Sungai Tombak was a mining town strung across a river and surrounded by forested hills. The group set up camp by a waterfall some miles outside the town, while Ah Boon and Ah Wing were sent ahead to make contact with the people waiting for their deliveries.
They returned with good news. All was in order. The next day they would deliver the rice—and the other goods.
It would not be a bad place to off-load the nun as well, thought Tet Sang wistfully. Sungai Tombak was somewhat past its peak, worn down by the depredations of both the banditry and the Protectorate in the long-drawn-outwar. But the wave of tin money had not wholly receded and the town was still prosperous. A clever, biddable girl could easily find work with a merchant’s family there. It was true Guet Imm was not especially biddable, but she had enough native cunning to make up for that.
Tet Sang was too busy to raise the idea with her, however. That night, they were all occupied with preparations for the delivery. Guet Imm had to repeat herself before anyone took notice of her.
“I want to come along tomorrow,” she said.
Fung Cheung was inspecting the sacks of rice. He looked up, frowning. “What?”
Guet Imm sat on her heels with her fists on her knees, looking as if she was going to launch into an obeisance at any moment. Her expression was nervous but determined. “I want to go into town.”
“You heard the plan,” said Fung Cheung.
Tet Sang, Rimau and Ah Boon were to bring the rice to a contact on the outskirts of town who ran a sundry shop as a front for her flourishing business trading in black-market products. From there, Tet Sang would go alone with the remaining goods to meet a representative of the buyer in the town centre. The rest of the group would make themselves scarce—visits to gambling dens, brothels, relatives and shrines alike had been banned.
“We’re not here to be tourists,” said Fung Cheung. “I am not going also, even though my Third Great-Aunt willkill me if she finds out I came to Sungai Tombak and didn’t go to see her.”
They’d agreed Fung Cheung was too memorable. There were Tang and Malayu men like Tet Sang, Ah Boon and Rimau in every town on the peninsula. Now that their robes were being washed regularly, they did not even need to source a fresh suit of clothes in order to look like ordinary men. People would look through them—but not Fung Cheung.
“We can’t afford to draw attention to ourselves,” he said.
“I won’t draw attention,” said Guet Imm. “I can wear my wig. Nobody will notice me.”
“Everybody will notice you if you wear your wig,” said Tet Sang. “What do you want to go to town for?”
Guet Imm was good at manipulation and appearing harmless when she was not, but at the end of the day, she was a nun and the product of her early training. Telling outright lies was not her forte.
“I want to buy soap,” she said.
“We don’t need soap,” said Fung Cheung. He jerked his head at the others. “If you make them cleaner some more, they won’t recognise themselves.”
“I’ll stay close to Brother Tet Sang,” said Guet Imm. “I won’t cause any trouble.”
“You’re being troublesome right now,” said Fung Cheung.
Guet Imm looked anxious, but whatever it was thatdrove her, it wouldn’t let her drop the subject. She opened her mouth.
“What was that ointment you were telling Ah Boon about?” said Tet Sang before she could speak. “Good for joint pain.”
For once, Guet Imm was slow on the uptake. She blinked. “The one to use for massage? It’s called—”
“You forgot the name, sister,” said Ah Boon quickly. “You couldn’t tell me.”
“But you know what the bottle looks like, right?” said Tet Sang.
Their meaning dawned on Guet Imm. “Yes! A brown bottle, with a red chop on the label.”
“What does the chop look like?” said Fung Cheung suspiciously.
But Guet Imm had got her head in the game now. She turned limpid eyes on him. “I don’t remember, brother. It might have been an axe. Or a flower. Or three legs joined together… not sure, but I’ll know the ointment when I smell it. Most herbalists will sell.”
“She might as well come with me,” Tet Sang said to Fung Cheung. “I’m fed up with this ankle pain. She can go shopping while I settle our business.”
It would have been hard to say whether Fung Cheung or Guet Imm was more surprised. Guet Imm was better at hiding it. She pasted her habitual serene smirk on her face.
“You’re the one who’s going,” said Fung Cheung finally. “But how are you going to disguise her?”
