Read Online DAC 3 Precious Dragon by Liz Williams - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Liz Williams
Tags: Science-Fiction
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her grandson's hand firmly, and not knowing what else to do, Mrs Pa led him down the steps to the busy street.
There had been yet another road collapse, this time in Semmerang Anka, and none of the downtown trams to Ghenret were running. The emergency services, already overstretched in the area, were slow to react and even slower to clear the debris from the street. The collapse had brought down part of the Second National Bank, sending showers of supposedly shatterproof flexiglass into the street and severing the downtown cables. Three people were dead, a mercifully small toll this time. The collapse of the Feng Shui Practitioners' Guild had left a legacy of infrastructural problems. Mrs Pa and Precious Dragon watched the emergency services as they made their impeded way toward the Anka. The carriers bore the bagua symbol of the Tu Chin Trade Company; presumably the services were on private hire to the overstretched National Bank.
Wisely, Mrs Pa decided to take her new grandson to lunch and avoid the crush, but when they finally found a café whose apparent hygiene was satisfactory to Mrs Pa, they discovered that a great many other people had the same idea. Still, there was no hurry. Precious Dragon waited patiently in the queue with his grandmother. He was a very well-mannered little boy, she was pleased to see. When at last they were able to sit down, she ordered soup and noodles and bought him a fortune cookie; she had not done this for a long time. When the cookie was opened, it revealed a blank slip of paper.
"Oh, what a shame," she exclaimed in disappointment, but Precious Dragon seemed quite pleased.
"It means that anything can happen," he explained kindly. For a moment he looked completely unlike a small boy.
"I suppose anything can," his grandmother said, slowly. She found that she was enjoying herself. It was a long time since she had had a child to spoil, or had eaten out at lunchtime. She smiled at her strange descendent, sitting opposite, and he beamed back. The sweet, or whatever it had been in his mouth, was not in evidence. He was smothering his noodles with extra-hot chili garlic sauce. Mrs Pa regarded him with some alarm.
"Are you quite sure you'll like that?" she asked, doubtfully. Precious Dragon nodded, with utmost conviction.
After lunch they wandered back out along Battery Road, turning up Step Street. From the top of the steps, you could see the harbor and the long, uneven shore of Teveraya, so brilliantly illuminated at night but now almost concealed by a light mist. The sea brought all sorts of weather, for here in the heart of the city the sun was blindingly bright. They stood at the end of the steps and watched a ponderous tanker crossing the harbor.
"Are there boats where you live?" Precious Dragon asked.
"Lots, in the harbor near me, and people live on them, too. They have chickens, and cats, all sorts of animals."
"When will we get there?" her grandson said, fidgeting.
"Soon." The tram rattled past the foot of Step Street, so the service must be running again. With relief, Mrs Pa took her grandson to wait at the nearest platform. Her feet were beginning to hurt, and her joints felt stiff with rheumatism. They had to wait a long time for the downtown, and Mrs Pa, sitting on the platform bench, nearly dozed off. She came to with a start and discovered, with a terrible sinking sensation that she had not experienced for twenty years, that Precious Dragon was not by her side. Frantically looking around, she spotted him peering in through a shop window. She almost boxed his ears in relief, but as she hastened toward him he turned and looked up at her, and for a moment she felt dizzy. She could no more box his ears, she realized, than she could box those of Elder Ko of the local temple. She almost apologized, but found herself saying, "What are you looking at, Precious Dragon?"
"A tiger!" he said. His eyes shone. It was indeed a tiger, stuffed and moth-eaten. She had never seen
There had been yet another road collapse, this time in Semmerang Anka, and none of the downtown trams to Ghenret were running. The emergency services, already overstretched in the area, were slow to react and even slower to clear the debris from the street. The collapse had brought down part of the Second National Bank, sending showers of supposedly shatterproof flexiglass into the street and severing the downtown cables. Three people were dead, a mercifully small toll this time. The collapse of the Feng Shui Practitioners' Guild had left a legacy of infrastructural problems. Mrs Pa and Precious Dragon watched the emergency services as they made their impeded way toward the Anka. The carriers bore the bagua symbol of the Tu Chin Trade Company; presumably the services were on private hire to the overstretched National Bank.
Wisely, Mrs Pa decided to take her new grandson to lunch and avoid the crush, but when they finally found a café whose apparent hygiene was satisfactory to Mrs Pa, they discovered that a great many other people had the same idea. Still, there was no hurry. Precious Dragon waited patiently in the queue with his grandmother. He was a very well-mannered little boy, she was pleased to see. When at last they were able to sit down, she ordered soup and noodles and bought him a fortune cookie; she had not done this for a long time. When the cookie was opened, it revealed a blank slip of paper.
"Oh, what a shame," she exclaimed in disappointment, but Precious Dragon seemed quite pleased.
"It means that anything can happen," he explained kindly. For a moment he looked completely unlike a small boy.
"I suppose anything can," his grandmother said, slowly. She found that she was enjoying herself. It was a long time since she had had a child to spoil, or had eaten out at lunchtime. She smiled at her strange descendent, sitting opposite, and he beamed back. The sweet, or whatever it had been in his mouth, was not in evidence. He was smothering his noodles with extra-hot chili garlic sauce. Mrs Pa regarded him with some alarm.
"Are you quite sure you'll like that?" she asked, doubtfully. Precious Dragon nodded, with utmost conviction.
After lunch they wandered back out along Battery Road, turning up Step Street. From the top of the steps, you could see the harbor and the long, uneven shore of Teveraya, so brilliantly illuminated at night but now almost concealed by a light mist. The sea brought all sorts of weather, for here in the heart of the city the sun was blindingly bright. They stood at the end of the steps and watched a ponderous tanker crossing the harbor.
"Are there boats where you live?" Precious Dragon asked.
"Lots, in the harbor near me, and people live on them, too. They have chickens, and cats, all sorts of animals."
"When will we get there?" her grandson said, fidgeting.
"Soon." The tram rattled past the foot of Step Street, so the service must be running again. With relief, Mrs Pa took her grandson to wait at the nearest platform. Her feet were beginning to hurt, and her joints felt stiff with rheumatism. They had to wait a long time for the downtown, and Mrs Pa, sitting on the platform bench, nearly dozed off. She came to with a start and discovered, with a terrible sinking sensation that she had not experienced for twenty years, that Precious Dragon was not by her side. Frantically looking around, she spotted him peering in through a shop window. She almost boxed his ears in relief, but as she hastened toward him he turned and looked up at her, and for a moment she felt dizzy. She could no more box his ears, she realized, than she could box those of Elder Ko of the local temple. She almost apologized, but found herself saying, "What are you looking at, Precious Dragon?"
"A tiger!" he said. His eyes shone. It was indeed a tiger, stuffed and moth-eaten. She had never seen
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