Annie breathed in deeply. The air in the long ballroom was humid and smoky and tinged with alcohol. It swirled intoxicatingly in her throat and head. The dance floor was a large square of polished parquetry dropped into the middle of the room. Around its perimeter tables had been dragged together to accommodate large parties, while others were left as singles. Against the far wall, the band sat in a sunken rotunda, behind which a rich mosaic of scalloped tiles fanned out like a peacock’s tail. It was the latest design—the indigo and greens shimmered and played with the reflection of brass off a musician’s trumpet as the man stood to play a solo. Above him the domed ceiling arched to meet the carved stone women who held it up from their marble plinths. High on the walls, mirrors lined the room.
The black bottom was playing and the dance floor was already a maze of moving bodies as Annie and Alec weaved their way through the crowds. Annie took the glass of champagne Alec offered her through the cluster of people standing around them, lifting her arm high above her head so she didn’t spill any on her new satin gloves.
The fast music swirled around the crowded space, making people tap their feet in rhythm to the song. Alec accepted a cigar from a friend to his left, leaning in to light the tip and blowing a series of rings high into the space above the crowd. The rings floated for a second through the open air and then dissolved.
Standing on the edge of the dance floor Annie watched the scene. A couple moved their arms in mirrored synchronisation as they twisted their hips and swayed. The woman wore a dress edged with tassels and as she moved it quivered like a living thing. Her partner had discarded his dinner jacket and was grinning broadly as he moved in and out from her. As she circled around, the beads on her headband tinkled. Her brow was gleaming with a film of perspiration. In one moment they were sucked together by the music’s rhythm, her back arched against his open palm. Then they pushed away with hands waving, their faces mirroring each other’s expression. The couple was like a two-headed serpent, entwining about itself and then disentangling.
Alec called out to Annie and waved at her from a table. The noise was too loud to hear him but she made her way through the partygoers.
‘Get hot, get hot!’ The lady seated next to Alec called out to a dancer, who responded with a quickened step. ‘Isn’t this party the cat’s meow?’
Annie nodded and laughed as she took her seat. It was Nancy Langham, the daughter of a friend of Alec’s. Nancy had her dance card open on the table and was writing a cross with the little attached pencil beside one of the dances she planned on sitting out. Annie leant back in her chair, relieved to be seated next to this young lady who wouldn’t give two hoots about following Mrs Marsden’s Club etiquette here. Tonight could be all about the fun of the dance.
The cold champagne tickled her throat as she swallowed and nodded to a waiter to fill her glass again. ‘Let’s dance?’ she said to Nancy beside her.
Their toes tapped the floor as the two women began a foxtrot. The tall feather in Annie’s headband flapped as she danced and some light tufts of peacock blue floated down across her face. She blew them off the tip of her nose and laughed as Nancy twirled her skirt so the box pleats fanned out in a circle of pale pink and lilac. The music picked up as the band stood together and slid into a charleston. Annie and Nancy shook their heads at each other wildly.
The hands of a woman dancing behind Nancy caught Annie’s attention. They were held up high by a stocky Chinese man. He wore western dress with an opulent watch chain strung across his chest. Annie saw his outfit in fits and spurts through the moving dancers. A man bumped Annie from behind and pushed her into Nancy. It was too busy to really spread out anymore. But a momentary space allowed Annie to see the Chinaman’s partner. She was clearly not Chinese; her thick red hair was caught with a jewelled clasp to the side of one ear, from which a diamond and ruby drop hung.
It was Natalia. The music swirled as Nancy laughed and danced in front of Annie. She couldn’t hear what Nancy was saying; the sight of Natalia dancing with a Chinaman had completely distracted her. She looked around for Willie Piper; sure he must be somewhere close by.
