My Splendid Concubine (57 page)

“
Robert,” Parkes said, “these are difficult times. Even I must do without my wife and family. I miss her, but she is safer in Hong Kong. If you care for this woman, why is she still here? Send her to Hong Kong or Macau with your servant.”

“
It looks like I have no choice.”

“
Precisely. You are too valuable to end up dead. Take this as a direct order. You are forbidden to leave the compound unless you are with an armed guard. We cannot trust anyone but our people at this point. Send this woman and your servant away.”

Robert started to open his mouth.

Parkes shook his head and looked as if he were disappointed. “No one will hear from my lips what we talked about, Robert. I’m not the sort for gossip or rumors. You should know that by now.”

Robert brooded the rest of the day trying to figure out how he was going to get word to Guan-jiah and Ayaou. He hoped that a lull in the fighting would provide an opportunity.

Regrettably, it turned out that Robert was correct about the shoo
ting of the fifty innocent Chinese. Attacks against the city started coming day and night. The streets became extremely dangerous. After several days of confinement in the barracks and fear for Ayaou’s safety, he decided to risk sneaking out.

After making his decision, he didn
’t want to give his plans away by appearing suspicious. Anyone could be watching.

“
Robert,” a British captain asked, “is something bothering you? Lately, you act as if you have a lot on your mind. Did something happen with your family?” Robert knew the officer was talking about Ireland. They had played chess and shared stories of their growing up. His name was Kenton, and he’d spent most of his youth in boarding schools. His parents were important people. His father was in parliament and owned large estates.

“
It’s nothing, Kent. A tooth hurts when I chew. I don’t want anyone here to touch it. What am I to do? “

“
I understand,” Kenton replied. “I don’t trust the battalion surgeon either. I have heard some grisly stories about him ripping out teeth when the job didn’t need to be done. If you can hold off, I suggest a trip to Hong Kong to take care of it.”

“
That’s exactly what I was thinking. How about a game of chess?” Robert thought this would throw any suspicion off him if others saw them in the common room playing a game. He planned to slip away later that night.

To avoid the sentries and other spying eyes, Robert climbed onto the roof of the large building where he was quartered. He then jumped to the next building. It was risky but the Chinese style of the city lent itself to this kind of stealth.

Most of the str
eets were narrow twisting alleys and the tiled roofs hung over the streets and were close together. He knew that the haphazard design was intentional. The Chinese believed in spirits and ghosts who were only capable of walking in straight lines. That was why the Chinese had built the city with a maze of twisting streets—to keep ghosts from getting into the city.

The
first time he jumped from one roof to another, he thought he was going to fall two stories to his death. Running on the brittle, smooth tiles and leaping out into empty space toward the other roof put a scare into him. He landed on the other side and managed to keep from sliding off. However, a few loose tiles clattered to the street below. He held his breath and waited to be discovered. When nothing happened, he moved on.

While he scurried like a monkey across the city
’s roofs, there were heavy rockets being fired into the city. From his high vantage point, he watched as arcs of fire and sparks revealed the trails the missiles followed as they dropped inside the city walls setting off a bright flash, then the rumble of an explosion. Dancing spots of light impaired his vision and made him feel helpless. When that happened, he stopped until his night vision returned.

After an hour, he thought God might be on his side and that was why no one had seen him. He was sure that if a British or French patrol spotted him leaping from building to building, he
’d be shot like a squirrel in a tree.

“
Halt, I say,” a voice said from a narrow street Robert had just crossed by leaping from roof to roof. He dropped to the tiles and did not move. His heart hammered like a drum. The air was cold, but he started sweating.

“
What is it, Fairfax? Were you seeing Chinese ghosts again?”

“
No, I saw something up there between those buildings. It was suspicious like.”

The sentries fell quiet. Robert knew they were waiting for him to move or make a noise. He hugged the roof wanting to become part of it. He could smell the fear in his sweat.

“There’s nothing there, Fairfax. You’re seeing things again.”

“
It was one of those Chinese spirits, Wetherby. I know it was.”

“
You’re daft. Let’s finish our rounds. We’ll be relieved soon. You can report your suspicions then. If you do, the lieutenant will probably order us to go on the roofs and risk breaking bones searching about. If I was you, I’d keep my mouth shut.”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Next time you see one of those ghosts of yours, shoot it, Fairfax. Then we’ll find out if it has flesh and bones or is just your imagination.”

Robert tensed as he listened to their voices fade. Once he was sure they were gone, he crawled over the rooftop and down the other side. His legs were so shaky he was afraid to walk.

He started to doubt his ability to reach Ayaou. Next time, the sentries might shoot.

Chapter 33

When he reached the house, Robert lay on a roof across the street and studied the area to make sure none of Parkes’s people was watching.

He was getting
good at this skulking about and almost chuckled but bit his lower lip to keep his mouth sealed. When Shao-mei had been alive, there had been attempts on all three of them. He had to be careful.

Thinking about Ayaou and Shao-mei sobered him. He closed his
eyes, rested his face against the cool roof tiles, and remembered the time Ayaou had cut his hair and Shao-mei had teased him. He could still hear the hissing sound Shao-mei made before she said, “Oh, Ayaou, look what you have done to the back of his head!”

Tears filled his eyes, but he
smiled from the memory. That haircut had been a precious moment he didn’t want to forget.

He was not going to risk climbing down while in this mood
, so he stayed on the roof longer as he struggled with the sorrow.

