Cranes are sacred birds in China. They represent long lives and good fortune. Such birds are considered to sacred to live amongst the animals in the village. They live in colonies high in the mountains, and on the rare occasion when one does venture into the village it is treated like a god (or a priest at least) and that house is considered blessed for at least one week.

The villagers treated the cranes with great respect, and the cranes worked hard to earn that respect. They were tall, graceful birds who avoided fighting unless they absolutely had to. Practising fighting was out of the question in the crane community; Kung Fu especially.

The cranes really had no need to fight, for very few creatures could survive in their mountain world; they would have lived out their lives quite peacefully if it weren’t for the book – the book, and the crane who found it.

What was his name?

Well, let’s just call him Crane.

“There it is. Isn’t it creepy?”

They were standing at the edge of the town; Crane and his older sister Lena. She ruffled her feathers as they stared out at the object of their curiosity.

“It’s just a house,” said Crane.

“It is not just a house; that is the house where Ping used to live before he was exiled. You remember Ping, don’t you? That old bird who liked to eat those red beetles?”

“I remember Ping,” the younger bird replied hotly. He couldn’t stand his sister sometimes; why did she always have to act like she was so superior to him just because she’d gained her adult feathers? He was the same size as her, but he was stuck with the fuzzy down of a juvenile bird and he hated it. “You’ll get your feathers eventually,” his mother always said, but for Crane, that wasn’t soon enough.

“What do you suppose he got exiled for?” he asked Lena.

She shrugged. “I don’t know, but it must have been very serious. I’ve never seen anyone get exiled from the colony before; they say it hardly ever happens.”

This was true; the crane colony was extremely close and to have anyone kicked out was extremely rare. Whatever Ping had done, it must have been truly dreadful, and the mystery seemed to surround the little house, which really looked no different from the pair’s own house or any other on the mountain. Who knew what horrors lay beyond that innocent-looking door?

“Let’s take a look.” Said Lena.

Her brother grabbed her wing. “Are you crazy?” he asked.

“You’re not scared, are you?”

“No; I’m just not stupid. That place is bad luck – besides, we’ll get into trouble for being there!”

“Who is going to see us?”

Crane looked around and realised his sister was right; there was no one around but themselves.

“Come on,” his sister insisted. “You said so yourself; it’s just a house.”

Then why are we going there? Crane wanted to ask, but already he was being dragged towards the building. Whether he liked it or not, they were going in.