White Tiger

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Simone’s face was serious as she sat in the living room with Leo and me after visiting the schools. Their brochures were spread on the coffee table. ‘I don’t know, Emma,’ she said. ‘Which one did you like better?’ I said. Simone tilted her head. ‘I like them both.’

‘The Australian one has the big playground,’ Leo said. Simone didn’t say anything.

‘You’ll be safe in the American one, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘You saw the big walls.’

Simone glanced quickly up at me. ‘Where are you from, Emma?’

‘Australia.’

‘You went to an Australian school?’ I hesitated, then, ‘Yes. But Leo went to an American school.’

‘I think you should go to the Australian one, sweetheart,’ Leo said.

Simone picked up the brochures and looked at them, then up at me again. ‘I want to go to the Australian one. I liked the teachers there better.’

Leo tried to hold back a triumphant grin.

‘You sure?’ I said.

‘Yep.’ Simone dropped the brochures. ‘I like the Australian one. I want to go there.’

I shrugged. ‘Okay, your choice. I’ll ring the headmistress and arrange it.’

Simone smiled at Leo and he smiled back. He would be unbearable for ages now that he’d won.

Mr Chen drove us to the school with me providing directions. When we arrived he walked across to the opposite side of the road from the school and stopped. I waited patiently while he studied the school silently. Then he nodded and we both went in.

The headmistress was waiting for us in her office. She sat us down and closed the door, then sat herself and pulled out Simone’s file.

‘Emma hasn’t told me much about your line of work, Mr Chen,’ she said, opening the folder. ‘Exactly what business are you involved in?’

‘Mostly government work,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Administration, management. Occasionally fieldwork, but not since Simone was born.’

She raised her head and stared at him. ‘Emma said that you had a private import-export firm in China. Not government work at all.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Oh.’

Mr Chen opened his mouth to say something and I kicked him under the table. He glanced at me and I shook my head.

‘Which government?’ she said, smiling. ‘China or Hong Kong?’

‘Neither,’ Mr Chen said. I wondered if it was a speech that he’d worked out over time. ‘The truth is, a much higher government than either.’

‘Oh my,’ she said. She flipped through the pages of Simone’s file. ‘No wonder security is such an issue for you.’ She grinned at me. ‘Universal Exports, eh, Emma?’

I grinned back. ‘Precisely.’

‘Chen Enterprises,’ Mr Chen said, missing the point entirely.

‘Would you like to see around the school?’ the headmistress said, rising.

‘What was all that about in the office?’ he said as we returned to the car.

‘She thinks you’re a spy,’ I said.

‘What?’

‘“Government work”. She thinks you’re a spy. Let her—it means they won’t give us as much hassle about the security.’

He closed the car door. ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

‘Oh, come on, it’s obvious,’ I said. ‘That’s what I thought when you gave me that line.’

‘Did you?’ he said, bemused.

‘That’s why she said “Universal Exports”. That’s James Bond’s cover company. Used all the time in the films.’

‘Who?’ he said.

I sighed and closed the car door. ‘I’ll rent some videos,’ I said. ‘I can’t believe you’ve never heard of James Bond.’

When we returned to the Peak, Mr Chen, Leo and I sat together and discussed the logistics. I had the school timetable and a rough plan of the area from the handbook. We examined the alternatives.

‘It is extremely likely that the demons will try something the minute Simone starts school,’ Mr Chen said, very calmly. ‘We will need to be ready right away.’

‘What sort of attack should we prepare for, sir?’ Leo said.

‘Probably through the front door to start off with,’ Mr Chen said. ‘We’ll be looking for someone walking in off the street, wandering through and then grabbing her. They’ll try the direct approach first.’

I was horrified and made a small choking sound. They both ignored me.

‘Any suggestions on how to handle this securely, Leo?’ Mr Chen said.

‘I think I should be stationed outside the classroom, sir,’ Leo said, studying the plans carefully. ‘And follow her when she’s not in class.’

I exploded. ‘No way! You will wait outside that school and watch for suspicious people going in. You will not go inside while she’s there unless she’s attacked!’

