The Scratch on the Ming Vase (10 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

One Week Later

“There's something I have to tell you, Nicki, but you must promise me that you won't let it influence your decision.” David Kahana pushed his elbows into the bed to pull himself up. “Close the door, will you?” She did as he said, then he continued. “The best surgeons in the world can't help me now. I've lost the full use of my legs.”

“You mean—”

“I'll be able to get around with a cane. And I might even be able to show you some hand-to-hand combat moves. But my days in the Secret Service are over, Nicki. From now on, my work will be in recruiting and training students I can count on. Like you.”

“Oh, Master Kahana, you were so close—”

“I did make it. They've awarded me the title Supreme Grand Master.”

She sat down next to him.

“I don't know what to say. About anything.”

“You don't have to say anything. What I need you to do is consider my offer very carefully.” His eyes moved to the doorway when someone knocked.

“Come in,” he said.

It was Peter Byron.

“Good morning, David. The nurse told me you were accepting visitors.” He looked at Nicki. “I guess an apology is in order.”

Kahana responded for her.

“She's not one to gloat.”

“I would if I were her,” said Byron.

“In kung fu,” explained Kahana, “the first thing you leave behind is your ego.”

Nicki moved to the window and looked out at the streets of Toronto. “I don't mind that part. It's my friends I don't want to leave.

“I was just getting to know people here,” she continued. “For the first time in my life, I have friends who care about me.” She turned around. “I guess because they don't know who I am. If they did, well—”

“They'd love you just the same,” said Kahana.

“Will I be able to say good-bye?”

“Yes, Nicki. But whatever your decision is, nothing we've discussed can leave this room. Not ever.”

“Of course,” she said.

“I've spoken with Officer Kwai from the Honolulu field office, and she's been in meetings all week with the top level FBI and CIA agents,” said Kahana.

“And I'm here to remind you of your Canadian citizenship, Nicki.” Byron sat down in the chair next to Kahana's bed. “I went to Ottawa yesterday, and I met with the head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.”

“Does he agree?” asked Kahana.

“Yes. CSIS realizes that the time has come for action. Foreign spies have stolen considerable business and industrial secrets from this country, and yet we have no agents working in other countries to stop this activity before it happens. The organization believes that offense may be the only defense.

“The problem,” he continued, “is that we have no facilities to train agents for this kind of work. Not the way the United States and Great Britain have.”

“So, I'd be training in the United States?”

Kahana answered the question.

“First with MI6 in England and then with the CIA in the States. And when you finish, you'll be Canada's first foreign operative, providing intelligence to all three countries.”

“But I thought the Secret Service wanted computer experts, people like that.”

“They do. But not in the field,” answered Kahana.

“Too dangerous?” she asked.

“In a word,” he said, “yes.”

“What do I tell my parents?”

“We'll look after that,” said Kahana. “We'll set things up so they think you're attending a school in the United Kingdom for the martial arts. And that you have to leave immediately.”

“I don't know,” said Nicki.

“What don't you know?”

“Can I ask you something, Grand Master?”

He nodded.

“How do you justify lying to people? If there's one thing I've learned from my years of training in martial arts, it's the importance of honesty.”

Kahana thought for a minute. Then he answered.

“If you're true to yourself, and if you follow your heart, then everything you do will come from the right place. It will be right.”

Nicki understood.

She reached for the door handle, then stopped. “There are other elite athletes in the world. Why me?”

Then, answering her own question, she said, “Because I'm female, I know my way around virtually every city on the planet, I have wealthy parents, and most important of all, because I am Chinese.”

“Because you are an exceptional athlete, you are bright, you are intelligent, and, above all, you are brave.” Kahana smiled. “I rest my case.”

Then his expression changed.

“Of course, Nicki, the decision must be yours.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Where shall we put it, Lila?” asked Nicki. “How about over there, next to those figurines and bowls?”

Nicki moved the vase to an upper shelf near the back of the store.

“No way,” said Lila. “I want it in the window. It'll draw in the crowds. I can tell them all about my brother-in-law's Ming.” She wrote
Not For Sale
on a card, then taped it onto the vase.

“You mean you aren't going to sell this? I figured—”

“What? That I'd try to pass it off as the real thing?” She made a face. “Now would I do something like that?”

T'ai laughed.

“She figures it'll make everything in here look a shade better.”

He carried in a tray of sandwiches and cookies and pink lemonade.

“Girls like pink lemonade, right?”

“Right,” said Nicki. “Everything must be pink, T'ai. The pinker the better.” She winked at Lila.

He poured everyone a glass, then raised his hand to toast his friend. “To Yin!”

“To Yin,” said Lila, and they all clinked glasses.

“Thanks, but I'm just glad your uncle is back home and doing well,” replied Nicki.

“You were right about Newman. Thank goodness you were able to alert the authorities in Honolulu in time. I still can't figure out how you put it all together.”

Lila looked at Nicki. “She's psychic. Like me.”

Nicki smiled. “Does your uncle have his vase back yet?” she asked.

“Came and went,” said Lila.

“What?” asked Nicki.

T'ai explained. “My uncle never wanted the Ming for himself. He's just glad it didn't wind up in the wrong hands.” He took a drink of lemonade. “He's donated it to the National Museum of Art in Beijing, as a gift from the descendants of the former royal family. That way, it will be enjoyed by everyone.”

“And maybe they'll learn something about the Cultural Revolution,” added Lila. “It was no picnic for the family.”

