He came in, leaned on the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘Something like that. One of my newer acquisitions.’
I shook my head with disbelief.
‘You’re handling this remarkably well, Emma.’
‘I think the shock of the whole thing will catch up with me soon.’
‘I do only have a limited time, Emma. And once I’m gone, I don’t know how long it will take me to come back. I’m glad Simone has you now; she adores you.’
‘She thinks you’re going back to the Mountain and taking her with you, doesn’t she?’
He dropped his head. ‘That’s right.’
‘Why can’t you go back to your Mountain?’
‘When she was newly born I could,’ he said. ‘The Mountain is on the Celestial Plane, and a child can travel there under the protection of its mother. The three of us would go there regularly, and I could rebuild my energy there. The Mountain is a part of me, a part of my essence.’
‘But now her mother’s gone, Simone can’t go?’
‘That’s right. And I can’t leave her here alone while I travel to the Mountain; the demons would try for her immediately. I must stay here to defend her.’
‘So you’re stuck here like this.’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I am so weakened now that I cannot even take myself to the Mountain without major risk.’
‘What about taking True Form? Does that help you build your energy back?’
‘Yes, but if I were to take True Form now I would not have the strength to return to human form. I would be stuck in True Form for a very long time. And that would mean leaving Simone unprotected.’
My heart went out to him: he was suffering for Simone; but, even worse, he would soon leave her.
I snapped myself out of it and changed the subject. ‘You’ve really employed Charlie’s and James’s families for generations?’
He shrugged. ‘Charlie’s grandmother was an extraordinary woman. She taught me that Westerners expect to be treated differently, and the relationship they have with their Lord is different from what I was accustomed to. Frankly, I much prefer less formality; the Western way of doing things is very refreshing.’
‘How old are you, Mr Chen?’
He smiled slightly. ‘I have no idea. I don’t remember being born, or gaining consciousness. I do know that I am more than four thousand years old.’
Far too old for me.
‘Does your True Form really have two heads?’
He hesitated, studying me. Then he obviously decided to risk it. ‘Yes. I am widely regarded as the ugliest creature in creation.’
Tall, dark, magnificent, the ugliest creature in creation…It didn’t matter.
‘It’s the inside that counts,’ I said softly. ‘The outside doesn’t matter at all.’
‘You are quite correct,’ he said, gazing into my eyes. ‘The inside is the only thing that is important.’
‘Will we be attacked by demons while we’re here? Or will they wait until we’re back home?’
‘I honestly don’t know,’ he said. ‘They found my weakness when my wife was killed. They are beginning to move in. They definitely won’t attack when I am at Simone’s side; even weakened like this I am capable of taking any of them.’ He sighed. ‘I would understand if you chose to leave now. They will not come after you if you leave my service.’
‘No!’ I said. ‘I am staying with Simone!’
‘You really do love her, don’t you,’ he said softly, his face intense.
The words came out before I even thought about them. ‘More than anything in the world.’ And it was true. Simone was very special to me.
We shared a thought: both of us loved her more than anything in the world.
He turned to leave. ‘I think that Simone and I are very lucky to have you, Emma,’ he said without looking back.
I watched him go, feeling that I was the one who was privileged.
Simone and Charlie sat giggling together over breakfast. When Mr Chen came in he sat at the kitchen table next to Simone. He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek, and she kissed him messily back.
Charlie quickly rose to serve him some congee. ‘I’ll put this in the dining room for you, sir.’
‘No need, I’ll eat here with the ladies.’
Charlie stood stiffly next to the table, holding the bowl of congee. ‘That’s not fitting, sir; you should eat in the dining room.’
He waved her down. ‘Here. With Simone.’ He smiled into my eyes. ‘And Emma.’
Simone giggled. Charlie sighed with exasperation and placed the congee in front of him. She collected some bowls of pickled vegetables from the kitchen bench and put them in the centre of the table.
‘Sit, Charlie,’ Mr Chen said. ‘Finish your tea.’
Charlie looked uncomfortable, then sat down.
‘Did you make the congee?’ I said. ‘Hold on, you cooked the Chinese meal we had last night?’
‘Of course I did,’ Charlie said. ‘My mother taught me.’
‘And you’re nearly as good as she was,’ Mr Chen said, reaching for some pickled vegetables with his chopsticks. He raised the pickles. ‘These are very good.’
‘Why, thank you, sir,’ Charlie said with pleasure. ‘I should come to Hong Kong and brush up.’
‘That’s a good idea. I’ll arrange it for you.’ Mr Chen stopped. ‘Is the car fit to drive?’
‘Of course it is; it’s in the basement waiting for you. James has been taking it out for regular runs.’
‘You had the rollbar fitted?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Good,’ Mr Chen said. ‘I’ll drive it myself to Cambridge.’ He bent his head to speak to Simone. ‘Do you want to come for a drive with me before I leave?’
‘Not in that funny old car,’ Simone said without looking at him.
He moved his face closer to hers. ‘You love my funny old car.’
She glared into his eyes. ‘It’s a silly old car.’
‘Well, I’m a silly old man,’ he said, and they both collapsed laughing.
Leo came in, and stopped when he saw them.
‘Daddy’s going to drive his silly car, Leo,’ Simone said through her giggles.
Leo pulled a coffee mug out of the cupboard. ‘It’s not silly; actually it’s a very nice car.’
‘It’s silly,’ Simone said with scorn. She glared at her father. ‘And so are you.’
‘I know.’ He saw my face. ‘MG TF, 1500cc model, one of the rarer ones. Bought it in 1955. Original owner, low mileage.’
‘Black?’ I said. ‘I didn’t know they came in black.’
‘Nope.’ His eyes sparkled over the congee. ‘Racing green. Only car I’ve ever owned that