Chapter 7


Basil's head was throbbing with pain as he gained consciousness. Blurred shapes slowly formed into the image of a chamber. He groaned softly as he took stock of his surroundings. From the sound of whips nearby, he concluded that they were in a chamber in the slave hold of a ship. The room was dark and foul smelling; the floor covered in a crust of salt. A trickle of water seeped through the floor. Dawson was beside him, still unconscious. Basil could not move his arms. A quick inspection using his tail told him that he was tightly chained to the wall.

He heard the door unlock. Feigning sleep, he stole a peek at the mouse approaching them. It was a big, burly mouse, carrying a lantern. He set this on a peg by the door.

"Getup, now!" he grunted, giving the detective a sharp kick in the stomach.

Basil sharply drew in his breath. He shook Dawson awake as Xing Ryu swaggered in. Basil could tell that he was slightly intoxicated. "Well, we have the greatest detective in the world along with his faithful sidekick," the pirate captain slurred as he aimed a kick at the groggy Dawson. "You've been defeated once and for all, Mr. Basil!"

Ryu pulled out a flask and took a long draught from it. Basil pasted a grin on his face. The pirate angrily threw the flask in his face. "Temper, temper," Basil said.

"Shut up!"

"No need to act immature now." The detective was clearly enjoying provoking the young mouse.

It slowly dawned on Ryu that Basil was trying to play with him. He smiled. "Hah, you're in no position to be telling me that, detective! You are dead."

"Really?" he asked sarcastically. "I don't appear to be dead."

Ryu lost his temper. "Fool!" he hissed. "You're a dead mouse as soon as we get to London. There, Lord Ratigan waits to, 'welcome' you."

Basil's smile wavered a little. His mind spun as he tried to think of an escape plan. He would be fine if he could free himself before the ship left the harbor (or had it left already?) He didn't know how long he had lain unconscious. The cell let in no daylight. What about London? Basil knew how long it took for any type of ship to make it to the city, but that information was useless in a place that did not give him a clue to the passage of days. There was still the possibility of escape when the junk anchored in another port, but Ryu would be sure to not let that information slip around Basil. The detective had his ways of telling, though...

Another pirate dashed into the room, bowling Xing Ryu over. He cursed, saying in rapid Chinese, "You worthless excuse for a pirate! This hole is only big enough for one mouse, let alone four, you mindless piece of garbage!"

"But Cap'n-"

Ryu unsheathed his dagger from his scabbard. Using the hilt, he gave the pillager a smart blow to the jaw. The mouse stumbled backwards as he screamed in pain. Blood poured from the fresh wound.

"Insubordinate, mutinous idiot! Now what is it!" he barked.

"Weh... weh... weh're being attacked!"

"Attacked? I dealt with those clowns back at Shanghai."

"No ships, Cap'n. Gulls, carrying mice!"

"WHAT?"


I readied myself to jump off as Jacques neared the Liu Xue. "Jacques, where will you be while we're fighting?" I called out to the large seagull.

"Right with ya, ma'am," he answered. "A couple of those pirates could do with a good bath in the sea. I plan to help them into it."

I joined in his laughter. I haven't laughed in ages. And why now? I could get myself killed. Why am I laughing?

"Easy does it, missus," Jacques said, gracefully sweeping downward. The junk, which had been the size of a toy boat only a moment before, grew with amazing rapidness. I grasped my sword tightly and leaped.

I had jumped too soon; I fell clumsily on the deck, rolling head over tail for a few moments. I lay spread-eagled for another moment, too dazed to get up. The pound of feet on deck brought me back to the present. I sprang to my feet.

A large group of pirates was starting to gather around. Above me I saw other mice following my lead. First one, then another, and another, jumped on deck. The pirates were too confused to react.

Then Jacques swept down, picked up one particularly large rodent, and took off above us. He slowed down and dropped the unfortunate mouse into the South China Sea.

"Atttttttttaaaaaaaack!" I roared. The Chinese pirates and rescuers seemed to have understood my meaning, for they took up arms and clashed. The battle had begun.


Ryu rushed onto the deck. What he saw relieved him. "Hah!" he spat. "We outnumber them easily five to one."

"Argh!" A seagull carried the pirate he had been talking to away.

