The Blue Dress Girl

by E. V. Thompson

  ‘It must be three or four hours now.’

  Esme’s spirits sank. There was no hope of pursuing and overtaking She-she’s abductors, even if it were possible to learn which direction they had taken. But Colin Strachan had made such a great effort to obtain help for She-she it would be cruel to tell him it had all been to no avail.

  ‘You’ve had a nasty blow on the head and must be feeling awful. It’s a miracle you weren’t killed. Nan must be very worried about you. Go home for a while and leave this to me. Come back and see me when you wake. I’ve no doubt I’ll have need of your help by then.’

  ‘If you’re sure, Esme … I have to admit my head is throbbing.’

  ‘I’m sure it is, Colin. Go home now and sleep for a couple of hours, at least.’

  When Colin Strachan had gone, Esme made her way from the hall of the mission house to her own room. She ignored the complaints of the other residents who knew nothing of Colin’s business and were aware only that they had been woken from their sleep. They grumbled that there had been enough excitement over the past few days. It was time life settled back to normality once more.

  In her room Esme tried to put her thoughts in some order. She had to find some way of helping poor She-she. When an answer did not come to her immediately, Esme did what she usually did in times of dire trouble. She went down on her knees by the side of her bed and prayed.

  By the time she rose to her feet there was just a hint of dawn showing at the window – and she knew what she would do. It was not going to be easy. She-she was a Hakka girl and the Hakkas were at the core of the Taiping movement. French and English consular officials would be inclined to shrug the matter off as not being of sufficient importance to provoke a major incident. There was no question of telling anyone of Kernow’s love for She-she. That would only make matters worse. The reaction would be that if She-she was ‘that’ type of girl it was better that the Taipings should keep her.

  Esme felt that Colin Strachan’s experience with the French and British military would prove typical. The only sympathetic ear she could think of even remotely close to diplomatic circles was Sally Merrill’s. Sally had promised Kernow she would do whatever she could to help She-she, and was genuinely fond of the Chinese girl.

  Esme was so engrossed in her concern for She-she that she was not aware what time it was. Dawn came early in this part of the world. For the second time that night a household was roused from its beds to be told of the kidnapping of She-she.

  After hearing an outline of the matter, a tousled-haired Consul Merrill said, ‘You’d better come in. I’ll have the servants produce some breakfast. You can tell us all about it while we eat.’

  Behind him Sally, her mother and Caleb, who was staying at the consulate, had listened with growing concern.

  ‘I’m so worried about She-she that food would choke me,’ said Esme. ‘But I could drink a cup of coffee.’

  Over the breakfast table, as the servants hurried about them, Esme gave the story of She-she’s abduction in more detail.

  She ended with the plea, ‘Sally, what can we do? There has to be something. We can’t allow the Taipings to get away with stealing She-she from a house in the foreign concessions. We just can’t.’

  ‘What do you want me to do?’ As she spoke, Sally Merrill tried to chase away the last vestiges of sleep. ‘We’ve got to think of something, that’s for sure.’

  Consul Merrill stood up abruptly, ‘I don’t think I should listen to this conversation. Caleb, I rely upon you to see that this doesn’t get out of hand. Sally will be your wife one day. Don’t let her get involved in anything stupid. It could affect your future. Me, I’m retiring soon anyway. Just remember, the United States has stayed clear of all these quarrels so far. I don’t want us getting involved over some young Chinese or Taiping girl, whatever you like to call her – and I don’t care whose “friend” she is either, you hear me?’

  Sally’s mother gave Esme a smile that showed her utter confusion, then she too rose from her seat and followed her husband from the room.

  When her parents had gone, Sally asked Esme, ‘Why do you think the Taipings took such a chance in coming into the Foreign Concession to take She-she? Because she ran away from the palace in Nanking?’

  ‘Perhaps. Although we know Chang is with the rebels. He was leading them when they approached Shanghai on that first day. He tried to persuade She-she to marry him at Nanking – and he knew she’d stayed with the Strachans before. He would have guessed she was there again.’

