“You knocked out Tsung?” Mong said. He smiled. “Your kung fu must be exceptional. I'm sorry I missed it. You now need to be more wary than ever, you know. Tsung will hunt you down.”

Hok nodded. “I understand. Ying thought we should have killed him.”

“You probably should have listened to Ying,” Mong said. “No matter now. What's done is done. What did Ying have to say about Malao?”

“Ying told me about a small shack downstream from Kaifeng that he once used as a safe house. He says it's about an hour away and thinks Tonglong may have taken Malao there.”

Mong nodded. “I always suspected Ying had a hideout somewhere along the Yellow River. I don't know much about Tonglong, but I wouldn't put it past him to try to use Malao as bait to obtain the map scroll from you. He's probably already planning a trap. You'll have to be careful.”

Hok's thin eyebrows raised. “Be careful?”

“Your brother Malao needs you,” Bing said. “You must go to him.”

Mong walked around the table to where the dark-skinned girl was sitting and placed one of his enormous pale hands on her shoulder. She twisted her head up and grinned at him.

“This young woman is called Sum,” Mong said. “She and her twin brother, Cheen, lived at the stronghold with us, and they followed me and my colleagues here to Kaifeng after Ying and Tonglong overcame us. She and her brother are as at home in the water as they are on land. Neither of them speaks and we don't know their names, so we've taken to calling them Sum and Cheen, Shallow and Deep. I saw them both in the water yesterday when Malao was captured, and we came to this boathouse as soon as the soldiers left the Jade Phoenix because I knew Sum and Cheen have been living here. Sum was waiting for us, and from her gestures we believe her brother has followed Tonglong's boat. She wants to take us to locate her brother, and find Malao.” Mong nodded toward the skiff.

“Sum wants to travel by boat?” Seh said. He swallowed hard.

Hok remembered that Seh hated boats. In fact, he disliked water in general. He wasn't a very good swimmer.

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“A boat makes the most sense,” Mong said. “It's the quickest way to get down the river. If you hurry, you might be able to surprise them.”

Hok nodded and looked at Charles. This time, Charles held her gaze.

“My job is to stay here with your mother and GongJee,” Charles said. “I'd like to help you, but I must stay. I'm sorry.”

“I understand,” Hok said. “Thank you for helping my family.”

Charles blushed again.

“You can count me in,” said Fu with a low growl.

“Me too,” Seh added.

Sum nodded to Hok, and Hok nodded back.

Hok looked at Mong. “I guess that makes Fu, Seh, Sum, and me.”

“Excellent,” Mong said. “The four of you should fit in the skiff with enough room for Malao on the return trip. I suggest you leave immediately. With any luck, you'll be back by tomorrow. Someone will be waiting here for you.”

Hok straightened up. She realized that if something were to go wrong, she might not see her mother again for some time. Bing seemed to read her mind.

“We shall see each other again,” Bing said. “Soon.”

“Yes,” Hok replied. “Soon.” She bowed to her mother, and her mother stood and bowed back, low and deep. Hok knew that a mother could not give her daughter a greater sign of respect.

“Let's get you four moving,” Mong said.

Hok, Seh, and Fu spent the next two hours hiding beneath a moldy tarp on the floor of the skiff. They peeked out occasionally peering at the southern shore through the heavy midmorning rain. Sum stood at the back of the boat, steadily poling it downstream.

The stretch of river they were currently on was strangely devoid of people. They hadn't seen another boat in quite a while, and they hadn't seen any buildings for more than an hour. Hok was considering closing her eyes to take a little break when Fu spotted something with his keen vision.

“There!” Fu whispered, poking one finger out from under the tarp. “A dragon boat.”

Hok strained her eyes. Soon she saw it, too. A boat had been pulled up onto the bank beneath a huge willow tree with twin trunks. The boat, and the trunks, were barely visible through the thick wall of leaves and pouring rain. This was the place.

The skiff turned toward the willow, and Seh tensed beside Hok. “What is Sum doing?” Seh whispered. “We shouldn't head straight for shore here. It might be a trap.”

Fu swiveled his large head left, then right. “I don't think it's a trap. The closest line of cover is hundreds of paces away. There aren't any ambush points.”




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