Ryu ran to his first mate. "Get the cannons out, you fool! Kill the birds!" As the mouse ran off to do his bidding, Ryu joined in on the fighting, quickly slaying an old farmer. There was nothing like a good, clean fight.


I raced down into the slave hold, the youth called Jun and his father Kou following closely. The slave master screamed at us in Chinese.

"Go ahead, meesus," Kou said. "Jun will take care of him.

"You're sure?"

"Yes. Find Meester Basil."

"Thank you. When you've taken care of him, get the chains off the children," I said.

"Meg!" a familiar voice called out.

"Isabelle?"

"Meg, right here!" I raced down the rows. Isabelle wildly waved her hands from the last bench, the chains clanging together. She looked weak and worn.

"Isabelle! Oh Lord, you're alive! I thought I'd never see you again."

"Meg, they have Mr. Basil and David," she said.

"Basil? David? Dr. Dawson?" She nodded. "Where?"

She motioned to a dark corridor behind her. "I think he's dead," she whispered. "He was so limp and still."

"I'll find them. Kou and Jun will have you out soon."

I ran into the corridor. A dim lantern hung from a hook in the wall. I found the keys on the same hook. "Basil?" I called out.

Silence. Then, "Miss Sarentis? Is that you?" from the last chamber.

I gave a squeal of delight as I unlocked the door. They were both chained to the wall, nursing wounds to the head. I ran forward and unlocked Dawson's chains first. He slowly got to his feet. Basil gazed at me in a mild stupor as I released him from his bonds. "How... how did you..."

"I should get a raise for this," I interrupted. "And you think that I can't take care of myself. Hah! Look at yourself..." He grasped my paw. I stopped talking.

"Where's Ryu?"

"You're too weak. He's mine!"

"No, I want to settle the score."

"Basil!"

He forced himself up. "Dawson," I pleaded. "Please restrain him for a while. Oh, and Isabelle is looking for a man named David. Any ideas?" I smiled knowingly at the doctor as his face light up. "Bye Basil." I darted away.

"Meg!" he shouted after me.


The sea gulls had come back with more reinforcements. Ryu was starting to get worried. "Come on, you spineless cowards!" he rallied to his crew. "We still have the upper hand!"

"Ryu! The WENCH has come back!"

He turned around. What he saw made him roar with laughter. "Little girl, stay out of this! You might cut yourself with that big sharp knife."

"Awww, you afraid to go up against a little girl?" I taunted. "Come on; I'm ready."

"This will be too easy."

He came forward as I readied myself. His first swipe was easy to block; I swung low, making him jump over my blade. He lunged towards me. I dodged it; causing him to fall into the main mast. His blade was caught in the wood. Before he could pull it free, I did a double kick into his stomach. Ryu reeled backwards, but caught himself.

He grabbed a fallen staff and vaulted towards me. He had me on the ground in a flash. He tried to pin my hands down, but I bit him in the arm. He quickly let go.

"Cyopang!" he yelled, struggling to pull out his dagger. I tried to kick him in the face. He dodged it and gave a swinging kick into my side. I stumbled backwards a few paces. Springing onto the side of the mast, I rebounded and ran straight into him, knocking us both to the ground.

"Meg!" I turned to see who it was; but the chaos was too great. Then I heard several blasts. Ryu groaned. He lunged towards me with the dagger. I ran and slid under his feet. The pirate captain tried to stop, but too late. He stumbled and fell overboard.

"Ma'am!" Jacques appeared where Ryu had fallen. "Help has arrived!" I looked over his shoulder. Merchant ships, armed with cannons had come to the rescue.

Dawson and Isabelle joined us. "What happened to Basil?"

"He was with you," I said to Dawson.

"I went to help Miss Fremly here, and he left. Meg, when we came up here, we saw you fighting Ryu. A pirate was going to slay you, but Basil... he, erm... saved you."

"He tried to warn me..." I murmured, remembering the voice that had called my name.


Lizz: You killed Ryu!

Sarah: So? He was the bad guy, after all.

Emma: Funny, we've only really talked about the story like twice.

Lizz: Are you going to bring Ryu back to life too?

Meg: No way!

RAEB: Yeah right.