls. They knew, each of them,

that escape was pointless. Vika had been taken and they could not think of leaving without their guide.

L The walk down the mountain was full of defeat. Li Mei at first

feared that Vika had betrayed them,but this thought was fleeting. Then she wondered why The Kings treated them gently enough. They were not as rough as they had been toward heron the

mountain path to the shrine. But in the dark of night, she could not tell if two of the four masks were from thedaily climb or if they were others. It was a lonely walk to the camp.

Upon arrival twenty minutes later, Li Mei saw Vika tied there to a

tree. She restrained herself from calling out to him. Heseemed as if her were near unconsciousness. And as they drew close, Li Mei saw a wound on the side of his head. She held her breath as they

passed. She knew then that it was her fault that he had been

captured. He had no mask with him when they were on the summit. If she had listened to him as he insisted, and left when therewas

opportunity, he would not have gone down from themountain in

order to rescue the others. And he would never have been seen. Her heart was suddenly very heavy.

“Vika,” she whispered to him as they walked past.

Vika heard her and lifted his head. He was visibly in pain and

struggling to keep from slipping into unconsciousness. But he smiled at her still. “I'll be alright, Li Mei. Do as they tell you and don't try escape yet. We'll set it right.”

425

Li Mei nodded, relieved that he seemed to be alright. Escape was

no longer on her mind. The other girls looked to her and Xia,

wondering what they could do next to free them from their situation. But there were no answers as of yet.

The painted masks led them in toward themiddle of the camp.

Faces of many peoples, including some from the village, watched curiously, waiting, it seemed, for a miracle, a sign from the

“handmaidens of the gods”. But, as before, they were not treated

as deities. The tent flap of a large white tent had been thrown aside and the girls roughly pushed inside. There, they were tied, their

hands behind their backs, then tied to the tent posts, their bodies laid on their sides on the ground. And then they were alone.

L It was toward the early morning hours, that Li Mei woke from a

restless sleep. She realized that she, and the others, had nodded

off from exhaustion. Only the uncomfortable binding of the cords around her wrist had shaken her awake. But there was something

else. A whisper of wind around the tent flap. No, it was more than wind. It was the sound of small hands. Li Mei kept silent.

It happened again, then, the sound of hands on the tent flap, as

though whoever was there could not decide whether or not to open

it. Then, it was thrust open, and two small beings flew into the grassy circle.

“Abha!” Li Mei nearly cried, “Amala!”

Abha almost grinned in triumph. “I told you they would be here,

Amala. See?”

Amala shook her head. “It isn't funny, Abha. They are prisoners 426

again. And we cannot help them.”

Li Mei only watched them, awed that they had so easily slipped

into the tent. “How did you come here?” she asked. “Where were the guards?”

“There were none,” Abha said grinning, setting herself on the

grass next to her. “We just slipped in. And we have a friend. Someone wants to meet you.”

“Who?” Li Mei's head was wringing from surprise, lack of sleep,

and disappointment, but curiosity.

“Alright, you may come now,” Amala whispered to some unknown

being behind the tent flap. “Hurry, hurry.”

Entered a man, tall and white-haired as therest of his people.

He was perhaps in his late 30's, solemn. He looked at Li Mei with wise eyes.

“He's related to us,” said Amala. “Somehow. We don't really know.

He might be our cousin, I think.” She looked up to the man towering high above her, barely able to stand straight tall in the tent.

And in the faint glow of the lamps beyond the closed flap, Li Mei

could tell little more of what his face looked like.

“His name is Byrnjolf,” Amala continued. “He wants to meet you to

hear about the scrolls. He says that it is very important. And he

wants us to be very quiet while we are here so that no one else will know.”

Li Mei looked up to the tall man and waited to hear what he would

say. But he was silent. The twins nestled themselves on the grass between the nine girls around the tent poles, who werestill fast asleep from weariness. Then they, too, seemed to doze off.

Byrnjolf sat himself across from Li Mei between her and thetent

flap. He folded his hands together and looked at her carefully. 427

Then he began to speak.

“I have heard in the last hours of a fulfilled prophecy. My cousins

have told me that you know more about it, what has spread through the camp since nightfall. Tell me what youknow.”

