A Tangled Web Ch. 10

As Vera was reading the newspaper article, Xui-Li was alive and well and sitting in the captain's cabin of her junk, the Ming-Xing.

After General Chang's mockery of a trial, she had been taken down to the cellars and locked in a cell next to Vera's. Whereas Vera had despaired, Xui-Li had been angry, angry with General Chang, angry with Mei-Xing but above all angry with herself. She really ought to have seen this coming, to have taken steps, to have secured her position. However, she had been distracted by this round-eye girl who, somehow, had got under her skin and clouded her judgment. It was not that she blamed Jun-Nui, far from it, she blamed herself, not that it did any good. She had no doubt General Chang would carry out his threat and that she would be shot in the morning. She paced her cell, searching in vain for a loophole, anything that might give her back the edge.

And then, just as dawn was beginning to rise, she heard the noise of a key in the lock and the door was pushed open.

"Quick, quick, Madam Hong, come with me. Quick, before they return." A woman whose clothes marked her out as one of the kitchen staff was standing at the door urgently looking back and forth. For a moment Xui-Li hesitated; was this a trap, was she to be discovered escaping and thus have her 'guilt' doubly proven? However, trap or not, she had little to lose. She went to the door and followed the woman out. Quickly they threaded their way through the rabbit warren of passages that led under the compound until they were in the kitchen areas.

"We've got to get you out of here. As soon as the guards find you missing they'll start a search," the woman said. "You're far too conspicuous in those clothes. There's a hamper of old rags in the boiler room. Come with me and we'll see what we can find."

"Why are you doing this?" Xui-Li asked, as she followed the woman into a small room off the kitchen.

"Because that son of a whore Chang will kill you otherwise," the woman replied as if talking to a dim-witted child.

"But...." Xui-Li started.

"Save your breath for getting changed," the woman ordered. "If they catch you dressed like that we're all in trouble." She grabbed some old clothes from a hamper in the corner, sorting out some that might be wearable. Even those had seen better days, and many were in need of a good wash but the woman's urgency was getting through to Xui-Li and she did as she was told. She did baulk when the woman took her discarded robe and bundled it up only to throw it into the boiler but the woman gave her a look that stopped her saying anything. Indeed, she insisted that all of Xui-Li's clothes went the same way. Then it was time to sort out something suitable from the pile she had sorted, starting with the basics.

"My daughter, Lin-Lin, she was serving in the great hall this evening and heard everything," the woman continued as she held up a tunic with a pattern of vivid food stains down the front.

"Lin-Lin?" Xui-Li queried. "Pretty little girl with a mole on her right buttock?"

"That's the one," Lin-Lin's mother confirmed. "But how do you know about the mole?"

"Oh, I just saw it one day when I was... when I was checking out the staff changing facilities." Xui-Li bluffed. She wasn't going to admit to Lin-Lin's mother the exact details of how she knew. She did remember Lin-Lin, and her mole, with much fondness.

"Anyway, Lin-Lin, after you've been arrested, she comes down to the kitchens and tells us cooks what's going on and I'll tell you we're not going to stand for it. Here, that strap goes round there," the woman said as she helped Xui-Li into the strange clothes. "There's not much we could have done last night, but this morning, we took the guards an early breakfast so as to keep them busy whilst we got you out and away but they won't be long and you do need to be gone before they return."

"But how did you get the keys? Surely they'll suspect you."

"Those who do the cleaning need the keys to everywhere, don't we," Lin-Lin's mother laughed, "and no one suspects the kitchen staff. Why, they hardly notice we're here at all unless their meal is late. Now get a move on."

"I can't tell you how grateful I am for your help," Xui-Li said.

"We may just be the kitchen staff to some of the officers but we know what's right and what's wrong and what they did to you was plain wicked. You're the only decent one amongst the lot of them, everyone knows that. Anyway, my Lin-Lin said you were really good to her, helped her when she first started here, helped her settle in and for that I'm grateful. Now hurry up, they'll be here in a moment."

Indeed, they had barely finished getting Xui-Li dressed before there was the sound of shouting from the corridors.

