Jane Orcutt: All the Tea in China

“You must stop smoking opium,” I said. “I understand it may be difficult, but Fragrance and I will help you.” I lowered my voice, glancing at Little Sister, who was sobbing over the scattered chess set. “I pray that we may keep her from learning the truth just yet, for she is too young to be so burdened.”

Nai Nai gave me a slight bow in agreement-surely, not deference!-and shuffled to comfort her daughter. I watched them together, gaining a tender glimpse of Nai Nai that I seldom saw. She usually looked to Phineas for support, but with Little Sister, she allowed herself to be the one to reassure. She had a gentle side yet!

I clapped my hands to gain everyone’s attention. The servants stopped crying and looked to me for guidance. “We must all work together to clean this mess,” I said, excusing the cook to prepare something special for dinner. It would help our moods if we had a festive meal to reward our efforts. Fragrance I took to one side. She admitted that the bandits had forced their way through the door and that she would never have allowed them admittance otherwise. If I wanted her to leave, she was prepared to pack her bags.

I put my hand on her shoulder. She was but a little older than I, and I wondered if she had the same pressure to marry as ladies our age in Britain. Perhaps the notion of being a servant to Nai Nai and her family for the rest of her life frightened her. Yet perhaps the alternative frightened her more. “I do not believe you meant any harm to come to anyone in this household,” I said. “If you promise to have nothing to do with Chow Wah anymore, you may stay.”

She nodded, her face tearful but joyful to learn that I did not plan to put her out on the street. “Madame Wong will need our help in the coming days if she is to rid herself of the poison in her body,” I whispered. “Have you any experience with such?”

She nodded, whispering back, “Yes, Madame, and I will be there to help. I do not think that Madame Wong has taken so much opium that she will have physical problems, but she will crave it all the same.” Without being told, she moved immediately to help the other servants dispose of the shattered ceramics and roll up the damaged rugs for cleaning.

I picked up the sword and carried it back to my room, rewrapping it in the leather. I thanked God for his protection and that I had not had to hurt anyone beyond what was necessary to protect the household. If there was one thing I had learned from Phineas’s stories about Wo-Ping and Mei, it was that warriors stood firm.

I smiled. Wouldn’t the three bandits have been surprised if I had run up the walls or floated to the ceiling as they did in Phineas’s story-and in Chinese folklore? Perhaps the bandits would spread the word that Nai Nai’s house was supernaturally guarded. Indeed, I had certainly felt it so.

With the sword tucked back in Phineas’s trunk, I lingered in my room for a moment. I needed to rejoin the others to help, but I also needed time alone. I could do little but bow my head in thanks, which led to fervent prayers for Phineas’s safety. No doubt the dangers that lurked between Canton and the mountains in Hupei were greater than the three bandits who had visited us today.

We had just enough time to put the house back to some sort of rights, but late that evening I was awakened by Fragrance. “The desire for the drug is upon Madame Wong,” she said after apologizing for awakening me. “She will suffer now for a while until she is free from its hold. I thought you might want to be with her.”

I certainly did not! Like most sheep, I yearned for peaceful green pastures and crystal blue waters, knowing that my loving Shepherd guarded me. But my Savior did not want me to live a fat and lazy life, and after all, he had called me specifically to this region, perhaps for this very purpose. “Thank you, Fragrance. Please make her comfortable, and I will be right there.”

I opened Phineas’s trunk yet again and retrieved the original Chinese translation of the Gospel According to St. Luke that Phineas had given me so long ago. I did not know of what use it would be, as I would be more likely required to tend physical needs, but it felt good to hold.

Nai Nai paced the rug in her room, turning abruptly when I entered. “I do not want those horrid men back in my home, but I must have some opium. You must see that, even though you are a particularly stupid girl.”

“I know what you want, but it is not what you need. I have been told that you will go through a time when you crave the drug, but if you will resist its pull, you will be free. I am certain you want that.”

She laughed. “Why would I? I was happy under its spell. If you foreigners have done anything useful for China, it is bringing this wonderful drug.”

She must not venture forth very often or far, or she would see the results it has wrought. “Nai Nai, your son has gone to the Hupei Province to find something that would stop those who bring this drug into China. It is for people like you that he is willing to risk his own life to travel so far.” I paused, uncertain how much she would believe. “I want to help, as well.”

“You? What can you do?”

I smiled. “Once when I was afraid, your son told me many stories about China. They prevented me from worry and helped me to sleep at night.”

She sighed, clasping and unclasping her hands nervously, then lay down on her bed. “I know all the old stories. What new ones can you tell?”

I held out the Gospel According to St. Luke so that she could see Chinese characters. “I will read to you from this.” I pulled a chair beside the bed and began. “‘Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us…’”

It took several days and nights for Nai Nai to feel settled again, by which I mean she stopped talking about opium. Fragrance whispered her thankfulness that her mistress had been spared the physical withdrawal symptoms of the drug-nausea, chills, fever, and sweating-but I knew Nai Nai would fight the mental desire much longer. I tried to encourage her to take an interest in Little Sister, but she seemed ashamed somehow, though we had all managed to keep the truth from the girl.

My thoughts turned to Phineas, as always, and I found myself frequently gazing at the jade wedding ring he had placed on my finger not so long ago. I remembered our conversation about Naomi and Ruth. What, particularly, had Ruth done for her mother-in-law, other than to travel to her homeland? Surely she had not stumbled over Scripture in her mother-in-law’s native language, as I did with Nai Nai. How she laughed at my stumblings and fumblings as I tried to read my own poor copy of Robert Morrison’s original. My ears burned at such times, but I continued to read until she asked me to cease. Other times, I was delighted with how long she suffered my reading, as though she were absorbed with the story.

I was not certain that she still listened when we reached the story of the Last Supper one night while she lay in bed, trying to find sleep. I found myself yawning with weariness and sought to stay awake. “In another story similar to this one, the author recounts that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet,” I said, scarcely without thinking.

Nai Nai frowned. “It is good that his disciples were not women, for such a thing should not be done.”

“What do you mean?”

She seemed embarrassed, and indeed, I believe I saw her blush. “Men are much taken with ladies’ feet. It is part of the intimacy process between a husband and wife.” She paused. “Surely you must know that.”

It was my turn to blush. Thank goodness I could truthfully deny it. How odd! “It is not part of our culture,” I said diplomatically.