Chapter 2
Meg: Annie Ling, I put you in this story!
Emma: Annie's not here.
Leigh: It's Huang, Meg, not Ling. She changed her last name.
Meg: I like her former name, Yan Ling. Why'd she have to change it to Annie Huang?
Leigh: I don't know. Why do you call her Annie Ling instead of Yan Ling?
Meg: It's a combo of both names. Oh well Ling, this story's for you! (Note: the real "Li Yan" actually speaks better English than I do at times!)
The wagon jolted to a stop, and an angry farmer let out a string of Chinese as he yelled at me.
"I'm sorry, I'm so terribly sorry!" I said over and over to him. My talking made him shout even more loudly at me.
Someone grasped my shoulder. "Mrs. Havers, please let me handle this," Basil said. The farmer pointed to the wagon and to himself. Basil tried conversing with him in Chinese, which led to a bigger commotion. He finally led me away, picking up my suitcase as he went. I reached for my violin.
"Meg, this place is very crowded. I can't be looking for you every five minutes. You could've gotten yourself killed!"
"But Basil-"
"Madame, you're old enough to take care of yourself."
"But Basil-"
"Basil! You've found her!" Dawson exclaimed. "Oh, Meg, you're an absolute mess! What happened?"
I told them what happened. Basil listened in mild disbelief.
"You almost got your hand cut off on your first foreign case, Megana."
"That mouse almost killed me!"
He snorted. "You provoked him."
"Provoked? PROVOKED? I'd like to see what happens when I really 'provoke' someone around here."
"They have different ways of handling certain situations, Miss Havers-, erm, Mrs. Sarentis, uh, Mrs. H-"
"Just pick a name, Basil."
"What?"
I gave up. "Never mind."
A young girl came up to us. "Meester Basil of Baker Street?" she asked timidly in a heavy accent.
"Yes, I am he."
"I- I am Li Yan. I shall lead you to master. My master. He send for great detective."
Basil peered at the young girl. "Who is your master?" he asked.
"I take you to master."
He stared thoughtfully at her. "Yes, take us there," he finally said.
"Where is your master?" Dawson asked.
"I take you to master," she repeated uncertainly in her broken English.
Dawson gave Basil an alarmed glance that seemed to say, Should we trust her?
Basil nodded to Dawson and I. We followed Li Yan.
Late at night we crawled through a thick forest. Li Yan had taken us in wagons, through dark alleyways, until we had reached this dark forest. Dawson struggled to keep up with us. I myself was tired from the burden of my suitcase and violin.
Basil didn't seem to be bothered at all by the extensive traveling we had done, for he strode through the forest with an energetic step. I could see the glint of adventure in his eyes.
I suddenly bumped into Basil in the dark. We had stopped.
Li Yan pointed in front of her. An old farmhouse seemed to materialize out of the darkness. "There," our twelve-year old guide said. "Master's house."
The place looked abandoned to me. "Basil, this can't be it," I whispered. "Anyone who could afford a servant girl wouldn't live in a shack like this. Besides, we could've taken a wagon. I can see a small road leading to this house."
"Very observant, Meg. But as you can see, Li Yan has actually been trying to confuse us with all the traveling we have just done, so we wouldn't remember how to get back here or to shake off anyone that was following us. Her master must want absolute secrecy. He wouldn't be so blind as to take us directly to his own dwelling for secrecy's sake."
"Follow me, Meester Basil."
She knocked on the door of the farmhouse and conversed with a strong looking youth at the door. Then we were led inside. Li Yan took us to a small room and lit a candle. She then went into another room.
An older mouse in a gray suit came into the room through the door Li Yan had gone through. "Mr. Basil of Baker Street, I presume," he said, shaking the detective's hand. I noticed he was not Chinese.
"Yes, I am Basil."
"Can I offer you a smoke, sirs?" he said, producing a gold cigarette box from his coat.
"No, thank you. Now pray tell me, who are you, sir? What would a British citizen be doing in such a place as an abandoned farmhouse in the middle of the night? No doubt you were sent here by the emperor, as I see you are wearing a ring of the royal crest of the Qing."
