Read Online Shadow Train by J. Gabriel Gates - Free Book Online Page A

screen and saw that it was Master Chin. Phone calls from Zhai’s kung fu instructor where rare. If Chin called, it was usually for something really important.
    â€œI should take it,” he said apologetically, and he answered the call.
    The conversation was brief. Chin was at Maggie Anderson’s house, and he needed Zhai to come there right away; it was urgent.
    â€œI’ll be there soon,” Zhai promised and ended the call. “Sorry,” he said as he turned back to Kate, who was eyeing the phone in his hand. They’d had a few conversations about how cell phones worked, but Kate was still almost overcome with wonder every time Zhai made or got a call. That would have to be his next gift to her, he vowed to himself: a cell phone.
    â€œI really have to go,” he told her. “Master Chin is waiting for me in Hilltop Haven. I guess it’s something important. You can come, if you want,” he added hopefully.
    â€œOh, I’d love to, my dear—but if it’s all the same, I’d like to stay here. I can’t wait to see the dishes when they come out of the washer machine!”
    Zhai laughed. “Okay,” he said. “You remember how to open it?”
    She nodded.
    â€œThanks for being my valentine, okay?”
    Kate beamed at him. “Always,” she said.
    * * *
    It was getting pretty late by the time Zhai got to the palatial Anderson house. He was surprised when Maggie answered his knock.
    â€œHey, Maggie,” he said. “I figured you’d be out with Rick.”
    She gave him a mysterious smile. “Nope. He let me off the hook tonight. Come on in. Master Chin and my mom are in the sewing room.”
    Zhai followed Maggie into the room and found Master Chin sitting with Mrs. Anderson, taping a fresh bandage on her arm.
    â€œZhai, I’m glad you came,” Master Chin said as Zhai entered the room. He finished securing the bandage and then stood and went to Zhai, speaking quickly. Whatever was going on, Zhai knew, it had to be urgent.
    â€œLook at the tapestry with me,” Chin said, steering him toward the large expanse of fabric suspended within a wooden frame. It was a large swatch of heavy, off-white cloth, and about half of it had a scene embroidered onto it; the rest was blank. Chin pointed to the bottom right-hand corner of the tapestry, which had been completed, and Zhai’s gaze followed his gesture. The scene depicted a person lying face down in a pool of what looked to Zhai like real blood that had soaked into the canvas.
    â€œThis scene in particular,” Chin said. “I think it might have recently taken place—or it’s about to. Have you seen anything like this? Or heard about anyone injured recently?”
    â€œNo,” Zhai said, studying the picture. Staring at the image seemed to evoke a swirling of Shen energy, like a cold ball deep within his chest cavity. It wasn’t the normally warm, life-affirming Shen he was used to experiencing. This feeling, he was sure, was a warning—or a premonition.
    â€œWhat about the rest? What does it bring to mind?”
    Zhai squinted at the part of the tapestry just above the fallen person. It appeared to depict a different scene, this one of a darkened space with a bright, arched doorway leading out of it. In the center of the dark space there was a ring-shaped object—it looked solid at first, but upon closer inspection, it appeared as if it was broken and had been pieced back together.
    As Zhai stared at it, the dark room on the tapestry suddenly seemed to shift, and his eyes picked out a pattern of threads that were a slightly lighter shade of black than the others. He was able to make out the outline of a person who floated, ghost-like, above the ring. The figure was featureless, but Zhai could see that it had broad, masculine shoulders and long hair. Raphael, he thought instantly. As his eyes traced downward, he noticed something else that