Shan

 

I get back to the camp with assorted items of horse harness just before sunset.  Hao Meng arrives a little later, flushed with success, leading two horses.

“Did Young Master Zhao sort out the carpenters?” he asks.

“Haven’t seen him,” I say.

“The carpenters have probably got him.  They’re a chatty lot.  Mostly telling you how they can’t do things.”

I grin, because this is a fairly accurate assessment.  The horses look good.  Tomorrow we’ll take them and fetch the wagon over. 

As we gather for the evening meal, I look round for Jinhai.  He’s not there.  Yao Lin comes over with a worried face.  “Have you seen Ah-Jing?  He’s not back yet.”

The first premonition of disaster hits me.  Hao Meng hears and turns with a look on his face that I haven’t seen before.  “Check the wagons,” he says tersely.

Jinhai’s nowhere in camp.  We extend the search, but no-one’s seen him since he left with us earlier in the afternoon.  The streets are empty.  The drinking places and pleasure-houses are full.

“Something’s happened,” I say and Hao Meng nods.

“I’ll start searching likely places,” he says. “Check out the carpenters and then go to police headquarters and report him missing.  The faster the better.”

I don’t stop to argue.  I bridle Swift and leap aboard without bothering about the saddle.  The carpenters, concerned, tell me Jinhai left some time before, and direct me to police headquarters.  The compound’s large, surrounded by a high wall with a businesslike gate, flanked by two torches.  Two men are on guard.  They turn towards me as I ride up, their hands on their sword-hilts.  “I have to see your captain,” I say urgently, “A friend’s gone missing.  I think he’s in danger.”

“Description?”

“Young man, very good-looking.  Left camp some hours ago, hasn’t returned.”

They look at one another.  “Wait here,” says one.  He turns and disappears through the gate.  Another man comes out to take his place.  They’re very well-organized, I think, in the small space of my mind which isn’t totally taken up with worry.  My heart’s pounding.

The guard comes back after a few minutes.  “Come with me.  You’ll have to leave your sword.”

I follow him in, leaving horse and sword at the gatehouse.  There are a number of huts in the compound, together with a stable.  We march across the central yard, which is lit by torches, to a single hut standing by itself.  The guard knocks and a voice says, “Come in!”  He goes in and I hear the muffled sound of voices.  The guard reappears.  “Go in,” he says.

The hut’s divided in two by a wooden partition, behind which I can see the foot of a bed.  In front there’s a desk with a man standing by it.  I begin to say, “Captain, please excuse my….”  And then I stop.

The captain of police is Ren Baiyi.  I blink and look again, but it’s definitely Ren Baiyi.   He looks flabbergasted, staring at me as if I’m an apparition from the underworld.  Then he gulps and says, “C-Commander…”  I stride forward and seize him by the shoulders.  “Jinhai’s gone missing.  We’ve got to find him.”

His hands come up and seize my forearms.  “No, it’s all right, he’s here.  He’s safe.”

I feel so weak with relief that I have to support myself by leaning on the desk.  Ren Baiyi says, “You’re alive too?  You’re both alive!  I can’t believe it.  I’m so glad!  We all hoped… but there wasn’t any news.  What happened to you?”

“It’s a very long story, but the most important thing is – what happened to Jinhai?”

“Slave-traders got him.  We’ve been on their trail for a couple of weeks and we finally got a lead and followed them.  We caught four men in the act tonight.  Jinhai’s back here.”  He indicates the wooden partition. 

Jinhai’s lying there as limp as a corpse, eyes shut, motionless.  “What’s wrong with him?”  I ask in alarm.

“Drugged.  We’ve seen this before – the drug makes you unable to move for several hours, but we think he can hear what we’re saying.  Talk to him, sir.”

His face is so white.  His eyelashes are like shadows, his lips slightly parted.

“Um – I’ll leave you alone,” says Ren Baiyi, tactfully disappearing.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I lean forward and carefully lift Jinhai into my arms, holding him against my chest.  “Dear heart,” I murmur into his hair, “I’m here.  You’re safe.  I’ll look after you.”

His limbs are unresponsive, but under his eyelashes, tears gather and start to roll down his face.  I kiss them away and rock him gently in my arms till they stop.  “Listen sweetheart.  I’m going to go and talk to Ren Baiyi but I’ll be right back and I’ll stay with you tonight.”

Ren Baiyi’s at his desk, pretending to work.