"Quick! There's no time to waste. Take this bucket! Back to the kitchen! Start scrubbing and, for heaven's sake cover your head. Your hair's a dead giveaway; it's far too well cut for you to be one of us." The woman grabbed Xui-Li by the arm and thrust a bucket of soapy water into her hands. Then she half led, half dragged her back to the kitchen and pushed her to the floor. Xui-Li wrapped a piece of cloth over her head as a makeshift headscarf and set to scrubbing away. She had barely got into place when one of the guards rushed in.

"Has anyone come through here?" he asked, panic in his voice.

"No, no one," Lin-Lin's mother replied. "It's just us cooks getting ready for breakfast."

"She's gone... The prisoner... The cell is empty... She must have... She can't just disappear! She must have come this way," he said urgently.

"No, no one has come through all morning, isn't that right girls?" There was a murmur of assent from the rest of the kitchen staff.

"Oh, no! There will be hell to pay if she's not found!" the guard wailed before dashing off to continue his search.

"OK, he's gone. Now we haven't got much time. Give it a minute or two and he'll be back with a lot more guards and his sergeant won't be fobbed off as easily as that one." She looked around the kitchen. "I know..." she started.

Xui-Li followed her gaze and her heart sank when she realised what was about to happen. However she was in desperate straits, and the pig bins did need emptying, so, when Lin-Lin's mother told her brusquely to 'come along', she reluctantly got up off the floor and went over. The pig bins were large wheeled dumpsters full of last night's food waste ready for disposal. Although it would be tight, there was going to be just enough room for her to squeeze inside and sink below the congealing garbage. Lin-Lin's mother finished off the job with a layer of cabbage leaves before closing the lid and then she and one of the other women started pushing the dumpster towards the yard.

"Hello ladies," Xui-Li heard a voice approaching. "A bit early for feeding the pigs, isn't it?"

"Hello Ju-Long. We're all at sixes and sevens this morning and this lot is stinking up the kitchens so we thought we'd get it out of the way. The pigs won't mind an early breakfast."

"There's some sort of panic happening, they say one of the prisoners has escaped. I'm supposed to look inside," Ju-Long said half heartedly as he opened the lid. "Ugh! What a stench." He recoiled in disgust and the lid slammed down again. "Still, I guess the pigs like it."

Xui-Li hardly dare breathe; the slightest covering of cabbage leaves was all that there had been between her and disaster. Ju-Long seemed one of the chatty types and spent several minutes talking to the two cooks before finally letting them go. Then they were through the gate and it was just a short trundle to the other side of the yard.

"We're going to tip you out here," Lin-Lin's mother said softly after she had lifted the lid. "Everyone is looking the other way. There's a ditch over to your left, which leads to some woods just across the fields. See if you can find somewhere to hide. We'll come and find you when the fuss has died down. Good luck."

And with that the skip was tipped over and the food waste, along with Xui-Li, was poured out into the pigs' trough. Under cover of the squealing pigs, she made it into the ditch and, keeping her head down as she crawled through the mud and filth, she worked her way along the ditch until she found herself in the woods. She crawled out of the ditch and looked around until she found a pile of brushwood, which made the perfect hiding place as long as they weren't searching with dogs. Xui-Li rearranged the fallen branches so she could hide underneath and still be able to see out without being seen. Scraping off as much of the mud and filth as she could, she settled down to wait. After all it could be hours before the cooks came and got her. As the mud dried on her skin she even started to doze a bit but, maybe half an hour later, she suddenly realised she wasn't alone. Some people, it might be several people, were clumsily making their way through the woods towards where she was hidden. She lay as still as possible; surely they could not be searching the woods for her already? Whoever it was got closer and then, right before her eyes she saw an ankle, an ankle dressed in khaki.

"Right lads, here will do. Keep down and keep away from the edge of the wood or you'll be spotted," she heard a British voice say. "That's the target, that gateway over there. Set up the mortar here next to that pile of brushwood and, for Pete's sake, keep it quiet."

"Right you are, Sarge," came the reply. Then the sounds she'd heard a lifetime ago, all around her now the 'clink' and 'chunk' of baseplate, tripod and tube, the sounds of soldiers setting up a three-inch mortar.

"Gor blimey, something's a bit whiffy," one of the soldiers commented. "Has Brigsy dropped his guts again?"

"You'll be whiffy if we're not ready when the command is given. That Major Strictland is a right so and so. He put Jonesey on a charge the other day for next to nothing."