‘If she’s attacked it may be too late,’ Leo said.

Mr Chen cut through us. ‘Both of you, listen. I will teach Simone some skills that will make this point irrelevant. She will be able to tell if a demon is nearby and contact you to come and defend her. You won’t need to be inside the school grounds.’

He glanced sharply at me. ‘I just had an idea. The school is quite new. Emma, I would like you to ask the headmistress if she wants a free fung shui consultation, as a donation from me. Push it hard, tell her it is very important for Chinese. If she’s already had one done, tell her I said it wasn’t very good.’ He paused, concentrating. ‘She has, and it wasn’t. You must get her to agree. The fung shui master will be one of mine. He won’t just do an assessment; he’ll set seals on the school building, to stop demons from materialising there and to keep large numbers from entering at once. Similar to what we have in this apartment.’

I listened carefully and nodded. I knew there were seals on the Peak apartment, but I wasn’t sure exactly what was involved. Putting seals on the school was a brilliant idea. ‘You can count on me, Mr Chen.’

‘Once the seals are set, Leo, you won’t need to be inside the school building. You can stay outside and watch for demons entering the grounds. Simone will be able to tell you if they are approaching her.’

‘How about on the street outside then?’ Leo said, studying the plans.

‘That would probably be close enough,’ Mr Chen said.

‘I’ll stake out the school in the car,’ Leo said. ‘And if you’re right about this skill of Simone’s, then I’ll be nearby if she senses anything and I can be there right away.’

‘Is there a place on the street outside where you can do that?’ Mr Chen said. ‘There were only parking meters nearby, with a two-hour limit.’

‘How about we wave the chequebook at the headmistress and ask for a space to be allocated in the car park?’ I said.

‘Good idea, Emma,’ Leo said. ‘And if that doesn’t work, there are places on the street where I can wait. But the car park would be better.’

‘Is everybody happy with this solution?’ Mr Chen said.

Both Leo and I nodded.

‘Good.’ Mr Chen placed his hands firmly on the table. ‘I will ensure that Simone is trained in the required skills before September. Emma, talk to the headmistress about getting a parking space for us. I think this will work out rather well.’

As I returned to my room I heard a most satisfying squawk. Leo had discovered that I’d made all the colours on his computer fluorescent greens and pinks, with a photo of myself for wallpaper. He’d have to ask me how to change it back, or wait until Gold turned up. I was the only one in the household apart from Gold who knew how to change the colours. Yes!

‘No, Emma, look,’ Mr Chen said patiently. ‘Don’t be intimidated by my size. That has nothing to do with it. Use my size against me. Again.’

I tried again. I failed. I brushed my hair out of my eyes, then tied it back. He tied his hair back as well. We had been struggling with this for twenty minutes and I still couldn’t do it.

‘It’s just not possible, Mr Chen,’ I said, exasperated. ‘You’re huge. There’s no way I could throw you like that.’

‘Once you master the skill you will be able to throw Leo,’ Mr Chen said. ‘You will be able to throw me in Celestial Form.’

I stopped dead. ‘Was that what we saw on the plane?’

He looked piercingly at me. ‘You saw that?’

‘Simone wanted to go to you. She nearly got away from me—I grabbed her just in time. She can be really strong when she wants to be, Mr Chen.’ I smiled and shrugged an apology. ‘Sorry about that. I did manage to stop her though.’

‘I’m sorry if I frightened you, Emma,’ he said. ‘I know that my Celestial Form scares Simone.’

I grinned up at him. I couldn’t believe him sometimes. I shoved him on the arm, ribbing. ‘Hey, you were really cute. The big black face is really attractive.’

He smiled gently down at me, amused. ‘You weren’t frightened?’

‘No, of course not,’ I said. ‘I know it’s you. What’s to be frightened of?’ This was a good opportunity to ask. ‘That wasn’t your True Form?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘That was more like,’ he paused, thinking, ‘a working form. When I’m on the job, it’s easier to manipulate the weather, fight demons, work with energy, things like that, when I’m in that form. Does that make sense?’

