THE SADDEST GIRL SINCE THE SONG DYNASTY

DAR-FOR MOUNTAIN VIA PURGATORY - PART IV

They should have just enough time, she estimated, to get to the first temple that afternoon, pray and burn some offerings before it would be dark and the shrines would close – it was already nearly four-fifteen. "We need to be more efficient than kids in a theme park, running between the stupid rides," said Lady Zhao. Ander and Bingbing agreed to this, though it wasn't clear if Ander was in any state to understand anything, let alone agree to it.

And then, very quickly, before any one of them fully registered the fact they had accomplished half of their transcendental duties for the weekend, they were out of the first temple and heading to the small town on the island that catered for pilgrims on a shuttle bus. The activity itself, the actual deed of prostrating themselves before the wobbly effigies of legend with joss sticks and wishes, the precious Buddha-human interaction time that so much toil, treasure and trauma had gone into arranging, was over faster than Lady Zhao had hoped it would, or could have found useful. It had taken so long to get to Dar-For Mountain, and at the end of the first day (of two), they had only had ten minutes at a shrine. All Lady Zhao's energy during the journey had been committed to logistics and trying not to feel terrible, so that there had been no time to contemplate the precise wording of her audience with enlightened spirits. Likewise, for Ander, whose sake this temple had been chosen above the options of those devoted to health or the fate of ancestors among other causes, Lady Zhao couldn't be sure if he was thinking anything at all, or whether he was just physically following her instructions to stand here, bow three times there. All too quickly, the temple ushers had begun telling people to leave because they were closing for the night.

With this task passed, with no way that night to add to what they had said to or asked of Buddha, the rest of the evening was free to address the matter of survival. Indeed mere surviving would prove to be arduous.

Firstly, they would have to find somewhere to sleep for the night since no official hotel rooms had been available to book online or over the phone when Lady Zhao investigated at such short notice. According to Trav, whom Lady Zhao consulted since he had been recently, there were many individual residents on the island who offered spare rooms, and one had simply to wander the main drag and speak to a few hustlers. You had to "pick out the right people using your own judgment," he had unhelpfully advised, but he did have a guideline price to benchmark against.

Secondly, the group would have to find dinner – no easy feat on an island with only a handful of restaurants, all of which fell well below Lady Zhao's personal expectations of adequacy. Because of the previous night's debacle, she hadn't arranged to bring food as planned.

"When do we go to the temple dedicated to love? We are going tomorrow, right?" Bingbing asked. She wanted to make sure it was first thing the next morning since the three only had until a little after midday on Sunday to spend on Dar-For Mountain and accomplish their second transcendental duty and the one she was most concerned about. They had a return coach to catch, and work for Lady Zhao on Monday morning. Lady Zhao hoped there would be time to get to a shrine on the other side of the island that concerned itself with destiny, but she knew time would be very tight.