Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [70]
Little Li stood back for only a moment before making another swift cut in the rope netting, grabbing another young dragon by the tail, and dragging it backward out of the trap. The dragons in the trap directed their snapping and thrashing at Little Li. I wondered how long the netting would hold.
A villager again tossed a wet cloth onto the dragon’s head, but this second creature seized the cloth in its teeth like meat and whipped its head from side to side, as if trying to kill it. The next thing I knew, another man tossed a wet cloth onto the dragon’s head. It was Marco. Little Li straddled the creature’s hindquarters and grabbed it in the same two spots. Someone handed Marco a rope and he wrapped the creature’s snout tightly closed. How had Marco found the courage to do such a thing? He was grinning.
Suren struggled out of my grip and jumped down the embankment to help with the next creature. It seemed wrong to let amateurs do this work, but he managed to help Little Li subdue a third small dragon.
Two of the creatures had escaped from the trap and slithered back into the river. Only one remained. Little Li wiped sweat from his forehead and stood panting, catching his breath before the final capture. Then he looked up at me.
I shook my head. I had not traveled all this distance from Khanbalik to lose my arm or leg to a sharp-toothed creature that could easily be captured by someone else. The villagers grinned at me with gold-tipped teeth. Suren was panting from exertion.
“Don’t do it,” he said. Yet he had obviously enjoyed the thrill of it, and his arms and legs were intact. Even a foreign merchant could do it. This chance would never come again. I had killed a lion.
I moved slowly down the embankment, everyone’s eyes on me. Little Li’s grin grew bigger. Suddenly, I realized they all knew I was a woman.
A villager handed me a wet cloth, far heavier than I had imagined, and stood by with a long rope. Inside, I was quivering. I could not do this. I handed the wet cloth back. The villager looked at Little Li for guidance.
Little Li put the rope into my hands instead. I followed him to the far side of the trap, near the remaining dragon. With more space, it scuttled around inside. Little Li had to move quickly. Once, he cut the netting in one spot only to watch the creature run to the other side of the trap. It was remarkably fast for such a long, low animal with tiny legs.
Finally, Little Li was quick enough, cutting the netting and grabbing the tail. The creature snapped around to bite his hand, but Little Li was too fast. He pulled it straight out and fell on its back, grabbing it behind the neck. The villager tossed the wet cloth onto its head. Little Li seemed to be wrestling with the creature, which was snapping its jaws under the cloth.
Slowly, I approached the thrashing dragon. The villagers were shouting at me. How was I to get this rope around its snapping jaws? The others had made it look easy. I formed a loop and tried to toss it over the creature’s snout, but it fell short. A villager was trying to show me with his hands how to do it. Marco and Suren were shouting directions. Little Li was having trouble controlling the creature.
I tried to wrap the rope around its snout but was too timid. The rope fell to the side. Stupid girl, I thought. How can you fight an enemy if you cannot defeat this animal?
The third time, I went in more boldly, wrapping the rope solidly around the dragon’s snapping jaws, once, tightening, then twice, tightening again, then three times, securing it with a knot. I could see myself in action from above, as if my mind had left my body. A villager took the ends of the rope and made a firmer knot, and the others shouted their approval and praise.
It was not the kind of valor I had expected to need in the battlefield. But a rush of pride and energy swept through me, and I whooped with delight.
Both Suren and Marco beamed with pleasure. The villagers began their victory dance,