The mouse seemed shocked at first, but then grinned. "You never miss a detail, do you, Mr. Basil?" He then glanced at Dawson and I. "Yes, well, I am Thornton Delevan. As you see, I was indeed sent here on business concerning the empire. But-" he motioned toward Dawson and I, "Can I trust them as I would you, sir?"
"Certainly. This is Dr. David Q. Dawson, my trusted associate, and Mrs. Megana Havers, my secretary. Any information you have to share with me shall be made known to them also." Basil pulled out his pipe and lit it. "Now, tell me everything your emperor wished to relate to me, and pray be as precise as possible. Unless of course your emperor wishes to tell me himself, since this meeting is so important to him."
"Well, I- I beg your pardon?" Delevan said.
"Come, now, Delevan. His Excellency is listening to this meeting in that back room. Surely you couldn't expect me not to notice it."
"Why, that's amazing!" Delevan went into the dark room and said something in rapid Chinese. I heard another voice reply.
"Basil," I whispered, "How did you know the Emperor was in that room? It's so dark in here, let alone in that room. It would be impossible to see anything!"
Basil pointed to the door. "It's rather elementary, my dear. I heard our guide Li Yan translating everything we said for him."
Delevan came back into the room, this time with Li Yan and an old, white bearded mouse. He wore dark scarlet robes, with a strange crest on the back of them: two double-edged swords with a monkey in between them. Delevan cleared his throat. "May I present to you His Excellency Guangxu of the Qing, emperor of China."
Basil and Dawson quickly dropped to their knees in respect; I did a quick curtsey. Guangxu whispered to Li Yan, who translated for us. "The Emperor wish to greet you all to China. He hope you may help his country, Meester Basil."
Basil answered the emperor in Chinese. I was taken by surprise. I knew he was brilliant, but this was something I never knew about him before. But then, there was a lot I would probably never know.
Basil turned to Delevan. "Mr. Delevan, if you could relate the problem which this country faces to me and my associate," (I realized he meant Dawson this time) "I shall do my best to evaluate the problem."
"Well," Delevan began, "surely you've heard of pirates. They don't often frequent the coasts of Britain, but they've been ravaging the South China Sea. They rob ships and then set fire or sink them. They sometimes even dock in small harbors for supplies and burn down villages for fun. The whole fleet of pirate ships is powered by slaves, which are usually young children they capture from the coastal towns and villages. A mouse named Xing Ryu leads them. He's been the terror of the coast, plundering and murdering our people. Mr. Basil, Xing Ryu is very cunning. The Emperor implores you to help our police track this mouse down!"
Basil pondered for a moment. "Where does he usually attack?" he said.
"His ships are all over the coastline. We've found evidence of hidden coves where some of his ships have been found. We believe that he has more hideaways for his pirates."
"Mr. Delevan, are these ships black junks, with scarlet sails and the symbol of the Seven Plagues?"
"Why, yes. I must say, sir, you certainly astound me with your wide range of knowledge."
"Excuse me, Basil." Dawson finally spoke up. "Eh, Seven Plagues? What the devil are you talking about?"
Basil tapped the tips of his fingers together. "The Seven Plagues is an organization that deals in theft, forgery, drugs, smuggling, conspiracies, kidnappings, murders, treason. The organization works around the globe. I've hunted out members of it for years in many countries in Europe."
Delevan said, "Yes, it even exists in the Pacific regions as well. I understand that the Seven Plagues was actually started in London some years ago, by a fiend known as Professor Ratigan. I believe you've dealt with-"
"I have," Basil cut in shortly.
"To think you've foiled the most diabolical, sinister mind in all Mousedom is absolutely-"
"I know!" Basil said too sharply. I jumped.
Delevan shot the detective a glare at being interrupted. But he continued talking as if nothing had happened. "Xing Ryu has been pillaging our coast for around a decade now, but only recently have his efforts turned into the destructive activities that marks a member of the Seven Plagues."