“You’re the Captain here?  Congratulations.  It’s a big job.”

“Thanks.  General Chen put it my way,” he says, smiling.

There’s a wine flask and two cups on the desk.  He pours and we drink.

“Tell me about these slave-traders,” I say.

“They’ve been operating here for two or three weeks, mostly taking boys and girls to sell as slaves or into brothels.  We managed to rescue half a dozen kids last week and they gave us the lead we followed tonight.  We were following a particular individual.  He met up with three others and when we caught them they’d got Jinhai and were…“  He stops and coughs, looking at me.  “Attempted rape,” he says, then on seeing my expression, he goes on hurriedly, “Jinhai’s fine.  I had a doctor look at him.  We got there in time.  Anyway, the guys we caught tonight are just thugs.  There’s someone behind them but we don’t know who.  Perhaps Jinhai can give us a clue when he comes round.  What are you two doing here anyway?”

“We’re working with a caravan, heading for the capital.  Hao Meng’s the caravan-master – we’re camped up in the north end of town.”

“I’ll send a message telling them you’re both here and safe.  I’m going out to interrogate those men in a moment.  You’d better spend the night here so you can take care of Jinhai – I’ll bunk down with my second-in-command.”

“Thanks,” I say, smiling. “But don’t go around calling me Commander any more.  It’s Zhan Shuren.  And Jinhai’s name’s Zhao Jing.”

“I’ll try and remember,” he says with a grin.  “Feel free to finish the wine.”

He was always a useful guy.

There’s everything we need in the hut:  small stove, kettle, tea-making stuff, a large jar of water, washing gear.  I pour some water into a basin and go back to Jinhai.  Sitting on the edge of the bed, I start to wipe his face and neck with a damp cloth.

“Ren Baiyi told me what happened.  But he says you’re all right and you’ll be able to move in a few hours.  This must be very frightening, but I’m staying with you tonight and you’ll be better in the morning.  Ren Baiyi and I surprised one another, but at least it was a pleasant surprise.  To tell you the truth, it was good to see a familiar face.”  I move on to his arms and hands, pulling back the quilt.  “I’m going to make you more comfortable, so hang in there.” I pull off his boots, remove the boot-knife in its sheath, and take off his outer garments.  His undergarments are torn.  It was obviously a near thing.  I’m suddenly filled with a killing rage. 

Having washed Jinhai’s feet and legs, I pull the quilt back up, just as a knock comes on the door.  Without thinking, I snap “Come in,” as if these were my quarters and I the commanding officer.  I give Jinhai a pat and go out to find a tall lad in the black police uniform, carrying a tray of food.  “Captain thought you’d be hungry, sir,” he says, putting the tray down.

“Thanks.  He thinks of everything.”

He grins.  “Enjoy,” he says, leaving.

I didn’t have time to eat before all this happened, so the food’s very welcome.  Jinhai must be hungry too, but there’s nothing I can do about that.  I dispose of most of the food, reserving a plate for later, and then return to my patient.  It’s a wide bed, so I get on one side and carefully pull Jinhai into his usual sleeping position, his back against my chest.  It’s a while before I fall asleep.  My thoughts are divided between anguish at Jinhai’s condition, relief that he’s safe, and a murderous rage against the people who did this.

As daylight starts to break, I feel movement next to me.  Jinhai has turned round and his eyes are open.  “Shan,” he says.

I hug him so tightly that he gasps and says, “Don’t, there’ll be an accident.  I’m desperate for a leak.”

“Just a moment.” 

The doctor’s left a urine flask next to the bed.  I grab it.

“You’ll have to help,” he says, a shadow of the old teasing note in his voice.  “My arms and legs aren’t working properly yet.”

We manage that without any accidents and I help Jinhai lean back.  He sighs with relief.  “I thought I was going to burst.  Could you get me something to drink?”

I bring him a cup of water and he drinks it down in one go.  “How are you feeling?”  I ask.

“Weak.  I started getting pins and needles in my arms and legs about an hour ago and then I found I could open my eyes and now it’s gradually getting better.  I don’t know what they used on me but I never want to go through that again.  I could hear everything you were all saying but I couldn’t move a muscle.”  Then he says in a low voice, “I was so scared.  It reminded me of what happened in the Palace back then.”

He turns his face into my chest.  I hold him wordlessly, silently cursing Xu Yating and the slave-traders and everybody else who has put him through all this misery.

