"What in the world are you doing?" Cas said casually. "I'm the good guy here and your uncle is looking for you."

"My uncle?" the girl finally broke her silence to speak.

"Yes. He's outside right now ordering his men to search the island with a fine tooth comb."

"My uncle? He Heng?"

Cas understood. He sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled at the girl.

"He Heng is dead and your uncle, Tsai Po, is the one who's looking all over for you."

The girl seemed to shrink within herself, her shoulders shaking as she broke into sobs.

"Hey, no need to cry," Cas said, disconcerted. "Its all over. You're safe now."

"He Heng tried to...tried to..," the girl sobbed pitifully. "He said he was going to tell my uncle that I seduced him so he'll send me away. Then uncle came and tried to stop him and He Heng...he...and this thing...this monster came at He Heng and killed him. It coiled its body around He Heng and...and...suffocated him to death."

The girl stopped. Looking at Castor with petrified eyes.

"It was a snake. A giant snake. As big as a house. It tried to eat He Heng and uncle...but I run...I run and left uncle behind," the girl sobbed. "I was so scared. It was a snake. A giant snake....a snake. With two heads...a snake."

"I know," Cas said. And the way he said it, casually and with little surprise, as if he believed her and can sympthasize, finally broke through her shock, panic, and fear that she will not be believed because the tale of what she saw was too unbelievable for words, as if making it up was even too shocking for most people.

"You knew?" the girl stopped, looking at him completely stupefied. "How?"

"Because I saw it," Cas said. "It even transformed and copied your appearance."

Now, it was the girl's turn to look at him like he just upped and lost his mind.

"Cop...copied..my...my.. app...appearance...?" she stammered, her eyes round with the beginnings of panic.

"It transformed into a girl that looked exactly like you," Cas explained. "Tried to feed us lies about it, too."

"How...how is that even possible?"

"Because it can and did," Cas shrugged. "Look, you don't believe me, go out there and ask your uncle. I think he'll be more than happy to explain everything to you."

But the girl didn't move. She continued to look at him with fear and panic in her eyes. And a piteous quiet imploring look that he was unable to refuse.

"I told you, He Heng is dead," Cas reiterated. He sighed when the girl continued to look at him piteously. "Come on, I'd better take you to your uncle," he said, getting up and moving towards her. But stopped when he remembered something. "How did you get here anyway? In my cabin, I mean?"

"I don't know," the girl mumbled. "I ran away. I didn't know where I was going. I just needed a place to hide. I couldn't go back to the house. The snake....I ran to the docks intending to find my uncle's boat and I saw this boat beside it and just jumped inside without knowing where I was or what I was doing. I just didn't want the snake to find me. It...it was disgusting and scary and....snakes always terrified me."

Cas looked at her sympathetically. The fear about snakes he can understand. They were disgusting creatures and that twin headed snake was more loathsome than most. Just the thought of its cold and slimy body, the scales that marked its serpentine flesh....Cas gave an involuntary shudder.

"It's okay," he soothed. "The snake is gone. My mother took care of it."

"Your mother?" the girl said, surprised.

"Ya," he nodded self-consciously. "She's this sort of super girl or something. She fought with it and she put it away somewhere."

The girl stared at him unblinking until Cas grew self-conscious.

"What?"

"You look kind and trustworthy but you sure love to spout a lot of nonsense."

Cas laughed and opened the door.

"Come on, let's find your uncle."

But the girl stayed where she was, cowering in the middle of the small cabin. Cas sighed. He walked backed and took her hand.

"You said I look kind and trustworthy," he reminded her. "Then come with me and stop being scared. No one will hurt you."

He started dragging her beside him until her feet moved on their own and she followed him outside.

The mess hall was empty when they got there. Frowning, Cas turned around and took the stairs to the upper deck where he found Tsai Po talking to his parents. They automatically turned their head when they heard the footsteps on the stairs. And Cas had a sudden un.o.bstructed view of Tsai Po's face when he saw the girl behind Cas. The elder man blinked and his lips trembled until he took a deep breath and his expression went back to its normal, easy going look.

The young girl, however, gave a sudden cry then a sob as she shortened the distance between them and flung herself unashamedly at her uncle's waiting arms. Tsai Po was a tall man and the girl was pint-size so they looked kind of incongruous, like a tall octopus dancing with a shrimp. Cas chuckled at the image and moved towards his parents who looked at him with questions in their eyes.

"I found her inside my cabin. I think she's been there, hiding, since this thing started. She said He Heng tried to...but Tsai Po arrived before he could make that happen then the snake who it seemed suffocated He Heng to death. She ran away and later found herself here."

The adults listened to his explanation with varying expressions of alarm and growing fury.

"What did you say?" Tsai Po demanded. "He Heng tried to...?"

"He didn't succeed because you arrived," Cas explained hurriedly. "Then the snake came and killed He Heng, who was trying to beat you to death."

"He Heng attacked me?" Tsai Po was incredulous. "I don't remember any of it."

"Mom?" Cas turned to An Ning, who sighed.

"You were near death, Tsai Po," An Ning explained. "He Heng...it was pretty bad what he did. Beat you up so bad you became comatose, which could be the reason why you didn't remember any of it. I gave you something, which seemed to help. Then I brought you back here and that's it."

Tsai Po was silent, his arms tightening around the shaking body of his niece.

