Not even the grogginess from the extreme jetlag diminished the awesome sight of the bald, grey-brown rock topped with brilliantly green trees that towered over the small city. Nellie found herself staring with her mouth open, not even the random tourist bumping her distracted her. This looked like a dragon’s paradise to her. It was amazing no one looked in China sooner.
“Brigitte! Beast!”
A middle-aged woman–possibly older–with grays streaking her bluntly cut, jaw-length hair approached through the crowd. Her eyes were sharp but weary, as if she had seen too much or pulled a few long shifts in a row.
“Ah, there you are,” Beast greeted with enthusiasm. Brigitte smiled stiffly and waved. “I was starting to worry one of your co-workers would find us first.” He jabbed his thumb back towards Nellie and Morgan. “The Regere’s kid and the former Commander’s girl.”
“Morgan Agarwal,” Morgan said, glaring sideways at Beast as he held out his hand. He quickly dropped it and gave a small bow.
She inclined her head in response with a small smile. “Wang Lina. Though with you being Western, I suppose that’s Lina Wang.”
“Lina will pose as our escort,” Beast explained.
“Um… doesn’t the government keep track of things like that,” Nellie asked. “Surely not just any random person can impersonate one of those government escorts.”
“She’s not,” Brigitte said. “She’s a spy.”
“Yes, say that louder, Brigitte,” Lina said dryly. She gestured to the crowded street. “Shall we? I’ll take you to your lodgings to drop off your bags, and then perhaps something to eat?”
“What about a nap between that,” Nellie asked hopefully.
“Best not,” Lina said. “Part of my role is to keep you up until an appropriate time for bed. The jetlag goes by much quicker that way. Come along; this way.”
Nellie had been afraid of that; Nathalie did the same the few times they went to England. Luckily, there was so much to see that she was distracted from dwelling on how exhausted she was.
They drove south in Lina’s compact car, following the river down. She pointed things out that were either historic or could be of some interest to the two pre-teens, but Nellie knew she had no hope of remembering the harshly tonal names. She did understand that they just passed the palace when they started to slow, and committed that to memory if she needed a landmark on the chance she was separated from the others.
They turned into a neighborhood of combined houses and apartment buildings that all had the same tan facade and black roofs. Lina led them up the stairs of a unit tucked in the corner off the busy highway to the apartment on the second floor. She knocked once before trying the door. It was unlocked.
Lina scowled and muttered something in Chinese before smiling at them and motioning for them to enter.
The whole place smelled pleasantly of food. It was similar to Chinese places she’d eaten in with Nathalie back in Florida, but not exact. It smelled much, much better, and a little strange as if there were seasonings she had never smelled before.
A tiny, hunched old woman shuffled out from the kitchen. She spoke rapid-fire to Lina, turning a few times to address Beast and Brigitte–them nodding politely with large, vacant smiles–and gesturing wildly at Morgan and Nellie. Lina spoke to her in even tones, motioned to the front door, and began escorting her to an easychair.
“This is Wu Mansha,” Lina introduced, looking at Morgan and Nellie. “Mrs. Wu is suitable.”
“She frequently hosts us,” Brigitte added. “Can’t speak a lick of English. And Beast and me don’t speak any Chinese, but we all get on all right.” She cupped her hand to her mouth. “Good to see you well!”
“Going deaf,” Beast muttered to the kids. He glared at the door. “And… forgetful?”
“Such happens with age,” Lina said dismissively. “She did remember I told her you were visiting. She’s been cooking. We have no need to go anywhere tonight.” She stepped up to Morgan and gave a small bow of her head. “Is all this to your liking?”
Morgan reeled back slightly, but looked pleased. “Yes. Very. Thank you.”
Nellie’s stomach dropped. She was hoping Morgan would complain about staying up at the least so they could all go to bed. Her head was starting to swim from the exhaustion.
She was shown to a cramped room at the back of the apartment with sleeping pads laid on the floor and neatly made up with blankets. She stared wistfully back at the as she dropped off her bag and was escorted away. Lina and Mrs. Wu kept breaking into rapid conversation, only a few words of which were translated to Beast and Brigitte.
The food was excellent; what Nellie could comprehend at least. She was now too tired to have more than ‘yummy’ or ‘too spicy’ flit through her brain. Morgan seemed to cope better with the jetlag and tried to speak with the adults, but even he was slowing.
“Right,” Lina murmured, looking at a watch on her wrist. “I say give it another hour if you can mange. Seven o’clock is still rather early, but I any longer will be cruel to the children.”
“This was their idea,” Brigitte grumbled, her own eyes drooping with fatigue. She gave a yawn, climbing to her feet. “I’m going to bed. Reckon you’ll just have to put up with my sour temper tomorrow.”
Nellie glanced around the kitchen to keep her brain engaged. There were many small figures on shelves only for the purpose of housing them; common enough in elderly homes that it reminded her of Nana and Granddad’s house. Most of them appeared to be foxes.
