Seesaw Girl (7 page)

Tiger shrugged. He unrolled a few inches of rice paper and tore the piece off carefully. Jade fetched a brush and ink from the shelves and eagerly began to paint a line across the paper.

Tiger watched her for a moment, then took the brush from her impatiently. "You're using too much ink," he said. "Here—" He wiped the brush gently and gave it back to her. "And don't press so hard. Master says it should be like a butterfly's wing."

Jade tried again. Tiger nodded. "That's much better." He watched in silence for a few minutes longer.

"By the way," he said, his eyes still on the paper, "I thought you would like to know. Servant Cho has a new job with the Kim family. It was our father who recommended him for the position." He looked up to return her grin of delight, then went back to his studies.

As Tiger bent over the scroll again, Jade worked to try to copy the picture of the mountains. Her lines were heavy and clumsy, unlike the delicate strokes on the scroll, and she tried again and again until at last she drew a single line that satisfied her. Tiger glanced up for a moment and nodded at her work. "It's not bad for your first try."

Jade was thrilled with his praise. That afternoon she worked until the strip of paper was full. She could hardly believe how much time had passed when the dinner gong sounded. There was joy in the gentle strokes of the brush—joy at learning of Cho's good fortune, relief that her mistake had not been his permanent doom.

And every afternoon until the Master was well, she slipped into the Hall of Learning to paint again.

Chapter Sixteen

Yut Sticks

Jade's attempts at painting continued. She begged scraps of paper from Tiger. He even smuggled a brush and a jar of ink out of the Hall of Learning for her. As he gave them to her, he said, "There you are. But why would a girl want to paint?" Jade could not have told him why—only that she
had
to paint, to put the pictures in her head onto paper, where she could see them with her eyes.

While she did not wish to deceive her mother, Jade painted only when she was sure to be alone—in her room, or in a quiet corner of the garden when her mother was busy. She knew what her mother would say if she should learn of Jade's new interest. Painting was a noble art, reserved for men.

As a consequence of her secret painting, Jade had abandoned her attempt to embroider the mountains. To her mothers satisfaction, the swordlike leaves and rich purple blooms of iris plants were slowly taking shape on Jade's first panel.

Pleased as she was with her embroidery, Jade was still dissatisfied with her painting. She could not show anyone her attempts, nor ask questions about how to improve her work. She could only experiment, with different brushes and strokes, wet paper, dry paper, rubbing, shading, blotting—and starting all over again. Jade was sure that no other painter used as much ink as she did.

Beyond her efforts to discover good technique, Jade felt desperate to see the mountains again—not just once, but many times. The pictures that most pleased her were of things she had looked at as she was painting: the bridge over the pond, a willow tree, her little ivory ball. But whenever she tried to paint the mountains from memory, there always seemed to be something missing.

As she frowned over her most recent picture of the mountains, she felt she had no way of knowing whether she was putting a true picture on the paper.
I must see beyond the wall again,
she thought.
There must be a way.

Jade did not consider another attempt at escape. The first had been disastrous. Alone, she walked in the garden; overhead, she could see blue sky and wild birds flying.
If only I could fly,
she thought.

If only I could fly.

***

The following month, it was time for the New Year celebration. This was great fun for all the family. The children bowed in front of their elders and received gifts of money. Jade was delighted. Although she had bowed every year since she had been a small child, she had never used the money for anything but sweets. Now she had enough to give Tiger to buy paper and ink the next time he went to the market.

The festivities lasted for several days. Everyone ate wonderful food and played games. Jade's favorite game was
yut.
It was a board game popular with both adults and children.
Yut
was played with long smooth sticks, each with a rounded side and a flat side. A player tossed the
yut
sticks into the air; the flat sides that landed faceup indicated the number of spaces a token could be moved.

On the last day of the New Year celebration, Jade grew tired of
yut
and stood by watching some of her cousins play. One of the youngest, little Dragon Fire, had taken an extra set of
yut
sticks and tokens. He was playing his own game with them—balancing one stick across another, putting a token at the end, and then pounding the other end with his hand. As the token flipped into the air, Dragon squealed with delight and tried to catch it.

Jade watched him, first idly, then with growing interest. When Dragon balanced the token just right and hit the other end just so, the token flipped high into the air.

Another plan began to grow in Jade's mind.

***

Jade watched for her chance. Soon the spring season's repairs began. As always, winter snow and winds had done some damage to the house, and masons and carpenters arrived to make their repairs. It was a boring time for the girls of the Han household, for while the workers were busy in the Inner Court, the girls had to stay behind closed doors.

But the repairs were finished quickly, and soon the girls were free to roam the Inner Court again. Jade wandered about noticing the work that had been done here and there. There was debris in some corners that had not yet been cleared away by the servants. And in one pile Jade found just what she needed: a long wooden board.

Jade wheedled one of the servants into carrying the board to the garden for her. She got Tiger to bring her one of the tightly rolled sheaves of rice-straw that were kept in the stables to feed the oxen. After a few experiments, her invention was ready.

