The voyage to Nanking was surprisingly uneventful. After changing the identity of the steamer, Erin hoisted the United States flag. Under cover of darkness he had no trouble evading the sole British warship patrolling the mouth of the Yangtze. At this point it was some twenty miles wide.
The reasoning behind such a patrol baffled the American sea captain. Speaking to Kernow, he said, ‘Here you are, practically at war with the Chinese, yet you run a blockade to prevent guns and ammunition getting to the Taipings. They could win the war for you given just a bit of encouragement. Where’s the sense in it all?’
‘I’ve often wondered myself,’ confessed Kernow. ‘I once asked Admiral Seymour. He told me that when we fight against the Chinese, each side fights by certain rules. A code of war. Winners as well as losers know they’re going to need to compromise eventually. The Taipings don’t have such rules. They’re fighting for an ideal. With them there’s no meeting-place between total victory and total annihilation. If they succeed in their rebellion they’ll be far more difficult to negotiate with than Imperial China.’
‘I doubt it. Once they got into power things would settle down and become pretty much as they were before. You can see it happening now. The Taipings have had to water down a lot of their big ideas in order to cope with the facts of everyday life.’
‘That isn’t the impression I have from Esme’s letter. She sounded pretty desperate – and Esme isn’t one to panic easily.’
‘No doubt the inside of the Tien Wang’s palace will be the last place to see any change. But you’re wise to try to get her and your Chinese girl out. Last time I was at Nanking I heard rumours that the Tien Wang’s behaviour gets more erratic by the day. I’d hate to be within striking distance when he finally goes over the edge.’
The two men were pacing the upper deck of the Trade Wind together. Thirty paces one way. Turn. Thirty paces the other.
As they made a turn in unison, Erin said, ‘Do you have any ideas yet about how you’ll get them out?’
‘None. I’ll have to take advantage of whatever comes along.’
The Trade Wind made good time to Nanking. The water in the Yangtze, although sluggish, was running high and there was no need for Erin to feel his way along the winding channels.
Neither was there a chain of Imperial war junks barring the way. They had been temporarily drawn off to raid the den of a river pirate. The pirate had become a little too audacious and raided the luxurious home of a magistrate. He needed to be taught a lesson.
The Trade Wind edged gingerly in towards the Nanking quayside. On the way it nudged wooden-hulled junks from its path when the threats of its crew and the shrill directives of those on shore failed to move them.
It was very busy around and about the quay. Many of those watching Erin’s ship berth were soldiers of Peng Yu-Cheng’s regiment. He was still camped outside the walls of Nanking, waiting for the arms and ammunition being brought to him by Erin.
Kernow felt no qualms at seeing so much equipment delivered to the Taipings, against the orders of the British government. It was becoming increasingly apparent that armed conflict between China and Britain was inevitable. The more Chinese Imperial troops killed by the Taipings, the fewer there would be to kill British soldiers, sailors and marines.
Kernow was surprised to see a number of Europeans mingling with the Chinese on the jetty. When he commented on this to Erin, the American spat over the side of the ship derisively.
‘They’ve been fighting for the Taipings – and not for the money either. They belonged to the regiment of General Dun. I heard he’d been killed in action recently. Not before time. Whenever he took a town or a village he’d give his men forty-eight hours to do exactly as they liked before imposing Taiping discipline on ’em once more. Now he’s gone these men have suddenly lost their stomach for the Taiping cause.’
‘Where have they come from?’
‘Britain, America, France … and half-a-dozen more countries. Some are deserters from their country’s army or navy. Others are adventurers who’ll move on to fight somewhere else when they leave here. None has any loyalty to the country they happen to be fighting for. They hang around the waterfront trying to beg a passage from me, or from the captain of any other ship that makes its way here. I’ll need to set armed guards on the gangway to keep them from sneaking on board and stowing away.’
‘Once we’ve docked I’ll go ashore and have a word with them. I want to know if they’ve changed the system on the city gate since I was here with Lord Elgin and the fleet.’
