Year of the Golden Dragon by B.L. Sauder Page B

it, and he told me many stories of Black Dragon. Baba talked so much about Black Dragon that we thought he was a little crazy.” When she said this, Hong Mei felt something pulling at her heartstrings.
    “Look,” Ryan said, stifling another yawn, “I’ve got a wicked headache. I get migraines when I get too tired.”
    “Your jade –” Hong Mei started to say.
    Ryan interrupted her. “I don’t want to talk about my jade, okay? It was my father’s.” His eyes closed for a moment. “Why don’t we talk about you, Lily? Your name, for instance,” he said, fighting to keep his eyes open. “Is it common for Chinese girls to have English names?”
    “Well,” she said, “many people have Chinese and English names. My Chinese name is Hong Mei; Chen Hong Mei.”
    “Your last name is Chen, not Wong?” Ryan asked.
    Hong Mei watched Ryan’s eyes close. “That is correct,” she said. “I’m not a Wong, but our two families are still related – they have been for hundreds of years.”
    “I see,” Ryan said, opening his eyes again and looking at her face. “So, Hong Mei, do many Chinese girls have freckles?”
    “What?” Hong Mei asked. Oh, no! Did he recognize her?
    “You’re the second Chinese girl with freckles I’ve seen today. I didn’t think it was that common.” Ryan closed his eyes again and smiled. “Lucy Liu better not find out. That’s her trademark. And she’s gorgeous.”
    Hong Mei said nothing, hoping if she kept quiet Ryan would fall asleep. She felt herself blushing. Did he think Chinese girls with freckles were pretty?
    Watching Ryan give in to sleep, Hong Mei thought about Madam Ching. She had been right about the boys not being able to fight off “jet lag.”
    Hong Mei saw Ryan’s chest begin to slowly rise and fall. This part was going as planned.
    After a few minutes Hong Mei said, “Ryan, are you still awake?”
    No answer.
    She relaxed and let her head lean against the wall. She would wait a little while longer. Just to make sure.
    •~•
    Hong Mei’s eyes snapped open. She must not let herself sleep. She had work to do.
    She studied the two brothers lying on their beds. Alex looked even younger when he was asleep. Ryan looked older – at least seventeen. Hong Mei stood up and glanced down at the flashing red symbols on her watch.

    45:17:28

    Forty-five hours, seventeen minutes and twenty-eight seconds before the start of the New Year. That’s how much time they had to get to Beijing and lure Black Dragon there. She didn’t want to be around when he came sniffing for his jade. And she wouldn’t be. Her part in this whole thing would be over and she’d be with both Baba and Mama. That’s what the numbers on her watch really meant to her – how long it was going to be before her family was reunited.
    Madam Ching wouldn’t expect the three of them to give Black Dragon their jade, would she? No. She just needed it to lure him to her. But it was strange that she planned to prove that Chinese dragons really did exist right when Black Dragon was due to – what had she said? –  expire? She was going to have a dead dragon to show the world, not a live one. What good would that be?
    And if Madam Ching didn’t care whether he was dead or alive, why did the three of them have to do her dirty work? Just because an old scroll said so? Well, Madam Ching was in for a surprise. Her Black Dragon was more man than dragon.
    At least, he looked that way. Hong Mei felt the rawness of her arm. A normal man couldn’t have done that. She thought about his horrible eyes. Whatever he was, she didn’t want to see him again. As soon as she, Ryan and Alex led Black Dragon to Madam Ching, Hong Mei would take them back home with her and Baba.
    From inside her jacket pocket she pulled out a square wooden box. It was about the same size as one of the disc cases she used in computer class, only several times thicker. A parade of people had been carefully carved on its four sides. Some