  ‘Does he know anything about Kernow?’

  ‘Oh, yes. Chang knew about him before he left Hong Kong. For a long time She-she believed Kernow had died at Canton, after the typhoon. Chang knew different, but he never told her.’

  Caleb listened with a great deal of interest. All this was new to him. ‘You mean Kernow is mixed up with a Chinese girl and you’ve known about this all along?’

  He shook his head in disbelief as he added to Sally, ‘I always thought he was sweet on you.’

  ‘So? You’ve given me far more attention as a result.’

  ‘How long has he known her?’

  ‘Since he sank the junk she was travelling in, three years ago.’

  ‘As long ago as that? He must be pretty fond of her.’

  ‘The two of them are very much in love,’ agreed Sally. ‘I promised I’d take good care of her for him. Now this has happened. He’ll be devastated.’

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ said Esme. ‘The only person to be blamed is Chang. Poor Colin Strachan was knocked unconscious with an axe when he tried to prevent the Taipings from taking her. It’s very lucky he wasn’t murdered. But the question now is, how are we to get her back?’

  Caleb was a young man who ached for action. He fervently believed the United States should be militarily involved in Chinese affairs. The humiliation to which the U.S. ambassador was subjected in Peking the year before still rankled with him. In Hong Kong he attended social functions attended by English army and navy officers. All had fought the Chinese over the years. However pleasant they were to his face, he always felt they nursed a veiled contempt for the Americans. They believed his country was taking advantage of the concessions won with English and French blood.

  More recently, in Shanghai, Caleb had spent the last three days in the United States consulate while battles involving every other nation were being fought around the walls of Shanghai. He had been a reluctant spectator, sheltering beneath the flag that neither side would attack.

  The flag! The answer to what he should do came to Caleb in that instant. He would take action. If not for the United States, then for Sally. For his own self-esteem.

  ‘I’ll go and talk to these Taipings and get the girl back.’

  Sally gasped in astonishment. Caleb was not given to making instant decisions. Especially rash ones. ‘You’d never get close to them, Caleb. After what has happened during the past few days, they’d shoot you.’

  ‘Not if I carried a United States flag with me.’

  ‘Doing that would be tantamount to involving the United States in this affair. If anything went wrong you’d be dismissed from the army.’

  He shrugged. ‘That might happen anyway. According to the latest news from the States the quarrel between the North and South is reaching boiling point. It looks as though the South will secede soon. If that happens, then I must go with the South.’

  ‘Do you speak Chinese?’ The question came from Esme.

  Caleb’s rising sense of elation and excitement took a sudden dive.

  ‘No.’

  ‘I do. I’ll come with you.’

  Chapter 30

  THE SMALL GROUP of people who set out in the early morning to seek the release of She-she numbered only four. Caleb, Esme and Colin Strachan were accompanied by a Chinese servant from the United States consulate carrying a flag of truce.

  Before leaving, Caleb had called in at the Strachan home to seek any additional clues to the identity of th
e kidnappers. When Colin Strachan heard of their plan he insisted on accompanying them. He would carry the United States flag.

  Caleb protested that as the only American in the party it was he who should carry his country’s flag, but Colin Strachan was adamant. The tortuous demands of Chinese ‘face’ meant that Caleb’s status as a negotiator would be seriously undermined if he arrived in the Chinese camp holding his own flag aloft. It was important he took a standard bearer. He would actually gain status if that bearer were a European.

  As the small party approached the huge Taiping camp a picket ran at them brandishing pikes and swords. The Taiping rebels looked so fierce, with red bandanas about their foreheads and long, flowing hair, that they terrified the Chinese servant. So certain was he that he was within seconds of being decapitated, the flag of truce shook as though in a violent wind storm.

  Contrary to Caleb’s belief, the Taipings were unaware that the banner carried by Colin Strachan represented a country that had taken no part in the defence of Shanghai. They saw only a Fan Qui in full military uniform. To them he was the enemy.