The Emperor stood up. In broken English, with Li Yan whispering the words into his ear, he pleaded, "Pleese save my people."
Basil bowed to him and answered, "It would be my honor to do so."
As soon as the line was translated to Guangxu, he bowed his head to Basil. "Emperor say 'Thank you, Meester Basil for his people," the young girl said.
Basil stood up and returned the bow. Then he began to pace the room, suddenly excited by the thrill of this new challenge. "The Chinese authorities have their own ships, do they not?"
"Of course," Delevan said.
"The pirates not only plunder the villages, but they also kidnap young children?"
"That is their main purpose for entering the villages."
Basil stopped in front of me. "It would be invaluable if I were to inspect the scene of the last kidnapping. How soon can we be taken there?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, if you like."
"Would the Emperor mind if he parted with Li Yan for a few days? I would rather prefer a native guide."
"Guide?" Delevan's eyes flashed for a moment. He slowly turned to the Emperor and held a private conversation with him. He looked back at Basil. "You may have the girl for as long as you need her."
"Excellent. Now if you and you Emperor will excuse us, we should be preparing ourselves for the investigation tomorrow."
"Certainly," Delevan said. "You have had a weary journey, and you need your rest. Our sincerest apologizes for the poor accommodations; Li Yan will take you to better ones tomorrow."
Basil exchanged a few more words with the Emperor. The ancient mouse bowed to each of us in turn. Li Yan translated for Dawson and I. "Emperor say 'Thank you very much, all of you."
I watched as Delevan left with three score soldiers to protect the Emperor on the journey to Hong Kong.
"Meesus Meg?" Li Yan said. I turned toward her. She took me to a small room. "This is your chamber." I gazed at the room in mild surprise. The room was sizeable enough, but there was a large crack in one of the walls, and the window had pretty much collapsed into a pile of rubble less than one foot high. The mattress was old and dusty, and the whole place smelled strongly of rotting wood.
"Well..." I began, not quite sure what to say.
"You're not sleeping there."
I turned around and found myself looking at Basil. "Pardon?"
"I said you're not sleeping there. Look at that window. Anyone could get in there easily enough without making any sort of noise. You'll be sleeping on a pallet in the storage pantry, with Li Yan."
"I- I do not understand," the young girl said. "I, in same room as nobeleety?"
I said, "I'm not nobility," the same moment Basil replied, "Safety reasons."
"Safety? Come now, Basil. We're out in the middle of nowhere, in the dead of night. No one could find us even if we told them exactly where we are," I said.
Basil frowned. "You will sleep in the pantry."
"And where will you sleep?" I demanded.
"In the kitchen."
Basil took us to the pantry. I stared distastefully at the cramped room. At one time or another it had held sacks of rice, barrels of wine, and wheels of cheese. Now it was a moldering mess. Broken shelves hug from the wall and the floor was covered with splinters. I almost bumped my head on the low ceiling.
"Basil," I complained, "Why here?"
Basil fiercely stared at me. "Mrs. Havers, I am not going to lie to you. The Seven Plagues is not an organization to lark about! We are in very grave danger here."
"Why would we be?" I asked. "No one else knows about this case."
"I strongly doubt that."
"Well, perhaps the Chinese government does, but-"
Basil pulled me aside. "Meg, someone was following us here. I could hear them. We lost them earlier this evening, but I'm sure they've found the trail once again."
"Then why are we staying here?"
"I may be incorrect, but I believe they may be surrounding the house as we speak. Now, Guangxu left us with one hardy soldier, but the Seven Plagues..."
Basil stopped in the middle of his sentence. Then he barked, "As your employer, I command you to sleep in this room!"
RAEB: 'I command you to sleep in this room'?
Emma: That just sounds so wrong.
Leigh: Ditto.
Lizz: Meg, are you suggesting-
Meg: Whatever it is, I'm sure no one wants to hear it!
JWJ: I do! And so does James! (Holding up cell phone)
Sarah: They're on a first-name basis. This can't be good.
