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stashed the last bit of old kite twine and a knife, whose ivory smoothness soothed the men’s harsh words. Buoyed by a west wind, she streaked past the workers to the dusty main street of their village. Fluttering crimson-and-gold animal lanterns hung from warped rafters of the store. She hopped up uneven steps to say hello, first to the bulging-eyed frog lantern. Silly thing! Then an elephant lantern waved his trunk and begged a pretend peanut, trumpeting thanks when she flattened her palm to feed it. Saving best for last, she tiptoed to the fire-breather lantern, her very own zodiac symbol, with such splendor in his forked tongue and scaly tail! Pride stretched her legs to reach his shiny crimson back. Up, up—
    Chee, chee .
    What sound tickled her ears? Had a strange bird coasted on the wind current to attend the festival? She jumped off the porch, threw back her head, and searched a blue sky. Lazy clouds floated by, but no bird.
    Chee, chee .
    Kai stepped into grass, tilted her head, and peered into a tree. A mother bird flapped into a nest and settled wings about bald chicks whose beaks were closed. Silent.
    Chee, chee.
    Kai pricked her ears to follow the sound, scrambled onto her hands and knees, and crawled to a flowering jasmine.
    The bush shuddered. Out popped a tiny creature, plucked-chicken pink. Beady eyes studied her. Wings flapped like broken fans.
    Kai clapped her hands and cooed. What a funny-looking thing!
    The chick staggered forward and crashed into a gnarly branch. “Chee, chee.”
    “Chee, chee,” Kai whispered. “Greetings, little one.”
    Silent, the chick stared back, lifted one foot, and toppled over.
    Had spring intoxicated the chick? Kai spied an angry red knot on the chick’s leg joint. Below the knot, the leg bent like a discarded pipe cleaner. Useless for walking. Flying. Living.
    Poor thing! As Kai reached for the chick, her right hand radiated heat to match her sympathy-warmed heart. Fate had cursed this chick! She must try to repair its poor crooked leg. Old Grandfather had taught her to mend broken chairs. Was the principle not similar? “Chee, chee,” she whispered, and scooped up the chick.
    The bird struggled, then lay still . . . except for a thump, thump against Kai’s fingers. Thump. Thump . Such a strong little heart! Kai tingled with pleasure. A coo escaped her mouth. She had found the chick’s life rhythms!
    “Chee, chee.” Speaking the chick’s language, Kai folded her legs underneath her and sat on the ground. “Be still, little one.” Kai balanced the chick between her knees and dug in her pocket for the knife and string. Moving slowly, so as not to scare the chick, she slashed the string in two. Her fingers tickled the grass and inched caterpillar-like to a stick. Still whispering, “Chee, chee,” she stripped bark from the stick and made a splint for her little friend.
    Except for its heartbeat, the chick was silent.
    Kai scooped up the chick, used her pulsating right hand to straighten the bent leg against the splint, then looped string round and round until the splint and the leg became one. The chick never struggled, as if it understood exactly what Kai was doing.
    “Chee, chee,” the chick said in thanks.
    Kai transferred the chick into her left hand and spread the fingers of her right hand, half expecting to see steam rising as from a boiling pot. She opened her hand, closed it. Opened it, closed it.
    Warmth spread to the funny looped ridges on the back of her fingers that Old Grandfather said made her hand different from everyone else’s. The warmth soothed like the kang bed on a winter night. Mesmerized, she stretched her fingers and studied her hand’s every pore, every crease.
    Of its own accord, the right hand moved to massage the chick’s fluffy breast.
    Thump. Thump. Thump .
    The chick’s heartbeats matched the heat pulsating through Kai’s hand. The hand was magic! Kai, Second Daughter of the Chang family, possessed a Healing Right Hand