Read Remember for Free Online Page A

on the ledges that ran around the base and lower part of the monument, and they sat down to wait for Arch and Jimmy. And, they hoped, for Chai Ling, the respected leader of the student movement, commander in chief of the Tiananmen demonstrators and a graduate student in psychology at Beijing Normal University.
     
    It was almost one o’clock in the morning of June 3 when Arch and Jimmy finally appeared. They came running into the square and as they approached the small group clustered together on the monument, Nicky immediately noticed their troubled expressions.
    “What is it?” she cried with raised brows, glancing at Arch and then at Jimmy.
    While trying to catch his breath Arch blurted out, “The troops !
    They’re coming down Changan Avenue. We just saw them as we were heading toward the square and—” Jimmy interjected, “They’re being stopped by the people.”
    “What do you mean?” Nicky cried, looking puzzled.
    “The citizens of Beijing have formed a blockade—with their bodies. A human blockade. To stop the army from getting to the students in the square. They’re keeping the army out of the square!” Jimmy said.
    “Well, I’ll be damned,” Luke said.
    Clee did not wait to hear another word, and neither did Nicky.
    Simultaneously they jumped off the ledge and began to run toward Tiananmen Gate, which led into Changan Avenue. They were closely followed by Yoyo, who was clutching Mai’s hand, and behind them came Luke, sprinting at such a speed he soon caught up with Clee and Nicky.
    Arch and Jimmy took a few seconds to catch their breath, and then they took offtoo, making for the entrance onto the avenue.
    Nicky and Clee were the first to reach the crowds of people flooding Changan, and almost instantly they were separated from each other by the swirling masses.
    She had never seen anything like this in her life. What Jimmy had said was true—the citizens were blocking the army, preventing the soldiers from moving forward, literally holding them back with their bodies.
    They truly were a human shield. Suddenly, she saw that they were actually pushin,g the soldiers back. And what an army it was. Kids, she thought in astonishment. They were just kids, they looked even younger than the students.
    Without considering her safety, Nicky moved closer to the crowds, she had to be nearer the action. Within seconds she was surrounded by people and swept forward by the force and movement of their bodies.
    Everyone was pushing and shoving, several times she swayed and almost went down. At one moment, as people pressed into her from behind, she reached out and desperately clutched at a man’s arm, he swung around angrily, but then quickly helped her to regain her balance. A young woman grabbed at her jacket as the crowd surged forward yet again, carrying everyone closer to the troops. Nicky almost fell because the Chinese woman was clinging to her with such tenacity, but somehow she managed to stay upright, and they bolstered each other. The mass of people swept on and on, and Nicky thought she would be knocked over or trampled.
    At the precise moment she experienced her first flicker of panic, wondering if she was going to be crushed to death, she felt a hand grasp her elbow roughly. Half turning her head, looking over her shoulder, she saw Arch standing immediately behind her.
    “Thanks,” she gasped with relief. Then she shouted above the noise, “The troops look unarmed.”
    “They also look frightened to death.”
    There was more pushing and shoving and angry shouting before the Beijingers surged onward en masse. They were like a huge tidal wave of immense force, and they propelled Nicky and Arch along with them.
    Immediately ahead were the young soldiers, none of whom looked to be a day older than eighteen. They were being mauled and bruised and scratched as the people pushed and berated them. Nicky began to realize that the enraged citizens of the capital were
    lecturing the soldiers as if they