The familiar dark eyes lined with kohl didn’t notice Annie as Natalia swung back to face her partner. Annie watched her friend move about the floor with languid ease; she had to admire Natalia’s dancing style. Another bump from behind nearly tripped Annie, but she steadied herself. There was no breeze in the congested space and a line of moisture trickled down Annie’s back. Natalia ran her hand around the man’s ear as she turned, and Annie stopped still, shocked by the intimate gesture. Around her, dancers continued to move and shake, so that Annie was jostled about, but she didn’t feel any of it as she stared at Natalia and the Chinaman. Again she looked around for Willie and saw him in the distance with Alec.
Natalia and her partner left the dance floor. Annie followed them, slipping between dancers as she strained to keep them in sight.
‘Natalia, Natalia.’
She could see her friend’s back tense up at the sound of her voice. But Natalia kept walking. They were just ahead, in a dark corner of the room, where surprisingly there were a number of vacant tables, surrounding one large round table where Natalia and the Chinaman stood with a group. Annie followed until she could tap her friend on the shoulder.
‘Natalia, didn’t you hear me calling out to you? I thought you’d be with Will Piper?’ She looked around the table politely, taking in the fat cigars and silence. Natalia took Annie by the arm and walked her away a little.
‘Annie, this is awkward. It would be better if you returned to your own table.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘It’s complicated and you wouldn’t understand.’
‘Why not?’ Annie searched Natalia’s eyes for an answer.
They were interrupted by the Chinaman, calling to Natalia. Natalia leant in to Annie so that their faces were very close, just long enough for Annie to see the anger in her eyes.
‘Go Annie, this is not a polite request.’
Natalia turned away and Annie watched, mortified as she rejoined her party. The Chinaman tapped the table with his silver-topped cane and motioned for Annie to come forward.
‘Be careful who you play with, little white devil,’ he said to her, waving his cane in the air. She saw a tiny fish carved into the silver top, with rows of symmetrical scales detailed in the body. Annie stiffened, shocked into silence by the Chinaman’s familiar tone, as Natalia accepted a glass of champagne from him. Around her neck, Annie’s gold and onyx beads swung playfully.
The band had taken a break from playing. Partygoers moved about the tables, filling the silence left by the music with talking and laughter. A cigarette girl offered Annie a tray of Camels as she pushed her way back to Alec. She shook her head. People slipped around her and waiters brushed past as she rejoined her group. ‘I want to go home,’ she said softly, leaning in against Alec’s ear. He reached up from a drunken haze and kissed her.
‘What’s happened to you?’
‘Miss Sosnovsky, Natalia, is here with a Chinaman—over in the far corner.’
Alec strained to see. ‘Well, can’t trust the Russians.’ He laughed uproariously.
‘Do you know him?’
‘I’ve heard he’s a local businessman; bad news, not someone I’d be pleased to meet, but the man’s got enough money to buy his way into any social event. Standards are dropping.’
William Piper leant into the conversation. ‘Darned shame, I say. Natalia’s a smashing girl, but if she wants to go native I’ll have nothing further to do with her.’
‘That’s very harsh, Willie.’ Annie shot him a fiery look.
William blew a heavy cloud of smoke at Annie, forcing her to wave her arms about to avoid breathing it in. ‘I think I’ll go home, Alec, if it’s all the same to you. I don’t quite feel myself.’
‘Very well, my dear, take the car; I’ll hitch a ride with one of these devils.’ Alec turned back to his drinking buddies, punchin
g Willie Piper in the arm.
Outside on the North Bund heavy rain fell. Annie heard the slush of water as a taxi car drove off from the curb; its headlights sent a beam of colour through the downpour. Why had Natalia been so rude to her? She frowned as a few partygoers hurried past, waving to each other as they disappeared into the night. The fun had gone out of her evening.
The following morning Annie was at Mrs Marsden’s house, attending a post-party brunch for the committee members. Only six committee members were present, the evening’s revelries having left a few indisposed. So the ladies were seated in the small lounge room in large, comfortable sofas, the pug dogs asleep in their beds in front of the fireplace.
‘It’s just too bad, as hard as we try to present an evening of superior enjoyment; we are foiled by the utter lack of social standards. Does a British passport count for nothing in this godforsaken city? I saw at least a dozen Chinks on the dance floor alone!’