In the hustle and bustle of setting up the mortar no one had either the time or inclination to search the woods and the soldiers went about their business unaware of Xui-Li's presence. And then, suddenly, from throughout the woods there was the sound of whistles being blown.

"That's it lads, that's the signal. Commence firing."

From maybe a metre away from where she was hiding Xui-Li heard the deafening thump of a mortar and, as she peered out from under the brushwood, she saw the gateway to the compound explode as the shell hit. For some five furious minutes it was chaos as mortar fire from several points in the woods rained down on the walls of the compound, which disappeared behind a pall of smoke. Then more whistles were blown and the mortar fire stopped. As the morning breeze wafted away the smoke, revealing the battered remains of the walls, several platoons of soldiers emerged from the woods and advanced across the field in front of her towards the compound. There was some token resistance from what remained of the guards, but the element of surprise coupled with the early hour meant that the rebels had been, quite literally, caught napping. They were soon overwhelmed. It wasn't long before the order came to the section next Xui-Li to pack up the mortar and join up with the rest of the troops. The operation was declared successful and, in high spirits, the soldiers left, still blissfully unaware that Xui-Li had been right next to them all along.

From her hiding place in the woods, Xui-Li was too far away to make out particulars, but even so it was quite clear what was going on. The shattered buildings were being searched and all the occupants were being rounded up and those that could still stand upright were marched off in columns. After the shelling there were inevitably some casualties and, to be fair, the wounded were generally being tended to before also taken away, this time on ox carts. Even from her distant perspective, Xui-Li could make out the distinctive form of General Chang as he was being arrested. He, and some of the others, were separated from the others and, with their hands handcuffed behind them, taken away in cars. Xui-Li knew that this was a massive blow to the rebellion. Most of their high command had been present and, although she had mixed feelings about some of them, nevertheless she knew the movement had just been decapitated.

Although she was exhausted and hungry, she didn't dare move as long as there were troops around and it was near dark before the last ones left. Their final act before departing was to set fire to the remaining buildings and, as the night set in, Xui-Li watched the compound burn. She was still watching when exhaustion finally set in, her eyelids drooped as she fell fast asleep.

The next morning was cool and brisk. Xui-Li rolled over, wondering why she felt so uncomfortable. Then the smell of wood-smoke brought it all back to her and she opened her eyes and peered out at the still smouldering remains of the compound. Driven by hunger, she extracted herself from the brushwood and carefully made her way over to the smoking ruins. The place was deserted and it seemed like everything had been either burnt or looted, but in the remains of the kitchens she managed to find some half crushed scraps of food, which she devoured ravenously. This, along with some brackish water, alleviated the worst of her hunger and, sitting on a pile of rubble, she evaluated her options.

Firstly she had to make it back to the city; out in the countryside she was all alone. In the city she could find food, shelter and possible allies. As for how to get there, she had no choice, she was going to have to walk. In the meanwhile her disguise as a peasant woman was now, if anything, almost too good. Before too long she would need to find a river and wash of the worst of the dirt, but the filthy rags would at least allow her to pass unnoticed; she was well aware of how the underclass was invisible to those in authority. Girding her rags around her and wishing she had some shoes, she set off down the road.

It took the rest of the day before she reached the city and as she passed through one of the villages on the way she had to endure a heavy beating from a local constable who saw it as his duty to throw her out of town. As she made her way through the outskirts, her first thought was to head for the Pussy Cat Club, but when she got there she found it boarded up; evidently it had been raided at the same time as the compound. With a shudder she realised the extent of the raid; none of her usual haunts would be safe. There was nowhere she could go. Indeed, now that she had got to the city, she would have to leave again as soon as possible. Wondering who or what was left of the movement, she carried on down to the docks trying to remember the Ming-Xing's schedule. As luck would have it, there she was riding at anchor out in the bay, maybe two hundred metres out from the jetty. She couldn't, of course, afford a boat, so she waited until it was completely dark before finding a quiet spot where she could slip into the water and shed as many clothes as she dared before striking out for the ship. Her slow steady swimming style made few ripples and nobody noticed but, in her bone-weary state, the two hundred metres seemed forever, and it took an immense effort of will to keep going. She was almost there when she was spotted.