Lina climbed to her feet once her plate was cleared. “I’ll head out. Beast, a word first.”
They stepped out of the kitchen but went no further with the apartment being small. Nellie caught Lina was asking something from her tone, but only caught the word ‘watch’. Beast gave a firm nod, and locked the front door after Lina before returning to the table.
It wasn’t long after that Nellie and Morgan were allowed to head off to bed. Nellie spotted Mrs. Wu unlocking the door as she went from the bathroom to the bedroom. She meant to say something to Beast, but fell asleep as soon as she laid on her bed mat.
She woke with a start some hours later. She blinked into the murky brown above her–the street lamps filtering in through a gap in the curtain. She guessed the sudden wakening was connected to the severe time change, and rolled over to find a more comfortable position.
There was a pair of eyes shining faintly from the weak light just inches from her nose.
Nellie screamed and scrambled backwards, flopping over Morgan who sat up with a confused yelp. There was further confusion with Beast and Brigitte shouting at each other, or the kids, and trying to get up without tossing anybody into anything. At this point, Mrs. Wu appeared shrieking angrily.
“What is wrong with you,” Morgan snapped, finally throwing Nellie off and disentangling himself from the blankets and limbs.
“Eyes! There were eyes!” Nellie pointed to the now empty space just as the light in the room was flicked on. “But….”
Beast rushed from the room, soon returning with a disgruntled look on his face.
“Call Lina,” Brigitte asked. He gave her a nod. “Right. Mrs. Wu, dear, come with me.” She gently ushered the elderly woman away. “There we are. This way.”
“Try to get back to sleep,” Beast said. “It’s gone now.”
“It,” Morgan accused. “She didn’t hallucinate it?”
Beast said nothing else. He packed up his sleeping mat and blankets, and left the room.
Nellie was sure she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep as she settled back onto her mat. She heard Morgan grumbling under his breath on her side, heard Lina arrive some time after, and then was asleep again.
---
The eyes were not brought up as they sat around eating breakfast. Lina spoke in low tones to Beast and Mrs. Wu, Brigitte having left some minutes before Nellie woke up. Where she went and why was not discussed, and Nellie couldn’t help wonder if it had something to do with what happened.
“We’ll go up to Tianyou Peak today,” Lina said. “Tourist find it popular, but it may lead to some signs of the former Commander.”
“Nellie’s mostly here just to be a tourist,” Morgan said bitterly.
“When will you drop that,” Nellie hissed. “I’m here. Leave me alone.”
Beast drained his tiny cup of tea. “Kids are so irritating.” He climbed to his feet, slightly stooped to keep his head from brushing the ceiling. “I’ll wait at the mountain.”
Lina didn’t allow them to leave until Brigitte returned. She apparently wanted either her or Beast to stay at the apartment, knowing that having the both of them would attract far too much attention. It was a difficult toss up on which one would draw the most attention with both being dark-skinned, Beast being over seven feet tall, and Brigitte’s hair bright shades of purple. As Lina articulated as they went to meet Beast, it would’ve been easier for her to travel with just the kids but also the most suspicious.
“People will look at our group two or three times, maybe just stare, and having either one or the other will make them think a family trip,” Lina explained as they climbed the steps to the start point of the hike.
“But… we don’t look anything like either of them,” Nellie said. “Especially me.”
“They’ll think you a fluke,” Lina said nonchalantly. “Ah, there he is. See him a mile away.”
Lina and Beast briefly discussed the plan for the hike, where to stop and what points could be of interest.
Nellie started to fall behind almost at once. She was in good shape after all the running around at Silas’s compound, but there was too much to see now that she wasn’t so sleep deprived. The views grew more and more breathtaking during the step climb up the stone steps. There was a low hanging cloud over the twist of river below. The surrounding mountains rose straight up into the sky.
She stopped at an overlook, pressed against the rail by the mass of onlookers all clamouring for the perfect selfie.
“Photo?”
It took Nellie a moment to realize the voice was directed at her, and another to find the speaker in the throng of people. A girl about her own age stood a few paces away, staring at her with eyes Nellie could only describe as clever—as strange a descriptor she found it. There was an odd, yellowish glint to them when the sunlight caught them as she moved nearer.
“Photo,” she repeated, her accent not nearly as thick as the first time.
“Oh, no, I'm okay,” Nellie said hastily. “I was just looking. I better go before I…” She looked around, popping up on her toes, but saw no hint of Beast in the crowd. “I better go. Sorry. Excuse me.”
She scrambled away from the lookout. She knew they were supposed to go up to the peak, so continued climbing without much worry. If she was quick enough, they wouldn’t realize she was gone.
Nellie balked as the girl stood on the path before her. She looked back over her shoulder at the overlook, unable to see it due to a curve in the pathway, and then at the girl. She got both feet on the same step to stabilize herself while her insides gave an uncomfortable squirm. There was no way that girl could’ve sneaked by her on such a narrow path.