‘Perfect sense. So I could throw you when you’re that big?’ The Celestial Form must have been more than ten feet tall.

‘Of course. Once you get over this idea that I’m too big to throw. I’m not, Emma. You can do it. Try again.’

‘If I do it right,’ I said, ‘will you let me try to throw the Celestial Form?’

His face went expressionless.

‘Oh, too much of a drain on your energy. Sorry.’

‘It’s a deal.’ He bent to whisper to me. ‘Just don’t tell Leo.’

I bent towards him as well. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t.’ Our faces were very close. ‘I’d be in just as much trouble as you would.’

He nodded and rose. ‘Okay.’ He reached out and stroked my shoulder affectionately. ‘Now you have some real motivation, let’s see you do it, Miss Donahoe.’

I grabbed his hand where it lay on my shoulder, pushed, twisted, put my own shoulder into him and threw him onto his back.

He stared up at me from the floor. ‘You vixen! You knew how to do that all along.’

I bent over him and smiled down. ‘No, I didn’t, I swear. But the idea of having a go at throwing you when you’re that big was too much of a challenge to ignore.’

He chuckled and shook his head with amusement. I put my hand out to help him up, and he took it, still laughing quietly. I pulled him up hard, he was big. But I didn’t realise how strong the training had made me and I jerked him straight into me.

We both froze. He was pressed hard against me. He didn’t move away. His face went expressionless as he gazed down at me.

He brushed a stray lock of hair from my face, then dropped his hand onto my shoulder. My heart leapt into my throat.

I put my arms around his waist. I pushed closer into him. He didn’t move away.

‘I suppose I have to transform now so you can have another go at me.’ He moved his hand from my shoulder to my back. His other hand moved to my back as well and pulled me into him.

I looked up into his glowing dark eyes. ‘Later,’ I whispered. ‘Let’s just stay like this for a while.’

I put one hand up behind his neck to pull him down. His face went very intense as he dropped it to mine.

Yes!

A swift expression of pain swept across his features. ‘I’m sorry, Emma,’ he said urgently as he jerked himself away, ‘that would be a very bad idea.’

‘No,’ I said, trying to wrap around him again, ‘don’t stop now.’

He shook my hands free and backed up. ‘It really can’t happen, Emma.’ His voice became more brisk. ‘You’ll need to move back and give me some room so that I can transform.’

‘Why not? What’s the big problem?’ I tried to move closer to him, but he backed away even more. I nearly had him pinned against the wall. It was like there was a bubble around me.

He raised his hands defensively. ‘Trust me, Emma, it would be a very bad idea. I don’t want to hurt you.’

‘How could you hurt me?’

‘Believe me,’ he said, and the pain showed again in his face, ‘it can’t happen. I have my reasons. We should be nothing more than friends.’ He turned away.

‘If you’re worried about protecting me, you don’t need to be,’ I said fiercely. ‘I’m not frightened of the demons, and besides, it would be worth it. We could still be employer-employee when we’re out. Nobody would have to know. If they didn’t know, they wouldn’t have a reason to come after me.’ He didn’t say anything.

‘I know you feel the same way! Don’t throw it away! Even if it is only a short time, even if it’s only at home. I don’t need more than that.’ I sagged, desperate. ‘Don’t try to protect me. I don’t need protecting. What I need…’

He didn’t look at me. He stood facing away from me, head bowed.

‘What I need is you.’

He flinched as if I’d hit him.

‘It could be wonderful, John. Even for a short time.’ My voice broke and I tried to control it. ‘I know you want it too.’

‘It can’t happen, Emma,’ he said softly without turning towards me. ‘Go to Simone.’

I hesitated. I could see his miserable face in the mirror. His eyes were full of pain.

‘I’m not finished with you!’ I shouted, then turned and stormed out.

I ran all the way around the Peak trail by myself. I was gone for nearly an hour. It wasn’t mentioned when I returned. Mr Chen insisted on behaving as if nothing had happened at all. I had no choice: I had to respect his wishes.

What I really wanted to do, though, was kill something.