‘The Chinese who can afford to buy tickets have every right to be at the ball, Margaret.’ Audrey Pruce’s sensible response did not cut off her host’s outrage.
Annie stayed silent. She was tired after the ball and she couldn’t be bothered to engage with the old trout. She didn’t want Natalia’s name to come up either. She’d been with one of those Chinamen, after all. Annie could not stop thinking about her encounter with Natalia. She kept coming back to the same question: was Natalia working last night? The same girl Annie had seen at Mrs Marsden’s lunch served them tea. She seemed more comfortable this time, smiling at Annie as she offered to take her cup. She had a smooth brown mole that clung to her top lip like a limpet.
‘Next year, I think we should consider a guest list rather than tickets, if we are all still here. The city may be overridden by these gangs by then.’
‘Let’s wait ’til next year to decide. Right now, I’m happy to hang up my ball committee apron and relax. Did anyone else think Florence Walsh’s dress was a tad short?’
The conversation drifted through clothes to hairstyles and chaperones. The ball was deemed a success, and no one bothered to mention the number of Chinese guests again.
Annie excused herself and left early. She was meeting Alec at the Public Garden. Despite the increased tensions in the Settlement streets, he insisted they continue their Sunday tradition of an afternoon walk. Alec preferred the Public Garden to the bigger Jessfield Park, because the garden was on the riverfront, at the bend where Soochow Creek met with the Whangpoo. It had been one of their first views of Shanghai.
She linked her arm with Alec’s as they walked through the gates near Garden Bridge. There was a steady stream of visitors that afternoon as birds dived through the thick foliage that clung snugly to branches. The gravel walkway was neatly raked so that Annie’s heels crunched in the stones. Alec smiled and nodded at other couples they passed. He bowed slightly, and even turned to watch one man’s back as he walked away.
‘I hear he ran up such a bill at one of the gambling dens last week I’m surprised to see him out in public.’
‘You mustn’t gossip,’ Annie chided him. They followed a path along the river’s edge, and she looked out across waters heavy with junks and steamers, overshadowed by the foreign gunboats. But all was calm behind the iron rails of the Public Garden.
Music sounded from a bandstand. The freshly painted rotunda sat in the centre of a grassed circle. Paths splintered off at angles, simulating the quarter hours of a clock face. Annie looked about as they stopped in front of the musicians. A few deckchairs were dotted on the grass and on the other side of the path Annie saw the compact garden of peach trees, so popular in the spring months for their delicate pink bundles. But the early summer heat had hastened their bloom and now the portly trees were a lush green mass of leaves. Annie loved the sweet smell of the spring blossoms. Two police constables passed by with pistols holstered at their waists. They were an incongruous sight amongst the peach trees and Annie wondered why they needed to patrol the park on such a glorious day.
Alec took Annie’s arm and they followed the path to the left through the peach tree garden. They were cut off from the general circle of the park as they meandered through the slim path between the trees. A few birds hopped about in the shaded earth.
A loud crack sounded sharply. Annie looked about, expecting to see something whistle through the air. Then she heard a second shot and grabbed hold of Alec. He didn’t react; there was a sudden grim focus in his stillness which frightened her more than the noise. He pushed her towards some trees.
‘Stay here,’ he entreated quietly and urgently as he disappeared in the direction of the shots.
A branch grazed her arm as Annie stumbled back. Alec was gone quickly. She looked out from within the maze of leaves. The path was empty but she held her breath and listened. The sound of her watch ticked loudly in the silence; there were no more gunshots, and no shouting calls for help either. The freshly turned earth smelt musty. The birds that had flown off angrily at the disturbance now began returning, dropping quickly back to the earth in a skilled flutter. Annie pulled her coat more tightly around her waist and a branch caught in her hair as she moved, forcing her to turn and untwine the finicky mess. She moved back to the path, looking along the dirt trail but no one approached. From a distance, the sound of band music started again with a rousing crescendo. She brushed down her coat and flicked a dead leaf off into the dirt.