“What are you,” Nellie asked carefully.
She nearly lost her balance as the girl jumped towards her, landing on the step just in front of her. She leaned back as the girl leaned closer to her face. A wide smile took over her face. Her canines were oddly pointed.
“This?” The girl poked Nellie’s nose.
“My nose? What about…?”
The girl’s face started to change. Tiny freckles appeared on either side of her petite nose, not crossing onto the bridge or extending beyond the tops of her cheeks.
“Cute?”
“Y-yeah,” Nellie said weakly. The girl spun around happily. “Um… I need to go catch up to everyone.” She inched by the girl. “Bye.”
She could feel the girl staring at her back as she climbed the steps. An odd rustling drew her attention back behind her.
The girl was gone.
“Hello?”
Nellie craned her head towards the side of the mountain, thankfully seeing nothing that indicated she fell over the side. She crossed her arms tight, trying to convince herself it was because of the chilly air at that altitude and not because all the hair on her neck was raised. She took a step up, turning back to her climb, and yelped in surprise.
The girl was before her, inches from her face.
“Hello,” the girl said, her accent now completely American. She pointed to her freckles on her cheeks. “These?”
“Freckles? Yeah… I saw you get them. Or make them. Or whatever it was.” Nellie bit her lip. “So, I really do need to catch up with my cousin and them.”
“Me?” She skipped a few steps up. “Me too?”
“If you want to… You’re not, y’know, going to push us off the side or anything, right?”
The girl cocked her head like a dog. Her deep, brown eyes glinted with yellow as she smirked and scampered upwards. Nellie followed at a slower pace, trying to keep some distance and sticking firmly to the mountain side.
“What are you,” Nellie asked, not as warily as before. The girl looked back, cocking her head again. “Maybe it doesn’t translate… Actually, how much can you understand me? How do I test that?”
The girl smirked again and hurried off. She left the path to scramble over boulders and tug at exposed tree roots. It reminded Nellie a lot of Ash rushing around the woods.
“These mountains are incredible,” Nellie said after a long lapse of silence. “I wish I was here just to hike.” She frowned. “I wish Ash was here. He’s my smoke wolf. Or, I guess mine isn’t right, but he’s my friend who happens to be a smoke wolf. He was my only friend for a long time after I moved to Tennessee.”
“Tennessee?”
“It’s one of the states in the United States,” Nellie explained. “Do you know the United States? America? You’ve probably had a few people from there visit here. They have accents like mine. …Unless they’re from the Deep South or New England or the Midwest or…. Well, there’s a lot of American accents, but mine is generic.”
She stopped to catch her breath and to take in the view. The river was now so far below it was a shimmer of silver with the cloud having evaporated. The enormity of the scenery choked her. Somewhere out there was her father, but trying to find him looked impossible. And this was only one of the many mountain ranges.
Nellie swallowed the lump in her throat and batted at her eyes. She jerked when the girl stuck her face right in hers, studying her quizzically.
“It’s so pretty,” Nellie said lamely, gesturing to the view. “It makes one emotional.” She flinched as the girl touched a stray tear, and cringed as she tasted it. “Ew.”
“Nellie! Nellie!” Morgan’s voice echoed down the mountain. “Nellie! Answer me!”
“That’s my cousin,” Nellie explained to the girl. “Morgan! I’m almost to you!” She started climbing. “Come on; he sounds worried.”
They met on the path. Morgan’s face went from relief to fury in the blink of an eye. He stood his ground, arms folded, and waited for Nellie to close the gap.
“I should have guessed you were dragging your feet,” Morgan said airily. “Enjoying your sight seeing?” His hazel eyes darted to the girl. “Who is that?”
“More like what,” Nellie muttered.
“Are you ready to give finding your father a more serious attempt, or are you still just here to make friends and take selfies?”
Nellie bristled. “I am looking! I came all the way here when I didn’t want to!”
The girl gave an odd, startled yelp as Nellie raised her voice. She shrank with a faint pop, and there was now a small, reddish and silver fox where she had stood. It darted off the path into the rocks, leaving Morgan and Nellie staring with their mouths slightly open.
-----------------------------
When I took Mandarin forever ago, the name I was assigned at the end of the semester was Wang Mansha. Wang is really common, and so is Wu so I gave the old lady the Mansha and Lina the Wang. Lina is also written as Li Na and is supposedly a really common and traditional combination for women.
I used Google Earth to map the neighborhood and some of the mountain path that they're at, since I'm not going to China any time soon (looking at all the mountains makes me want to go right now, lol, I think it's been long enough between my degree and now to go soonish). I do recommend just doing an image search of Tianyou Peak and/or Wuyishan Mountians. It's so freaking pretty. I think the hike all the way to the peak takes a couple of days, so I figured Lina and Beast planned on just going as far as they could, maybe grabbing lunch at a tea house, and heading back down.
But I guess the more interesting development is that Nellie continues to attract cryptids on the other side of the globe.
