Read Online Moon Princess by Barbara Laban - Free Book Online

Sienna and Feng, before switching the light on.
    They looked around in amazement. Behind a wooden counter stood countless glass jars filled with leaves, roots and flowers. The shelves reached right up to the ceiling.
    â€˜These herbs are not used to make ordinary tea, but to prepare medicine. Ancient Chinese medicine,’ replied Zou. ‘So, now you can call me Doctor Zou too,’ he said, giving them one of his radiant smiles. ‘For you, young lady, I would recommend something to cool your blood! And for you, young man, something to clear the vision, perhaps?’
    Feng frowned.
    Sienna looked around the room for a safe place to put the small dragon down. She headed towards an armchair which stood alone in a corner next to the many shelves. As she opened her hand carefully, she felt a burning pain. ‘Ouch!’ she cried. The dragon was awake, and had apparently regained his strength: he spat out much more fire now than he had done on the train. ‘What was that for?’ cried Sienna.
    The tiny animal flapped furiously up and down in front of Sienna, still breathing fire. Zou quickly picked him up and held him in front of Feng’s face. Feng looked intently at Zou’s hand, but he still couldn’t see the dragon. Frustrated, he threw his bag on to the floor.
    Zou turned to the invisible animal. ‘Calm down, little one. We’re all friends here. This young lady’ – he turned the dragon to face Sienna – ‘has taken very good care of you.’ Then Zou pointed to Feng. ‘Your special friend can’t see you, for some reason. But I’m sure he will in due course. Now, I think we must all be hungry. I will prepare us some tea and food.’
    Sienna rubbed her hand and Zou showed herupstairs to a small bathroom where she ran cold water over the blistered skin to soothe the pain. She then whipped the headscarf from her hair. It was such a relief to take it off! Over the basin hung a small mirror. She had to stand on tiptoe to look into it. She looked at her reflection in shock – she hardly recognized herself: her uncombed fair hair hung in her face and her eyes seemed to shine more brightly.
    Sienna shook her head. Everything had changed, and she felt that she had changed too! She knew now that the world was full of extraordinary people and invisible animals. And inside she felt alive with the hope that she was on the right track to finding her mum. Taking a deep breath, she washed her face and scraped her blonde hair back into a ponytail.
    Turning into a room right next to the bathroom door, she saw that Zou was now frying some tofu and eggs in a pan, with a rice cooker bubbling on the floor. Sienna’s tummy rumbled as she realized she hadn’t eaten for almost a day! Feng was sitting at a table. He looked exhausted.
    Sienna looked around the room. It was smalland sparsely decorated. Zou saw her curious glance.
    â€˜You must excuse my humble home,’ he said. ‘I’m not here very often. I go wherever I’m needed, so I’m usually away.’ He grinned broadly.
    Sienna smiled back at him. She felt as if she had known him for a very long time. Remembering that they had some food in the bags that they could contribute to the meal, she began to unpack.
    â€˜What have we here?’ exclaimed Zou happily as he saw what Sienna was doing. He headed over to the table with plates for each of them piled with food. ‘Mmm … moon cakes! My favourite! A sure sign that the Moon Festival is nearly upon us.’
    â€˜What are moon cakes?’ asked Sienna, studying the small, round cakes Feng had bought, as she gratefully ate a mouthful of the tofu Zou had just cooked. ‘And what is the Moon Festival?’
    â€˜You have been in this country for weeks and nobody has explained about the Moon Festival?’ He shook his head despairingly at Feng – who shrugged – and sat down next to Sienna. ‘The Moon Festival is