Free A Different Sky by Meira Chand Page A

appeared encrusted all over by workmanship. Even the black lacquer chair she sat upon was thickly inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
    â€˜So late. Aiiyah , my feet are aching. Waiting so long.’ While she embraced Mei Lan, Second Grandmother rebuked Ah Siew.
    At once Ah Siew hurried to check that the towels and bandages, the water boiled with monkey bones and the soft red sleeping slippersplaced side by side, were ready. Then, two of Second Grandmother’s young mui sai gently levered her up from the chair to begin the journey across the room, their mistress swaying painfully between them upon her tiny feet. Sometimes, Second Grandmother’s feet were too painful to bear her weight and she demanded to be carried. At these times she mounted a slave girl’s back to be taken to the garden or the dining room; she rarely went out of the house. Only women with big feet went out of the house, she always said in disapproval. Once she was installed again in a chair Second Grandmother called for Mei Lan to sit near her. Mei Lan noticed that tonight only the mui sai, Gold and Silver, attended Second Grandmother and that Little Sparrow was absent.
    â€˜Where is Little Sparrow?’ Mei Lan asked. Little Sparrow was Second Grandmother’s prettiest slave girl. Behind her Gold and Silver giggled, Ah Siew turned to look sharply at the girls, who bit their lips and fell silent. Ah Siew tested the temperature of the water, adding spoonfuls of ground almonds, mulberry root, frankincense and white balsam; her hand disappeared into the milky water, mixing in the oil and herbs.
    â€˜Little Sparrow has gone to the nunnery; she was getting too fat. When she is thin she can come back,’ Second Grandmother answered tartly. At the mention of the word ‘nunnery’, Mei Lan’s interest was alerted.
    â€˜I never heard of going to a nunnery for being fat,’ Mei Lan replied in surprise. She had thought a nunnery was a place of praying women, a refuge for the sick or homeless or unmarried girls like Ah Siew’s sisters.
    â€˜Ssh, Little Goose. It is rude to ask questions,’ Ah Siew whispered.
    â€˜A nunnery serves many purposes,’ Second Grandmother added more kindly. Behind her Gold and Silver smothered another giggle and Grandmother turned to glare at them.
    The girls were dressed identically in floral samfoo . Their hair, plaited in pigtails, hung over their breasts and a thick fringe covered most of their brow. Little Sparrow had always been similarly attired and Mei Lan had not noticed that she was fat, only that her eyes were bright, her lips a soft red and that when she smiled dimples pricked her cheeks. Now, with the knowledge she had gained from Ah Siew and her friends, Mei Lan appraised the girls anew. Gold and Silver and Little Sparrow must all have been sold by their parents for a bag of rice or a few coinswhen they were seven or eight years old, just like Ah Siew’s sisters. Now, Little Sparrow was already fifteen and Gold and Silver thirteen years old. Sorrow for the girls and horror at their plight blew hot and cold inside Mei Lan. What would she feel, what would she do if her parents decided to sell her? Worse than this was the realisation that it was her own grandfather who had bought the girls as a present for Second Grandmother. That one person could be bought as a gift for another filled her anew with distress.
    Mei Lan looked down at the opaque broth of long-boiled monkey bones awaiting the immersion of Second Grandmother’s feet. Whenever she was given chicken soup she remembered this bowl of perfumed broth, and was unable to eat. Ah Siew stirred more scented oil into the water and an astringent smell drifted up. Second Grandmother’s feet were the ideal three inches in length that society had once demanded, and were small enough to rest in Ah Siew’s palm. The amah slipped off the tiny embroidered shoe and began to unwind the bandages. Second Grandmother groaned and