Ghoulies Abroad by Julie Steimle (bts book recommendations txt) 📖

promised and help.”

Rick nodded. He decided to still not tell them about the monkey or his plan to see the wolf pack. They would not understand.

“Ok, so as soon as it is light, we check out of the hotel and go to the monastery,” Rick said.

They nodded.

Rick then shot a look to Semour. “By the way—stop snooping in my emails. Daisy isn’t emailing me.”

Eddie ducked down with a snort, eyeing Semour also who colored. He didn’t deny it either.

Rick turned to go.

“But you are still thinking about her,” Andy called after him, rising.

Halting painfully, Rick closed his eyes. “Like I told Tom, today is better than yesterday. But yeah, I still think about her.” He then turned around to face them, if only a little. “You try forgetting an intense connection like that.”

He then marched out, going straight to his room. Rick kicked off his shoes and undressed, dropping onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling, his mind swirling with all sorts of thoughts ranging from anger to frustration, as well as dismay. Andy did not return for a while, probably discussing with the others how to handle their werewolf in case he became a liability. He was barely asleep when Andy returned, and he pretended to be asleep as Andy dropped onto his bed, shoving back the pillows.

Andy whispered, “We’re one your side, Howie. Would you just trust us for once?”

Rick’s breath caught in his throat. They didn’t think he trusted them? That stabbed Rick a little. He trusted the Seven more than anyone. But he also knew their weaknesses. And there were things he trusted nobody with.

*

Most of them had a restless night, forcing themselves to sleep rather than sleeping well. Daniel and James were up at the crack of dawn and were down in the restaurant eating breakfast from the buffet there. Chen was also down there, sitting at another table with Tom who looked remarkably refreshed in comparison to the others. Of course, Tom could sleep through anything as he usually had to with all those imps he could hear. Rick had seen his friends when had come down that morning, mostly looking for Andy who was gone before he had awoken. Andy was nowhere in sight though.

“Ah, you’re up!” Daniel waved to him. “I scouted out breakfast, and those buns have garlic in them. The rest is fine.”

“What about silver?” Rick said as he walked up. “This is a posh place.”

Smiling, Daniel replied, “All stainless steel. I read the cutlery.”

Rick raised an eyebrow at him, wondering at Daniel’s odd word choice.

However, he went to get breakfast without any worries.

Eventually all of them gathered in the restaurant. Andy said he had been out and about scouting the area for demons with Eddie. Semour had been downloading information from the web while still trying to find more information about their monk. He wasn’t very successful.

“Ok, before we go out, there are a few things I want to give all of you,” Semour said after his briefing. He dug out from a pocket a number of small electronic devices hanging on key rings like key chain fobs. “These are for emergencies. Press it if ever you need serious immediate help.”

They all took one, including Chen who seemed anxious to get one.

“And these,” Semour slid out only a few of what looked like mini calculators, “are for the Seven. These are prototype emergency phones. As far as I can tell, you can use them to piggyback on any carrier wave and call any cellphone around the world. I have a speed dial for those in the Seven.”

“Just for the Seven?” Chen murmured.

Tom leaned toward him with a nudge. “Hey, be happy he gave you the emergency button. Most of his toys are for the Seven. And I don’t think he made them especially for this trip.”

Semour nodded to him. “Yes, actually. I was going to pass them out later, but this seemed like a good time to hand out what I could.”

Chen leaned back, embarrassed and a little ashamed for being greedy.

Semour also handed Rick one. “I also want you to have this.”

Rick took it, staring at the small device.

“In case your big cell phone gets lost. You can add velcro on the back of this one and hook it into your fur,” Semour explained.

Rick flushed. Apparently they knew he sometimes ditched his shorts and went au’ natural when hunting deep in the woods and he had to abandon his phone. Real wolves just didn’t wear boxer shorts. Of course, real wolves didn’t carry cell phones either. Nodding, Rick tucked it into his pocket.

“Alright,” Andy said, “With that out of the way, we should head off to the monastery. Howie, can you get us there quickly?”

Shrugging, Rick said, “We can still use the metro. From there we can walk or call a didi.”

None of them argued over that. All of them rose and left. Rick checked them all out downstairs as the others gathered their luggage from their rooms. None of them had much. A backpack or two. Rick really was the only one with a real suitcase. The other one that had carried the swords was being dragged by James who didn’t seem to mind the extra light load.

Though the trip on the metro was long and wearying as they had to go far to the other end of the city, it was eventless. When they emerged once more above ground to walk the rest of the way, they were much relieved. And when they arrived at the temple monastery, they had surprisingly little interference in getting in to see the monks.

They went in looking for the head of the monastery, or at least someone who could speak English. They found both in the courtyard lighting incense. One of the younger monks brought them to him. There were no signs of any demons as far as they could tell.

“Decent imps,” Tom whispered to Rick.

Rick nodded.

“Ni hao,” The head monk bowed to them. “Are you the anonymous wolf?” His eyes searched the crowd.

Coloring a little as he hated to admit to humans his wolf identity, Rick raised his hand. “I am.”