  Caleb’s fate hung in the balance until Esme had a brainwave. Pointing to him, she said, ‘This man is from the United States of America – the same as the ship which comes upriver to bring arms to Nanking. He is a friend.’

  The attitude of the Taiping soldiers underwent an immediate change. There were smiles and even a pat on the back for the bewildered United States military attaché.

  Escorted back to the Taiping camp, they were met on the way by Kau-lin. She came galloping up on a shaggy little pony which came to a reluctant halt only inches from the leading rebel in the escort.

  Throwing the rein to the man, Kau-lin leaped from the pony’s back and rushed to hug Esme. ‘I was told a Fan Qui woman was coming with a flag of truce. I knew it must be you. When I saw a soldier with you I thought it must be Kernow. How is he? How is She-she?’

  She had spoken in English and there was an exchange of glances among the truce party before Esme said, ‘She-she is the reason we’re here. She was kidnapped from the Strachan home last night.’

  Kau-lin’s expression changed to one of disbelief. ‘You think she was taken by us? By the Taipings?’

  ‘We know she was,’ replied Colin Strachan. ‘I was knocked unconscious when I tried to stop them.’

  ‘I can’t believe it! Who would have known where to find her….’

  Kau-lin stopped in mid-sentence. She already knew the answer, as did Esme and Colin Strachan.

  ‘Chang!’

  ‘That’s what we believe. Where is he?’

  ‘The Heavenly Prince and his court have their own camp, close to the river. My brother’s soldiers are all about him in case of a possible attack from Shanghai.’

  ‘Will we be allowed to pass through and speak to Chang?’

  Speaking in Chinese, Kau-lin said, ‘My brother will make no attempt to stop you. He and Chang do not like each other, but it does not follow that Chang will see you. He is a very important man now, second only to the Tien Wang. He will sometimes refuse to speak to anyone for days at a time.’

  When Esme translated for Caleb, the American said to Kau-lin, ‘If your brother allows us to pass through his camp I’ll make sure this Chang sees me.’

  Kau-lin looked at Caleb thoughtfully for some time without speaking as she mulled over his words. Suddenly she said in English, ‘I’ll tell the soldiers to bring you to my brother’s tent. I’ll go on ahead and speak to him.’

  Commandant Peng Yu-cheng was eating when the three Europeans entered the tent. His soldiers had insisted the Chinese truce-flag bearer was of too lowly a status to enter the tent of the most important general in the Taiping army. He was left outside, shaking with fear whenever a Taiping rebel passed within striking distance of him.

  Commandant Peng was a squat, cheerful man who looked more like a jovial cook than a highly successful Taiping general. He spoke no English, but issued an invitation through Kau-lin for his visitors to be seated and join him in a meal.

  Caleb remained standing and all three declined to eat.

  Continuing his lone meal in silence, Peng eventually wiped his lips and hands on a damp cloth proffered by a young serving-boy.

  ‘My brother eats at odd times,’ explained Kau-lin. ‘He cannot know when he will next have to go into battle.’

  Rising to his feet, Peng said simply, ‘Come,’ without looking at anyone in particular.

  Orders had apparently been issued prior to the arrival of Caleb’s party at Commandant Peng’s tent. When they went outside about two hundred well-armed Taiping soldiers were waiting. They gathered about their commandant and the others as they set off for Chang’s camp.

  Their approach was observed and Chang’s personal guard was mustered hurriedly to bar the way.

  Leaving the escort behind, Peng scornfully pushed his way through Chang’s guard and the Heavenly Prince’s personal escort fell back uncertainly to allow the others through.

  Chang had been told of their approach and now he appeared at the door of the hut that had been commandeered as his quarters.

  ‘You have visitors,’ said Peng, without the polite preliminaries that usually attended the meeting of two such important men. ‘I brought them personally to ensure they were not abused.’

  ‘We are Taipings not Manchus, Commandant Peng. We treat our visitors with courtesy.’

  The conversation between the two men was carried on in Chinese and Caleb became impatient. ‘I’ve come to take She-she back to Shanghai. Your men kidnapped her from the European settlement, last night.’