"He Heng,...that motherf.u.c.ker...He Heng...," he mumbled furiously, his eyes glittering with anger. The girl in his arms whimpered and his attention, thankfully, was distracted as he hushed and tried to calm her down.

"Are you sure she's okay?" An Ning whispered to Cas.

He nodded.

"She's got a terrible shock but other than that she's fine," he answered.

"You did good, Cas," his father said, ruffling his hair affectionately. "You did good."

Cas blushed and looked cutely embarra.s.sed.

"Thank you," Tsai Po said, looking at them.

An Ning was surprised.

"For what?"

"I don't know," Tsai Po. "But I'm sure you did something so thank you."

Nian Zhen chuckled, suddenly breaking the awkward silence.

"Aren't you going to introduce us to your niece, Tsai Po?" he asked.

Tsai Po looked down at the girl in his arms.

"This is my niece, Smilla," he smiled affectionately at her. "La La, these are the good people who helped us. That lady over there is An Ning, his highness the king of Chengdi Nian Zhen, and their son, Castor."

The girl timidly nodded her head in greeting.

"I'm glad you're safe," Nian Zhen said. "Your uncle was so worried."

"I'm taking her back home to my parents as soon as possible. It seems she's not safe here anymore. That He Heng...," Tsai Po's face was grim.

"You don't have to worry about him. He's dead along with that creature is. Whoever it was that woke that monster up seemed to have disappeared as well," Nian Zhen pointed out.

"I think it made use of He Heng," An Ning said. "Probably promised him something then when he was no longer of use to anybody it had the snake kill him."

"We didn't find that shaman though," Tsai Po said, still looking worried.

"I have a feeling that he's long gone. He probably was the one who woke the snake. He had the book," An Ning said, looking thoughtful.

"What book?" Tsai Po asked.

"The snake said they awakened because somebody read something from a book. The words were scripture, from their Father's own words. n.o.body who hears it dare not disobey so they dared not."

"He Heng and that shaman," Tsai Po gritted out. "b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

"You already had your men search the island top to bottom so it's safe to a.s.sume that the danger is gone. They didn't find that shaman and I don't think we'll ever find him. And the snake won't be coming back so Pirate Island is again safe and sound," Nian Zhen said.

"We'll make sure everybody is okay before taking our leave. I think we don't need to talk about a ransom now, do we?" he added, looking at Tsai Po.

"Is that guy going to be okay?" Tsai Po asked.

"Terri? Yes, but he's been roughed up so bad I don't think he'll be up and about for many months yet," Nian Zhen was grim-faced. "Somebody broke his arms and his legs. He's still in a coma so I don't know when he'll be okay or if he's going to be okay."

"I'm sorry," Tsai Po said, surprising his audience.

"For what?" Nian Zhen asked.

"For everything," Tsai Po shrugged. "I sort of got you pulled into this mess and I apologize."

The awkward silence that followed lengthened as they watched Tsai Po pull Smilla onto one of the pool tables and sat beside her, looking very dejected. Cas looked at his parents with a frown. Nian Zhen sighed and sat down beside Tsai Po.

"We can stay for a bit until you've got everything sorted out. Everything is back to normal, Tsai Po. Your niece is safe and so is Pirate Island," Nian Zhen said very awkwardly.

Tsai Po didn't answer. His gaze was back on sh.o.r.e, back on Pirate Island. He seemed to be deliberating something because he suddenly turned to Nian Zhen and said, "When you go back, I'd like you to take Smilla with you."

Everyone was stunned even more Smilla who stared at her uncle like he just lost his mind.

"No!" she said sharply. "I'm staying here. With you."

"I don't want you here," Tsai Po said bluntly. "You'll just be in the way. Go with the king. I'll settle some matters here after which I'll come and get you."

"I'm not leaving you," the girl said stubbornly. "I promised grandma so I won't."

Tsai Po gave a reluctant laugh.

"It won't be for a long time, darling. I promise to come as soon as possible. I just need to make sure that everything is as it should be. After that, I'll go to Chengdi and get you."

"Why do I have to leave then?"

"Because I don't trust anyone here right now. I trusted He Heng and look what he almost did."

"And you trust them?" Smilla asked, indicating with one hand the people standing and listening to them.

"They could have left but they didn't. They stayed and helped us get rid of that monster," Tsai Po said. "If I couldn't trust them then who else could I trust?"

Smilla didn't answer but her eyes strayed involuntarily strayed towards Castor who smiled.

"Are you sure about this, Tsai Po? We don't mind babysitting her for a bit but...," Nian Zhen was obviously a little bit troubled by the whole thing. "If she doesn't want to come with us...," his voice trailed off.

Before Tsai Po could answer, An Ning gave a little chuckle.

"Cas can look after her if she's okay with it," she said. "What do you say, Cas?"

Castor shrugged.

"I don't mind. She's no trouble."

He looked at Smilla, who was then looking at her uncle. As if conscious of his eyes, Smilla met his gaze. Castor was looking casually uninterested, as if it didn't really matter if she went with them to Chengdi or not. But it was another matter with her uncle. He was hiding something from her. She could feel it, could sense it but it was no use asking him about it. Whatever it was that worried him, he would not tell her about it. At least not yet.

She met her uncle's eyes and read the worry in them. Smilla again sensed that something was terribly wrong. But she could only nod her head and keep the worries in her heart as she listened to her uncle thanked Nian Zhen for the trouble.