‘Don’t carry anything of value on you. They’re incorrigible villains. They’ll pick your pockets clean before you’ve taken three paces.’
Erin Veasey had not exaggerated. When Kernow stepped ashore he was immediately surrounded by a crowd of clamouring mercenaries pleading to be taken on board and begging for food, money or tobacco. At the same time he felt hands exploring the pockets he had carefully emptied before leaving the ship.
Not until the desperate men were satisfied that he possessed neither valuables nor influence with the captain of the Trade Wind was he left alone. Now he was able to corner one of the less disreputable adventurers and question him about the system for passing through the gate into Nanking.
The man told Kernow he was called Bill Hawk, but it was doubtful whether this was his real name. Neither did it matter. Of more importance was the information he was able to pass on.
Kernow was dismayed to learn that the system for leaving Nanking had been tightened. ‘Too many of the captured women brought to the city by the Taipings were escaping and going home,’ explained the mercenary. ‘All they needed to do was give their name to the man at the gate and say they were going out to the market. Once outside they just kept on walking! Now everyone who passes through the gate needs a permit. You can only get that at the magistrate’s office. Anyone newly arriving at the city is escorted there and has to state his or her business before they’re given one.’
The news sent Kernow’s hopes of rescuing She-she and Esme plummeting. There was no way he could obtain a pass for himself, let alone two more. But Kernow was talking to a very resourceful man, as Bill Hawk’s next words showed.
‘Mind you, I’ve got a pass. It lets me and a Chinese servant pass through the gate as many times as I care to use it. Of course, if you was to help me get a passage to Shanghai on your ship, I wouldn’t need a pass, would I?’
‘I can’t promise to do that, but I’ll pay a good price to borrow the pass for twenty-four hours.’
Bill Hawk shook his head. ‘I don’t know what you’re up to, but I don’t mind betting it would cost me my head if you’re found out. It’s a passage out of here or nothing.’
It was Kernow’s turn to shake his head. ‘Anyway, I’d need two passes. One wouldn’t be enough.’ He had the outline of a plan in his mind.
‘I could help you there too. Mate of mine was killed in a skirmish a couple of weeks back. He didn’t own much worth taking, but he did have a pass. I kept it in case mine was taken from me and I needed another. Now, two passes ought to make it worth your while to smuggle me on board your ship. You can hide me away anywhere. I won’t come out until you tell me to.’
‘Stay around, Hawk. I’ll go back on board and have a word with Captain Veasey.’
Chapter 21
ERIN VEASEY AGREED to take Bill Hawk to Shanghai – but only if Kernow came up with a foolproof plan for getting Esme and She-she out of Nanking. In the meantime, the Taiping mercenary was allowed on hoard and lodged in the crew quarters.
Kernow’s plan was far from foolproof. In fact, it was hardly a plan at all. First he needed to smuggle a message into the palace to She-she and Esme. He hoped they could then find a means of leaving the palace, preferably in disguise. With Kernow’s help they would then use the passes of Bill Hawk and his friend to leave the city.
That day Kernow used one of the passes to enter the city. Anonymously wrapped in a quilted and hooded winter c
oat to protect him against a strong wind and driving rain, he was relieved to note that the permit was given no more than a cursory glance. It seemed that Europeans passing through the gate had become commonplace. The official who checked the permit never bothered to look at Kernow at all.
This was the only stroke of luck he was to have in Nanking that day. When he made enquiries for Woman General Su-san, hoping to persuade her to pass on a message to She-she, he learned she was now a Chancelloress employed within the palace.
At the gate of the palace the guard commander refused to pass on any message. Any request to see a palace official would need to be put in writing and passed through the usual channels.
Kernow could not afford to argue with the soldier – or with anyone else. He was carrying a pass identifying him as a mercenary with the Taiping army. He would be treated as one if he got into trouble.