"You there, in the water, come any closer and I'll shoot!" the boatswain's voice rang out.

"It's me, don't shoot." Xui-Li stopped swimming and raised her arm to wave. "Help me up, please, help me up."

The boatswain fetched and held out a lantern, which threw some light on where Xui-Li was treading water.

"Madam Hong! What on earth!" The boatswain was quick witted enough to keep her voice down. Seeing Xui-Li swimming in the water could not be good news. "Xiang, fetch the rope ladder at once. Quickly now!" she called out behind her. Then, without further ado, she took off her tunic and dove into the water, surfacing next to Xui-Li. Together they made their way over to the side of the ship where Xiang was lowering a rope ladder.

Even with the boatswain and Xiang helping it was an effort to climb up the steep sides of the ship and, when she finally made it to the deck, she collapsed in a sodden heap.

"Make sail, make sail now!" Xui-Li commanded. "Quickly, I want to be well away before dawn."

It says much about the crew of the Ming-Xing that, as the boatswain roused them, they didn't stand around asking questions, rather they set to and within an hour the Ming-Xing was heading out to sea, just another junk plying its trade up and down the coast. There were clothes and food aboard and the swim had washed off the worst of the dirt, so Xui-Li was beginning to feel human again. They set a course to take them about five kilometres from the city and maybe one kilometre from the shore where, on Xui-Li's order, they hove to. With the ship riding gently on the swell she called the crew together.

"We've been betrayed," Xui-Li announced. "The movement and everything connected to it is in danger. Most of our leaders have been captured and we must assume they will talk. We have to assume as well that the British will come looking for us. They may not know about the Ming-Xing yet but we'll have to assume they will soon."

"By looking for us you mean looking for you," Xiang said. "You're the one they're after, isn't that so?"

"They may be looking for me but they'll arrest anyone found with me and that's why I want you to slip the Ming-Xing into a quiet cove and drop me off. Boatswain, you know this coast better than anybody; where would you suggest?"

"Drop you off, Ma'am? It's not my place to question orders but if you think the crew of the Ming-Xing are going to abandon you now, well, that's not the way we do things around here," the boatswain stated flatly. "Anyway, you won't last a minute if we drop you off; on foot or on a horse you'll be picked up at the first road block; here on the Ming-Xing we can have you in and out of any harbour you want before anyone's the wiser. As for knowing about the Ming-Xing, since when could any round-eye tell one junk from another?"

"Look, Ladies..." Xui-Li started.

"Don't you 'Lady' me!" Xiang said angrily. "We're no ladies; we're the crew of the Ming-Xing, your crew. If there's fighting to be done then we're the girls to do it and we're not going to abandon you just because those landlubbers have let you down. We'd follow you in to hell if only you'd let us."

"That will do, that will do," the boatswain cut across. "There'll be no subordination on the Ming-Xing and that's an order!"

Xiang stood obviously fuming but the boatswain was not to be trifled with, and she held her voice. Xui-Li looked around the crew. Xiang wasn't the only one with a defiant look on her face. If she were going to rebuild, then this was as good a place to start as any for she surely wouldn't find any crew more loyal or more useful in a tight spot. Indeed, the boatswain was right, as long as she kept out of sight in port she could use the Ming-Xing to travel up and down the coast and Major Strictland would never find her. First of all, however, she needed funds and she needed news and she knew just where she could find both of those.

"Thank you, thank you all of you," she said simply. "Now, boatswain, would you be so kind as to set a course for Li-Nau. There's a decent wind; we should be able to reach there before dawn."

"As you wish, Ma'am." The boatswain turned to the rest of the crew. "Come along now, you heard what the captain said. Let's get these sails set." And, as she relaxed in her cabin as the Ming-Xing made her way through the waves, Xui-Li felt for the first time since General Chang's coup as if she was moving forward again.

Xui-Li had always been careful to keep the two sides of her life separate, and her businesses were hidden behind numerous front companies so that, when they got to Li-Nau, she could assume one of her many identities, call in at a local office and in no time she had plenty of funds to hand. Rebuilding the rebel movement was going to be another matter. For a start she had no idea how widespread the news of her fall from grace would have spread. She couldn't count on anyone's loyalty outside of the crew. She would have to go carefully, rebuild step by step until she knew how the land lay.