AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Wonder what an axe is doing in a tree?’
‘Ha,’ said Jiang, smirking again, ‘’cause Daiyu hid it in there. But don’t go telling anyone that.’
‘Seriously?’ said Robin. ‘The Drowned Prophet hid it?’
‘Yeah,’ said Jiang.
‘How d’you know?’
‘I just do,’ said Jiang, with precisely the kind of smugness Shawna always displayed when given the chance. ‘I know stuff. I told you. I keep my eyes open.’
They emerged from the woods and began to cross the field, Robin careful to pause every now and then and poke at bits of grass, pretending she was still searching for Mazu’s mother-of-pearl fish, but also trying to think of a way of leading the conversation back to Daiyu without raising Jiang’s suspicions. The rain had gone off; the grass sparkled, buttercups and clover shining enamel bright in the watery sunshine.
‘Wanna know something else?’ Jiang said, halfway back to the five-bar gate.
‘Yes,’ said Robin, with complete sincerity.
‘There’s somebody here, right now, who was here a long time ago. They’ve come back again – and I’m the only one who realises.’
He cast a sly sidelong look at Robin out of his dark, narrow eyes.
‘Really?’ said Robin. ‘Who is it?’
‘Ha. I’m not telling,’ said Jiang. ‘I’m just keeping an eye on them.’
‘Can’t you even tell me, male or female?’ said Robin.
‘Nosy, aren’t you?’ said Jiang, his grin widening. ‘Nah, that’s for me to know. Funny how Taio and Becca are so clever and they haven’t realised. I’m gonna go to Papa J, when I’ve finished my investigations,’ he added importantly.
They climbed over the five-bar gate, Robin now burning with curiosity.
The curtains of the nearest Retreat Room were closed, meaning it was in use. Robin anticipated a ribald comment from Jiang, but his good humour seemed to fade somewhat as they passed the cabin.
‘Know why I’m not allowed in them?’ he asked her, pointing a dirty thumb behind him.
‘No,’ said Robin. It was welcome news that Jiang wasn’t permitted to spirit bond; she’d been worried her flattery of him might be taken as a sexual overture.
‘Nobody’s told you?’ said Jiang, suspicious again. ‘Not Taio?’
‘No,’ said Robin. ‘Nobody’s said anything.’
‘It’s ’cause of Jacob,’ said Jiang sourly. ‘But that wasn’t my fault, it was Louise’s, Dr Zhou says so. It won’t happen again.’
‘How is Jacob?’ Robin asked, hoping once and for all to resolve this mystery.
‘I dunno, I never see him,’ said Jiang. ‘It wasn’t my bloody fault.’
The courtyard was still full of people, all of them combing the ground for some sign of Mazu’s fallen fish, and to Robin’s relief, her reappearance with Jiang occasioned neither look nor comment.
‘Need the loo,’ Robin told Jiang, smiling at him to prove she wasn’t trying to get away from him, which she had no intention of doing, because he was proving an unexpected source of interesting possible leads. ‘Then we can look more.’
‘Yeah, all right,’ said Jiang, pleased.
Once inside the dormitory, which was deserted, Robin hurried to her bed to deposit the latest pebble beneath the mattress, marking yet another day at Chapman Farm. On kneeling down, however, she saw that several of the tiny pebbles she’d already deposited there this week had been dislodged and lay scattered on the floor.
Disconcerted, she ran her hand beneath the mattress, finding only one pebble still in place. Then her fingers touched something small, flat, loose and smooth. She pulled it out and saw a pearly bright, intricately carved fish.
Robin hastily scooped all the dislodged pebbles up, thrust them all inside her bra, leapt to her feet and ran to the bathroom. Here she clambered up onto the sink, opened the high window, checked that the coast was clear, and threw the fish outside. It landed in a clump of tall grass.
