Red Phoenix Read online

  ‘Look, Charlie,’ I said. ‘This is an unusual building. The expressway goes right through the middle, at about the fourth floor.’

  Charlie watched out the window as we went past the expressway. The road went in one side of the building and out the other. Leo drove up a ramp inside the car park to pass the road.

  It was a long way up before we found a parking space; obviously a busy night in Temple Street. Leo gingerly edged the car backwards into the space. The space was so narrow he had to fold in the side mirrors to avoid the pillars.

  ‘Why does the road go through the building, Emma?’ Simone said.

  ‘The building was already here when they built the expressway,’ I said. ‘It would have cost a lot of money to knock it down, so they just put the road right through.’

  ‘What’s it like to drive through the building?’ Charlie said.

  ‘Like a little tunnel. You don’t even realise you’ve been through the building until you’re out the other side.’ I opened the door to help Simone out. ‘Let’s go and see how much Hello Kitty stuff Simone can buy in one night.’

  Charlie was obviously not impressed when we entered the lift; it was filthy and smelled of urine. The buttons were black with dirt. At the ground floor the lift stopped with a lurching jerk, and Simone squeaked and grabbed my hand.

  ‘Don’t worry, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘This lift always does that.’

  ‘You come here often?’ Charlie said.

  ‘Not really. I used to come here to buy toys for my relatives in Australia, but I saw them at the beginning of this year, so they’ll be happy for a while.’

  The smell of urine was even stronger when we left the lift; the building had public toilets on the ground floor outside the car park entrance. We hurried past.

  A middle-aged Chinese couple sang Chinese opera under a makeshift marquee across the road. A trio of musicians on Chinese instruments accompanied them. A small crowd of passers-by had gathered to watch them.

  ‘Sounds like someone’s torturing a cat,’ I whispered to Leo.

  Leo bent to speak into my ear. ‘I like it. But then again, I hate cats.’

  During the day, Temple Street was a normal Kowloon thoroughfare, lined with shops on both sides. In the evening, stalls were set up, leaving a narrow passageway down the middle. The large number of people moving between the stalls caused a crush.

  Leo walked in front of us and cut a swathe through the crowd. Michael brought up the rear, very serious and professional.

  ‘Mind your bag, Charlie,’ I said quietly. ‘There’s a lot of pickpockets here, targeting the wealthy tourists. This is something of a gang centre.’

  Charlie nodded. ‘Don’t worry, Emma, I’ve been on the Tube in London.’

  Charlie passed the stalls selling T-shirts printed on the spot, and didn’t bother with any of the flashing mobile phone accessories. She bought some small cheap toys for her nieces and nephews, but didn’t want any laser pointers. She hurried Simone past the stall selling luridly coloured sex toys and the stall with the suspicious-looking movies. But she stopped at a stall selling ties.

  Leo stood behind us, folded his arms and glowered. A magic space appeared around us as people avoided him. He was having a great time.

  Charlie selected a number of outrageously inappropriate ties from the hangers.

  ‘Who are they for?’ I said. ‘Check the illustrations before you buy them—some are really crude and offensive.’

  ‘I know exactly what I’m doing,’ Charlie said with a small, evil smile. ‘I have a cousin in his late twenties. He loves these disgusting ties and always asks me to buy some for him when I’m here.’

  ‘Typical.’

  Michael looked unhappy, but remained completely professional as he helped Simone at the stall across the road. She bought two Hello Kitty bags, three T-shirts and a pair of Hello Kitty sunglasses, every single item pink. He helped her with the bargaining and then returned her to us.

  Leo and I shared a look. He was impressed with Michael too.

  At the end of the market we moved from the middle to the side of the street, between the back of the stalls and the closed shopfronts. There were fewer people and we could walk back to the car in relative peace.

  We stopped to buy some Pocari Sweat at a small shop selling drinks.

  ‘It’s not bad,’ Charlie said. ‘Lemony.’

  ‘It’s horrible if it’s not cold,’ Simone said.

  ‘I wonder if I can buy it in London.’

  ‘Overseas it’s just called Pocari, they leave out the Sweat,’ I said. ‘You can probably buy it in Chinatown.’