He remained in the city all day, leaving just before the gate was closed at sunset. During this time he tramped around the outside wall of the palace, hoping forlornly that an idea would come to him. It did not.
It was dark when Kernow boarded ship. Feeling thoroughly depressed he knocked on the door of Erin’s cabin and was invited to ‘Come in!’
Opening the door, Kernow stepped inside – and came face-to-face with Kau-lin, dressed as a man!
Letting out a shriek of delight, Kau-lin threw herself at Kernow and hugged him with an uninhibited display of affection.
‘Lieutenant Kernow!’ Turning to Erin, she said accusingly, ‘Why you not tell me Lieutenant Kernow on your ship?’
‘He’s Captain Kernow now, and I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t sure he wanted anyone to know he’s here. He’s been in Nanking today, trying to see She-she.’
‘You been in palace?’
Kernow shook his head. ‘I couldn’t get closer than the main gate. I was hoping to find Su-san, to ask her to get a message to She-she for me, but it seems she too now works in the palace.’
‘I get message to She-she. What you want to say?’
After a moment’s hesitation, Kernow decided to trust Kau-lin and tell her why he had come to Nanking.
She listened in silence until Kernow had finished talking. Then she said, ‘She-she always say you come back for her one day. She only one who believed, but now you here. I hope you in time.’
‘In time? What do you mean? Is Chang still after her?’
‘Much worse. The Tien Wang wants her for a concubine. He been telling Heavenly Elder Brother about her, reminding him about friend of his name Mary. Lucky for She-she Heavenly Elder Brother take long time think about it. Esme be very happy see you too. She out of prison now, but Tien Wang say she too stubborn. Put her back soon, I think.’
‘Esme in prison and She-she a concubine of Hung? God! What a mess. We’ve got to get them both out, and quickly. But how?’
Kau-lin had been speaking in English but now she lapsed into Chinese. ‘Su-san is still a very good friend. Her sister has a key to a small door at the back of the palace. Su-san will be able to get it without too much trouble. But we’ll need passes to get them out of the city, and they can only be issued by a magistrate.’
‘I have passes for both of them.’ Kernow explained as briefly as possible how they had come into his possession. ‘If we can dress them both as men She-she can be passed off as a servant. Esme has the bulk of a man. It will work if the weather is still bad, especially if we bring them out just before the gate closes. It will be dusk then and the gatekeeper will be in a hurry to shut the gate and get on home. He doesn’t check very thoroughly at the best of times.’
‘Then it can be done. I will meet them at the back of the palace with two hooded coats. Pray hard for bad weather, that will make it much easier.’
‘You mustn’t get mixed up in this, Kau-lin. You’ll be far too well known by now. Erin’s been telling me of some of your exploits. You’ll be left behind so we can’t have any suspicion falling on you. It would go badly for both you and your brother. It will be better if you’re conspicuous somewhere else at the time they go missing. I’ll meet them and bring them out.’
‘Can someone tell me what’s going on? I heard my name mentioned then. If I’m going to be mixed up in something that sounds both illegal and dangerous, I’d at least like to know some of the risks I’m expected to take.’
‘I tell you everything, but later. When do you sail?’
‘Tomorrow night. About this time.’
‘So soon?’ Kau-lin took Erin’s arm in a gesture of affection. ‘Never mind, good for She-she and Esme. They be here before you sail. Captain Kernow, you not worry about them. You wait back of palace, one hour before dark. They come.’
Kau-lin still had a grip on Erin’s arm and Kernow realised he was no longer wanted in the cabin. He only wished he was as confident about the next day’s operation as Kau-lin seemed to be.
The weather the next day was all that Kau-lin had told Kernow to pray for. The wind was unseasonably cold and a heavy drizzle was falling.
On the jetty, Kernow hired three wiry pack ponies and a boy to mind them. He intended leaving them outside the gate to the city. Having mounts would ensure that he, She-she and Esme could return to the ship as speedily as possible. Erin had agreed to have the ship steamed-up ready to set sail. The Trade Wind would leave as soon as the trio was on board.