“It’s this damned face of mine,” he says, his voice muffled, “It did for my mother and now it seems to attract every pervert in the Empire.”

“It’s the face I want to see every morning when I wake up.  So stop grumbling.”

 I can feel him chuckling.  He’s still as weak as a mouse, his arms have no strength at all.  But he looks up, smiling and says, “Ironic, isn’t it?  Here we are at last in a real bed and I’m absolutely incapable.”

“I don’t care.  It’s enough to hold you.”

I’m lying.  For days now we’ve had to hold back, take care not to touch, suppress our constant desire for one another, arouse no suspicion.  It’s been torture.  It’s still torture.

As daylight grows, we eat the rest of the food and lie snugly together till orders start to ring out in the yard.  Jinhai’s feeling stronger, but I still have to help him dress.  I’m strapping his knife to his leg when there’s a knock on the door and Ren Baiyi comes in. 

“Ah-Yi!”  Jinhai lurches to his feet and staggers towards Ren Baiyi, who hugs him, laughing.

“Ah-Hai, it's so good to see you.  How are you feeling?”

“Still a bit unsteady.  I couldn’t believe it when I heard your voice.”

“Sit down before you fall down,” Ren Baiyi says, steering him into a chair.   The door opens to admit the tall young man who brought food before.  He’s carrying food-baskets again.  The tempting smell makes my stomach growl.

“This is my second-in-command, Zi Wuying.  Ah-Ying, meet my old army comrades, Zhan Shuren and Zhao Jing.”

“Pleasure,” says Zi Wuying, putting the baskets down and taking off the lids.  Steam rises.  “Come and have breakfast.”

“We questioned the men we caught last night but we didn’t get much out of them,” Ren Baiyi says, sitting down.  “Do you remember anything that could help us?”

Jinhai frowns.  “I didn’t get away from the carpenters till it was already dark.  There was nobody about.  I heard footsteps behind me but before I could do anything they grabbed me and bundled me into an alley.  There were four of them.  They poured stuff down my throat and I just couldn’t move.  I could hear them and feel what they were doing but there was nothing I could do about it.”  He stops and takes a breath. 

“Did they say anything?” Ren Baiyi asks.

“One of them was giving the orders.  He said the boss told them they could have fun with me.  Teach me a lesson.”

“Teach you a lesson?” says Zi Wuying.  “Have you upset anyone since you got here?”

Jinhai looks at me.   “Zhong Kun!” he says. “Or that guy he was with.”

“Zhong Kun?”

“Day before yesterday two men turned up at our camp.  One of them was called Zhong Kun, a merchant.  He had a guy with him who came on to me in front of everybody.  I retaliated.”

“How?”

“Kneed him in the groin.”

“What did he look like?”

“Tallish, youngish, pock-marks on his face.  Fancy clothes, waving a fan.”

It’s the turn of Ren Baiyi and Zi Wuying to look at one another.

“You know that person?” I ask.

“We do.  His name’s Pan Tai and he runs the biggest pharmacy in The Market.  We suspect him of dealing in opiates, but we haven’t been able to come up with any proof.”

Jinhai says slowly, “I was thinking about what kind of drug could paralyze someone.  It wasn’t an opiate – I’d have recognized the smell and taste and it would have put me to sleep.  It must be something like snake venom.  Not everyone can make that kind of a drug - you’d have to be a real expert to get the dosage right or you’d kill your victim.  But if this guy runs a pharmacy, he’d have the necessary skill in-house.  How many people work for him?”

“Half a dozen.”  Ren Baiyi looks at his second-in-command.  “Let’s put the squeeze on them all.  And we’ll search the pharmacy.  What should we be looking for?”

“If I’m right, it’ll be in liquid form.  Small bottles.  And it’ll be locked away.  It had a bitter smell and taste.  I can probably identify it for you.”

“No need,” I say, “Just threaten to make the pharmacists drink it.”

Everybody grins.

“First,” says Ren Baiyi, “I need to get one of the thugs we’ve locked up to admit that Pan Tai’s involved.  I can’t just march in and demand to search the place.  So we’ll do that first.  You guys going to hang around?”

“You bet,” Jinhai says.

After breakfast, we’re leaving the hut and heading towards the jail when there’s a commotion at the gate and Yao Lin dashes in, red-faced and panting.  He sees us, stops and gasps, “Xiaxia’s gone missing!”