White Tiger

face as she shookwith silent sobs. Simone’s face filled with concern and she opened her mouth to say something.
    I put my hand on her arm to stop her. ‘Go and practise your piano.’
    Simone nodded, rose and went out.
    I sat on the sofa next to Jade. She didn’t appear to notice my presence.
    My heart went out to her and I put my arms around her. She buried her face in my shoulder and let go. She cried for a long time.
    When she quietened I grabbed a box of tissues from the coffee table and passed it to her. She nodded her thanks and wiped her face.
    ‘Do you want a drink of water?’ I said.
    She shook her head. ‘Thanks, Emma. Do you know what happened?’ She raised her hand. ‘Of course you do. You were there.’
    ‘It worked out all right in the end,’ I said.
    ‘We are not capable,’ she said. ‘We cannot do this. He has left his beloved Mountain in the hands of two incompetents.’
    ‘He trusts you, Jade.’
    ‘And see how we betrayed that trust!’ she cried softly, bent over her knees with pain. ‘We allowed a Demon Prince to study on Wudang ! We gave it a Wudang sword!’
    I didn’t know what to say so I just held her hand.
    She wiped her face with the tissues. ‘Simone needs you. And I have work I need to do.’ She rose and straightened her green silk jacket. ‘I’ll see you later, Emma.’ She cast around. ‘My briefcase. My briefcase.’ She dissolved into tears again and went out the front door without looking back.
    ‘Emma!’
    I raced to the hallway entrance.
    Mr Chen stood in the doorway of his office, leaning one shoulder against the frame. ‘All of you are to meetme in the training room at five this afternoon. Dress for training.’ He stopped. ‘Does that fit with Simone’s schedule?’
    Piano lesson was at four. She would have plenty of time to change into her little Mountain uniform. ‘Yes. Shouldn’t be a problem.’
    ‘Good. Tell Leo.’
    He went into his office and closed the door.
    At five o’clock I took Simone to the training room. Leo met us there, looking as bewildered as I felt. Mr Chen usually trained us alone or in pairs, not all three together.
    ‘Come in,’ Mr Chen called from inside.
    We went in. Jade and Gold were already there, dressed for training. Jade wore a pale green cotton pantsuit and her braided hair fell to her knees. She smiled sadly at me and I smiled back.
    Mr Chen gestured towards the long wall. ‘Line up.’
    We all took places along the wall, facing the mirrors. Small stacks of hand towels sat on the floor next to the wall behind us. There was only just enough room for the five of us to stand side by side.
    Mr Chen walked out of the room without saying a word.
    ‘What’s going on?’ Leo whispered. ‘Demon training,’ Gold said. ‘I can see why.’
    ‘I am so sorry, Leo,’ Gold moaned.
    ‘We have failed. We have failed together. We have failed most miserably,’ Jade said.
    ‘Yes, you have,’ Leo said. ‘Both of you are supposed to be much better than that.’
    Gold moaned again, a soft sound of misery.
    We heard Mr Chen coming down the hall.
    ‘Master present!’ Leo bellowed.
    As Mr Chen came in we all fell to one knee and saluted, even Simone. He carried a huge jar, about waist-high on me and at least 30 centimetres across. Its top was held down with a complicated metal seal and it appeared to contain large black beads.
    It was the jar from the storeroom.
    Mr Chen placed the jar carefully in the corner of the room and turned to face us, linking his hands behind his back. ‘Emma is the only one who has not had this training before. Apparently ,’ his voice gained a slight edge of irritation, ‘Simone is the only one who does not need it. I was hoping to hold off this training until I was sure you were ready, Emma, but as we are doing it now I thought I might as well include you.’
    ‘I’m ready,’ I said.
    He smiled slightly. ‘We’ll see. I won’t ask you to do anything at this stage, just watch and learn. Now.’ He opened the jar with a hiss of escaping air. ‘Let’s see just how bad things have become.’
    He carefully removed three of the black beads and tossed them onto the floor next to the mirrors. Each bead grew and stretched and became a young Chinese man wearing plain jeans and a T-shirt. They stood immobile in front of the mirrors.
    ‘Number them left to right, Western style,’ Mr Chen said.
    ‘Which is left, Emma?’ Simone whispered quickly. I pointed for her.
    Mr Chen frowned, but his eyes