It was blunt. No introduction. But Li Mei could tell that he was in

earnest. Harald had been right. The courage of the people to discover the truth was evidenced in the man sitting before her. Li Mei began to speak to him. She explained everything in the scrolls, reciting passages, telling him everything that had been

memorized amongst them over the last months. Until the twinkling of dawn came over the mountain, she talked to him, Byrnjolf saying nothing. Only listening.

“And that is all I know,” shesaid finally, weary to exhaustion.

Byrnjolf was silent a moment, then rose from his seat upon the

ground. “That is enough then,” he said. “Thank you.”

And he was gone. Hardly before the tent flap had fallen behind

him, and Li Mei was fast asleep again, her head resting upon the cool ground.

L Sometime that evening, Li Mei awoke. As her eyes fluttered open

in the pale yellow light of sunset, she saw a plate of bread, hard cheese, and a cup of water sitting on the ground before her.

She heard the chatter of the girls behind her and realized for a moment that her bonds had been freed.

“You are awake!” An cried, running to her sister. “I was so worried

that you were sick.”

428

Li Mei rubbed her raw wrists, her eyes still closed against the light

of the early evening. “I thought we were bound, still,” she said incoherently, “in my dream. Why are we now unbound?”

An listened closely, for Li Mei's words were run together. “Li Mei,

are you ill?”

“I am not ill,” she said slowly, as the events of the previous night

returned to her. “But why are we still here, if unbound? You should have wakened me earlier.”

“It is not as though you would have escaped,” said a voice from

the other side of the tent, with a giggle.

It was Abha, eating from a bowl of apple wedges, and smiling

mischievously.

“Why are you so happy?” Li Mei asked, surprised at her

cheerfulness.

“Because you cannot escape in daylight. Don't worry, Li Mei.

Our father is a wise man. He will help you.”

Li Mei kept quiet. She knew that G.bjorn was most likely already a

captive of The Kings. But then again, she didn't know what had happened, exactly.

“Do you know what will happen?” she asked them.

The other girls listened in a circle around the tent poles, holding

bowls of lunch. Amala looked at Abha.

“They will take you to the ceremony tonight,” she said.

“The ceremony where they call on the gods. That is why your bonds were cut. They still think that you are handmaidens to the gods.

They cannot say whether they trust you fully. But of course, that is always the way of it from the legends. The gods are never fully trusted.”

429

Li Mei pressed her hands to her head. Amala's simple explanation

answered so many of the questions from before – whyso many times they had bound them, why they had not been treated with respect appropriate to deities from the very beginning.

L The early evening wore into the night. The girls had finished

eating. Li Mei, who still had little appetite, was urgedon by Xia to finish the food in her bowl. Who knew but they might still escape

under dark of night while on the mountain. But without Vika, the prospects were slim.

As the sun began to sink, the drums could be heard from the

mountain. Steady, deep. The rhythm reached the tent, echoing

through the turf to the poles of the tent until the fabric of the tent shook.

But the twins were still unafraid. They knew their father would

keep them all safe. They played with Xue and An, sharing stories

and giggling into the early evening. Li Mei was happy to see that at

least the younger ones were not scared of what might happen on the mountain that night.

Suddenly everything had become uncertain. Xia came over to sit

by her as they waited in the dim.

“TrustGod,” she whispered to Li Mei.

Li Mei looked over at her. “It does change things when one

remembers that,” she said quietly. “But I am responsible for us now.

With G.bjorn, Vika, and the others likely still in captivity, you will have to pray that I know what to do when the time comes.”

“You can be sure that I will. You arenot alone, Li Mei.”

And the drums continued to pound from the mountains.

!e Light

The boom of the drums increased in strength over the next several

hours. Even the younger ones eventually became quiet as they could no longer hear one another. As the rise of the moon just

reached the camp, the tent flap was thrust aside and in entered nine men in painted masks. Amala and Abha disappeared into the

shadows behind the tent, but not before Amala whispered a word of encouragement to Li Mei.

“We will see you soon,” she whispered.

