Red Phoenix. Kylie Chan
it.’
The touch disappeared. I sipped the tea.
‘Are you still there?’
Yes.
I sighed.
It breaks my heart to do this to you.
‘I have never been so happy in my entire life.’
You are a fool, Emma Donahoe.
‘So are you, Xuan Wu.’
It will happen for us.
‘I know. I’m okay, you can stop watching me. Guard your energy, stupid turtle.’
Yes, ma’am.
I sat in the dining room alone for a while after his presence left me.
‘And a Snake Mother came in and said it wanted Leo’s skin,’ Simone said from the back of the car. ‘And he told it to come and get it, and then . . .’ I couldn’t see her from the driver’s seat, but her voice became breathless. ‘And then Leo pulled its tongue out and killed it.’
‘That must have been very scary,’ Charlie said.
‘Leo looks after me. Emma looks after me too. They protect me. I’ll be okay.’
‘Of course you will, dear,’ Charlie said.
Michael glanced at me from the front passenger seat.
‘I’ll tell you later,’ I said softly. ‘But believe me, you don’t want to know.’
‘Michael would probably run if he saw a Mother,’ Simone said.
‘That was a very nasty thing to say, Simone, I’m surprised at you,’ I said. ‘Michael’s sworn allegiance, he’s a Retainer, he’d never run. Tell him sorry.’
‘Sorry,’ Simone said, sullen.
Michael snorted with derision and looked out the window.
‘It’s so pretty,’ Charlie said, watching the scenery of Hong Kong Island as we travelled down Stubbs Road. Everywhere there was even the tiniest square of flat land, there was a highrise. Kowloon, on the other side of the harbour, was a mass of tall buildings of different sizes and shapes, mostly residential blocks. Hardly anyone lived in a house in Hong Kong; there wasn’t the space.
‘But the pollution is bad, isn’t it?’ she went on. ‘You can hardly see the other side of the harbour.’
‘When it’s very hot like this, there’s an inversion layer,’ I said. ‘The pollution’s trapped.’
‘I see.’
We came to the bottom of Stubbs Road and topped out over Wong Nai Chung Gap. As we passed the ridge, the scenery of the south side opened up. There were fewer highrises here, less densely packed, with more greenery. Some of the residential blocks were only three or four storeys tall.
We drove through Shouson Hill, a prestigious enclave of low-rise apartment blocks built around the gently undulating hill, then rounded the curves of the south coast of the island to Deep Water Bay.
The usual Saturday crowd packed the beach and people filled the water within the shark net. Rubbish floated at the end of the beach; it broke my heart. John could never swim in this water, in his own element. I had an inspiration: I would take him back to Australia when it was warmer there. I could visit my family, and he could swim in the sea. It would do him so much good. And then I realised: my family would see everything. Maybe not such a good idea.
‘Ocean Park, Charlie,’ Simone said, pointing across the bay to the peninsula on the other side. Deep Water Bay gave a good view of the cable car that wound around the peninsula of Ocean Park.
‘Would you like to go there with me? Before I go back to London?’ Charlie said.
‘No,’ Simone said. ‘I don’t like Ocean Park. I went with Leo and Monica before Emma came, and bad things happened. I don’t like it.’
‘What happened?’ Michael asked me softly.
‘One of the dolphins was sick and talked to her,’ I said, matching his low tones. ‘It cried for her help, and she couldn’t do anything.’
‘I hate Ocean Park,’ Simone said.
The road outside the car park at Repulse Bay was blocked with people queuing to go into the car park, even though it was full.
‘If queuing ever becomes an Olympic sport, Hong Kong will win all the medals,’ Michael said.
Simone giggled. ‘That’s funny.’
The traffic jam finally cleared and we passed the beach to the far south side of the island. Fortunately Stanley wasn’t too packed; everybody was at the beach. I found a place to park and we all piled out.
‘You know your way around, Charlie?’ I said.
‘I haven’t been here in a while, ma’am, but I think I remember. The market isn’t very big, anyway.’
‘Let’s just wander around and see what we find. Stay close to Simone, Michael.’ I glanced around at them. ‘While we’re in there, guys, can we drop the “Lady” and “ma’am” stuff, please? It’ll attract unnecessary attention. Just Emma, okay?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Charlie and Michael said in unison, and I sighed.
‘Can I call you Mummy?’ Simone said brightly.
I felt like I’d been hit in the stomach.
I knelt on one knee and took both Simone’s hands in mine. ‘Simone, darling, I’m not your mummy. Your mummy was married to your daddy. She died. I’m not your mummy, so you can’t call me that. It wouldn’t be right.’
‘Okay.’ She wasn’t fazed; it obviously wasn’t an issue for her. ‘When you marry Daddy, can I call you Mummy then?’
I brushed some hair from her eyes. I would love her to, I really would. I doubted I’d ever have children of my own; I’d probably be too old when John returned for me. If he did return for me. She was the closest thing I would ever have. ‘No, Simone. It wouldn’t be right.’
‘Okay, Emma.’ Her little face was serious. ‘I would like to, you know. But if you don’t want me to, that’s fine.’ She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me on the cheek. She released me and took Charlie’s hand. ‘Let’s go.’
I rose. ‘One more thing, Simone.’
She smiled up at me.
‘If you sense any demons, let us know straightaway, okay? Just say “bad people” or something.’
Simone dropped Charlie’s hand and put her little hands on her hips, tilting her head with impatience. ‘Of course I will, silly Emma.’ She took Charlie’s hand again. ‘Let’s go.’
I saw Michael’s face. He had watched Simone’s little performance with something approaching contempt. He noticed me and nodded, professional again.
We walked down the narrow hill to Stanley market, which was a maze of narrow laneways winding through the village. Each stall had an awning, and the awnings stretched from one side of the lane to the other, giving the impression of being indoors.
‘I haven’t been here in a long time, Emma,’ Charlie said. ‘I think it was better when I came before. Everything seems more expensive now.’
‘It’s still cheaper than London for this sort of thing, though, isn’t it?’ I said.
‘You can’t even buy this sort of thing in London. And everything’s cheaper than London,