Once
calm, he found a way off the roof to the street. Dear God, he thought, I hope you understand how much I miss Shao-mei. I know it was a sin to live with and want two women, but you know I never used her in that way.

Taking a calming
breath, he dashed across the street and discovered the door to the house locked. He knocked and listened to the silence hoping to hear Ayaou’s answering scratch.

He jumped as
rockets hit the city sending blast waves through the crooked streets with an invisible force. The ground trembled, and he cursed himself for being a fool. He gritted his teeth and knocked again.

Maybe he should return to the barracks.
What if Guan-jiah and Ayaou were dead?

Then he heard a scratching from the other side of the door
, and it matched the code used in Ningpo after Shao-mei’s death. He scratched back and Ayaou’s muffled voice cried out in surprise. As he waited for the door to be unlocked, he expected a squad of British Marines to come and arrest him.

What if the person on the other side wasn
’t her? What if this was a trap? He attempted seeing through the darkness engulfing the street. Everyone was smarter than he was. He was a fool taking a chance like this. He lifted his revolver and pointed the weapon at the door.

When it opened, he saw Ayaou. Pushing past her, he
locked the door behind him and leaned over with hands braced against knees to laugh until tears streamed down his face.

Once he was calm,
he studied her and saw the dark circles under her eyes. She had grown thinner. Then he saw Guan-jiah standing in a corner holding a revolver. As usual, Guan-jiah’s hand was shaking.

“
We were about to go and look for you,” she said, and then started to cry. “We thought you were dead.”

Robert looked at Guan-jiah, who had eyes the size of gold so
vereigns. “It is true, Master. You have not been here for days. We thought you were dead. I did not know what to do. We were running out of rice, which is all the food we have left.”

“
I’m alive today,” Robert said, “but I can’t make promises for tomorrow.”

“
I will go to my room. If you want tea later, I will have it ready.” Guan-jiah slipped the pistol into a wide sleeve and left.

He
watched his servant disappear into the cupboard-sized space where he slept. Once Guan-jiah was gone, he turned to Ayaou. “Never leave the house, Ayaou.” He cupped her chin in a hand. “You stay here and let me find you. Promise. Guan-jiah will find food without your help.”

She nodded obediently, but
Robert had doubts. He wasn’t sure the message telegraphing itself from her eyes agreed with what he wanted her to do.

“
Guan-jiah, did you hear what I said?” He aimed the words toward his servant’s room. “That goes for you too. I know you can hear me. You have the ears of a bat. Don’t go out for anything but food and water and make sure Ayaou stays inside. Only go out during the day. Most of the attacks take place at night. Also, stay away from the city’s walls and gates. That’s where the fighting takes place. I don’t want either of you getting shot or beheaded.”

“
Yes, Master,” Guan-jiah’s muffled voice replied.

Just the thought of the risks the eunuch was taking caused R
obert’s throat to thicken with emotion. He valued his servant’s loyalty. Guan-jiah didn’t have to stay. He could quit and go home to the safety and comfort of his family.

“
Come, Robert,” Ayaou said, her impatience evident. She took his hand and pulled him toward their room. The house felt deserted as if no one lived there. The rooms were empty of furniture. The floors and walls, however much Guan-jiah or Ayaou had scrubbed them, still looked filthy. It wasn’t where he wanted to spend a night with the woman he loved.

Once in their room, h
is greedy hands explored every inch of her body. Her hunger was as strong as his was. They made frantic love, but it ended too quickly.

Afterwards, h
e heard a creaking sound in the hallway as if someone had stepped on a loose board. Robert disliked the lack of privacy in this house. The bedroom door couldn’t be locked, and the gaps between the door’s planks made it possible for a spy to watch and remain unseen.

Guan-jiah was up to his skulking again watching and l
istening to them making love.

“
When you are not with me,” she said, in a voice devoid of energy, “my dreams are always about you dead. I fear sleep.” Her exhaustion was visible, her skin wasn’t as radiant as it had been, and stress lines were growing from her eyes like spider webs.

He couldn
’t tell her he was living in the same state of fear. He dreaded speaking, because his voice might betray him. To compensate, he pulled her close and held her. Such contact had aroused him when they lived in Ningpo. Now it did nothing. The desire that had driven Robert since first meeting Ayaou had fled, and he hated its absence. Life had become uncertain. They couldn’t even be sure of the next moment.

Near midnight, an explosion, much larger than the rockets, shook the house and woke them. Robert held Ayaou’s trembling body and listened to the sounds of bugles and drums calling the British and French troops to assemble.

“
I have to go,” he said. He tried to get off the mat, but Ayaou wouldn’t let go. “Ayaou, I’m needed.” He managed to pry her off and started to pull his clothes on.

Ayaou walked to him on her knees and
wrapped her arms around his legs to hold on. “Do not go,” she said. “Do not leave me again.”

“
I can’t stay, Ayaou. The commissioner needs me.” He tried to pry her arms from his legs so he could finish dressing, but she hung onto him. He moved toward the door dragging her with him.

“
No!” She wailed. “You will die!”

He didn
’t know what to do. He stared at the top of her head but couldn’t see her face. She was pressed into the space between his knees. Her arms were stubborn ropes.

“
Do you want me to go with you, Master?” Guan-jiah came into the bedroom. “I have my pistol. I will fight.” The eunuch was fully dressed.

“
No, stay and look after Ayaou. Keep her safe.” He gestured at her. “Guan-jiah, remove her. I can’t walk like this.”