Bones Under the Locust Tree - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first thing I did when I got home was take off my shoes.

The Red String was still around my ankle.

I’d worn it for as long as I could remember.

When I was a child, I hated how ugly it looked and tried to cut it off.

My mother slapped the back of my hand.

“This thing suppresses your fate. If your meddling hands cut it, how am I supposed to keep you here?”

I believed her back then.

Thinking about it now, her eyes weren’t even on me when she said those words.

She was looking at the bell on my foot.

I picked up the scissors and tried to cut the Red String again.

Mother lunged at me, knocking the scissors flying.

She roared at me.

“Get your paws off it, do you hear me?”

I stared at her.

“Whose bones are those under the tree?”

Her eyes instantly turned red.

“Why are they the same as mine?”

She still wouldn’t speak.

I let out a frustrated laugh.

“Mother, do you think I’m stupid?”

She took a step back at my question.

The medicine pot on the stove was still steaming.

She stood behind the rising vapor, her lips completely devoid of color.

It took a long time before she finally spoke.

“Ah Ning, you aren’t allowed to go anywhere tonight.”

“I’m asking about the bones.”

“Don’t you even touch the door.”

I looked at her, my heart sinking bit by bit.

Because she wasn’t trying to scare me.

She was truly terrified that someone would come tonight.

My mother closed all the doors and windows.

Then she dug out an old lock and locked me in the inner room.

I pounded on the door, shouting for her to open it.

She just sat outside, not saying a word.

After dark, the rain stopped.

The courtyard was eerily quiet.

Usually at this hour, chickens would flutter, dogs would bark, and the neighbor’s children would cry.

That night, there wasn’t a single sound.

Even the lights at the Wu Family’s house next door had been extinguished early.

They used to love staying up late to twist hemp ropes.

Just after the hour of the Ox, the courtyard gate groaned.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Three times.

Very light.

My back went numb instantly.

My mother sat in the outer room, the lamp in her hand shaking violently.

The firelight cast her shadow onto the door panels, flickering unsteadily.

She spoke with a raspy voice.

“It’s late. This house isn’t receiving guests.”

Silence lingered outside the door for a moment.

Then, a man spoke.

“Sister-in-law Sang, I’m not coming inside.”

“I’m looking for Sang Ning.”

The voice was very low.

It sounded hoarse, with a soft trailing edge.

I had never heard it before.

But when he said my name, my chest suddenly gave a sharp throb of pain.

Mother stood up abruptly.

The stool fell to the floor with a loud bang.

“She’s asleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

The man outside the door gave a short laugh.

It was a faint, cold sound.

“Sister-in-law Sang, you’ve lied to me for eighteen years.”

“Are you going to keep lying with this sentence, too?”

My mother’s shadow froze.

I froze inside the room as well.

Eighteen years.

I was exactly seventeen this year.

Eighteen by nominal age.

Mother leaned against the table, her voice suddenly softening into a plea.

“Second Brother, I beg of you, don’t frighten her.”

The person outside didn’t acknowledge the plea.

“Before sunset tomorrow, gather all the bones under the locust tree.”

“If even one is missing, I’m coming for her.”

My mother collapsed to her knees with a thud.

“It was my meddling hands back then, I was the one who took her away.”

“If you want a life, take mine.”

The outside went silent for a long time.

So long that I thought the person had left.

“Sister-in-law Sang, when you took her away, you were still carrying Bone-Suppressing Coins in your robes.”

My mother’s sobbing stopped instantly.

“Whether a heart is soft or not isn’t decided by picking only the pleasant things to say.”

I heard my mother take a sharp breath.

That breath trembled violently.

Footsteps slowly receded into the distance.

The courtyard gate closed on its own.

Everything outside became quiet again.

I stood in the inner room for a long time before I spoke.

“Mother, open the door.”

She didn’t move.

“It’s fine if you don’t open it.”

“As soon as it’s light tomorrow, I’ll go to the tree and ask the questions myself.”

The lock clicked.

The door opened.

My mother sat on the floor, her face as white as a corpse.

Her hair was half-undone, and she was still clutching that old lock in her hand.

For the first time, I realized that she wasn’t always going to be able to protect me.