Red Phoenix

people to help out.’
    ‘You can’t employ domestic helpers,’ I said. ‘It wouldn’t work.’
    ‘Why not?’ John said.
    ‘Have you seen those women on a Sunday in Central? They all meet there. There must be thousands of them—’
    ‘About eighty thousand, last time I counted,’ Gold said.
    ‘You were there on a quiet day,’ John said.
    I continued, ignoring them. ‘And they’re all discussing their employers. They’d find out in no time flat—’
    ‘About the unusual nature of the residents of Turtle’s Folly,’ John said. ‘And how everybody seems able to speak Tagalog, regardless of where they’re from, because of the language charm Gold put in.’
    Gold and I stared at him, speechless.
    Eventually I found my voice. ‘How the hell did you know I call it that?’
    John took his glasses off and leaned over the table to glare at me. ‘I know everything that happens on my Mountain.’ He leaned back. ‘I think it’s a good name for Bright Mansions. Very bad move, buying it at the top of the market like that. I’m doing a nice piece of calligraphy. Took me a long time to find a correct translation for the word “folly”.’
    ‘You’re not.’
    ‘I am. I’ll have it done in brass and put it over the door.’
    ‘You’re joking,’ I said.
    ‘Deadly serious. I’ll buy a couple of stone tortoises and put them on either side of the entrance as well, just to make the point.’
    Gold’s mouth flopped open.
    ‘The Chinese Disciples will refuse to live there,’ I said.
    ‘They won’t have a choice.’
    ‘Xuan Wu Xuan Tian Shang Di,’ I said very severely, ‘Celestial Highness, Dark Emperor of the Northern Heavens, if you do this stupid thing your shell is in very serious trouble.’ I glared at him. ‘Simone will have to go in there sometimes, and I do not want to have to explain this to her, particularly about how it relates to your true nature.’
    ‘My true nature as the egg of a turtle, or my true nature as a motherless bastard?’
    Gold made a quiet choking sound.
    ‘Both!’
    ‘Oh, all right.’ He leaned back, slipped his glasses on and gave it up. ‘But only for Simone. And I will definitely do it when I come back and she’s old enough to understand.’
    ‘You will be the one to explain it to her then. Which are you anyway? Turtle or tortoise?’
    Gold sounded like he was strangling.
    ‘Same thing, same essence,’ John said without looking up. ‘Turtle in water, tortoise on land. The Tiger is the essence of all the great cats.’
    ‘And the Phoenix is bird essence. I understand. What about the Dragon?’
    ‘Essence of arrogant bastard.’ John gestured with one hand. ‘Gold.’
    Gold flipped frantically through his notes. ‘Where were we?’
    ‘Staff for Turtle’s Folly,’ John said. ‘Emma’s right. Overseas or local domestic helpers are out of the question—they’d find out too much about us. I’ll send some of the Masters out demon-hunting and see what they come up with. Should be okay to put newly tamed low-level demons in there with so many senior Disciples and the Masters to keep an eye on them.’
    ‘Very good, my Lord,’ Gold said, taking notes.
    ‘We need to buy a couple of buses to carry the students between Wan Chai and the Valley,’ I said.
    ‘Easily done, my Lady.’ Gold looked up and shrugged. ‘I have nothing else to do.’
    ‘I’ll talk to the Masters about a demon-hunting expedition,’ John said. ‘And I’ll need to put that calligraphy in a safe place so you won’t find it and destroy it before I come back.’
    ‘The Disciples will be out of the building and back on the Mountain by the time you come back,’ I said. ‘There won’t be any place to put it.’
    John took his glasses off and put them in their case. ‘I’ll find somewhere.’

CHAPTER FOUR
    A bout ten o’clock Saturday morning I put the finishing touches to the first draft of my assignment and set it to print in John’s office. I jumped when he spoke into my ear.
    I’m going to call you on your mobile. Ready? I put my hand on the phone and picked it up when it rang. ‘Yeah?’
    ‘Do you have time to come down to Hennessy Road with Leo and Simone? There’s something we all need to do together.’
    ‘Sure. I need a break from this anyway. Give us twenty minutes.’
    ‘You’ll need longer than that, I have the car. Gold will drive it up for you. Leo can bring you down.’
    ‘Okay.’ I hesitated, then changed my mind about mentioning the transport