Burning Tigress (57 page)

Fortunately, Joanna had spent much of her childhood riding out one parent's intemperate mood after another and so was an excellent horsewoman. She managed to keep her seat and firmly, if a bit unsteadily, bring Octavia to a stop. Then she was off the heaving animal and doing her best to soothe the creature while praying the damage wasn't fatal. Her father did not pour money into damaged horses.

"It's nothing serious," she soothed as she began to gingerly feel about the horse's wrenched leg. "Just a strained shoulder. Truly. We'll have you up and about in no time."

But, of course, first she had to get the horse down. Meaning down in their barn, at home, inside the foreign concession of Shanghai, where the family's head groom would pronounce Octavia's eventual fate.

Joanna looked around, seeing nothing but open fields shielded by a few scattered trees and a long stretch of empty road. She frowned, mentally counting how many times "no" had gone through her head since she'd left. Exactly how far was she from Shanghai's gate? How long ago had she bribed the gatekeeper and outrun her maid?

She wasn't sure. But she knew it would take five times as long to limp poor Octavia back home. Guilt ate at her as she began the long, slow walk. Even the trees, growing thicker now, seemed to loom over her with disapproval.

Joanna sighed, seeing now that her mother's second prediction had come true: She was a spoiled miss with no thought to the consequences of her actions. Except, of course, that was the real reason she had come out here this day—because there
were
no consequences to her actions... ever. She was her father's showpiece, a hostess for his parties and a trophy kept in reserve for whenever he chose her husband. And because she was rich in this foreign land, she could do just about anything she wanted—within reason—and suffer no consequences whatsoever.

If she broke something, the servants replaced it. If she hurt someone, her father's first boy sent an expensive gift to make amends. If she acted wildly and impetuously, then there were maids and grooms aplenty to surround and protect her. Even now she knew that she would not truly have to walk the entire way home. Eventually she would catch up with her maid and a conveyance would be summoned. Naturally there would be bribes aplenty to cover the fact that an English foreigner had escaped to the proscribed territory, but that was simply money out of a never-ending coffer. It mattered little if Joanna's antics required a hundred or a thousand pounds—it was all the same to her.

She wondered if it was even possible for her to do something so heinous that her father's first boy couldn't buy her out of it. And if there was... would she do it? She immediately discarded murder. She wasn't so desperate to attract her father's attention that she would act violently toward anyone. Theft? The average Chinese was poor enough without Joanna taking from them. That would be cruel. And as for stealing from someone who could afford the loss... well, that was just silly.

There was always wanton licentiousness. She had seen a few of her friends choose that route. It relieved the boredom, if nothing else. But truly, she simply hadn't the inclination.

She would just have to support the Boxers in their rebellion against the evil Qin Empire. That was, ostensibly, why she'd chosen this particular route outside of Shanghai and then outrun her maid: She had overheard the groomsmen talking about a group of revolutionaries who were hiding out here. If only she could find them, she would offer her services. If nothing else she could supply blankets and foodstuffs. And if she couldn't hand them a translation of Mr. Franklin's writings, at least she could discuss with them some of that great American's ideas. She'd read all the great writers: Franklin, Harriet Beecher Stowe, even the French philosopher Robespierre. But there was only so much theory one could learn without yearning to put it into practice. That was why she was out here today. She was searching for a practice to fit with all her ideals.

Assuming, of course, that they would even speak to a white woman. That was always a risk in China. But fortunately the revolutionaries would by definition have more open-minded ideas. And probably they'd be desperate for just the type of aid she could give.

But she first had to find them.

After getting Octavia home. After the poor creature healed up. And after she arranged for another excuse to make her way outside the gate. Assuming of course, that the revolutionaries were really out here in the first place.

Except... they had apparently just found her. She didn't quite know when it happened; one moment she'd been walking Octavia; the next moment she looked up to find herself surrounded by the very men for whom she had been searching.

Or at least, she hoped these were revolutionaries. Right now they just seemed to be five rather dirty looking Chinese. Better to proceed cautiously, even if they all wore the red shirts of the Boxers and white pants now gone gray with dirt.

"Hello, new friends," she said in Shanghainese to the men surrounding her. "My horse has gone lame, and I would appreciate some help. You will be well paid for your efforts." Then she put on her most winning smile. Truthfully, it made her stomach clench whenever she did it. She called it her "empty-headed miss" look. But it was highly effective at times, especially around men.

Unfortunately, it was having no effect on these rather smelly Chinese. Normally such smells wouldn't bother her in the least. English or Chinese, men who labored tended to have an odor. But these men stank even more than usual.

One of them stepped forward, his heavy northern accent making him difficult to understand. "We don't want foreign gold."

That was unusual, she thought with a frown. She thought
everyone
wanted English gold. "I can pay in Chinese coin as well," she said smoothly. "If one of you would please ride to Shanghai, I am sure my maid will be somewhere on the road." When they didn't respond, she gestured to a break in the trees, where she saw at least one thick-limbed Chinese horse. Perhaps there were more. "That is your horse, isn't it?"

"I'd rather you be my horse!" one of them said with a leer.

Joanna paused, positive she could not have understood correctly. But when the largest man spit at her feet in disgust, while the others laughed not so politely, she began to rethink her conclusion. Had she just fallen afoul of brigands?

She grimaced at her own stupidity. Well, of course she had! Obviously these were not honest gentlemen intent on helping her. Unless, of course, she was right with her first guess. These might truly be the revolutionaries.

She smiled again, trying to appear more relaxed than she felt.

"Are you gentlemen Boxers? I have come most specifically to find you. I wish to aid your cause."

One man made a fist, then moved it in a very lewd way. "You seek Boxers?" he asked, and all his companions laughed.