Chapter Seventeen

Beyond the Walls

Jade needed one more thing—a partner. She was slowly growing accustomed to Willow's absence, but there were times like now when she sorely missed her old friend. Jade had to think carefully about whom to choose. She needed someone old enough to follow instructions well, but younger than herself so he or she could be coaxed into doing what needed to be done.

Only two of her cousins were suitable—a shy girl named Moon Lily and a boy named Bear Courage. She decided to try Lily first. Lily was younger and shorter than Jade, but a little plumper. Jade approached her with great friendliness.

"Lily, would you like to play a new game with me? It's in the garden."

Lily was cautious. "What kind of new game, Cousin?"

"It doesn't have a name. But I'm sure you'll like it." In the end Lily agreed and followed Jade to the garden.

In the middle of a clearing was a simple contraption. The sheaf of straw lay on the ground with the wooden board across it.

Lily stared at it curiously. "What is it, Cousin?"

"I'll show you. It's a jumping game." Jade stepped onto one end of the board. "Now, I want you to stand at the other end, jump off the ground as high as you can, and land on the board."

Lily shrugged and did as she was told. The results were unexpected.

When Lily hit her end of the board, Jade did indeed pop up off the other end. But she lost all control in the air and landed in a heap on the ground, one shoe flying off and her skirts in a tangle.

Lily ran shrieking to her cousins side, her eyes wide with fear. Jade sat up, rubbing her ankle. "I'm all right," she said impatiently. She limped over and put on her shoe. "It worked fine—we just need to practice more." But Lily backed away in alarm, shaking her head. No amount of coaxing or pleading could persuade her to try again.

Now Jade had to try her plan with Bear Courage. He too was younger, but not as easily led as Lily. He was busy playing ball and did not want to try her new game.

Jade tried everything she could think of. She pleaded, cajoled, even threatened him. Nothing worked. At last in desperation, she thought of bribery.

"Bear, Tiger goes to the market tomorrow. He always brings me sweets. If you come with me now, I'll give you my share of the sweets."

For the first time, Bear looked interested. "
All
of your share?"

Jade nodded. "All of it."

Bear considered. "Not enough. I want something more for playing a girl's game."

Jade thought hard. She ran to her room and opened the lacquer chest where she kept her things. The silk purse that held her ivory ball was carefully stored in its usual place in one corner.

With the ivory ball clutched in her fist, Jade ran back across the Inner Court. Halfway to the garden she slowed to a walk and finally halted. She opened her hand and studied the little ball, rolling it around in her palm.

How many memories it held! Jade recalled her delight when her father had given it to her, and the many times she had played hide-and-find with Willow in the garden. The little ball had been with her during her escape. And many times in recent months Jade had painted it, trying to capture perfectly its carvings and curves.

She closed her hand tightly over it again.
If my plan works
, she told herself fiercely,
I will see things even more wondrous than my hall.

"Look, Bear." She opened her hand. Bear's eyes widened. He reached for the ball. Jade pulled her hand back. "You have to play whenever I want," she demanded.

Bear agreed, and with one last pang in her heart, Jade handed over the ball.

Bear was a much better partner than Lily. He thought it great fun to send Jade flying from her end of the board and didn't worry when she fell down. But Jade's invention was not working as she had hoped. She did not get high enough to see over the wall.

At last Bear grew tired of jumping on his end and demanded that Jade jump to send him flying. Jade did not want to give up her chance to see over the wall. She thought for a moment.

"Bear, I want to try something different. This time, when you jump and send me up in the air, I'm not going to land on the ground. I'm going to land on the board again. So when I land on the board, you'll go flying."

Bear agreed eagerly. After a few attempts, they found that it worked; not only that, but Bear's turn in the air was higher than Jade's.

"Let's keep going!" shouted Bear. "We don't have to stop after one jump each—let's see how many we can do!"

Bear's idea was a good one. By the end of the afternoon, they were doing five or six jumps each. It took great concentration and timing, for the jumper had to jump at the exact moment that the "flyer" landed. But when they did it right, each flight was higher than the one before. Jade was having so much fun that she almost forgot to look over the wall.

The predinner gong sounded; it was time for Jade to go help prepare the evening meal. "One more time!" yelled Bear.

Jade stood on her end and waited for Bear's jump. Up into air she went, then down, then up again, higher than before. This time she remembered to look over the wall.

She saw the streets outside the Outer Wall. She saw people. Each time she jumped, she saw something else—the rice fields, a stray dog, a farmer and his donkey. And on her last jump, she saw the mountains.

She saw them in the dusk, purple-blue this time against the bluer sky. As she flew through the air, she glimpsed them only for an instant, but it was long enough for her to make a picture in her mind—a picture that she would paint as truly as she was able.

***

Jade ran to the kitchens in a daze of delight. Jumping on the seesaw had felt almost like flying. She thought about the flashes of life she had seen outside the wall—above all, her glimpse of the mountains. Jade hoped with all her heart that with the seesaw's help she would be able to see the mountains as Tiger had described them so many times.