My Splendid Concubine (88 page)

“
That town could become a trap,” Anwar said. “There might even be Taipings there.”

“
I’ve thought of that. What other choice have we?”

Anwar gestured toward a large grove of trees halfway down the hill and off to the right.
“We camp there. It would be better to stay in the open. Those walls don’t look that impressive.”

“
You’re right,” Robert replied, and led his troop off the road into the trees where they were soon hidden. With Guan-jiah’s help, he strung a rope between the trees and tied the horses to it. Anwar and Leopold returned to the road and used branches broken off trees to obscure the tracks that showed them leaving the dirt path.

“
Before anyone sleeps, pull as much grass as you can and feed your mounts,” Robert said. “We will need them fed and rested in the morning. See if there is water nearby. The horses need water too.”

By the time the men were sleeping, it was close to two in the morning. Robert checked Cooper
’s wound and found that he’d managed to keep it clean and no infection had set in. The crossbow bolt had hit his thigh and tore it open. It was an ugly wound.

“
I’ve lost blood,” Cooper said. “All of this riding caused it to open a few times and start bleeding again.”

“
Let’s see if we can find some spider webs in these bushes.” Robert had learned that trick from Ayaou. “We’ll pack the wound with as many as we can find. That should help slow the bleeding and form a scab.”

“
I have some pepper in my pack,” Guan-jiah said.

“
Good, we’ll mix the pepper with the spider webs and fill the wound.” Robert put a hand on Cooper’s bald head. It was cool. “Here, drink.” He handed Cooper his tin canteen.

Cooper drank most of the water before handing the canteen back.
“Thank you, Inspector General,” he said, and closed his eyes. Guan-jiah went looking for spider webs.

So far, Robert had not lost one man. He thanked God for that. He took that as a sign that his life with Ayaou was not cursed and wasn
’t going to end soon. He was sure they would have many years together. Then he had a shocking thought. The Taipings believed in the same God, and he shivered.

As the hours crawled, the heat of day dissipated and the air chilled.
Robert was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. He worried about Ayaou, the children, and the men whose lives he was risking.

He walked to the edge of the grove to watch the dirt road. The fog had settled like pools in the bottom of the valley and had obscured the walled town. He looked at the full moon
as a breeze rustled the trees with a soothing sound. The damp scent of the earth wrapped around him, and he was tempted to close his eyes. Maybe this was a nightmare, and he would wake up in bed with Ayaou and hear Herbert crying for milk early in the morning before the roosters signaled the coming dawn.

Then
he wondered who this Englishman was that was hounding them. Could he somehow be connected to all the problems that went back to that time he had been assaulted in Ningpo? Could it be Hollister? After all, Hollister had tried to discredit him with slander more than once. He was the only man Robert could think of who held a grudge against him.

He heard t
he crunch of leaves and turned as Ayaou appeared from the mist. It was cold and he could see she was shivering. He pulled her against him to share the warmth, and her nearness infused him with strength.

“
You should get some sleep,” he said.

“
What about you?”

“
I can’t.”

“
You are worried?”

Robert nodded.
“Besides you and the children, I have these men to consider. Some have families, and they risked their lives when I asked them to.”

“
And this surprises you?” she said. “You are a great man and great men inspire others.”

He blushed, and his face grew hot.
“You’ve been reading too much poetry, Ayaou.” She buried her face against his chest. Robert was sure that Ayaou was thinking the same thing he was—that once they were out of this mess, they would never be apart again.

Dawn appeared along the horizon as a slim, icy band of misty light. In an hour, the sun would be following that light into the sky.

“Master!” Guan-jiah came running from the top of the hill. He was breathing hard and pointing behind him. “There’s trouble! The Longhaired Bandits!”

“
Haven’t you slept?” It was obvious that the eunuch hadn’t.

“
It’s a good thing that I didn’t,” Guan-jiah replied, “or we would all be dead soon. Follow me.” He turned and walked to the top of the hill.

Ayaou and Robert followed. Near the top, the eunuch went on his hands and knees and crawled the last few yards on his belly. Ayaou and Robert followed his example.

“Oh, good god,” Robert said when he saw hundreds of Taipings climbing the far side of the hill his troop was camped on. Soon, they would be in the valley. It was easy to spot the Western man leading them. “That man must be the devil,” he said.

They hurried back to camp. Guan-jiah and Ayaou went to ready the horses.
“Get up! Get up!” Robert said, shaking the men awake. “Mount your horses. We have to cross this valley. The Taipings are almost on us. If we are fortunate, the fog will hide us.”

Chapter 55

Robert helped Ayaou onto a horse. “Guan-jiah, carry Herbert. I’ll take Anna.” He turned to the others. “Stay in the trees. It’s too risky returning to the road, and the trees will provide cover until we reach the farmland at the bottom of the hill. Once we are in the open, the Taipings may see us and start shooting. That’s when we ride like hell is nipping at our heels.”

“
Thank God the horses are rested,” Anwar said.

Robert glanced to where the horses had been tethered and saw the grass surrounding the tree
s was gone. It looked as if the horses had used their hooves to dig up the roots. He hoped that would be enough to sustain them since there would be no stopping now.

The first horse, foaming at the mouth, died late in the afternoon. Its front legs collapsed with its hindquarters stuck in the air. The entire party stopped and stared as the rider jumped free. With a groan, the quivering horse rolled over and let out a long breath with its eyes rolling in fear. The rider pulled out his revolver and fired one shot to end the animal’s suffering.

Robert feared
they weren’t going to make it. “Double up,” he said, and the man climbed behind another rider.