She sighed. "I seek the Fists of Righteous Harmony. But if you men are not part of that
honorable
group, then perhaps I have erred. If you will excuse me." She tried to push past them, but they did not budge. Indeed, a small, wiry man with big fists pushed her roughly backward.

"What do you know of the Fists?" he demanded.

"I know they are wonderful, great men seeking to overthrow an oppressive government to gain freedom for all." She knew it was a risk saying such things aloud, but she had seen something through a gap in one of the men's shirts: a simple amulet with the crude outline of a man's fist. He was definitely a Boxer. Which meant all she needed to do was appeal to his political ideals. "I know, too, that the Righteous Fists have amulets that protect them from bullets. Like that one." She smiled, lifting up her hands in appeal. "I want to become a Red Lantern." She named the women who supported the Boxers.

The men stared at each other, obviously stunned that she knew so much. In truth, she was only repeating what she had overheard in servants' gossip and whispered confidences, but from the looks on their faces, she had guessed correctly.

And then, almost as one, all of them broke out laughing. Loud, mocking guffaws hit her like hard, cold rocks. "No ghost devil can shine red. It would kill them."

She swallowed, annoyed but not surprised by their prejudice. "Let me try. I will show you."

They laughed even harder. Their faces became crueler and more lewd with the sound. "We will try you. I think—"

"I have money," she interrupted, her voice rising in her nervousness. Clearly these were not the people she sought. "Do you wish money? I have only English money on me, but you are welcome to that. If only you will assist me to return to my maid, we will gladly give you much more in Chinese money." She held out her purse.

The biggest man slapped her hand, knocking the little pouch to the ground. "No devil money." He said the words, and apparently he meant them, but one of his friends wasted no time in snatching up the spilled coins.

"Then just what do you want?"

"Dead devils."

She pulled back in confusion. She understood his words, of course. The Chinese had many different names for the white people, and none of them were very complimentary. But why would they want to kill her? "I'm nothing here. A stupid girl, not even married. Killing me won't get you anything but more foreign devils with guns." She shifted, trying to look earnest. "I swear to you: Let me go, and I will convince my father to leave this country." It was a silly bargain, one she knew they wouldn't take. But she was rapidly running out of things to offer. She needed to buy time until she thought of something else.

Except they weren't really interested in the delay. The nearest one—a tall, thin man who smelled of garlic—grabbed her arm, yanking her sideways. She fought immediately, but her other arm wouldn't move; she had been grabbed and someone was yanking on her clothing.

She screamed. Indeed, she put all her breath and power into a sound that might carry all the way to Shanghai. But even that was cut off as she was hit—
hit!
—in the stomach. She gagged, her knees buckling.

Then another blow found her head, reverberating in her skull and fogging her mind over as...

As terrible things began to happen.

Then they stopped. They just stopped.

Joanna opened her eyes to see a dark whirlwind hurling her attackers everywhere. It was like a tornado—a dark, swirling force that picked up people and tossed them aside like so much paper.

Except that wasn't possible. God didn't work that way. And yet...

Joanna blinked, sliding backward and away in the dirt as she tugged her torn clothing together. What was she seeing?

A man. A Chinese man in dark pants and a white shirt. With a crude cap that flew off as he moved, revealing his bald head. He was fighting her attackers, but in such a way that she could barely comprehend his movements.

She had seen boxing. It was one of the sports her father enjoyed. But this was different. Her rescuer fought with a flat, open hand. And he used his feet. His hands chopped like axes; his kicks were like hammer blows. Next to him, Joanna's attackers looked like children's toys, blown over by the wind.

All was over in a moment. Her attackers scrambled away, running or limping as best they could. Within moments Joanna heard their horses thundering off in the distance. But her eyes remained fixed upon her rescuer. She still had difficulty seeing him as a man rather than a force. Especially as he spun toward her, his face tightened into an anger as dark as his black eyes.

Then he spoke—a low rumble in Mandarin Chinese. But she didn't know that dialect, and so she tried to ask him if he spoke Shanghainese. If he could tell her who he was. An angel? A Chinese magician? A revolutionary? They were ridiculous questions, but it didn't matter anyway as her mouth would not function.

And why was she shaking?

He looked her up and down, his gaze missing nothing. So powerful was his stare that she would have shrunk backward had she the strength. Instead all he did was bring her attention to the ugly scrape on her leg, another on her arm, and a raw gash on her chin. Her favorite russet habit was torn in a dozen places, and her honey-brown hair kept falling across her vision, bringing dirt and dead leaves with it.

She was a mess, and yet she couldn't focus on anything other than the man before her. He was stepping away from her, and she let out a sound—a terribly frightened, almost animalistic sound that she couldn't believe came from her own throat. But it did, though it made little difference to him. He simply kept moving. It was a moment before she realized he was walking to a rolled bundle of cloth on the ground nearby. He apparently just wanted to retrieve his sack, and his hat that lay near it.

She watched him pick up his things, his movements beautifully graceful, his gait a kind of rolling, balanced movement she had seen only on seasoned sailors. And yet his stride was different somehow; he moved in a way wholly his own.

She had questions, but still no voice to ask them. So she remained silent, though her muscles began to ache at the way she was curled into herself. Then, as she watched, the man unrolled a blanket from beneath his heavy pack. It was thin and coarse—a poor man's blanket—and yet she'd never felt better than when he wrapped it around her shoulders.

It smelled of him, she realized, and she inhaled deeply to further hold his power within her lungs. Her conscious mind identified Chinese herbs and the scent of fresh weather, though what exactly that meant, she wasn't sure. But mostly she closed her eyes and felt calm slip into her soul, a quietness she rarely experienced.