  ‘Kidnapped?’ Chang expressed exaggerated surprise. ‘Why should my men kidnap a Hakka girl when there are more than enough for everyone in Nanking?’

  ‘Don’t play games with me, Chang. She-she was taken by your men from the European settlement at Shanghai. At the time she was under the protection of the United States consul. I’ve come here to take her back.’

  The use of the name by which he had been known prior to his phenomenal rise through the Taiping ranks enraged Chang, but he was alarmed by the suggestion that his men had violated American sovereignty in taking She-she. Perhaps the boundaries of the Foreign Settlements had been redrawn since he was in Shanghai. However, he was not about to confess his fears to this young American soldier.

  ‘My men recovered a woman who had run away from the palace of the Tien Wang. She will be returned to him.’

  ‘I ran away from the Tien Wang’s palace. Will you try to send me back too?’ Esme said angrily.

  ‘You are not a Taiping woman.’

  ‘Neither is She-she.’

  Caleb listened with growing impatience to the exchange in a language he did not understand. Now he said, ‘There’s been enough talking. I came here for the girl, and I’m not leaving without her. Give her to me and we’ll take her back to her friends.’

  The Heavenly Prince looked at the United States military attaché with contemptuous amusement. ‘And if I refuse? What will you do then, American Fan Qui? Will you loose an army on us – or send another ambassador to Peking in a peasant carrying-cart to complain to the Manchu Emperor?’

  Both of Chang’s sarcastic questions hit Caleb on the raw, but he kept admirable control of his temper. ‘Neither, Chang. But I will ensure that neither Erin Veasey nor any other United States citizen breaks the embargo by sailing to Nanking. If you return She-she to the Tien Wang you can tell him of the price he’s paying for her.’

  Commandant Peng smiled as Kau-lin translated Caleb’s words for him. Caleb had called Chang’s bluff and Peng knew the American would win the day. Chang was a favourite of the Tien Wang but he would not maintain his position if he were responsible for cutting off the Taipings’ supply of armaments. Without them the Taiping movement could not survive.

  Chang also realised he had lost.

  ‘The girl is sleeping now. When she wakes I will have her prepared for her return. It is possible she will be taken back to Sha
nghai tomorrow.’

  ‘Unless I have returned with her by nightfall, a brigade of United States sailors and marines will come here looking for me and you’ll be at war with my country.’

  Chang had no alternative but to accede to Caleb’s wishes. The Taiping cause would not survive a serious rift with the Americans. Nevertheless, his eyes could not disguise his anger as he said, ‘She will be given to you in time for you to reach Shanghai before dusk.’

  Kau-lin had translated the exchange for her brother. Now Peng said, ‘My army moves off at noon and we will travel swiftly. The girl will be released by then or you will need to rely upon your own escort to protect you from the Fan Qui and the Imperial army.’

  Chang’s anger flared into the open. ‘You do not deliver ultimatums to the Heavenly Prince.’

  ‘At noon,’ retorted the Taiping commander. Turning his back on the Heavenly Prince he left the hut without another word.

  The mask of aloof politeness had returned to Chang’s face when he spoke to Caleb again. ‘There are no bad feelings between the Taipings and your country, only with France and Britain who have chosen to fight the battles of the Manchu Emperor. The girl rightfully belongs to us, but as an act of friendship she may return with you to Shanghai.’

  A wave of Chang’s hand was a signal for them to be ushered from the hut.

  Outside, Caleb asked, ‘Will he keep his word?’ He was jubilant that the mission he had undertaken on behalf of Sally was close to success. Yet he was apprehensive that something could still go wrong. He estimated he and his companions were in the midst of an army of at least a hundred thousand armed Taiping rebels. Fortunately, the man who controlled the majority of them was well disposed towards them. However, the awesome arrogance he had displayed by coming here demanding the release of a Chinese girl he had never even met was beginning to sink in.

  Kau-lin answered his question.

  ‘Cousin Chang will keep his word, but She-she has been his prisoner for many hours. I fear what might have happened to her.’