The monk smiled at him and bowed deeply. “Thank you for your blogs. They are most helpful.”

Blinking, Rick stared at him. “Are you the monk who contacted me?”

The head monk shook his head. “No. We are not. The great sage showed us your blogs and told us to expect you to come. He has given us a message to pass on to you. He says that the internet is being watched.”

“By demons?” Eddie murmured incredulously, sneaking looks toward his friends.

“There are many kinds of demons in this world,” the monk wisely said. “Some human.”

Rick nodded slowly. He knew this very well.

“Who is this great sage?” Andy asked, his eyes taking in the monks sharply. He held his skepticism like a knife clenched his fist. “Why has he called us here?”

Gazing directly on him, the monk said, “I am forbidden to reveal whom I believe he is. He has never told us his name, but some might say he is a Buddha.”

“A Buddha?” Daniel stared, confused.

“I thought there was only one Buddha?” James whispered to the others.

Eddie and Semour nodded.

The monk smiled. “There is, and there is not.” His eyes gently passed over their group, taking in their faces. He blinked curiously at Chen then really stared at Tom who stood out the most—even though this time Tom was back in his hoodie and torn jeans rather than his trim business suit. “Buddhahood is also a state of enlightenment.”

“So he’s an enlightened one,” Rick said, wondering what exactly that entailed.

Andy raised his eyebrows, “Which means…?”

“He is a great sage,” Chen muttered, thinking.

The monk smirked at him. “Actually, we call him that to tease him. Once, in his past when he was proud, he called himself that. He has been much humbled since.”

Gesturing for them to follow, the head monk led them indoors.

He took them to a room, gesturing for them to sit. As he took a seat himself, he attempted to call for tea from his fellow monks—but none of the Seven would have that. Daniel spoke up for them all as he said, “I’m sorry, but we are in a hurry. Can we please dispense with the—”

“Never take away the quiet pleasantries of life,” the monk said serenely, continuing to order for tea. Other monks were bringing in a purplish brown clay pot on a tray with several small, nearly spherical, teacups with no handles.

“I don’t care for tea,” Tom declared, hopping irreverently over to one of the tables and squatting down next to the head monk. “Do you got any mango juice? I could really go for some.”

The monk stared at him. He then shook his head and said, “We only have tea, though we can send for some if you prefer it.”

“No,” Andy said, shooting Tom a terse look. “And no tea either. Swift is right. We don’t have time for it, and to be frank, I am not into tea.”

“None of us are,” Semour muttered.

Chen groaned, massaging his forehead with embarrassment. He shot Rick a look.

 Rick sighed and said, “If you please, we just want the message that was given to you.”

A distinct frown rested on the monk’s face. He sighed as he dug into his pocket. “He said you would be like this. Impatient.”

“It is in the middle of our school semester, monk man,” Eddie retorted. “All of us are college students, and we can’t afford to drag this out. Time is of the essence.”

The monk stared wide at him. He then looked to Rick who shrugged almost unapologetically. Rolling his eyes with a huff, the monk handed over the letter. Thankfully, it was in English.

 

To A Wolf and the Seven:

You need to journey north through Jiangsu Province to Lianyungang city and then to the famed Flower Fruit Mountain (Huaguo Shan). I need you to follow your instincts as you travel, as demons will most likely try to stop you. I can meet you in Lianyungang. On the way, please handle any demons you meet. You should visit Nanjin, Xinghua and Yancheng on the way. The Wolf should guide you as he has proven to understand my wishes. Please hurry. We all have very little time.

A MonkK

 

Rick then looked down at the post script.

 

P.S. Their tea is awful. Don’t drink it.

 

Tom busted up laughing.

“This guy is a comedian,” Eddie muttered, reading the writing.

Daniel smirked, sharing looks with James.

“Sounds enlightened to me,” Semour said, rising to his feet.

The monks shared wan, knowing looks. “Bei lai houzi.”

“Ta cong bu bian…”

Chen glanced at Rick who did not quite understand the words. He knew the word ‘ta’ which was a universal he, she, it and only written could one see the gender they were talking about. And he knew the words ‘cong bu’, which meant never. But he didn’t know the last word. However, he did know the word ‘houzi’. That was mandarin for monkey. Was their monk actually a shape-shifting monkey? Looking at his signature on the letter: MonkK, saying it aloud it did sound a bit like monkey. Maybe he ought to tell his friends about the monkey from last night after all.

“Ok…” Andy said with a firm stride as they all headed out, as there was nothing else they could do with the monks. “So, how do we want to head to this city? Rent a car? Train?”

“We hire a driver,” Rick murmured, thinking about the monkey still. “I know where we can order a van or a small bus. I need to stop in Suzhou before we get to Nanjing. We have a branch there that needs to be inspected. I can order a van to take us from here to there and we can rent from city to city with tour busses.”

“So you’ll arrange it,” Andy confirmed with a nod.

“I will take care of transportation,” Rick said nodding back.

“Good.” Andy then gesture to the others. “Ok, we are heading north. I suggest