Part 9 (1/2)
”Yes,” I said. ”We are sacrifices for the Great Green Tiger! We are not for you. If you attack us, you will make the mighty Green Tiger angry and he will destroy you!”
”Destroy me? Ha! Ha!” the beast laughed. ”The Green Tiger is an old weakling!”
”No,” my brother protested, ”the Great Green Tiger is the most powerful beast of all! None can defy him!”
The beast laughed again, ”A paper pig is more mighty than the Green Tiger! I will take you, but leave the other for him - pathetic dog that he is.”
”And with that,” the girl said, ”he took my brother and dragged him to his cave.”
The girl burst into sobs as Minli stole a glance at the boy. The boy looked a bit sheepish, but again put his finger to his lips for quiet. The tiger growled with impatience.
”As he disappeared he said... he said,” the girl swallowed nervously at the Green Tiger's furious face, ” 'Tell the Green Tiger that his son, the king, left you out of pity - pity for his poor, feeble father!' ”
With those words, the Green Tiger roared with such rage that the even the stones seemed to shudder. Minli quaked and the boy held her arm even tighter.
”I can show you his den where he dragged my brother,” the girl quivered.
The tiger nodded at the girl with narrowed eyes seething with fury.
Shaking, the girl got up and began to lead the tiger away from the clearing. Minli, with the boy beckoning, silently followed.
CHAPTER 31.
Minli and the boy followed from a distance, past sharp rocks and jutting boulders. The girl finally stopped in another clearing. It was only when Minli and the boy pressed up behind one of the rocks that she realized it was once a stone carving and the clearing was the ruins of an abandoned house, now mostly worn away by the wind.
”Here,” the girl said. ”The beast dragged my brother into that cave!” She pointed to a strange hole in the ground.
Minli scarcely recognized it as a large abandoned well. The rocks around the opening were rough and cracked; and a ripped piece of red fabric lay torn on one of the sharp stones. Minli looked at the boy and saw his ripped pants. He smirked.
”The beast... your son,” the girl faltered, ”is in there! He also said...”
The tiger growled at her to continue.
”He said that,” and the girl swallowed in fear, ”that you would be too much of a coward to confront him.”
The tiger glowered ferociously, stalked to the edge of the well, and snarled into the blackness.
”He's in there,” the girl said. ”Do you see him?”
The deep well was full of shadows, but the dark water caught the reflection of the tiger's menacing eyes and sharp teeth. Full of wrath, the tiger growled at his own reflection, thinking it was a black beast. As the reflection growled back, the tiger gave a furious roar. The roar echoed back.
”That's him,” the girl said. ”He's mocking you!”
Outraged, the tiger clawed the stone ground and snarled again - even louder and angrier.
”How dare he!” the girl said. ”He insults you! Your own son!”
The girl's words and his own echoing roars set the Green Tiger off into a frenzy. The air seemed to be charged with his uncontrollable fury - every hair on the tiger seemed to jut like sharp spikes, his teeth and eyes glittered like the cutting edge of a knife.
He gave a deafening roar that bellowed, filling the sky with thunder. At its sound, the girl fell to the ground and Minli and the boy covered their ears. The tiger bared his teeth and claws for an attack. And when the roar echoed back, it overwhelmed him with wild rage. Finally, the Green Tiger gave one last roar and... leapt into the well!
The girl, boy, and Minli stood frozen as the air filled with roars and the sound of splas.h.i.+ng water. Then, suddenly, the wind carried one last howl into the sky; there was silence. Minli stared in disbelief. The Green Tiger was gone!
CHAPTER 32.
”We did it! We did it!” The boy and girl laughed as they ran to each other and hugged. They were both younger than Minli; she realized that they were twins - their round faces, dancing eyes and pink cheeks were exactly the same. The grey blanket that the boy had used to help hide himself was thrown on the ground, and with their dimpled faces swollen with smiles and their matching, bright red clothing, they looked like two rolling berries. Minli couldn't help but smile.
And as they laughed and congratulated each other, another voice called in the distance.
”A-Fu! Da-Fu!” the voice cried. ”Where are you?”
The children looked at each other. ”A-Gong!” the girl said, and then together they called, ”Here! We're over here!”
A tall, gray-haired man burst into the clearing; a bag was strapped onto his back and in one hand he held a sword and in the other a spear. As soon as he saw the children, both weapons clattered to the ground and they ran into his arms.
”A-Fu! Da-Fu!” he cried. ”We were so worried!”
”We did it, A-Gong!” the boy said. ”We did it! We destroyed the tiger just like we said we would!”
”Yes,” the girl said. ”Our plan worked! We tricked him into the well, just like we said we would!”
”You were not supposed to do that,” the man said, holding them tightly. ”We told you it was too dangerous!”
”That's why we sneaked away,” the girl said. ”We knew it would work... we used his anger against him just like you said we should! You said he was even angrier at his son and his anger would blind him... and it did!”
”I didn't say you should do anything,” the man said, kneeling with his hands on both their shoulders. ”You were not supposed to go after the Green Tiger yourselves.”
”You're not angry, right?” the boy said. ”Now, no one will have to be scared anymore. We can let the animals out of the house and go outdoors again!”
”Oh, Da-Fu!” the grandfather said, hugging them again even closer. ”A-Fu! As long as you are both safe - that is all that matters.”
Then the gray-haired man saw Minli watching them.
”Ah, who is this?” he said, beckoning Minli closer.