Garden of Empress Cassia by Gabrielle Wang Page A

about Miss O’Dell? Have you told her yet?’
    â€˜I can’t.’ Mimi was almost in tears again. ‘She trusted me and I broke my promise.’
    â€˜But it wasn’t your fault. Come on, M, you have to tell her sooner or later.’
    â€˜I know,’ said Mimi. ‘That’s what I’m afraid of. ’ She took a deep breath and sighed then looked at Josh.
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜I’m scared for Gemma.’
    â€˜Yeah, me too.’
    â€˜But I also have this bad thought in my head that says
I’m glad, I’m glad, serves her right.
It’s horrible . . . You see? I don’t deserve the pastels.’
    â€˜That just means you’re normal,’ said Josh. ‘If you weren’t meant to have the pastels, you wouldn’t be able to create the Garden of Empress Cassia, would you? Come on, M, Miss O’Dell has Saturday art class, let’s see her before she goes home.’
    Miss O’Dell was busy at the trough washing palettes and paint brushes. ‘Hello, Mimi, hello, Josh. What a pleasant surprise.’
    Mimi kept her eyes glued on some paint splashed on the lino floor. ‘I have something to tell you.’
    Miss O’Dell wiped her hands on a towel and came over to the big wooden table. ‘What is it, Mimi?’ she asked with concern.
    â€˜Gemma’s stolen the pastels, Miss O’Dell. I left her alone in my room. I knew I shouldn’t have. Now she won’t give them back.’
    Mimi looked up at Miss O’Dell’s face. It still held the same soft, kind expression.
    â€˜And the garden . . . it’s gone too. The rains washed it away . . . I’m sorry.’
    â€˜It wasn’t M’s fault,’ Josh said loyally. ‘It was Gemma. She was jealous.’
    Mimi’s eyes widened. ‘Jealous? Why would she be jealous? She has everything.’
    â€˜All that attention you got with the garden, that made her plenty jealous, especially when your photo appeared in the paper. And who’s the popular one now at school? It’s not Gemma.’
    â€˜Josh is right, Mimi. It wasn’t your fault,’ said Miss O’Dell. ‘Did you tell her how dangerous they can be?’
    â€˜Yes, but it only made her want them even more. You know Gemma.’ Mimi sat down. ‘What would happen if she used them?’
    Miss O’Dell’s face went a deathly pale and a shiver ran through her whole body. Mimi and Josh looked at each other in surprise.
    It was then that a cold fear for Gemma’s safety crept slowly over Mimi as she realised that Miss O’Dell must have used the pastels too. But what was so terrifying that she could hardly speak about it?
    A part of Mimi didn’t want to know. To her, the pastels were pure and good and beautiful.
How could they be a curse?
    â€˜I used them once.’ Miss O’Dell looked out of the window.
    â€˜What happened?’ Josh asked. ‘Was it really bad?’
    â€˜Far worse than I could ever have imagined, I’m afraid.’
    Mimi and Josh waited for Miss O’Dell to continue.
    She turned to face them. ‘As a child, I used to spend a lot of time at my grandfather’s small cottage in the country. He was a cook on a merchant ship and collected souvenirs from all over the world which he kept in a tall wooden cabinet at the end of the hall. There were masks made of shells and feathers and mud. There were strange shaped bottles, jade cups and statues, bones and necklaces. It was like a museum in a shoebox. The cabinet was always locked. No one was allowed to open it. Only Grandfather had the key. Every time I visited he would unlock the cupboard, pull out one of his treasures and tell me a story about it. I would never tire of these stories, no matter how many times I had heard them before.
    â€˜On a trip to China, he brought back with him a beautiful box of pastels. An old street vendor in Shanghai