Moon Princess by Barbara Laban Page B

for Gege. It involved a foreign expert who wanted to write a book about the temple. That was your mother, Sienna.’
    Sienna swallowed hard at the mention of hermum, then nodded at Feng to continue.
    â€˜The monk said Gege was to gain her trust. He had to help her with her work. He showed Gege a secret chamber behind the statue of Guanyin. All Gege had to do was make sure that your mother discovered it.’
    â€˜Why? Why didn’t the monk just show my mother the chamber?’ asked Sienna.
    â€˜The monk said your mother had to discover the chamber herself.’ Feng rubbed his eyes. ‘Gege liked your mother a lot, and he didn’t want to lie to her, but the monk gave him a lot of money to do as he said. When your mother came across the chamber she was very excited. She said that what she had found there would be a sensation. It would make the temple famous.’
    Sienna sat up straighter. ‘So what did she find?’
    Feng swallowed and paled. ‘Something … something amazing. But Gege stole it from her. He said we would get a lot of money for it. That we’d be able to buy ourselves a proper flat, perhaps even a little shop. That was the day before he and your mother disappeared.’
    â€˜But what was it?’ Sienna insisted, already halfguessing the answer.
    Feng now stood up and walked outside to the bank by the stream. He pushed his hands into the soft brown clay and began to dig. When he had found what he was looking for he pulled out a mud-stained package and returned to the shack, panting. ‘Here,’ he said, and held out the package to Zou and Sienna.
    Sienna carefully unwrapped it, and stared open-mouthed at the object. It was the brilliant-white statue from the photo that Feng had passed to her in the restaurant. Although not much bigger than Sienna’s hand, it was much more impressive in real life. The stone was so white it appeared to sparkle in the sunlight filtering into the little shack.
    â€˜The moon princess,’ Sienna cried.
    Zou had sunk down to sit on the mattress. ‘You’re thinking of a different story, Sienna. This is the goddess Guanyin. So beautiful,’ he breathed, and Sienna saw astonishment and adulation on his face. His eyes shone. ‘But you’re not completely wrong. Do you know the story of when she was a princess?’ he asked, turning to Sienna.
    Sienna remembered what the monk had told her yesterday. ‘Only a little bit,’ she said. ‘Could you tell me the whole story please?’
    â€˜Guanyin was a princess indeed. She left her family to become a hermit. When her cruel father, the King, fell ill, she wept tears of mercy for him on the Fragrant Mountain on the night of the full moon. Despite his cruelty, she vowed to sacrifice her life for his. Guanyin’s tears trickled into the earth at her feet and sank deep into the ground, a well of purest water springing from the spot. She died, but in sacrificing herself, saved her father. People realized she was actually a goddess – the goddess of mercy. The remorseful king buried his daughter at the summit of the Fragrant Mountain and built a pagoda on her grave, protecting the sacred well which had sprung from her tears. He had many more monasteries built and became a devout Buddhist.’
    Rufus yawned and scratched himself behind one ear in boredom. ‘Who cares?’ he growled to himself.
    â€˜She was buried at our temple?’ Sienna cried, suddenly feeling the pieces of the puzzle slot into place.
    â€˜Yes,’ answered Zou. ‘Although the temple has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, the well remains. It is the place where, according to legend, the goddess manifested herself.’
    â€˜What is all this rubbish?’ Rufus shook himself vigorously, his long black ears flapping around. ‘Guanyin … manifestations … temples. What this is really all about is that our friend here’ – he threw Feng a