Jing jumped down from the truck and stepped aside, revealing Yin in the doorway. Awestruck, the people dropped to their knees, hands clasped and heads bowed reverently — all but the little girl.
Sung offered an arm for support and helped Yin dismount the truck. Ke Li stared at the disheveled prisoner, a confused look on her face.
‘Are you really a priest?’ she asked skeptically.
The faces of Ke Li’s parents and grandparents blanched, but Yin gazed warmly at the child.
‘Yes, my child, I am.’
‘But you are so dirty,’ Ke Li remarked.
‘I know, but like sin, dirt can be washed away.’
Ke Li considered this for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and began patting her shirt. Finding what she was looking for, she looped a thumb around a thin cord that ran across the back of her neck and fished out a simple wooden cross, which she proudly held out for Yin to see.
‘My grandfather made this for me when I was born.’ The girl’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘It’s a secret. I have to keep it in a special place or someone will take it away. Do you have one?’
‘I did once, long ago. I was not very good at keeping it a secret.’
With the impulsiveness of her age, Ke Li removed her cross and offered it to Yin. ‘You can use mine until you get a new one.’
Yin beamed at the child’s generosity and knelt down to her level. ‘Will you put it on me?’
Ke Li nodded enthusiastically and slipped the cord loop over Yin’s head, her tiny hands brushing the sides of his face. In return, Yin placed his hands on the child’s head and whispered a blessing.
Yin stood and, to Kilkenny’s eyes, seemed taller. Ke Li scampered back to her mother’s proud embrace. Kilkenny didn’t understand a word of the exchange, but the imagery could not have been clearer.
‘Blessed are the children,’ Kilkenny whispered to Tao.
‘I guess so.’
‘Please, everyone,’ Yin said, motioning for the people to rise. ‘I am honored to be among you and humbled by your faith.’
The people stood, and Ke Li’s grandfather approached Yin. The two old men bowed. The grandfather knelt down on his left knee, took Yin’s hand, and kissed the finger where the ring of the Bishop’s episcopal office should be. Yin blessed the man and asked him to stand.
‘Is this your work?’ Yin asked of Ke Li’s cross.
‘Yes, Your Excellency.’
‘It is the finest I have ever worn.’
‘I am honored.’
‘That you have passed the meaning of this cross on to your children and grandchildren does you far greater honor than the praise of an old priest.’
Tsui and Shen returned with several young men dressed in coveralls.
‘How’s it look out there?’ Kilkenny asked.
‘Good,’ Shen replied. ‘The perimeter’s clear of hostiles, but I can’t say for how long. We should put some distance between this truck and ourselves. Everything we need is here.’
Kilkenny nodded. He got to his feet and stepped out of the truck, followed by Tao. The appearance of the tall, freckled Caucasian startled many of those surrounding Yin. Though no longer rare, the sight of a foreigner in Chifeng, especially one with red hair, was still unusual enough to elicit a curious glance. Ke Li tugged at her mother’s pant leg and pointed at Kilkenny. Yin looked at Kilkenny and smiled.
‘These are all good people, even the one who looks like a foreign devil.’
Tao and the soldiers laughed, leaving Kilkenny, who didn’t speak Chinese, out of the joke.
‘What did he say?’ Kilkenny asked.
‘He vouched for you,’ Tao replied.
‘As if his standing here isn’t enough?’ Kilkenny turned to Yin. ‘Your Excellency, we need to change and get moving.’
‘I understand,’ Yin replied.
Their contact at the warehouse, a round-faced man named Su, led them to a small office suite where they were provided with new clothes. Both Yin and Kilkenny were stripped and quickly scrubbed raw by a group of matronly women with a greater regard for hygiene than for the men’s modesty. As Kilkenny’s prosthetic wounds were peeled away, he wished the real ones could be removed as easily.
As soon as Kilkenny had a towel wrapped around his waist, one of the women ushered him to a chair, where she sat him down with his head tilted back. The woman opened a bottle and poured a pungent, viscous liquid on his hair. Kilkenny tried to relax as she massaged the liquid in, quickly dying his red hair black.
‘How do I look?’ Kilkenny asked when Tao walked over to inspect his transformation.
Tao considered the question carefully before rendering a verdict. ‘Less conspicuous.’
‘That’s it? I’m not dark and mysterious?’
‘No, just less conspicuous.’
‘I can live with that.’
‘But when we get home, go back to red,’ Tao advised. ‘This is not a good look for you.’
With a fresh change of clothing, Yin, Tao, and the Asian-American soldiers could now easily blend in with the local population. As this was not possible for Kilkenny, Su and his people assembled a wardrobe typical of a tourist from the United States. Complementing the ubiquitous jeans were a pair of hiking boots, a gray sweatshirt with Michigan College of Engineering silk-screened across the front, and a navy blue L.L. Bean squall jacket.
‘How do I look?’ Kilkenny asked Tao.
‘Like you’re ready for a football Saturday in the Big House.’
As they dressed, Su’s people cut the prison garb and soldiers’ uniforms into strips and burned them along with the body bags and hoods.
A woman trimmed Yin’s hair, then covered his jaw and upper lip with a layer of soapy foam. She went about the task of removing several weeks of growth with gentle skill, but despite her care, the honed edge of her razor nicked open the remnant of a scab on the crease of Yin’s nose.
‘I am so sorry,’ the woman said, blotting the tiny wound. ‘Curse my clumsy hands.’
‘The last person who shaved my face showed neither your ability nor your concern, as your blade has just discovered,’ Yin said. ‘I bless you and your hands, and thank you for your kindness.’
Beaming, the woman joyfully completed her work, transforming Yin’s haggard appearance into a more civilized look. Su stood Yin against a light gray screen and snapped a photo. Kilkenny was last to be photographed. The images instantly appeared on a nearby laptop computer, and a college-age man quickly fabricated a new set of identity documents.
‘Nice job,’ Kilkenny said, looking over the young man’s shoulder.
The man beamed. ‘I am number one-hacker. Next year, I go to University of Michigan.’
‘This yours?’ Kilkenny asked, pointing at the sweatshirt.
‘I ordered on Internet after government say I can go. You know this school?’
Kilkenny nodded. ‘You’ll love it.’
Su and Tao carefully reviewed Yin’s new identity papers and declared the forgeries acceptable.
‘These are for you, in case we’re stopped,’ Tao said, handing Yin the documents.
Yin read the name listed beside his photograph. ‘Feng Zhijian.’
‘That mean anything?’ Kilkenny asked.
‘The loose interpretation is a phoenix who remains strong in spirit. I thought it appropriate.’ Tao turned to Yin. ‘Once you have this information memorized, I’ll give you a few more details to flesh out your new identity.’
‘Such as?’
‘I am your daughter, Feng Xiu Juan.’
‘Then your mother must have been quite beautiful, because you thankfully look nothing like me.’
Tao blushed, embarrassed at both Yin’s flattery and how easily he disarmed her emotional control.
‘If you are wondering,’ Yin said to Kilkenny, ‘her name means elegant, graceful phoenix. Fitting, no?’