Back in the fresh air of the night, Li Mei breathed it in deeply,

happy for the pine and the sea winds. The moon hung whiteand glowing in the sky. Li Mei saw, again, dark masses of clouds

flickering with the lanterns of the heavens. The great constellations of one million stars glittered above her head.

“What will happen to us?” An whispered to her sister.

The Kings began to lead them across the dark grasses between

the glowing tents where people stirred, as though they were preparing to leave for the mountain.

Li Mei looked to An, her hands pressed to her side in the cool of

the early evening. “Do not be frightened, An. I will let nothing

happen to you. Stay by my side. Keep Xue close to you. And say nothing. All will be well.”

433

And thus began the climb, the path that Li Mei had climbed

countless times in the last weeks. This time, she was joined by her sister and the others under the white glow of the moon.

L The walk was created longer by the passing through the camp.

Voices from behind tent flaps, the crackle and spark of the small fires encased in circles of stone under cold black skies. The rhythmof

Li Mei's heart matched her walk, beat for beat as her slippers passed across the ground. But her eyes were to the heavens, the stars, and the flash of the lightening. And before more thought could pass through her mind, there they were, the nine of them, atop the

mountain peak. Li Mei was always uncertain as to how they reached the top. But there they were, hardly a hair out of place in as it hung

in smooth jet black from the crown of her headabout her shoulders. And there was An, her small white hand clasped in hers. So they would await.

The drums still pounded, louder and louder still, as they

approached the base of the mountain, followed by thousands of shadows clasping torches to guard against the night. The girls

watched together, flanked by The Kings, wondering what might happen next as the pound cracked through thenight, almost matching the thunder of the north. And then... all was silent.

Li Mei could not take her eyes away from the people. The only

two thoughts that ran through her mind just then were â&#x20AC;&#x201C; wondering what was passing through the minds of the masses below, and, whether Vika was still safe with the others. 434

Then the echo of The Lord of the Kings stood forward from the

shrine. Li Mei had not even noticed him there until that moment.

But suddenly he threw himself upon the face of the mount toward the people and shouted toward the heavens in a language, recognizable.

“Hear my voice, Thor!” his voice shattered the clear sky.

“Hear me!”

The darkness was quiet, but for the distant approaching storm.

All silence.

“We have brought the nine handmaidens. They are herein our

captivity. Send the power to me, and they will be returned, unharmed. Send the power from ancient ages.”

Li Mei's gaze fluttered before her. It made even more sense to her

then. The captivity. All along, it had been ransom. Even H.grim, G.bjorn, and the elders could not have known it.

“Hear me, Thor!” The King pounded his fists to his chest and then

to the sky. His voice was deafening in the echo of the mountains. “You will hear me!” he cried. “See now the offering that we have brought to you.”

At that moment, the painted masks surrounding the girl ran to the

door of the mountain chamber and thrust it open with all the grit of

stone against stone. An and Xue held their ears against the grating. The light of ten thousand stores of gold spilled into the night,

shimmering a reflection worthy of sunrise against the crystal waters above the treasure horde, which shone all the more when reflected against the gold stones of the mount. A gasp ruffled through the

masses, almost like a wind. Never before had they seen such a sight, a radiating light of gold.

435

“Now, Thor, suspend your silence. Send the power you promised

in return for your handmaidens.”

Li Mei held her breath with the others, as though they expected

something to happen. The Lord's voice continued to shout into the night as the thunder rumbled in accompaniment. On and on, up to the stars, to a being who wasn't there. And as his shouting to the

heavens rolled toward the moon, Li Mei felt something take hold of her arms and pull her forward. She had no choice but to follow it. She saw herself walking toward The Lordof The Kings. As she

stood before him, his voice was silenced. The green of his eyes

glowed at her behind the painted mask. His arms were still raised to

the heavens, but he didn't speak. And then Li Mei's voice took over, loud and clear, but she hardly knew the words that came from her mouth until they were said.

“You do not understand the prophecies, Lord ofthe Kings. It was

not understood until now. But I will tell you whatit means. On the stone wall it is written:

'Nine treasures by one,

'Led by light, 'Unite all men under one.' You thought this to mean that the nine handmaidens of the gods

were led by myself from the pillar of light to unite the countries of

the world under an ancient power. But this is not so.” She scarcely drew breath, and continued. “The nine treasures arethe scrolls,

which only two nights ago were first revealed to your people, brought as one book put together, led by the Light of the World, Christ, to unite all peoples from all times under God, the one God. Thor is a 436

legend.”