  ‘But I won’t need it nearly as much back home,’ Charlie said.

  We walked further and reached a dai pai dong, a small open-air restaurant specialising in fresh seafood. The restaurant had a number of flimsy folding tables on the pavement displaying plates of live seafood.

  Charlie was fascinated. ‘What are those?’ she said, pointing at some shellfish that had six legs and large spiked claws. They were a pale creamy colour, with large abdomens and unusual triangular-shaped heads. Most were about ten centimetres long, but big ones were double that size.

  Michael opened his mouth to answer but I stopped him with a raised hand. ‘They’re mantis prawns.’

  ‘That’s quite appropriate for them, really,’ Charlie said. ‘With those front claws and the heads like that, they do look like praying mantises.’ She saw Michael’s face. ‘What?’

  ‘Oh, go on, Michael,’ I said. ‘I can see you’re dying to tell her.’

  Michael leaned closer to Charlie. ‘In Cantonese they’re called “pissing prawns”,’ he said with quiet satisfaction.

  Charlie’s eyes went wide with delight. ‘No, really?’ She grinned broadly. ‘Why on earth are they called that?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ Michael said with a shrug, and suddenly he was the image of his father.

  The car park shroff office was right next to the public toilets and the smell was still bad, so Leo sent us on ahead while he paid the ticket.

  The lift lurched to a stop at the seventh floor, and Simone squeaked again and grabbed my hand. Michael made a soft sound of disdain.

  The seventh floor was almost deserted; most of the shoppers had already gone home. Our car was one of only three left on the floor and the other two had a thick layer of dust on them, apparently abandoned.

  I unlocked the car using the remote. ‘I’ll start the engine, Charlie, and run the air con so you can sit in there and cool off.’

  ‘Thanks, Emma,’ Charlie said, her voice weak.

  Michael grabbed her shopping bag off her and she didn’t protest.

  ‘You should have said something,’ I said.

  ‘We’re finished anyway.’

  Just as we reached the car I heard a shout and turned. A large group of young Chinese men charged around the corner of the car park towards us. Most of them were shirtless and covered with elaborate tattoos. Many had dyed hair, blond and red. They all carried machetes and choppers, the weapons of choice for Hong Kong gangsters.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me, Simone?’ I hissed. I quickly unlocked the boot of the car and pulled out my sword, pleased that I’d thought to bring it. I took the white Japanese blade as well and turned to throw it to Michael, then I saw his face.

  Simone stood completely still, her eyes wide, staring at the young men.

  These weren’t demons.

  I put the swords back into the car boot, closed it, locked it and pocketed the keys.

  Charlie took Simone to the shelter of the back of the car alongside the wall of the car park. I nodded to let her know I approved; if she tried to take Simone out of the car park it would draw attention to them. They were safer over there.

  The young men came to within about three metres off us and stopped. One of them stepped forward to talk to Michael. He was much better dressed than the others and slightly older, in his thirties. Quite good-looking in a rodent-like way. He seemed relaxe
d and confident.

  I stood next to Michael, facing the leader. ‘I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with you, Michael,’ I said ferociously without looking away from the gang.

  ‘They recruited me when I was twelve. I thought it was pretty cool at the time, but it didn’t take me long to realise I’d made a huge mistake.’ Michael sounded tired. ‘I left them a long time ago, but they keep trying to get me back.’

  The leader of the gang leered at me. ‘You his new boss?’

  ‘Yes.’ I tried to project an impression of being very calm and unafraid. I wasn’t afraid, but I certainly wasn’t calm. I was furious with Michael. I crossed my arms in front of my chest. ‘Leave him alone.’

  The leader put his hand on his hip and posed. ‘You stop me?’ He eyed me up and down, leering. ‘How much? I give you hundred dollar.’

  The lift doors opened behind us. I didn’t need to see him to know it was Leo. All the guys except for the leader inhaled and took a step back.

  Leo stood on the other side of Michael. ‘I thought you were out of this,’ he said.

  ‘I am, sir. They keep coming after me.’

