The Luminaries

was based there for many years. Come along into the parlour.’
    She shepherded Ah Sook into the parlour, pointing to the far corner of the room. ‘You will sit upon a cushion—there,’ she said. ‘You will observe the faces around you, and contribute a cool air of judgment to our mystical
séance
. We shall call you the Eastern Oracle—or the Living Statue of the Orient—or the Dynastic Spirit—or some such thing. Which do you prefer, Anna? The Statue—or the Oracle?’
    Anna did not have a preference. It was clear to her that Lydia Wells and Ah Sook recognised each other, and that their shared history had something to do with Francis Carver, and that the widow did not wish to speak of it aloud. She knew better than to press the point, however, and asked, ‘What will be his purpose?’
    ‘Merely to observe us!’
    ‘Yes, but to what end?’
    The widow waved her hand. ‘Didn’t you see the spectacle at the Prince of Wales? Nothing sells tickets like an Oriental touch.’
    ‘He’s not unknown in Hokitika, you know,’ Anna said. ‘He’ll be recognised.’
    ‘As will you!’ Mrs. Wells pointed out. ‘That won’t matter a jot.’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Anna. ‘I’m not sure.’
    ‘Anna
Wetherell
,’ said Mrs. Wells, with pretended annoyance. ‘Do you remember last Thursday, when I proposed hanging the sketch of the Bagatto at the top of the stairs, and you protested, claiming that the print would be shadowed by the attic landing, and then I hung it anyway, and the light was quite as perfect as I promised it would be?’
    ‘Yes,’ Anna said.
    ‘Well—
there
,’ said Mrs. Wells, and laughed.
    Ah Sook had not understood a word of this. He turned to Anna and frowned very slightly, to show her that she needed to explain.
    ‘A
séance
,’ Anna said, uselessly.
    Ah Sook shook his head. He did not know the word.
    ‘Let’s try it,’ said Mrs. Wells. ‘Come—come to the corner—Anna, get the man a cushion to sit upon. Or would a stool be more ascetic? No, a cushion: then he can fold his legs as the Eastern men do. Yes, come here—further—further. There.’
    She pushed Ah Sook down upon the cushion, and took several quick steps backwards, to appraise him from the other side of the room. She nodded with delight.
    ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Do you see, Anna? Do you not think it fine? How solemn he is! I wonder if we might ask him to smoke a pipe of some kind—for the curling smoke around his head would be rather nice indeed. But smoke indoors makes me ill.’
    ‘He has not yet given his consent,’ Anna observed.
    Mrs. Wells looked faintly irritated; she did not protest this observation , however, but advanced upon Ah Sook, smiled, and peered down at him, her hands on her hips. ‘Do you know EmeryStaines?’ she said, enunciating clearly. ‘Emery Staines? Do you know him?’
    Ah Sook nodded. He knew Emery Staines.
    ‘Well,’ the woman said, ‘we are going to bring him here. Tonight. And speak with him. Emery Staines—here.’ She pointed at the floorboards with a lemon-scented hand.
    A ray of understanding passed over Ah Sook’s face. Excellent: the prospector must have been found at last—and found alive! This was good news.
    ‘Very good,’ he said.
    ‘Tonight,’ said Mrs. Wells. ‘Here, at the Wayfarer’s Fortune. In this room. The party will begin at seven; the
séance
, at ten.’
    ‘Tonight,’ said Ah Sook, staring at her.
    ‘Precisely. You will be here. You will come. You will sit, as you are sitting now. Yes? Oh, Anna—does he understand? I can hardly tell; his face is such a perfect statue. You see what gave me the idea—the Living Statue!’
    Slowly, Anna explained to Ah Sook that Lydia was requesting his presence, that evening, at a meeting with Emery Staines. She used the word
séance
several times; Ah Sook, who had no reason to have ever learned that word, deduced by context that it was a gathering or meeting of some scripted kind, which Emery Staines had been invited to attend. He nodded to show that he understood. Anna then explained that Ah Sook was invited to return, that evening, and take his place upon the cushion in the corner, exactly as he was sitting now. Other men had also been invited. They would sit in a circle, and Emery Staines would stand in the centre of the room.
    ‘Does he understand it?’ said Mrs. Wells. ‘Does he understand?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Ah Sook, and then, to show her: ‘A
séance
with Emery Staines,