Nicki nodded. “I hope he can find a way to return to China one day,” she said.

“Maybe that angel of his will help him,” declared Lila.

“Angel?” asked Nicki.

“He claims that when he was unconscious, nearly dead, a Chinese girl came to his rescue. The FBI insists there was no such girl, that she was a figment of his imagination. So he figures she must have been an angel.” T'ai laughed. “Crazy or what?”

The three of them spent the lunch hour sitting outside the store, watching people as they strolled by. When a group of tourists came along, Nicki left them so they could make some sales.

“See you soon!” said T'ai, heading inside with Lila.

Nicki watched them for a minute and wondered about her own grandparents.
I must have a grandmother someplace. Maybe she's like Lila.

“See you,” she said.

She looked up at the sign that said
One-of-a-Kind Finds
and smiled.

I hope so
.

I really hope so.

Next she went to the deli. The supper crowd hadn't arrived yet, so she had a chance to talk with Margo.

“You girls sit down for a while,” said Mrs. Bloom. “We can handle things.”

“Thanks, Mom,” said Margo. “So where have you been, Yin? I haven't seen you all week!” She pulled napkins out of the dispenser and gave them each one. “There were a couple of women from the hotel here yesterday, and when I asked about you, they said you'd left!”

“Oh, Ellen and Dolores. How are they doing?”

“They both seemed very happy—celebrating something. I think they got a raise.”

“It's hard work they do,” declared Nicki. “I'm going to try something else for a while.” She pulled in her chair. “How has business been here?”

“Not bad,” replied Margo. “But the really great news is that the Haddons have offered us a long lease.With no rent increases!” Her eyes lit up. “Did you hear about Mac?”

“T'ai told me he's not going to have to spend any time in jail. So that's good.”

“It sure is,” agreed Margo. “He has to go to Gamblers Anonymous meetings and talk to high school students about addictions, but he'll be able to finish his studies.”

“Here you are, girls,” said Ira, his voice booming across the deli. “Cheesecake.” He clunked down a giant slab in front of each of them. “Coffee?”

“Fill it up!” said Nicki. “You've trained me to like this stuff, Margo.”

The girls laughed and talked, and Margo told Nicki all about what she'd been doing at the hospital, the new patients, and her plans for the school year.

“You really enjoy your work, don't you?” Nicki asked.

“I do,” said Margo. “It feels good to know I'm making a difference. A small one, maybe, but at least it's something.”

Before they knew it, it was almost four o'clock, and Margo had to start preparing meals.

“Guess I'd better get back there and help my folks,” she said.

Nicki waited for the kitchen door to swing shut behind Margo, then headed to the cash register. She checked to make sure the customers were engaged in their conversations and not watching what she was doing.

I love this place
, she thought.
I'm so glad they're going to be able to stay.

Then she reached for the honeymoon jar. Inside it she put two first-class, round-trip tickets to Hawaii.

She was almost out the door when Margo called to her.

“Drop by soon!”

“I will, Margo,” said Nicki.

She went to leave, then turned around.

“Margo—”

“Yeah?”

“Take care of yourself, okay?”

Epilogue

Nicki found her seat on flight 427 to Heathrow airport and waited for the other passengers to board. She rested her elbow on the edge of the window and watched as jetliners flew in and out of Pearson International Airport.

Her thoughts turned to David Kahana and the instructions he had given her. She was to board the plane and wait to be met by a British Secret Service agent, who would travel with her to London and let her know where she'd be staying after that.

It wasn't until everyone had taken their places aboard the aircraft that she felt someone sit down next to her. Without shifting her gaze from the action on the tarmac, she greeted the person beside her.

“Hello, Fenwick,” she said.

There was silence for a moment.

“You knew?”

Nicki turned and smiled at him. “From the minute you let me sit in the front seat of the limo, I realized that you were no ordinary butler.”

“I see.”

“There's one thing I'd like to know, though,” she asked him.

“What's that, Nicki?”

“How did MI6 find out about me?”

“From watching you compete in Britain.” The butler fastened his seat belt.

“Where will I be living in London, Fenwick?” she asked. “Near the hotel?”

“Not in London, Nicki,” he replied. “You could be recognized. You'll be staying in Milchester, with my sister Emma.”

“Milchester?”

The jet's engines roared.

The plane was getting ready to take off.

Nicki looked out the window as the plane taxied across the tarmac and took its position on the strip. It moved faster, faster, faster down the runway.

She felt for her good luck charm and cupped it in her left hand.

“Weren't you surprised when they told you I had consented to all of this?” asked Nicki.

“Not really,” said Fenwick. “I know why you accepted the position.”

She looked down at the charm.

“It's because of them, isn't it?” he asked.

The jet climbed into the cloudless sky, up and over the skyscrapers of Toronto. Within seconds, the city below became a checkerboard of colors—the cars and the people nothing but tiny specks on the face of a giant jigsaw puzzle.

“If it takes the rest of my life,” said Nicki, “I'm going to find my parents. Wherever they are.”

About the Author

Caroline Stellings
is an award-winning author and illustrator. Her book
The Contest,
part of the Gutsy Girl series, won the 2009 ForeWord Book of the Year Award and was a finalist for the 2010/11 Hackmatack prize. Besides her many books for children and young adults, she is also the writer of
The Nancy Drew Crookbook
, a long running series in
The Sleuth
magazine. She lives in Waterdown, Ontario.