Free Hell to Heaven by Kylie Chan Page B

anything.’
    ‘Freddo Frog! I love that!’ He gambolled around the stall, flicking his tail. ‘I’m Freddo Frog, the wonder horse. I belong to Simonny, the wonder girl!’ He turned to her and reared, then dropped and kicked out his tiny back feet. ‘Freddo Frog and Simonny!’
    Simone fell to sit on the straw, hysterical with laughter. Freddo lay down next to her and rested his head in her lap, gazing up at her. ‘Thank you, Simonny.’
    She cupped his head with both hands. ‘You’re welcome, Freddo. Can I come and visit you every day?’
    ‘I’d like that,’ he said.
    Sorry , Simone mouthed to Miss Ling over the top of his head. She switched to silent speech. You should choose a stud name for him; you can’t call him Freddo Frog!
    ‘Ling’s Golden Freddo (DX) it is,’ Miss Ling said.
    ‘DX?’ Simone said.
    ‘It’s an indicator we put at the end of the stud name to show demonic offspring,’ Miss Ling said. She turned to me. ‘What does Freddo Frog mean anyway?’
    ‘It’s a small chocolate bar that you can buy in Australia,’ I said. ‘Simone loves them.’
    Ling gestured with her head towards Simone and Freddo. ‘I think this is love as well.’
    ‘You have to go back to school, you know that, Simone,’ I said.
    Freddo popped up onto his feet again, excited. ‘Can I come with you?’ He stamped his hooves and looked from me to Simone. ‘Can I?’
    ‘Your mummy won’t be able to come with us,’ Simone said. ‘You should stay with her here—she has good milk for you to grow big and strong.’
    ‘Oh yeah,’ Freddo said, eyes wide. ‘I’m hungry !’
    ‘Oh, he’s definitely your horse,’ I said to Simone as Freddo started nursing again.
    Simone rose and brushed off the sawdust. ‘You don’t mind, Emma?’
    I moved back as Miss Ling let Simone out of the stall. ‘Not at all. He’s perfect for you; a steed fit for a princess.’
    Freddo stopped feeding and turned to look at us. ‘You’re going, Simonny?’
    ‘You eat and then have a big sleep so you have lots of energy when we play tomorrow,’ Simone said.
    ‘Okay!’ Freddo returned to his mother, his tail frantically waving as he sucked.
    ‘We need to get back to the palace, I have one more hearing,’ I said. I bowed my head to Ling and Toi. ‘Please, if there is anything you need that I can help with, do not hesitate to contact myself, Ming Gui or Yue Gui.’
    Ling and Toi bowed, their hands held formally at their waists. ‘We appreciate your time and presence, my Lady,’ Ling said, ‘and look forward to serving you in future.’
    Simone put her arm around my neck as we made our way back to the car. ‘Let’s have lunch with Martin and Yue Gui before I go back to school,’ she said. ‘Five dollars says Martin tells the story about the archery contest again.’
    ‘You’re on,’ I said. ‘He only told that one yesterday, no way would he think to bore us with it again.’
    Simone grinned. ‘Five bucks, all mine. I’m rich!’

CHAPTER 6
    S ang Shen entered the courtroom accompanied by his mother, Yue Gui—Simone’s older sister—and a single demon servant. The Blue Dragon was attended by five lithe young women in multi-layered Ming robes. Both Sang Shen and the Dragon stepped forward, kneeled and saluted me, then rose again.
    ‘Sang Shen,’ I said.
    Sang Shen saluted. ‘This humble Shen is present and honoured.’
    ‘Qing Long.’
    The Dragon glared at me with his turquoise eyes, flicked his long hair over his shoulder and gracefully saluted. ‘This…’ I watched with amusement as the words stuck in his throat. ‘This humble Shen is present and honoured.’
    ‘The applicant will present his case,’ I said.
    Sang Shen gestured towards his demon servant and the servant passed him a scroll. He opened it and read aloud: ‘This humble tree Shen provides mulberry leaves whose quality and purity are unmatched on any Plane. Since this Shen’s death sentence was suspended, and the Heavens have been