Watching. Jeff Edwards
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for them both, but was still worried about her being sent away.
She heard her father give a cry, and was alarmed that he had been hurt. Yee-Ling gave a heavy sigh as well, and she collapsed on top of Jade’s father. His arms drew her to him, and they kissed deeply.
Jade relaxed as she realised that neither of them were hurt.
‘Please don’t send Jade away from me,’ whispered Yee-Ling.
‘I’ll do what I can,’ promised Father as he kissed at her throat.
Jade was much relieved — she was not going away. Much happier, Jade closed the door and returned to her room.
The matter of Jade’s future schooling, became a hard fought battle of wills between her parents, and the victory to her father caused a further deepening of the rift between her parents.
Ann was shocked that John had the temerity to oppose her plans. She had become used to having her every wish obeyed, and the resistance John expressed to her proposal was quite out of character for him. Eventually, John’s position as ‘the man of the house’ held sway and Jade was allowed to stay at the local school, with her friends.
Soon after, Jade began to notice the changes.
Her father was much happier. He didn’t stay out as late at night, and he seemed to be drinking less. It was difficult to tell with Yee-Ling, as she had always been able to hide her emotions from Jade. However, Jade caught Yee-Ling crooning softly to herself at odd times. She also caught her father and Yee-Ling exchanging glances when they thought no one was looking. It would have been unnoticeable to anyone that did not know, but Jade did, and enjoyed their secret, knowing that she, unknown to them, shared it as well.
Of an evening, Jade forced herself to remain awake, lying in bed, and waiting to hear whispered voices from the room next-door. As soon as she heard the voices, she would creep to Yee-Ling’s door, eager to watch the lovers; to see, and hear their joy. It filled her with an excitement that she did not understand ... and a strange, heady joy as well.
One evening, as Jade watched from her usual place at the doorway, a hand was placed on her shoulder, causing her to gasp in fright. ‘Why aren’t you in bed?’ asked her mother.
Jade spun around, blushing deeply. ‘I-I was just going t-to ask Yee-Ling for a drink of water,’ she stammered.
‘Go to your bed, immediately, Janice.’
‘Yes, Mother,’ whispered Jade, as she moved toward her bedroom door, hoping that her mother would not hear the noise coming from Yee-Ling’s room.
Her mother had not moved, and appeared to be waiting to make sure that Jade obeyed her, before returning to her own room. Quickly Jade entered her room, and closed her door, remaining just inside to hear what was happening. Jade had hoped that her mother would move on, but unfortunately, a sound had attracted Ann Taylor’s attention.
From within her room Jade heard the door of Yee-Ling’s door open, and her mother’s scream of rage. Jade did not know what to do. She opened her door, and looked out.
Her mother saw her, a look of thunderous anger upon her face, and screamed, ‘Return to your bed immediately, Janice!’
Shaken, Jade did as she was ordered, laying in her bed and listening to her mother’s ranting screams, her father’s apologetic voice trying to calm her down, and Yee-Ling’s distraught crying. It went on for what, to Jade, seemed to be hours and hours.
Eventually she fell asleep, with the voices still ringing in her ears.
Jade awoke the next morning to a new world.
There was no Yee-Ling to waken her, and set out her clothes.
There was no Yee-Ling to make breakfast for her.
There was no Yee-Ling. Her room was empty. She was gone.
She found her father, dark rings under his eyes, preparing to leave for work. Jade grabbed the arm of his coat and asked, ‘Where is Yee-Ling?’
John Taylor looked down at his daughter, a distraught look on his face. ‘She’s gone Jade, and won’t be back. I’m so sorry.’ Tears welled in his eyes, and he turned away quickly.
Jade watched him go, tears flooding down her cheeks, and her shoulders shaking as sobs wracked her. Lost, she wandered into the dining room, where her mother sat in stony silence, sipping delicately at a cup of tea.
Looking up, her mother saw Jade’s tears. ‘Sit down, Janice and wipe your eyes. Eat your breakfast.’
Obeying, Jade sat opposite her mother, all thought of food gone. ‘I’m not hungry, Mother.’
‘Don’t be silly. Eat your breakfast.’
Jade nibbled at the corner of a piece of toast, pretending to eat.
‘You’ll be leaving for England, just as soon as passage can be arranged for you. I’ve made arrangements for you to attend my former school. It will be the making of you.’
‘But I don’t want to go,’ whispered Jade.
‘Don’t argue. You are far too young to know what you want. You will do as you are told.’
A fresh flood of tears coursed down Jade’s cheeks.
‘Tears will not do you any good, Janice. You will be leaving. That’s the end of it. Now get ready for school.’
‘But what about Yee-Ling?’
Ann Taylor’s voice turned to ice. ‘You will never mention that person’s name again. Do you understand?’
Jade felt the suppressed rage of her mother and nodded dumbly. She knew that she would never see Yee-Ling again, and what was worse, she would never know what happened to her.
A month later, Jade, accompanied by her mother, boarded a liner headed into exile on the other side of the earth.
During the long voyage, Jade tried to imagine what her new life would be like in England.
She thought of herself as English, from the top of her head, to the tips of her toes, but she had never stepped foot in that country, and she didn’t even fully comprehend what being English meant. Her expectations were based on stories of home from her parents, other children in the European school who had lived in England, and school lessons from her teachers.
A confusing amalgamation of images — cricket and rugby matches, afternoon teas in rose gardens, snowy Christmases, and most of all, the readings of Dickens, from her teachers, left an impressionable, nine year old Jade with images of her own. Poor waifs, crowding dirty-grey streets, begging for food, while the wealthy rode past on their fine horses, on their way to tea with the King. It was all very confusing to a young girl who had lived her entire life in hot and crowded China.
Her mother was always in a tight-lipped mood, and in no way inclined to answer Jade’s many, and to her way of thinking, utterly foolish questions. Ann Green’s thoughts were on her errant husband, whom she had left behind while she escorted Jade to England. She did not trust him at all. Would he attempt to find that woman, and rekindle the relationship? He could try, she thought bitterly, but his chances of success would be slim. Ann knew that once an Asian person returned to their kind, they became lost, just one small person amongst the millions teeming there.
She was sure that John Green would still be there when she returned, probably nursing a whiskey, and she’d be able to extract her revenge at that time. My fine husband will pay for his indiscretions, she thought bitterly. How dare he try to makea laughing stock of me.
The man had even had the temerity to ask for a divorce, she recalled. Ann, of course, had simply scoffed at him. ‘We’re married. There will be no divorce. My family would simply not stand for the disgrace, nor would your superiors