In a second the birds were gone. They’d heard the man’s careful, slow tread, as he came up behind Annie. His arms pressed painfully into her ribs as he dragged her into the bushes. There was no chance to run. Her feet scrabbled in the dirt, sending stones and twigs flying but he put his weight into the hold he had on her and she was pinned. Her nostrils flared with panic as a hand covered her mouth.
‘We know who you are.’ His voice breathed hot in her ear. Annie struggled and he tightened his grip even harder. She kicked out and tried to roll her body to dislodge his hold. A searing pain tore through her side. His hand pushed into her lips roughly. Annie bit down hard. Warm, rubbery skin pressed against her tongue. He jerked his arm and she released, tasting metallic blood in the saliva that pooled beneath her tongue. Then she screamed for help. He let her go and she fell hard. Bushes rustled and branches cracked and she knew he was fleeing through them. She lay, rasping and heaving and unable to call out again. The fall had winded her.
‘Annie, where are you?’ Alec’s panicked voice grew louder and louder until he was there, lifting her gently into his lap where he cradled her. ‘Are you hurt? Annie, Annie?’
Only a painful cough sounded. She began to cry and the sting of salt on her lips made her wince.
‘There you go, I’ve got you. It’s shock, that’s all.’ He pulled out a crisp white handkerchief and dabbed gently, at the same time feeling up and down her body for any wounds. ‘Try speaking again, take your time. What happened?’
Annie took a deep breath. She’d begun to shake. ‘Someone attacked me.’ Alec’s arms tightened around her. ‘No, that hurts, let go.’ She spoke in a whisper.
‘Let’s get you up and away from here.’ Alec supported Annie to stand, leaning against him. They walked slowly out of the thicket of trees and Annie let Alec lead her. She was shocked and shaking. Ahead the two policemen from earlier stood huddled together. Alec called to them and they hurried over.
‘Someone attacked my wife.’
One of the policemen ran back in the direction they had come. The other stayed with Annie and Alec. ‘It may have been a kidnapping attempt.’ Alec led Annie to a park bench where he sat her down and moved away to continue talking to the constable. They were in an open grassy section of the park. She rubbed her hands together for warmth despite the summer heat and tucked her chin into the scarf Alec had wrapped snugly around her neck. The shakes had stopped but her body ached with bruising that she could already feel pressing against the skin beneath her clothes. Alec hurried back.
‘How are you feeling?’
�
��A little better I think.’
‘We need to get you seen to by a doctor. Did your assailant harm you?’ Alec spoke gently but Annie could see the question in his eyes.
‘No, nothing like that, Alec. I just want to go home and lie down.’
‘All right,’ but Alec paused. He’d seen the other policeman returning.
‘Anything?’ he asked quickly.
‘No sign of him, sir.’ Then the constable turned to Annie. ‘Could you give us a description of the man who attacked you, madam?’ He took out a notebook and pencil.
‘I didn’t see him I’m afraid. He came up behind me and ran off before I had a chance.’ Annie coughed again, the dryness in her throat caught on her words.
‘We’ll do our best, but without a description there’s not much to go on. These two might offer a clue.’ Annie looked beyond to where he was pointing and saw two bodies lying side-by-side on the grass, covered with white sheets. She gasped.
‘What happened?’
‘They turned on the constables for no reason at all, or so we thought, but now it makes sense.’ It was Alec who answered Annie’s question.
‘It’s probable they were a distraction so the kidnapper could get to you, Mrs Brand,’ the policeman took over explaining. ‘Foreigners are a lucrative business and we’ve seen a worrying increase in the number of kidnappings this last year.’
The two policemen began loading the bodies into a cart. An arm flopped out and Annie’s hand flew to her mouth in horror. One of the men pushed it back in before covering the load efficiently.
‘Will you be right, sir?’ The policemen asked Alec.
‘Yes, thank you, officers.’
Annie watched them heave the cart upright and stagger off down a path cut through the parkland, away from the main thoroughfare. She closed her eyes, grabbing Alec’s hand tightly.
The Shanghai Wife Page 12