Yes, the place they're staying at is a town IN Shu! Shu is not a town in itself. Sorry if I made that confusing and unclear, etc.
Chapter Seven
"You got everything?" Cai Lang asked Mei Li as the young girl looked over her belongings to make sure everything was there. She reached into her hand into the bundle and felt relieved when the familiar, cold touch of her locket met her hand. She still hadn't said anything about it to Cai Lang. She decided it was best to leave it unsaid.
"I think so," Mei Li said. "Not that I had much to begin with."
"Well, as a runaway, there's not much room for things other than what you absolutely need," Cai Lang said observantly.
"That's true," Mei Li agreed.
"You take care of yourself, you hear?" Cai Lang said before Mei Li left the caravan. Mei Li nodded in return, and stepped out of the room that had been hers for the past two weeks.
She walked across the grass, nearing a large town that would be her new home for how long, she didn't know. Looking back at the group of caravans one last time, the young girl saw many gypsies setting up, readying for acts, but only one watching her leave; Cai Lang. She waved meekly, turned around, and kept going.
Bare footed, Mei Li entered the town limits and came first and foremost to an open-air market, much like the one in her own town. She must have made an odd appearance;a poor looking girl carrying a bundled up blanket with who knows what inside, walking along without a destination. She began to doubt that anyone would want to take her into their own house.
As usual when walking through a market, Mei Li was met with shouts and yells of people trying to sell things, offering their best prices, bargains, and deals. They would say anything to get a customer for the day. Their offers started sounding good, and Li realized that if she couldn't find a place to stay in this town, she'd have to buy her meals until she did find somewhere. Suddenly the rolls in the stand next to her were starting to smell really good.
She was considering buying one when a man stepped in front of her to buy some.
"I'll have three dozen, please," the man said.
"Three dozen?" said the vendor, trying not to sound surprised. "Okay, here you go."
"And here you go," said the man as he paid the owner of the stand. They said their thanks and the man started walking away. Li was left standing in the spot she had been in, staring back at the man, and having the strangest feeling of deja vu.
She suddenly remembered where she had seen him before, and started running after him. She didn't call out ot him, though, because she didn't know his name and to call "Wait!" into a crowd was pointless; everyone would turn and look at her.
When she finally caught up with him, she realized how strange it would be to tap him on the shoulder and start talking to him. After all, her reasons for talking to him were particularly unbelievable. Deciding to just keep following him until she thought of something to say, she trailed behind at a distance for about ten minutes. She had finally gotten a speech down in her head, and was about to start talking, when the man suddenly turned around.
"Excuse me miss, but are you following me?" Li stared at him and found it odd that he covered his whole face except for his eyes. It gave his voice a muffled effect, and she paused for a second or two before responding.
"No! Well, yes actually, but ... I'm sorry. I hope I'm not intruding or anything, but I kind of need a place to stay for the night. And maybe the next couple of nights, too." Li suddenly felt very shy. Here she was asking a complete stranger for lodging. And she only knew him from a dream.
The man looked her up and down, and then asked a strange question: "Can you fight?"
"Fight?" Mei Li said, making sure she had heard him correctly. "Not particularly. But if you really need any sort of help around the house, I'm very good at working. I grew up on a farm, so I know all about chores."
The man chuckled and said, "Oh, no. I'm sure you're welcome with the rest of us without having to do chores. You might end up learning a thing or two in the art of war, though."
Li raised her eyebrows. Had she just asked a general or a soldier for lodging? Then she remembered her dream and found that this very much made sense. She continued to talk to him. "Is it okay if I stay with you at your house?"
"Well, it's not my house, but I'm sure you'll be welcome." He said, turning around. "Follow me."
"My name is Mei Li, sir." She said after catching up to walk next to him.
"Well, nice to meet you, Mei Li. I'm Pang Tong."
"The pleasure is all mine," she said, recalling what Zhang He had said to her when they first met.
"How delightful," Pang Tong said. "She's skilled in chores and manners."
Mei Li laughed and thought how well she and this strange man would get along. He walked with a hunch, so as he was bent over, he was just about as tall as Mei Li. She had started to wonder how tall he would be if he chose to stand up straight, but he interrupted her thoughts.
"How old are you, Mei Li?"
"I'm sixteen," she answered, then corrected herself. "Oh, I'm sorry. Actually I'm seventeen. Today is my birthday." Thoughts of her uncle came flooding back, as one of the things they had talked about before he died was what to do for her birthday celebration.