  ‘Well, here they are,’ I said. ‘This should be an interesting experience. They’re armed. It’ll be hard to take them down without killing them. Any suggestions on how to avoid this?’

  ‘I’ll go with them,’ Michael said. ‘They want me, not you.’

  Leo shot Michael a quick, impressed glance.

  ‘You will stay here with us, Michael, and that is an order,’ I said.

  Michael hesitated. Then he said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  Leo made a soft sound of approval. The kid had sworn to obey and he was as good as his word.

  ‘If the weakest of us can take the strongest of them, I think it’ll be over.’ I stepped forward, pointed to the leader, then at myself. ‘You, me, one-on-one. You win, you get him and me. I win, you go away and leave him alone.’

  The gang leader looked me up and down again, this time more calculating. He was average height for a Chinese, about five eight, but he was a wall of solid muscle and from his build it was obvious he was a Master of the Arts.

  ‘What Arts has this guy done, Michael?’ I said.

  ‘Just about all of them, Lady Emma. For God’s sake, be sure about this.’

  ‘Is his word good if he agrees?’

  ‘Yes. These guys have a twisted code of honour.’

  The leader said something loudly in Cantonese that I didn’t understand. The rest of the guys laughed.

  ‘That was too crude to translate, my Lady,’ Michael said.

  ‘I guessed that.’

  The leader nodded. He told the other guys the deal; I could understand that much. The others moved back. Some of them grinned with anticipation, but others seemed concerned. I was obviously confident.

  ‘No need to translate, Michael, I get it.’ I stepped forward to face the leader.

  ‘Get him,’ Leo said softly without moving.

  I didn’t turn. ‘That’s not like you at all, Leo.’

  ‘I think Leo’s met this one before,’ Michael said.

  The leader grinned broadly at Leo then kissed the air loudly. A chorus of kissing sounds echoed from the other guys.

  Leo didn’t move a muscle.

  ‘Are you okay back there, Charlie?’ I called without moving.

  ‘Charlie fainted, Emma,’ Simone said, sounding unconcerned.

  ‘That’s all we need,’ Leo said. ‘Get him out of the way quickly, Emma.’

  I nodded. We couldn’t help Charlie until this was sorted.

  ‘I am so sorry about this, my Lady,’ Michael said, full of remorse.

  ‘I will deal with you later,’ I said in a voice so ice-cold it rivalled John.

  The gang leader waved a come-on, still leering.

  I watched him as I worked out what to do. This wasn’t a spar; this was full-on. I would have to hit him hard to defend myself and anything physical I used could easily kill him. It would take a great deal of skill to disable him without seriously injuring or killing him and I really didn’t have the time to mess around. I wanted him out of the way in a hurry.

  Energy was absolutely out of the question.

  I had a sudden brilliant idea. If I did this with enough hubris then the whole thing would be quickly sorted without anybody being hurt at all.

  I moved close and smiled up at him. He leered back, confident, but didn’t make a move to attack me. I strolled around him, and he turned to follow my movement. I stopped when we were side-on to the rest of the group and they could clearly see what was happening. I raised my right hand with my index and middle fingers out and the rest in; it must have looked like I was pretending to hold a gun. He still stood there grinning, waiting and confident.

  Stupid bastard. They probably wouldn’t even hang around long enough to take him along with them.

  I very quickly and lightly tapped the five points. Forehead, throat, shoulder, above the heart, solar plexus. Five little taps.

  He went perfectly still. He was paralysed. His face smiled but his eyes were terrified.

  The other guys gasped. I turned to face them. I raised my index finger towards the leader without looking at him and casually gave him a little push right between the eyes.

  He fell like a dead tree with the smile still on his face.

  I was right. The rest of them just took off.

  I raced to the back of the car. Charlie lay on the concrete next to the rear wheel, her face ashen. Simone crouched over her, holding her hand.

  ‘Leo,’ I said, but he was already there. He felt for a pulse with one hand and put his other hand on her forehead.

