Fragment 4. Posted 20th October 2014

"Respectful Greetings, O Mei!" "Respectful Greetings, White Ghost! Does he write poetry, too?" O Mei asked, with a squawk of laughter. "We are keeping quiet about that until the book comes out," said Shrr Li, deadpan. O Mei cackled. "How did you know I was here?" she wanted to know. "Just lucky," smiled Xu Xan. The kind of luck where you call in at someone's home for three days until they finally turn up, she thought. Shrr Li smiled sweetly too. "What can I do for you girls?" "We wanted to know where you found White Ghost," Shrr Li announced. Xu Xan nodded. "O, my trade secrets! That's easy enough. It was around the back here," O Mei jerked a thumb. "Can you show us?" "Certainly!" cried O Mei, and stamped off around the hut, with the others following. White Ghost was looking around with interest, as O Mei flattened herself against the back of the hut. "I got him like this, here, with my crook!" The girls looked questions at White Ghost. He nodded and took O Mei's place against the hut. O Mei stood back. The girls frowned. "Where was he coming from?" Shrr Li wondered. "Up there, I should think," O Mei waved an arm in the direction of the hill. "Ghost Mountain!" said Xu Xan. "Of course!" "Why of course?" countered Shrr Li, "There are hundreds of Ghost Mountains." "Well, aren't there hundreds of White Ghosts?" Shrr Li had to think about this. "Mm. I think I see what you mean. You think they hatch up there, or something?" Xu Xan rolled her eyes. "Or something, yes." White Ghost was already heading up the slope. When they caught up with him he was traversing the side of the hill, examining the ground and studying the view. "I wish I hadn't worn my good shoes," lamented Shrr Li. White Ghost was moving more slowly now. O Mei and the girls took in the landscape. "Pretty! We should come up here more often," said Xu Xan. "Perhaps we should suggest it to Meng Chu for a picnic," retorted Shrr Li with delicate irony. "Good idea!" Xu Xan said, oblivious. White Ghost was standing still now. He looked towards the girls, then lay down on the slope. Xu Xan jumped up and down. Then she motioned to White Ghost to stay where he was. "I should have brought something to mark the spot," she moaned, looking around her. "Why bother? He didn't take long to find it, he can find it again," Shrr Li pointed out. "He might not be here," hinted Xu Xan. Shrr Li pursed her lips and frowned. "We could mark it with stones," she suggested. "Excellent! O Mei, can you help?" "Yes, yes. Go up the slope and roll them down. It's easier than carrying them up. You want big stones or you won't see them. " Once the first few stones were in place, White Ghost was allowed to move, and he helped. When at last they had a ring of stones, he lay down again in the middle of it, stood up to check the view, and nodded. "Is that it?" asked Shrr Li, "Is that where he hatched?" O Mei choked. "I think this is where he arrived," corrected Xu Xan. "Arrived? Arrived from where?" Shrr Li wanted to know. "I have no idea," Xu Xan admitted. Shrr Li looked lost. "Imagine two pictures. One picture is lying on top of the other. What if a figure from one picture moved to the other picture? It would be completely out of place." "I don't understand," sighed Shrr Li. "I do," said O Mei, grimly. "Go on, girl." "What if this happened as a regular thing, so regular that people began to expect it? A whole set of laws, procedures, instruction books rose up around it? A whole culture?" "And nobody ever wondered what was happening? Nobody questioned it until now?" Shrr Li demanded. "Not if it filled a need," O Mei murmured slowly. "What need? – Oh!" Shrr Li was suddenly silent. "We depend on these strangers." "There must have been some terrible plague, or something." Xu Xan considered. "It must still be," O Mei observed, thoughtfully. "It must still be," Xu Xan echoed in agreement. Shrr Li looked ashen, and sat down suddenly. "I feel sick," she said. O Mei produced a small leather bottle and made her drink. Shrr Li spluttered, but her colour returned. "Medicine," O Mei explained to Xu Xan. "Medicine," Xu Xan agreed. White Ghost looked at the bottle with interest and O Mei hastily tucked it away. When Shrr Li was ready to walk, she leaned on White Ghost's arm for support. "That's clever, girl," admitted O Mei as they clambered down the slope, "I never heard anyone else come up with that. The very best ideas are the ones that sound obvious once someone has stated them." She looked at Xu Xan. Xu Xan looked back. "So what do we do with this information?" O Mei asked. Xu Xan paused. "I don't know," she confessed.   "I have a bad feeling about this," I said. "What's the problem? A half-day at the baths, courtesy of the Mistress, now the Dark Cloud has passed and everybody is over it! It's very kind of her and I love a pamper-day. I thought you did too!" Xu Xan was in a bubbly mood. "It's White Ghost I'm concerned about. Do you think it's a good idea to bring him here?" "Why not? Let somebody else clean him up for a change." Xu Xan threw her clothes into her locker. I unbuckled his collar and set it on my clothes in my own locker, and handed him his towel. "At least he's not likely to run off," I admitted. Xu Xan laughed. "Our little shadow? I should think not! Anyway, it's a treat for him! He likes to look at people when they aren't wearing anything. Haven't you noticed?" "Yes, I've been measuring him by eye. It's easy to tell when his interest grows. I just hope he doesn't get too interested." "We can deal with that. People like to look too, have you noticed that?" As we passed into the cool room, all eyes turned to us and the conversation paused. Xu Xan tapped White Ghost on the hand, and he uttered a "Respectful Greetings" to the room in general. There was a ripple of laughter and the murmur of conversation resumed. "Let's have a quick dip and go straight to the warm room," I suggested. "Who is here? Is it just people from our house?" "Yes, Meng Chu booked the whole place. Ma Chao took the morning squad, and Ma Peng is in charge of us. But it's only our house. You can rest easy." We stepped down into the water. White Ghost needed no persuasion, but strode ahead and plunged into the water. In a moment we could see he was swimming the length of the pool. "Our charge continues to surprise us. We should take him here for exercise!" remarked Xu Xan. "You're joking!" I said. "I suppose so," Xu Xan giggled. "He might get too much exercise." I stared at her and she rolled her eyes. She swam a width just to get away, I think. As I lunged to follow, I saw White Ghost change stroke from breast-stroke to freestyle as he turned to do a second length. I caught him on his return and beckoned him to walk with us to the warm room. Ma Peng was there, sitting on the higher tier of benches, with one foot up, which I thought was a little rude. Some of the older women like to wrap their towel around them, but she preferred not to. Xu Xan saw me turn my face away, and immediately adopted the same pose on the tier below. She was smiling with mischief when I looked her way. White Ghost was trying not to look, but not doing very well. His interest was showing. I pressed my lips together, leaned back and closed my eyes. We had been sitting for a few minutes when Ma Peng said "I'm glad I found you girls. Meng Chu has ordered a special massage for you." "For both of us?" Xu Xan wanted to know. "For all three of you," replied Ma Peng. That is kind of her," remarked Xu Xan, and I agreed. "Is it booked for a particular time?" I asked. Ma Peng shook her head. "No, but I shouldn't leave it too late if I were you. You have time to use the hot room. I would." She wiggled her backside to give White Ghost a better view, and I took the hint. "Thank you, Ma Peng, as always, we value your advice," I said as I stood. She chuckled as we left. I could feel the sweat breaking out on my skin as we walked into the hot room. Xu Xan climbed up to the top tier and sat with both feet apart. I wiped the perspiration out of my eyes and looked at her. "Don't be such a fusspot and come up here," she said. I climbed up. "It's even hotter up here!" I gasped. Xu Xan nodded happily. White Ghost stayed on the lower tiers where he could watch us. I gave up, lay back and closed my eyes. Eventually Xu Xan nudged me. "I've never seen anyone sweat so much," she said. I looked. He was bright pink, and dripping. "Let's get him out of here," I said. We slapped him on the shoulder and he lurched through the door. I caught him around the middle and dragged him to the plunge-pool. As we clambered out Xu Xan crooned, "No, no, stay in, I'm sure it could take three of us..." I could only gasp as the cold seeped through, and blinked as Xu Xan splashed in. "We warmed it up for you," I declared, as she gasped in turn. "Of course you did," she said, spluttering, "I could tell!" As we sat sipping sherbet in the cool room, I could see the masseuses hovering by the door. There was no mistaking which customers were to be their clients. "Come on," I sighed, "Let's not keep them waiting." Xu Xan nudged White Ghost, but he was already on his feet. "Special massage," Xu Xan mused. "Extra ylang-ylang, do you think? That would be nice." The masseuse closed the door behind us and launched into a prepared speech. "We have three clients and only two masseuses, so I humbly beg you to relax while we deal with one of your number first. To shorten the delay, we will both work on one subject. Please help yourself to cold drinks." The partition curtains had been drawn back, and all three massage-benches were in one open space. The masseuses ushered White Ghost onto the middle bench, and Xu Xan and I lounged on the other benches to watch. The masseuses were sturdy women, but not fat. They wore white aprons which covered the lower halves of their bodies. Sometimes they wear white vests, but not today. Their arms showed firm muscles and their breasts were firm. Their skin shone with massage-oil. Some masseuses go in for body-building. Perhaps these did. They looked good. As he lay on his stomach, they each took an arm, and wrung it, massaging up to the shoulder. Then they treated his back and legs, each woman taking half the body, and moving in clear co-ordination. It is