Free Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park

Chapter One
    Brushes and Ashes
    "Is anyone coming?" Jade Blossom whispered.
    Graceful Willow peeped around the edge of the sliding paper door. She looked back at Jade and shook her head, putting her finger to her lips.
    Jade felt her insides trembling as she stole quietly to the opposite side of the room. Two dozen rabbit-hair writing brushes lay on the tidy shelf in an orderly row. The brushes were arranged by size, the smallest with the merest wisp of tip, the largest as wide as two fingers.
    Jade snatched them up as quietly as she could. She hurried back across the room to where Willow stood guard by the door.
    "Hurry!" begged Willow, handing her the bowl of ashes. "They might come back at any moment."
    Jade unrolled a pile of old rags. She emptied the bowl of ashes and soot onto the rags and piled the brushes on top. Then she wrapped the rags carefully around the brushes. Rolling the untidy parcel around and around in her hands, she made sure that inside, every brush was well covered in soot.
    Jade tiptoed back to the shelves, opened the parcel, and gingerly put the brushes back in their places. She stepped back, eyeing them for a moment. Both the handles and brush tips were black to begin with; the black of the soot could not be seen. Jade grinned, pleased with her work. This would surely be one of their best pranks ever.
    From her lookout post, Willow gasped. "They're coming!" She turned back to Jade, beckoning wildly.
    Jade darted to her side, and together they almost fell over the one-step threshold of the room. Hand in hand, breathless and laughing, they ran across the Inner Court to the safety of the women's quarters just as the boys came into view.
    Schoolmaster had taken Jade's brothers and cousins to the Garden of Earthly Peace that afternoon. It was a beautiful spring day, and the plum trees were in bloom. The eight boys were then going to write poetry about what they had seen. Jade and Willow had been waiting for this opportunity to steal into the Hall of Learning while the boys were away.
    Willow was Jade's aunt, but having fifteen years to Jade's twelve, she had always been more like a friend than an elder. Though it was Jade who planned their pranks, Willow was always on hand to lend support. This prank had taken several days of planning.
    The boys would fetch the brushes and pots of ink from the shelves and begin to write on scrolls of fine rice paper. Their hands would be covered with soot, and they would blotch and smear their work. They would not be able to form the graceful characters demonstrated by Schoolmaster.
    Jade and Willow knew well that none of the boys would utter a word of surprise or dismay: It was considered extremely rude to interrupt Schoolmaster's lessons. Rather, they would have to struggle along as best they could—and when their work was inspected ... The girls could hardly wait for the reaction.
    Hastily, they wiped out the bowl, discarded the rags, and washed their hands. Then they gathered up their embroidery projects and joined the other women and girls of the household in the women's hall.
    Each worked on her own project, the older women talking quietly, the girls chatting more brightly. Sometimes one of the women would offer guidance to a daughter or niece, while the girls admired the work of their elders. It was a serene yet social time, a time Jade usually enjoyed.
    But today she did not feel very serene; her laughter bubbled inside her like a rice pot ready to boil over. She fidgeted, unable to concentrate on her work, and had to pick out many of her stitches. Jade did not dare look at Willow for fear they would begin laughing again.
    After a little while a loud voice could be heard from across the Inner Court. The women and girls raised their heads from their work and listened for a moment. Jade's mother shook her head, saying, "Schoolmaster is not pleased with the boys' work today. Tiger Heart and the others must work harder on their studies."
    Willow let out an odd sound,