Li Mei heard the stirring of the masses beneath her. A rattle of

shock rolled through them toward the sea. Thunder ripped through the skies.

The Lord of the Kings stepped coldly toward Li Mei. Lifting his

hand to his face, he suddenly removed the mask. As it fell to the

ground, it clattered against the stones. Li Mei drew back a little as

the shadows of the storm passed over his face. The sinister captain of the black-sailed ship which had tracked heracross the seas after tearing her from her homeland. The green of his eyes was menacing as he stared with a controlled fury at her. “How dare you.” His words were lead.

Collette looked back at him steadily. She was not afraid. “How dare you!” he cried.

Something in his green, almost yellow, eyes was almost frightened

just then as they glowed through the dark. Li Mei saw it flicker

through. And then Li Mei saw it. She almost cried out as she saw it. As the clouds passed away from the moon, she saw his face. The face of her homeland. The roots of his hair were black.

The only thing of his face that was not of Cathay, werehis eyes, as green as hers, but yellowed. She steadied herself.

“What do you want of us?” she asked. “Youwho are from our own

country. Why would you do such a thing?”

“You were from the gods,” he snarled. “I had the right to take you.

Do you not see, you little fools? Youare from my own flesh and

blood. All the more right had I. The power of the world is at my feet now. And if the gods say they will make an exchange for you, than I will take it.”

437

“There are no gods,” said Li Mei, still unwavering. “Readthe

scrolls for yourself.”

“The scrolls,” he laughed mockingly, “the scrolls. I know of no

scrolls. The prophecy says all on the wall, and you have answered it. No one will believe anything else.”

Li Mei saw his hand go to his sword.

“If you will not be exchanged for the world's power,” said The

King blackly, “then I shall make a sacrifice of you. Then Thord's mind will be made.”

In a flash, his sword was out, and Li Mei's hand went to the hilt of

his second sword at his belt. Under flash of lightening, their swords

crossed quickly upon the summit. The masses beneath the mountain cried out as the battle began. Crack of metal upon metal. Li Mei

hadn't counted on her own strength in such a time. Thesword felt

light and swift in her hands. The skills that Vika and the others had taught her over the past months came to her just then. And she

stared back at the green eyes that seemed to snarl themselves in the face of the wicked man.

The thunder rocketed across the heavens as the boiling black

clouds grew in strength over the match. The girls watched Li Mei in

horror as the clang of the blades sliced through the heavy warmth of the air.

But then the wind struck in from the north. And as it rushed

across the mountains to the valley, the white-haired people began to move. The eyes behind the painted masks suddenly became fearful as the people took up knives and swords.

So it became that as Li Mei and The King fought upon the

mountain, the people below hunted down the painted masks.

438

The lightening cracked as the swords continued to clash.

And then, Li Mei could see below her on the sacred path, Vika, who

had struck loose his bonds and was running up the path, the red soil crumbling beneath him as he ran against the incline of the mountain. But Li Mei could no longer watch him as she rushed back and forth on the summit's face, keeping from the sharp blade of TheKing.

The other painted masks had left the girls, running for the forests,

disappearing into the whipping trees of the storm. Lightening illumined the wooded paths which they took into the northern

oblivion, discarding their hideous painted masks behind them in their haste.

Xia was desperate to help Li Mei, and looked frantically about for

anything that might be used as a weapon. An only knelt on the

ground in shock as she watched her sister fight against the sinister strength of The King. The others, too, could not believe the sight before their eyes, and could only stand there, the wind whipping their gowns and hair, as if in dreams of their own.

And then, from on high, came the rushing of a wind. Low and vast,

intensifying in strength and calamity. Louder and greater it became until the peoples below, and the fight on the mountain, were caught still in their motion. For from the heights of the black clouds, from

beyond the stars came a great light. Powerful and glowing, white and strong. And as it soared through the skies toward them, Li Mei saw

the terror in the eyes of The King. As if in a slow moving dream, the

light encircled him there, sword still in hand. He was lifted toward the heavens from the summit, hovering above the earth,as if the light

could not decide what to do with him. And then, it was as if he heard something in the gleaming white of the light. His hand grasped his sword all the more as he eyes slanted in anger. 439

“I defy You,” he cried toward the heavens.