By the time dusk arrived, three horses had gone lame and were set free.

“We have to walk,” he said. “If we keep losing horses, we will not survive.”

Cooper slipped from his horse
and sat by the side of the road, and Robert dismounted and walked back leading his horse. “What are you doing? Can’t you see the dust cloud is closer. We have to keep moving.”

“
Go on without me,” Cooper said. His bald head was covered with sweat and his face was the color of pale-yellow parchment. “The least I can do is slow them down and kill as many as possible, but give me more ammunition. I have only twenty rounds left.” He pulled out his shirt and exposed his thigh wound, which had scabbed over but was still seeping blood. In fact, the pant leg was soaked in it. “I do not have the energy to go on. See that dead tree over there.” He pointed. “I will make my stand behind that.”

“
If you cannot walk, you will ride a horse. If you don’t, we will stay and fight with you until we are all dead. I will leave no man behind. I am your son’s godfather and will not tell your wife you died because we abandoned you.”

Cooper looked at the others, who had gathered around. He
frowned, shook his head and then wearily struggled to stand. Leopold slipped an arm around him. They leaned against each other and started walking.

Like a shepherd, Robert stayed at the rear of his flock driving them forward. If anyone fell behind, he begged them to keep going. If begging didn
’t work, he shouted, threatened and bullied.

When sunset spread itself in a blaze of autumn colors along the horizon, Anwar said,
“The demons are getting closer.”

Exhausted faces t
urned and stared. “Those fiends must be running,” one of the men said. “They can’t be human.”

“
Mount,” Robert said. “We will ride until the horses drop. Then we will abandon them and walk.” The sense of impending doom and defeat was overwhelming. He was determined not to be taken alive. Before shooting himself, he would put a bullet in each of his children and Ayaou.

“
I smell water,” she said, as if she did not believe her senses. She was standing beside her horse. Then she shouted. “Water! It’s water!” Her horse must have smelled the water too, and it started to run. Ayaou grabbed a handfull of mane and leaped on.

Robert mounted and kicked his horse in the ribs urging it to move. If Ayaou was right and that was the Yang
tze, there might be boats and a chance to escape.

A bend in the road and the
trees obscured the view. Then the shouting of hundreds of men in unison came from beyond the trees, and Robert felt an iciness invade his bowels.

That devil
of an Englishman must have somehow managed to get another band of Taipings to block their retreat. He knew how Cooper must have felt when he didn’t want to go on and was tempted to give up too. He pulled his horse to a stop and twisted to look behind him.

The Taipings following them came i
nto sight and were close enough so Robert could see the red cloth bands tied around their foreheads. The expressions on their sweaty dirt stained faces was a mixture of exertion, determination and feverish hate.

Robert had one regret. If he died before he could shoot Ayaou and the children, they would suffer horribly at the hands of the rebels. He didn
’t want that to happen. He turned at the sound of shouting and saw Guan-jiah racing toward the trees and that bend in the road. “Guan-jiah, no!” Robert said, as the eunuch vanished from sight.

Robert felt totally defeated for the first time in his l
ife. “My son.” He felt wretched and tears of defeat stung his eyes. Believing that his servant and son were already dead, he took the Colt revolver and pressed the barrel against the back of Anna’s little head. He had a responsibility to shoot her, so she wouldn’t suffer. Then he would find Ayaou and shoot her before killing himself.

Anwar was yelling for the men to form a British battle square.
“We will fight to the last man!” he said. “We will not surrender!” Anwar ran to Ayaou, grabbed her and dragged her off her horse and into the middle of the small square the men were forming. He waved at Robert. “Inspector General, hurry! They are almost on us!”

Although defeat had settled into his guts like a pile of stones, Robert couldn
’t pull the trigger and kill his little girl. Slipping the weapon into its holster, he lifted Anna and turned her so she faced him. She leaned into him, pressed her face into his shirt and her little arms went around his neck. He was going to follow Guan-jiah and die fighting, and Anna would die with him.

When the Taipings started shooting, Anna would be hit first. He had turned her around so she wouldn
’t see death coming. He kissed the top of her head. “I love you,” he said, as tears filled his eyes. He would never hear her play the piano again. “Hold on tight.”

She grabbed
the back of his shirt and twisted the fabric with her hands.

The horse leaped forward when
he dug his heels into its sides and galloped past Anwar’s British military square. Startled faces turned and stared. Robert pulled his Colt and cocked the hammer. Leaning forward, he urged the horse to run faster as the tears blinded him and the world blurred.

His horse po
unded around the corner with thick trees closing in on both sides, and then he saw the imperial Manchu banner company in full battle array. He pulled hard on the reins, and the horse skidded to a stop. Frantically wiping the tears from his eyes, he blinked and squinted. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Maybe I
’m dead, he thought. These were the elite of the Manchu army, and they sat on their warhorses with pride. The yellow color of their uniforms and flags told him they were from one of the upper three banners, which served only the emperor. Robert’s bodyguard came from the same banner.

It looked as if it were one of the smaller units,
a
niru
, about three-hundred men. Robert slid from his horse, but his legs wouldn’t support him. Hugging Anna to his chest, he stumbled two steps toward the Manchu formation. He was dizzy, and the world swirled around him. Losing his balance, he fell to his knees and rolled onto his side. The child squirmed from his grasp and started crying.

“
Hold me, Ba Ba! Hold me!” Anna said. Her mouth was twisted into an ugly grimace of fear, and the tears had mingled with the dirt smearing her face. She held her arms out, and he managed to pull her to him.