absorbing to watch experts at their profession. They paid attention to the shoulders and neck, where the tension lies, and worked hard on the muscles there. They wrung out the legs, as they had done the arms, and worked the fleshy lower back, where tension is more subtle. To finish, they made long, flowing strokes down the length of the body, beginning firmly, then reducing the pressure until they were no more than tracing their fingertips down the length of his body. Patting his shoulders gently, they indicated that he turn over. When he had done so, they changed their approach. One took his head, working from the back of his neck, around through his hair to his face, taking time and taking care. The other massaged his chest and stomach , and the front of his legs. The head massage had finished, and that masseuse placed a hand on the bench on either side of his head, and leaned slightly forward. The other massaged the part they had left untouched until then. I saw Xu Xan's mouth open and realised that mine was open too. In a moment, he had spent his chi, and the masseuse was wiping him with a towel. They furnished him with a cool drink, and separated to approach us. "This is something you need to know, yes?" said my attendant. "We do something similar," I admitted. "That is good," she answered, "There are many ways of achieving the same result, but the general principle is the same." She removed my empty beaker, I lay on my stomach and she began to work. With only one attendant, it was slower than before, but she was thorough and firm. I thought the light tracings down my back would sent me to sleep. She worked my arms when I had turned on my back. She had worked my shoulders, legs and stomach and paused before touching my breasts. Her touch was so light, so delicate and yet so exciting. I opened my eyes – they were shut – and found that she was using her lips and tongue. She looked up at me and smiled. Her hand had found my private place and was working in an expert way. I shut my eyes and gave a moan of pleasure, and found that her mouth was on mine, her tongue was darting inside my mouth while her finger was darting elsewhere. Then she drew me down the bench and used her tongue where her finger had been. If women have chi to spend, then that is where I spent mine. The masseuse bent her head to my ear and murmured, "If you wish to do me the honour of accepting another special massage at another time, please ask for Pei Ling. If you move to the cool room you can enjoy a cool drink in more comfort until your present lassitude wears off. We find our patrons profit best by using the hot room after a massage of this type. " We stumbled off to the cool room as the attendants watched with professional smiles. We sipped our drinks slowly, and when they were finished we felt less sleepy. A few stragglers were returning from the warm room, and lazily wading in the pool. The pool looked inviting, but I felt that I would sink to the bottom. We sat for a few minutes in the warm room, to prepare ourselves, and then moved to the hot room. Everyone else had gone and we had it to ourselves. Xu Xan looked at me with wide-eyed innocence. "Has your bad feeling gone yet?" she asked. I cupped my hand around her breast. She smiled and moved it to her private place. "Poor White Ghost will feel left out," I said. "Surely not," she hazarded, and stretched out to stroke White Ghost where it had most effect. White Ghost in turn paid attention to her breasts. In this way we learned to practice a little massage upon each other. No more chi was spent, but we took pleasure in what we did. The hot room was a shrewd suggestion, as we could not spend too long there. The cold plunge shocked us into a pretence of decorum. The warm room was empty when we looked in. We found that we were the last occupants of the cool room, and the last clients of the baths. Pei Ling watched us gathering our towels and told us that the baths were booked for another hour, and we were more than welcome to stay. The mood was broken, though, and we knew it was time to go. I tipped her well, and she looked almost sorrowful. "Please come back soon," she said simply, which tugged at my heart. Ma Chao had a hot beef curry waiting for us when we returned to the house. Everyone had relaxed smiles, even Ma Peng. After supper we went to Meng Chu's evening room to thank her for the baths. "The house needed some indulgence, and I'm delighted that you enjoyed it," she smiled. "I'm sure you understand now a little better what is required of you." We nodded politely and innocently. "Now your duties begin in earnest. I have had the room of good fortune prepared. For the following three nights you will attend upon me. Now you may go, and," she smiled thoughtfully, "get some rest." We were as clean as new hairpins, so there was no need to do more than clean our teeth. The pallet bed on the roof drew all three of us like a magnet. Scarcely had we undressed before our hands were moving over one another's skin. We lost ourselves in a tangle of legs and tongues, and spilled chi. Languidly we gazed up at the stars as sleep drifted over us.  

