Crane (Page 18)

The second, adult lion was composed of two people—one standing up who served as the front legs and controlled the head, and the other person bent over acting as the spine and back end of the animal. Hok realized that the brother with the huge mask and whip was supposed to be a lion tamer.

The excited crowd began to form a large circle, and the lions trotted into the center. People flowed in their direction in droves. Hok felt her pulse quicken as the energy level around her rose to a fever pitch. The drummer began to beat harder and louder, and the lions started to shimmer and shake. The larger lion had enormous, expressive eyes that blinked and a huge mouth that opened and closed. Even the ears wiggled.

Without warning, the lion cub leaped straight into the air onto the back of the larger lion and began to spin around and around in fast, tight circles. The crowd roared with approval. The cub leaped to the ground and rolled sideways, then popped to its four feet and began to shimmer and shake again, bobbing its head up and down. The crowd roared again.

“Here,” GongJee said, and Hok felt something poke her in the side. It was a large empty basket. Bing had disappeared.

“Take MaMa’s basket,” GongJee said. “She’ll be right back.” She pointed to one end of the circle. “You walk that way, and I’ll go the other way. If you fill up the basket, take it to MaMa right away. She’ll give you another one. If you don’t see her, the best way to find her is to whistle like a crane. Do you know how to do that?”

Hok nodded, and the veil over her face fluttered.

GongJee hurried off and began collecting coins from the crowd. Hok watched her for a moment, noticing how GongJee offered a huge smile to everyone she approached and followed each donation with a quick bow. She had obviously done this before.

Hok began to walk slowly in the opposite direction, keeping one eye on Charles’ fantastic dancing and the other on the crowd. Charles really was good.

Hok had no sooner received her first coin when she sensed someone staring at her. She glanced up and nearly tripped over her own feet.

“HOK!” a squeaky little voice shrieked. It was Malao. Even more surprising, Seh and Fu were with him. All three were wearing tattered gray peasant’s robes and looked different because they all had hair. Seh’s was particularly thick and unruly.

Hok was glad she was wearing the veil. It hid her enormous smile. Still, she felt she had to turn away to help hide her excitement. She took a few steps.

“Hey!” Malao called out. “Why did Hok— mmmpfl“

Hok didn’t have to look back to know what had just happened. Seh had wrapped a snake-head fist around Malao’s mouth. Seh was obviously trying to not draw any attention to her, or them. Seh had always been good about things like that. Hok thought it was best to do the same. As casually as possible, she began to limp toward the camp, certain her brothers would follow.

“There they are,” Tonglong said, pointing from the rear of his elaborate dragon boat.

“Yesss,” AnGangseh replied from the bow. “I sssee.”

HaMo shifted in his seat behind AnGangseh at the front of the boat. “What should we do?”

“Wait for my command,” Tonglong said. He adjusted the large black hat on his head and stood, causing the long, narrow boat to wobble in the water. He cleared his throat, and twenty soldiers—ten to a side—turned to look at him.

Tonglong pointed to a circle of people on the southern shore, near the main bridge. “Our targets are there. Remember, while most of them are young, they are far from children when it comes to fighting. Their skills are superior to yours, so be sure to keep your distance. Rely on your weapons. The young monks appear to be separating themselves from the masses and heading for the camp. That is where we shall go ashore. It is time.”

The men put their paddles back into the water and Tonglong glanced over his shoulder. He waved one arm, signaling to five additional dragon boats trailing close behind.

Tonglong pointed toward the camp and sat down. All six boats heaved forward collectively. The five trailing boats soon passed Tonglong’s vessel and ran themselves aground about two hundred paces from the camp. One hundred soldiers disguised in festive costumes quickly stepped out of the dragon boats onto the shore and formed ranks, while Tonglong and his twenty boatmen, plus AnGangseh and HaMo, stopped their dragon boat short of the riverbank, remaining afloat.

AnGangseh pulled a large black hood over her head and slithered off her seat, sinking down to the floor at the very front of the boat. HaMo sat up straight and stared at the crowd, puffing out his sizable chest.

People on shore and on the bridge began to notice something was wrong. It wasn’t normal for dragon boat teams to go ashore in a single group like that and line up like soldiers, and it was unheard of for them to be armed with spears and broadswords. The crowd began to panic. They pointed first to the soldiers, then to Tonglong’s dragon boat.