He lifted his sword as if to slash at the light. But just as he was

about to fell his blow against it, the light, with great intensity, cast

him into the treasure chamber. And with the speed of this motion,

the mountain began to crumble from within, drawing the summit on top of itself into an abyss of black rock, foreign treasure, and the body of an evil man.

The sword fell from Li Mei's hand as the light disappeared back

into the far reaches of the universe. Sheonly stared toward the

rubble, and then looked to her friends. No one could move under the winds and the storm.

But then came the rain. Washing from the skies, it poured across

the lands, cleaning the mountain face and the camp. The Kings had

been taken and bound. Vika reached the summit at just the moment the rain began to fall, and gripped his arms tightly around Li Mei. “Brave girl,” he cried. “Are youhurt?”

Li Mei could only shake her head as the relief came to her.

Their captivity had ended.

Farewells

The next morning was freshly blue across the horizons, from one

direction to another.

“There will be another storm within two days,” said H.grim, as they

sat around the long table.

There they sat, the girls, elders, and the crew from the last

months, including many rulers of the village. Beforethem was a feast of venison, pork, chicken, autumn vegetables, red and greenfruits, and bowls of soft cooked grains, and cheeses. Hot ale steamed from clay bowls at each seat.

Outside, tied to trees on muddy ground, awaited many of

The Kings, wondering of their fate. But inside, under the glow of

russet and golden lamps the rest of the village was gathered in the long hall, eating heartily and singing with one another.

Spread before H.grim was one of the copies of the nine scrolls.

The other eight copies were stored carefully in a wooden case at his side. He read carefully, from one word to another, while his table continued to feast.

“We will have scribes make many copies,” he said, “so that all men

here may read and understand, and believe.”

At his right sat Byrnjolf, tall and solemn. But Li Mei could see that

he was at peace, as if a great search had ended for him. 443

“Long have our people waited for an answer, what might save

them from the evils of this world,” he said. “Andthere lies this great answer. It came in my lifetime. I am content.”

He looked across the table to Li Mei, who sat between the twins,

and nodded to her. Li Mei smiled at him and returned the nod.

L The feast continued for the nextday and the next. For weeks, the

people gathered together to celebrate the rise of a new order, no longer under the mastership of The Kings.

“They will understand soon enough that they celebrate for

another reason,” said G.bjorn to Li Mei one afternoon. “Now, many celebrate because of their physical freedom. But many who heard

of the scrolls that night, celebrate forfreedom of spiritual bondage. Word spreads quickly here. And they are ready to believe it.”

Li Mei smiled at G.bjorn. Nothing needed to be said between

them. He had become as an uncle to her over the past many months. He had taken care of them all, as had the elders and the rest of the

crew. There would never be time to thank them before it was time to leave. And they would depart with Vika the following morning.

Harald and the other elders would be leaving for their own ports

soon, but no longer to live as beacons amongst the other parts of

the world, waiting for signs. This time, they would be returning only to retrieve their belongings and to sell their properties, coming to

their home after another journey back across the world. But they would travel by ship, and Li Mei and the others, byland.

“Farewell, my lass,” said Harald. “You will take care of yourself and

the others. Something tells me that we will meet again, and not 444

before long.”

Li Mei could not keep away her tears as she clasped her arms

around him and wished him thanks and fair journeys. The other elders came, too, to say farewell.

“I will see you again soon,” said Sun-Jin kindly to Li Mei. “For I

plan to return to our fair green homeland before verylong.”

The other elders, including Shannon, promised that they would

meet again.

“Takecare, little one,” said Shannon. “We will miss you sorely.” The twins came to say goodbye, bearing small gifts – little

gemstones and games for their walk across thegreat lands to the ocean on the other side of the world.

“You will not forget us,” said Amala.

