Free Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park Page A

like a snort, and quickly brought her hand to her mouth, as if to hide a cough. Jade felt as though she were strangling. She bent her head farther over her work and felt her stomach shaking with smothered laughter.
    The rest of the afternoon passed pleasantly enough. At last Jade's mother folded her work, which was the signal for the other women and girls to put their work away as well. The gong sounded; dinner preparations would begin.
    Just then the boys could be heard, calling out and running across the Inner Court. The whole group of them clamored around the door to the women's hall. They could not, of course, enter without permission from Jade's mother.
    Jade's mother slid the paper door open. "What is it, Tiger Heart?" she asked, addressing Jade's older brother.
    "Someone did something to the writing brushes!" he exclaimed breathlessly. "Our hands got all black—we couldn't write—" The other boys joined in, speaking all at once indignantly and holding up their hands for everyone to see.
    Eldest Aunt began to scold the boys. They had been in the garden, hadn't they? They had probably gotten their hands dirty fooling around, rather than paying attention to Schoolmaster. Besides, what did they expect to find in the women's hall? The girls had been busy all afternoon!

    "Now, be on your way," said Eldest Aunt. "We have the evening meal to prepare." The women shooed the boys away from the door and left the room, with the girls following. Jade and Willow hung back and, when everyone else was out of earshot, finally gave in to their laughter. They shrieked until tears rolled down their cheeks. It was a good thing no one saw them. They too would have been scolded; such laughter was not proper for women or girls.

Chapter Two
    Laundry Sticks
    The next day, however, the laundry was no laughing matter. The boys' soot-soiled clothing all had to be laundered, and it was far too much work for the maidservants alone. Jade and Willow were ordered to help.
    The maidservants usually laundered most of the clothes for the household, but the Han women and girls did the important ceremonial clothes, and Jade's mother herself took care of her husband's clothing. His outfits were considered too important to be entrusted to the servants or younger women.
    First, all the soiled clothes were ripped apart along the seams and hems. Everyone knew that flat pieces of cloth could be more thoroughly cleaned and smoothly pressed than the garments themselves. Once the clothes had been ripped apart, they were washed and hung to dry.
    Then the dried clothes were beaten to get rid of all the wrinkles. Jade hated this part most of all. The flat pieces of cloth were laid on a flat stone and beaten with two round wooden sticks. Jade had to pound at the clothes until her arms ached and her hands were sore. The tattoo beat of laundry sticks sounded constantly in the Han house, sometimes even into the night. Finally, the clothes were sewn back together again.
    Wearing clean clothes daily was a luxury only the wealthy could afford. Jade's mother and aunts saw to it that the members of the Han family were always clothed in a manner worthy of their place in society. There were times like today, as she bent for hours over the sticks, when Jade thought a lower place in society and a little less laundry would not be such a bad thing.
    ***
    Jade and Willow were rarely punished for their pranks. Jade's mother might scold them when their mischief was discovered, but she also forbade any retaliation by the boys. They tried nonetheless; Tiger Heart had once succeeded in dropping several small green caterpillars down the necks of the girls' short linen jackets. But Jade had noticed that Tiger had lost interest in retaliating lately, and to her relief, none of the younger boys had stepped into his place.
    Jade had also heard her mother speak calming words to Eldest Aunt when the girls' mischief was discovered.
    "It's not proper behavior for girls," Aunt had protested.
    "No