Kau-lin was waiting for Kernow outside the city gate. When he first saw her he thought something must have gone wrong, but she quickly reassured him all was well. A message had been sent in to She-she and Esme. Su-san herself would guide them to the rear gate of the palace and her sister would make certain there was no one around to prevent them leaving.
‘There is one thing you should know, Captain Kernow. She-she has not been told you are here to rescue her. She knows only that someone will be waiting to guide her and Esme to a boat to take them to Shanghai. I wish you very good luck.’
The area behind the palace was derelict. Many of the houses had been pulled down when the palace was built and there was still much rubble here.
Kernow felt conspicuous standing around waiting. He was thankful that rain was falling quite heavily now. Those men and women who passed by had their heads bowed against the wind and were in a hurry to reach their destinations. No one felt inclined to question the motives of a tall Fan Qui who had nothing better to do than stand out in the rain.
It seemed to Kernow he waited for hours for She-she and Esme. Yet it was probably less than thirty minutes. When the door to the palace eventually opened everything happened so quickly he was taken by surprise. One minute he was alone, the next there were two figures standing together uncertainly in the road outside the small gate.
Dressed as men, with hoods hiding their faces, each clutched a small bundle wrapped in silken cloth. The bundles contained all the personal possessions they had been able to bring with them.
‘She-she? Esme?’
There was a gasp of disbelief from She-she and Esme’s face emerged from the hood for a brief moment. Beaming she said, ‘Kernow, my dear boy! What are you doing here?’
‘It is too dangerous for you. Why did you come? You should have sent someone else.’ She-she’s delight at seeing him was temporarily pushed aside by her fears for his safety. Kernow took her hand, but for a brief moment only.
‘It’s all right, She-she, but we must go now.’
The timing was perfect. Because of the rain, it was much darker than usual. So dark that Kernow feared he might have left it too late. It would be disastrous were the gate to be closed against them.
The gate was open, but when they reached it he received a shock. The colonel who had escorted him from the warship the previous year was waiting at the gate with a large escort.
Drawing the two women back into the shadows cast by the low, overhanging roof of a nearby house, Kernow said, ‘We must wait. I know that man. If he recognises me we’re in trouble.’
Waiting for the Taiping colonel to go away seemed
even longer than the wait Kernow had just experienced outside the palace wall. He was worried too. If the gate closed before he could pass through with Esme and She-she, the rescue plan would fail and they would be trapped inside the city.
Just when Kernow was beginning to think he dared wait no longer there was a sudden flurry of activity and the colonel and his officers went out through the gate.
Kernow galvanised the others into immediate action, ‘Come on now, quickly. Just stay behind me and say nothing.’
Inside the small room beside the gate the official was clearing his table. When Kernow held out the two passes, the man said, ‘You’re too late. The gate is closed – and don’t drip rainwater on my table.’
‘What nonsense is this? The gate’s standing wide open.’
‘Not for you. It has been kept open only to allow the Heavenly Prince Chang to enter.’
The official’s words seemed to put the final seal on Kernow’s failure. Chang was the last person he wanted to meet while he was trying to take Esme and She-she out of the city. But matters had become desperate by now.
‘I know all about that. The colonel told us to wait until Prince Chang entered before we left. But we have to be outside and on our way tonight.’
The gatekeeper hesitated and Kernow said arrogantly, ‘Look, send for the colonel. He’ll tell you himself – and in no uncertain terms, I’ve no doubt.’
‘I can’t. He has gone out of the city to escort Heavenly Prince Chang to the Tien Wang.’
‘Well, my mission is important too. I’ll go and find him and let him tell you.’
At that moment there was a clatter on the stone blocks beneath the archway outside and the first of the Heavenly Prince’s escort cantered in through the gateway.
The Blue Dress Girl Page 30