Crimson China by Betsy Tobin Page A

looks around she sees nothing that is familiar; no sign that he was here. This place is completely strange to her, and she wonders how that possibly could be. A creeping sense of disappointment steals over her, and she resists it with all her might.
    “Drive on,” she says impulsively. “Go further up the shore.”
    Johnny pulls the car out and drives further north along the shore for a few minutes.
    “Here,” she says finally. “Stop here!”
    He pulls over and parks the car. Without waiting, Lili jumps out and begins to walk down towards the water, until her feet crunch against pebbles and sand. She carries on walking until her shoes are almost in the surf. Ice cold water washes inside them, startling her with its chill. She reaches down and plunges her hands into the water. When she straightens she sees a lone male figure behind her up the shore. Wen , she thinks fleetingly. But it is not Wen, of course. It is Johnny. She looks back towards the endless grey of the ocean.
    They order pasta in a café across the road, just as a line of dark clouds comes sweeping across the bay. Lili picks at her spaghetti while Johnny wolfs his hungrily. When they have finished, he pushes his plate to one side and takes out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one.
    “Smoke?”
    She shakes her head. He takes a deep drag and exhales.
    “How long was he here?”
    “In Morecambe Bay? A month or so. Maybe two. Not long, I think.”
    “Was he illegal?”
    Lili nods, watching his eyes narrow slightly with judgement.
    “Wen was different,” she says earnestly. “He wasn’t like the others.”
    “Different how?”
    “He didn’t come here to get rich.”
    “It’s no crime to be rich,” says Johnny.
    “I know. But he wasn’t after money.”
    “Then what did he come for?”
    Lili falters, searching for the right words.
    “He was restless. Things weren’t good for him at home.”
    “In what way?”
    “He needed to go abroad. To see other places, to see other ways of… being.”
    “We all wanted that.”
    “Wen wanted it more.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know. It was like he was looking for his place in the world.” She shrugs a little self-consciously and glances over at the next table, where an older couple sits chewing in silence.
    “Did he find it?”
    Lili shrugs. “I don’t know. But that’s why I came to London. To find out.”
    “How?”
    “By looking for him.”
    Johnny looks at her askance.
    “His spirit, I mean. I know he’s here. But I can’t find him.”
    Johnny raises an eyebrow, then leans forward to tap ash onto his plate.
    “Maybe he doesn’t want to be found.”
    Lili shakes her head.
    “You don’t understand. Wen and I were twins. In ancient times we would have been left to die at birth. They wouldhave called us ghost spouses.”
    “He was your twin?”
    “Yes.”
    Johnny leans back in his chair, regarding her. “Like two halves.”
    “I guess so.”
    “So what does that make you now?”
    Lili swallows. “Broken.”
    As they rise to go, it begins to rain, and they are forced to run the brief distance back to the car. Once inside, Johnny turns to her. “Are we finished?”
    She nods. He turns the car around and heads south down the coast road. After a few minutes, they pass a long pier jutting out into the bay. At once, her eyes alight on a stone statue halfway down the jetty.
    “Wait! Pull over, will you?”
    Johnny pulls the car into the side of the road and puts it in park.
    “I’ll just be a moment,” she says, jumping out. She dashes down the jetty towards the statue, pausing just in front of it. An enormous stone bird stares down at her. Without a doubt, the photo of Wen and Jin was taken here. Lili stands staring up at the bird, wondering why Jin has lied to her a second time. After a minute, she returns to the car.
    “Okay?” he asks.
    She nods.
    They head out of town and as they hit the motorway, the weather deteriorates. Johnny is forced to slow his speed. Darkness falls early