“No, you cannot,” said Abha. “We will come to visit, forwe are

going to travel with Father on his next voyage. Ifwe promise not to become sick.”

Li Mei laughed and hugged them both goodbye.

H.grim and G.bjorn were already gone by the time the girls were

prepared to leave. The ship had left port for another journey across the seas.

“You will find that these barbaric men have tears to hide as well,”

said Byrnjolf to the nine. “They would prefer that you remember

them as strong and brave.” His eyes twinkled. “Butyou will see us again.”

L The next morning, Vika, Frithjof, and Thord belted their swords to

their side and bid the girls don their small sacks which contained 445

their few belongings and gifts, and the waxed scrollspressed and sewn back into the skirts of their gowns.

With the last of their farewells, they were waved off into the

greens fields of the wilderness expanse across a great continent, then to the ocean, and beyond to the green hills of Cathay.

As the other girls paired off in their march through the grasses,

Li Mei hurried to catch up to their leader, Vika. She smiled at him as he took her hand in his.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;What a fine day for a walk,â&#x20AC;? he said with a grin.

446

Epilogue

The nine young girls eventually did reach their homeland shores.

Escorted by their friends into their own town, they were

overwhelmed with the greeting of their family and friends.

The celebration lasted for weeks as the girls retold their story and shared the readings of the scrolls in their own language, heard for the first time by the village. And all believed.

In time, many things were revealed in the sharing of these tales.

It became known to the girls that during their absence, their fathers and brothers had searched with much of the village into the mountains and beyond, into other lands for many months.

And when Li Mei told them of the fierce lord of The Kings, other

things were brought to light. Legends were recalled of Xia's

grandfather on the trade routes when heand his caravan were

ambushed by a crew of barbarians. It was said that they had hair of white and that one of the men had taken a bride of Cathay. Thus,it became rumored through the village that the son of these two was the lord of The Kings.

In later years, it was also revealed that Sun-Jin was the younger

sister of the lord, separated from her family at a young age and raised by the villagers, where she aspired to become an elder.

449

From where the scrolls had originally come, was uncertain.

Some thought that the servant left alive from thecaravan of Xia's

grandfather had saved several of the scrolls, passing them amongst

the villagers for safe-keeping. Othersthought that Paul himself had once visited the village, leaving his writings in secret place in the village.

But many things still remained unanswered amongst speculations

and folklore.

The girls remained the best of friends for the restof their lives.

And all returned on the same sea voyage under the sails of the

Grimhild Groa with H.grim and G.bjorn to visit the northern shores of the white-haired peoples over the years.

Vika, too, returned at another time several years later to find

Li Mei a young woman. He arrived only days before her late

admittance to the match maker, and promptly offeredhimself as an

eager alternative to any other awaiting future husband. Li Mei, and

her parents, happily agreed. Thus he spent his days in Cathay with his beloved Li Mei.

It was not long after, that more of the barbarians â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Frithjof,

Thord, Hoketil, and the others,did also return and find brides

amongst the girls, who were now lovely young women. And their

children, as well, had eyes of green and blue, and hair as black as night. All lived long and good lives.

And as for the great light upon the mountain that one fateful

morning â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who can say. Perhaps ti was lightening or the aurora

borealis, or some strange illusion. Or an angel. Perhaps it was the hand of God himself, which Li Mei always believed in the deepest part of her heart. But let it rest and remember that some things cannot be explained. God in his wisdom has it to be so. 450

And thus Li Mei was content with all of these things.

451

Le%nd

Girls Li Mei (beautiful plum blossom)

Xia (glow of the sunrise or sunset) An (peace)

Fen (fragrant, sweet smelling) Jia Li (good, beautiful) Xue (snow)

Jing (crystal, sparkling)

Li Na (beautiful, graceful) Ting Ting (slim, graceful) Abha (splendor, light) Amala (clean, pure)

Barba*ans Gunnbjorn (Pale-Beard) Hafgrim (Great Warrior)

Gardar (Ruddy-Headed) Thord Jokul

Gunnar

Herthjof Idmund Vika

Frithjof Hoketil Alrek Svip

Odd

Bard

Hrok

Elders Herborg Tofa

Harald

Lady Brie Shannon Sun-Jin Joseph