Fragment 3 - Posted 9th October 2014

I felt terrible in the morning. At first I thought I had eaten something bad, and that made me worried for a moment. Then I realised what the pain was. I went and used my sponge and reported to Ma Peng and told her I had the Dark Cloud. She smiled wryly, and told me that everybody in the house had it. I stared. Ma Peng looked surprised and said "It is the gift of the White Ghost. Didn't you do this at school?" She laughed at my expression and said, "Meng Chu has your documents. We forgot them in all the excitement last night. And I believe a there is a book of instruction comes with them." Xu Xan climbed down the stairs with White Ghost just then, and she looked as bad as I felt. We left White Ghost in the courtyard and knocked at Meng Chu's study. She looked troubled too. She formally presented our documents and congratulated us again, and handed over a small book. There was only one, she apologised. They were in short supply. She hoped we would manage. She was making every effort to find another copy. She sighed and sat down. "Dark Cloud day," she said. "Every rose has its thorn. I expect I shall see you at the Temple." We agreed and withdrew. Breakfast was porridge-meal and fruit salad, and bitter tea. It would be plain meals until Dark Cloud was over, to make things easier for the kitchen staff. No-one has the stomach for anything richer, and it does help to make your insides feel better. White Ghost was puzzled and worried, as everyone was smiling at him in a regretful way. Xu Xan asked if we were going to the Temple, but I said we would go to the meadow first. I tapped the little instruction book, and she understood. I took the ball and the skipping-rope. The kite had broken in the tussle. The gardener could mend it with a new stick, but that could be done later. Xu Xan took the staff in her good hand, and I took the leash, and we stepped out gingerly into the lane. Even White Ghost looked around warily. We walked in the middle of the narrow lanes, avoiding the corners, and felt much happier when we came to the meadow. We gave the ball and the skipping-rope to White Ghost and sat down to read the book. It was in very small writing. I leafed through it to see if there was a summary. There was no summary, but there were some illustrations. "Look at this," I said to Xu Xan. She looked and giggled. "So we know where O Mei got her information," she said. "Here's a diagram of their interest!" "It must be important, then. What's that?" "I think that's us. I mean, that's ours. O My!" I looked at the next illustration. "O my!" I echoed. We looked at each other, and then we looked at White Ghost, who was playing with the ball. "As Full Custodians, you will be expected to assist." "That will be interesting." "There is a lot here." "Why don't you read five pages out loud to me, and I'll read five pages out loud to you. We'll finish the thing in a couple of days." "Five pages! Have you seen you small this type is? Two pages each. We'll read it morning and afternoon. We still have to exercise White Ghost." "It'll take a month!" "We'll have to take it in turns to read it quietly during siesta, then, unless we can beg a lamp to read it at night." "Siesta. We can read during the heat. If we don't get our sleep we'll be fit for nothing. Come on, the sooner we start, the sooner we're done." So I read out loud, as best I could, stumbling over the difficult words, and going back to read a sentence again when Xu Xan asked. After two pages Xu Xan took the book from me, but didn't do much better. The information was there though, and we began to understand the duties of our position. "Whew!" said Xu Xan, as she closed the book. "Not such a sinecure as all that. Come on, let's go to the Temple. We ought to make some big offerings." I whistled to White Ghost, who was trying to play with the skipping-rope on his own. He had no notion of time, and didn't notice we had not stayed as long as usual. Probably it didn't mean anything to him. He was surprised, though, when we didn't follow the lane back to the house, but walked through the market square and on to the Temple. We stopped outside and bought some flowers and incense from the hawkers. Xu Xan was frowning at me: too much! I said to her, look, we are making an offering to ease the Dark Cloud, that's one; we are giving thanks for our promotion, that's two; and we're giving thanks for coming out of a nasty incident in one piece. Xu Xan looked at her sling and looked at me. I told her that she might have been hit on the head. We were not completely sure if White Ghosts were allowed in the Temple, but we thought they were. Neither of us wanted to wait outside, so we crossed our fingers and just walked in. We took our