Princess Fragrance asked Chen.
He was also very concerned but he comforted her, saying: "Your sister"s kung fu is good and she is intelligent. I"m sure she"s all right."
Princess Fragrance had complete faith in him and relaxed. "But she"s ill," she added after a moment. "When we"ve found her, we must convince her to come home with us and rest." Chen nodded.
Madame Guan"s face turned white with anger as she listened to them engage in what she thought was play-acting.
"Let us play a game," Princess Fragrance suddenly said to Bald Vulture. He looked at his wife. Madame Guan nodded slowly.
"All right!" he said. "What game?"
She smiled at Madame Guan and at Chen "You two will play as well, won"t you?" she asked. They nodded.
She brought a horse saddle over and placed it in the middle of the circle, then scooped a pile of sand onto it, patted it down firmly and planted a small candle on top.
"We each take turns at cutting away a slice of the pile," she said. "The one who causes the candle to fall has to sing a song or tell a story. You start first, sir." She handed the knife to Bald Vulture.
The old man had not played such a game for decades, and an expression of embarrassment appeared on his face. Madame Guan gave him a push, "Go on!" she said. He laughed and sliced away a section of sand, then handed the knife to his wife who did the same. They went round three times and the pile became a pillar only slightly thicker than the candle on top. Chen carefully made a slight indent in the pillar. Princess Fragrance laughed and made a little hole on the opposite side and the pillar began to sway slightly. Bald Vulture"s hand shook slightly as he accepted the knife.
"Don"t breathe!" Madame Guan hissed at him.
"Even one grain of sand counts," Princess Fragrance said. He touched the pillar with the knife and it collapsed, taking the candle with it. He gave a cry of annoyance. Princess Fragrance clapped her hands in delight as Madame Guan and Chen looked on smiling.
"Well sir," said Princess Fragrance. "Are you going to sing a song or tell a story?"
He could see it was impossible to refuse, so he said: "All right. I"ll sing a song."
In a high-pitched voice he began singing: "For you and I, life when we were young was like a play, and we cried...." He glanced over at his wife.
As she listened, Madame Guan remembered how good life had been just after their marriage. If Master Yuan had not returned, they would have been happy for the rest of their days. She leaned over and lightly squeezed his hand. Bald Vulture felt dizzy at this sudden show of affection from his wife, and tears welled into his eyes. Chen and Princess Fragrance looked at each other knowingly, both aware of the love these two old people had for each other. They played the sand game again and Chen lost. He told a story. Then Bald Vulture lost again.
As the night deepened, Princess Fragrance began to feel cold and edged closer to Madame Guan, who embraced her and carefully rearranged her wind-blown hair. The Twin Eagles had no children and often felt very much alone in the great desert. Madame Guan sighed and wished she could have had such a daughter. She looked down and saw the girl was already asleep. The candle had been blown out by the wind, but under the starlight, she could see a vague smile on her face.
"Let"s get some rest," Bald Vulture said.
"Don"t wake her," his wife whispered. She carefully carried Princess Fragrance into the tent and covered her with a blanket.
"Mother," the girl called faintly, and Madame Guan froze for a second in shock.
"It"s all right, go to sleep now," she replied softly. She crept out of the tent and saw Chen setting up his tent a long way from the girl"s. She nodded slightly.
"Are we going to wait till he"s asleep or go over and give him a chance to explain first?"