The Stone Monkey Read Online Free PDF Page B

the stairs. Chang helped the doctor to his feet. “I’m all right,” Sung shouted and clutched a charm he wore around his neck, muttering an abbreviated prayer. Chang heard the name Chen-wu, the god of the northern sky and protector against criminals.
    The ship lurched hard and tilted faster. The wind of escaping air began to shoot out through the doorway as water flooded in, filling the hold. The screams were heartbreaking and were soon mixed with the sound of choking. She’s going down, Chang thought. Another few minutes at the most. He heard a hissing, sparking sound behind him. He glanced up and saw water flowing down the stairwell onto the massive, grimy engines. One of the diesels stopped running and the lights went out. The second engine then went silent.
    John Sung lost his handhold and slid across the floor into the wall. “Get out!” Chang called to him. “We can’t do anything more here.”
    The doctor nodded, scrabbled for the stairs and climbed out. But Chang himself turned back to the doorway to try to rescue one or two more. He shivered, sickenedat the sight in front of him: water was pouring out of the doorway, from which four desperate arms extended into the engine room, clawing for help. Chang grabbed one man’s arm but the immigrant was so jammed among the others that he couldn’t be dislodged. The arm shivered once and then Chang felt the fingers go limp. Through the roiling water now bubbling into the engine room Chang could just see Captain Sen’s face. Chang motioned for him to try to climb out but the captain disappeared into the blackness of the hold. A few seconds later, though, the bald man swam back to the doorway and shoved something up through the fountain of seawater toward Chang.
    What was it?
    Gripping a pipe to keep from sliding away, Chang reached into the frothy water to take what the captain offered. He closed his muscular hand around cloth and pulled hard. It was a young child, the daughter of the scarred woman. She rose from the doorway through the stalks of lifeless arms. The toddler was choking but conscious. Chang held her to his chest firmly then let go of the pipe. He slid through the water to the wall then swam to the stairwell, where he climbed through the icy cascade to the deck above.
    He gasped at what he saw—the stern of the ship was barely above water, and gray, turbulent waves were already covering half the deck. Wu Qichen and Chang’s father and sons were struggling to untie a large orange inflatable launch on the stern of the boat. It was already floating but would soon be underwater. Chang stumbled forward, handed the baby to his wife and began to help the others undo the rope. But soon the knot securing the raft was beneath the waves. Chang dove under the surface and tugged futilely on the hemp knot, his muscles quivering from theeffort. Then a hand appeared near his. His son William was holding a long, sharp knife that he must’ve found on the deck. Chang took it and sawed on the rope until it gave way.
    Chang and his son surfaced and, gasping, helped his family, the Wus, John Sung and the other couple into the raft, which was quickly drawn away from the ship by the massive waves.
    He turned to the outboard motor. He pulled the cord to start the engine but it wouldn’t engage. They needed to get it going immediately; without the control of a motor, they’d be overturned by the sea in seconds. He began yanking furiously and finally the motor buzzed to life.
    Chang braced himself in the back of the raft and quickly turned their small craft into the waves. It bucked furiously but didn’t capsize. He accelerated and then steered carefully in a circle, heading back through the fog and rain toward the dying ship.
    “Where are you going?” Wu asked.
    “The others,” Chang shouted. “We have to find the others. Some might have—”
    That was when the bullet snapped through the air no more than a meter from them.
    •   •   •
    The Ghost was