flowers up to the big statue of Moon Goddess, and lit our incense, and sat for a while to enjoy the scents and the sound of the nuns chanting. White Ghost looked around with great interest, twisting his neck this way and that, but otherwise sitting still. One of the nuns, in passing, remarked what a well-behaved creature he was, and we glowed with pride. Then she slyly offered to bless him for five copper cash. Xu Xan would have said no, but I nudged her silent, and handed over the cash straight away. The nun ushered us into a little side-chapel, where she burned some incense and had us kowtow. There was a smaller statue there, very delicate and beautiful. Then she rang a little bell as she anointed White Ghost with ceremonial oil. She spooned oil on his head, on his shoulders, on his breast and on his interest, chanting all the while and ringing her bell. When this was over, Xu Xan asked if the oil tasted of anything, which puzzled the nun and made me splutter with laughter. We all kowtowed to her in thanks, even White Ghost, who is good at copying what we do. This delighted the nun, and she hurried off to tell her fellows. On our way out we kowtowed to Meng Chu, who was just arriving. She nodded at the sight of the oil on White Ghost's shoulders. I said "He is blessed." Meng Chu replied "We are all blessed." For another person to say, it would have been trite and pious, but I felt she was right. Nervously we took a stroll around the square to look at the market stalls. Xu Xan kept firm hold of her staff, and I kept firm hold on the leash. We were a little distracted because of this, and none of the stalls had much interest for us. Xu Xan nodded towards a stall of sweetmeats, but I wasn't interested. Ma Chao does better. Instead we bought a poke of prawn crackers, and shared them out on our way back, staring at anyone who might come too close. No-one did, and we began to grow a little more confident. Lunch was plain noodles. Nobody asked for sauce. It was a grim meal. We lurked around the courtyard until the gong sounded. Xu Xan took the book first. I had only closed my eyes when she nudged me awake and indicated for me to read a page. It made me sit up. I read on until Xu Xan got impatient and started to read over my shoulder. We didn't dare to stop. When the gong sounded for resumption of duties, we looked at each other, each holding a corner of the little book. "Meadow?" said Xu Xan. "Courtyard, " I replied. I didn't want to wait any more than I had to. We devoured the book, while White Ghost wandered the courtyard and smelled the flowers. We finished it and set the book down. I felt as though my head would burst. "I feel sick," said Xu Xan. "Dark Cloud?" I asked. "I don't think so." "A more responsible position than we had thought." "Nothing lasts for ever." "No," she answered, looking at White Ghost. "Some things last a long time, though." "Come on," she said. "Let's exercise the beast. I want to run around, I think." We took the ball, but played tag, in slow motion, or so it seemed, slowed by our skirts and our mood. White Ghost ran circles around us, tagging us only when he could not avoid it. Finally we gave up and lay looking at the sky. "Coming events cast their shadow before. I never understood what that meant until now." "Where does O Mei live?" "No idea. Ma Peng will know. Why?" "I want to ask her some questions. Should we go together? I mean, should we all go?" "Certainly. Why not? What do you want to ask her?" "I'm not sure yet. But I'll work it out." We were afraid to let the sun fall too low before we made our way back. The lanes were empty, to our great relief. We were glad to be indoors again. We ate Ma Chao's special rice, which was almost too rich for us, and smoked our pipes quietly. Ma Peng told us that it was cloudy, and it might be a good idea to put our awnings up. In the washroom I helped Xu Xan. She dabbed a finger at White Ghost's shoulder and licked the oil she picked up. "Mm. Clean it off his shoulders and head but leave the rest. I want to taste the oil." I fixed up the awning and Xu Xan set White Ghost to lie on his side at the edge of the pallet. "That's a good idea," I said. "I don't want him to fall on me," she answered. Then she knelt and milked his chi. She seemed to manage well enough. He curled up into a ball as he was spent. Xu Xan rocked back on her heels, smiled, and stood up. "I think the nicest bit is that he enjoys it," she decided. I nodded. "What did the oil taste like?" I asked. Xu Xan shrugged, and shook her head. "I don't know. Nothing. I can't remember," she said. We crept under the awning and settled ourselves. That night there was a thunderstorm and the rain ran off the awning in streams. It felt as if the whole world was crying.