"Happy birthday, then." Pang Tong answered. "We'll have to celebrate once we get back and you've been introduced to everyone."
"Thank you," Li said.
"Now, call me nosy if you want to..." Pang Tong began. "but why are you walking around aimlessly with nothing to do on your birthday? Shouldn't you be celebrating with your family?"
"Normally, yes," Li said. "But ..." she paused. Should she tell this man the truth? He might try to send her back to her family. She had gotten lucky with the gypsies. They obviously didn't care if a runaway came to travel with them, so long as the stowaway paid them. Even though she ended up becoming friends with Cai Lang, the gypsy woman never told her what to do; she merely gave her advice. Of course Cai Lang was a gypsy, she had probably run away as a young girl, too. Either that or her mother had been a gypsy as well, and her mother didn't care how free spirited she acted.
Either way, Mei Li decided she needed to tell the truth to this strange man. After all, if she was going to try and tell him about the dream she had with him in it, she had to gain his trust, which included telling the truth. How else would she be able to explain why she ran away?
"But what?" Pang Tong asked.
"But I ran away from home," Mei Li admitted. The more and more she said it and thought about it, the more comfortable she became with the fact. Her aunt slowly became a distant memory, and her uncle's death went with it. So did the reason her uncle died, which Li was still convinced was all because of her.
"Now why would you go and do something like that? Aren't your parents looking for you?"
"My parents are dead," Mei Li said. She didn't have much trouble admitting that. Though she did miss them, they had been dead for ten years, and she had gotten used to it. She had grown up without parents, after all.
"I'm sorry," Pang Tong said, but then continued. "So, you ran away because you don't have a family or a home?"
Even though his guess wasn't entirely accurate, Li felt it was all too true. She never really felt that the farm was a home, or that her aunt and uncle were people she could confide in, which is what a family was to her. At least, one of the qualities a family should have.
"Yes," Li said. "Something like that."
"Something like that, eh?" Pang Tong didn't question her any further.
"If you don't mind," Mei Li said. "You're asking me all these questions, and I wouldn't mind asking you a few of my own."
"Shoot," was Pang Tong's reply.
"Okay," Li said, and she thought for a second. "Why do you cover your face?"
Pang Tong laughed much to Li's surprise. She knew the question was a little straightforward, and she was even shocked at herself for asking it. But she was dying of curiosity.
"A simple question that deserves a simple answer." Pang Tong finally said. "I'm ugly."
Li didn't say anything. At first she thought he was joking. Finally she said, "Are you serious?"
"Quite serious, actually."
"Were you injured in some way and you had to cover up the scar?" Mei Li was convinced that in no way was he just plain ugly. No one was so ugly that they had to cover up their face and hide from the public.
"No, just ugly."
"That's ... horrible." said Mei Li.
"I know," Pang Tong said sarcastically. "Ugly people shouldn't be allowed to be born, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh, no that's not what I meant." Li said. "It's horrible that you think you're so ugly that you have to cover your face. You shouldn't have to do that."
Pang Tong's eyes squinted up and started sparkling, and Li could tell he was smiling behind all that cloth and material.
"That's a very kind thing of you to say," Pang Tong said. "But I do have other reasons. That is just the reason I tell people when they ask."
Li giggled and knew that she was going to have a good time with Pang Tong and the rest of his family. She suddenly remembered her dream, though, and felt sad. Why did this have to happen to such a kind man? Questions started circulating in her head. Should she tell him? Would he even believe her? Was ths dream even a future predicting one? Maybe it wasn't. Maybe there was a way to prevent this fate from happening.
Li concluded that she should not tell this man, at least not yet, about the dream she had. It would be awkward to tell him the very first day that they met. Perhaps later, after he had gotten to know her better and they were friends.
"So, what is the rest of your family like?" Li asked. "Are you married? Do you have any children?"
"No, and no." Pang Tong said, answering her last few questions.
"Do you even have a family?" Mei Li said, starting to wonder.
"A family, yes. A big, strange family, but a family nonetheless." Pang Tong said. "A family made up friends."
Mei Li watched the strange little man in the odd way that he walked, and started wondering about him. Thinking back to Cai Lang's philosophy, Mei Li questioned herself, What does this peculiar man have to teach me?
Okay, not much else to say down here as an endnote... but I hope you enjoyed it! Chapter eight, coming soon!