taels also would not be too much. But since you were a follower of the Order, and you knew the Abbot, the deity will not mind if we give you face.”
Guet Imm spoke with a decent facsimile of her habitual irritating serenity. But Tet Sang saw that the knuckles on her hands, folded in her lap, were white.
Madam Yeoh was silent for a long moment, looking from Guet Imm to Tet Sang and back again.
At least it was unlikely that she would call the mata to kick them out, what with the welcome she had given them and her open acknowledgment of having been a devotee of the Pure Moon. It would probably be private guards, who would not rough them up too much so long as they went quietly. That would be fine. Even Guet Imm was not so stupid as to fight the Yeoh family’s private guards.
“Six taels,” said Madam Yeoh. She shook her head, smiling slightly. “You are trying to cheat me, sister!”
Guet Imm’s eyes widened. Tet Sang wished he had taken a kuih. Hearing the name they had called him at his tokong—Sister Khanti—had chased away hunger, but now that they were shortly to be sent packing, he felt he had been foolish to miss the opportunity.
“Cheat you, sister?” Guet Imm began, all ingenuous indignation.
“That’s what I would say if this was a business matter,” said Madam Yeoh. “But this is not business. Money is not important, compared to preserving the light of the Pure Moon. I will pay what you ask and be glad to have the honour of keeping the sarira safe—if you will do me a favour.”
Guet Imm seemed as taken aback by the success of her feint as Tet Sang. It took her a moment to recover her composure. “Of course. Anything we can do to help…”
Madam Yeoh looked at Tet Sang.
“Will you stay?” she said.
* * *
“Didn’t go well, is it?” said Fung Cheung. He clapped Tet Sang on the shoulder. “Never mind. No harm trying.”
The rest of the group hovered nearby, affecting to be occupied with various tasks, but that was just as well. It would save making a second announcement.
Tet Sang set down the bag Madam Yeoh had given them. It clinked, making the brothers’ heads rise.
“Ten per cent down payment from Yeoh Gaik Tin,” said Tet Sang. “She’ll pay six taels for the relics, minus the eight hundred cash we owe her father. Her people will give us the rest tomorrow if we bring some men to help carry.”
“Six taels…” Fung Cheung ripped open the bag. Strings of cash tumbled out. The brothers abandoned all pretence of not listening, crowding around.
Fung Cheung swore. “You left the goods with this Yeoh Gaik Tin?”
Guet Imm opened her hand to show him the sarira. “She’ll get them when the balance is paid.”
“And she agreed to this deal?” said Fung Cheung incredulously. He sat back on his heels, shaking his head. “You’ve done it again, Ah Sang. I thought we’d have to turn ourselves in to the Protectorate to escape Yeoh Thean Tee’s men. Instead, you’ve made us rich!”
“It was Sister Guet Imm’s idea,” said Tet Sang.
“You’re the one who made the deal, brother,” said Guet Imm.
Neither of them was especially cheerful, but Fung Cheung was too amazed by their windfall to take notice.
“Six taels for a few pebbles!” he marvelled. “The woman must be crazy.”
“Who knew there were still such pious people in the world?” said Ah Hin. He gave Guet Imm a shining look. “This good luck is because of sister. Madam Yeoh would never agree to pay so much if anyone else asked.”
Guet Imm glanced at Tet Sang. When he stayed silent, she said, “Actually, the six taels is not just for the relics.”
“The sarira are a great treasure,” Madam Yeoh had said. “But the living light of the Pure Moon is embodied in her votaries.”
She gazed at her courtyard with its graceful blossoming plants, her face troubled.
“These days, it is hard to know how to be a person,” she said. “To avoid doing wrong is not easy, never mind doing good. I have been praying for guidance—a light in this darkness. Now the deity has sent you to me. It’s a sign.”
Tet Sang looked at Guet Imm, but she had gone opaque. He could no more tell what she was thinking than one could discern what lay at the bottom of a moonlit pond at night.
He could act as though he had not heard, or treat the proposal