  ‘Her pulse is weak and thready, but she’s still breathing. She has a fever. Looks like—’

  ‘Heatstroke,’ a benign voice with a very crisp English accent said at the same time as Leo. ‘Take her to a hospital immediately. Ask the Princess to call Jade or Gold; one of them can take Charlie to the hospital, front door of the nearest emergency ward. Then Leo can drive the rest of you there and meet up.’

  ‘Do what he said, Simone.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Call Jade or Gold, like he said.’ ‘Nobody said anything,’ Simone said. ‘Call them anyway,’ I said. Jade appeared.

  ‘Charlie has heatstroke, Jade. Take her to the nearest hospital, front door of the emergency ward. We’ll meet you there.’

  Jade crouched next to Charlie, took her hand, and both of them disappeared.

  I rubbed my hands over my face.

  ‘Come on, Emma, don’t stand around, move yourself! She’s in the hospital already and you need to be there,’ the voice said.

  ‘He’s right,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Where?’ Leo said, confused.

  ‘Tang Shiu Kin. Waterloo Road,’ the voice said.

  ‘Did you hear that?’

  ‘I didn’t hear anything, Emma,’ Leo said. He bent to study my face. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘I’m hearing voices. But the voice is helping. Tang Shiu Kin Hospital, Leo.’

  ‘What the hell’s going on?’ Leo said.

  ‘Voices?’ Simone said. ‘Is Daddy talking to you?’

  ‘Just go, we’ll discuss it later,’ the voice said.

  They all stared at me with bewilderment.

  ‘We don’t have time to stand around here looking stupid, guys, let’s go. We can discuss whatever new weirdness we have to deal with when we’re in the car.’

  ‘Excuse me, madam, but I am not weird.’

  ‘Did anybody hear that?’ I said.

  They all just stared at me as if I was completely crazy.

  ‘Maybe I am crazy.’

  ‘You have no idea,’ the voice said.

  ‘Stop doing that!’ I jumped into the car. ‘Leo, is the parking ticket still good?’

  ‘We have five minutes.’

  ‘Then let’s move.’

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ‘Can you hear it now, Emma?’ Leo
said as he manoeuvred the car through traffic. I listened. ‘No.’ ‘What does it sound like?’ ‘An English man.’

  Leo shook his head with incomprehension. ‘I thought that move was a myth, ma’am,’ Michael said. ‘The Five-Point Push. Incredible.’ ‘The move is a myth. No such thing.’ ‘But I just saw you do it!’

  ‘All of that was for show. Only the push on the solar plexus, the central dan tian, is really necessary. You just have to use exactly the right amount of chi to disable them without killing them. It’s about a level ten energy move. I don’t normally teach it; it doesn’t work on demons, only humans. Mr Chen taught it to me just in case.’

  ‘How long will he be paralysed, Emma?’ Leo said.

  ‘About six hours.’ I smiled grimly. ‘I hope none of them go back for him, he’ll be really stiff when he regains control. And I really hope he had a lot of beer before he decided to pay us a visit.’

  ‘You are very nasty sometimes, you know that?’ Leo said with delight. He pulled the car into the lay-by at the front of the hospital. ‘Here we are. Everybody out, I’ll find a space. Michael, stay close to Lady Emma. I’ll be a while. There aren’t many car parks around this part of Kowloon.’

  ‘Who’ll take Simone?’ I said.

  ‘She’ll be safer in the hospital than on the streets around here, Emma. You and Michael take her.’

  ‘Okay.’ I stepped out of the car and helped Simone out.

  The English voice spoke into my ear. ‘Jade’s already taken her in. She’s in examination room three. In through the main doors, down the corridor, fourth on the right.’

  ‘Who are you?’ I followed his directions, gesturing for Michael to follow me. ‘John?’ But it didn’t sound like John.

  We marched down the hallway and nobody tried to stop us. The room didn’t have a door, just a curtain. Charlie was sitting on the bed; she smiled when she saw us. She was on a drip. Jade stood beside her, talking to a kind-looking young doctor and a middle-aged, dourfaced nurse.

  I went in and stood next to the bed. ‘How is she, Jade?’ The doctor and nurse looked at me. ‘I’m her employer,’ I explained. ‘She’s my domestic helper from England.’

  They nodded; that made me as good as next of kin.