IV
London Hospitality
She shivered at the memory… what she had left behind. She did not take immediate flight after the murderers, the rebels. By her father's side as their doctor tended to him… but the wound that should not have been fatal was.
"Poison," The doctor said with regret.
Lin was left to the horror of watching her father slowly succumb to the pain of the poison in his system, and the slow bleeding from his wound. His last words, repeated again and again in her head. "S-stop… them…" He had said, crushing her hand in his own as he struggled against the inevitable. Finally, when the sun rose he ceased of all movement. Prying her hand from his, she swore again through her tears that she would set things right.
The Imperial Guards had requested she see the Dowager Empress immediately in her court for a full assessment of the situation, but Lin argued that the Boxer's trail was growing colder. The insisted, and when they left her alone to freshen up to visit the Dowager Empress, she snuck out to the palace stables. Fleeing the Forbidden City, she wasted no time, taking shortcuts over the lands where the roads would bend. She had caught up well, catching the sails in the distance as she finally reached them on the fourth day. But as she crossed the rise of the coast, her heart dropped. The schooner carrying both the rebels and the murderous Englishman had already left port. She rode, nonetheless, to the dock… but she knew the water was too cold to swim and the schooner far too swift to chase.
Left with dispair, she fell into sobs at the dockside. An old fisherman took pity on her, and he and his wife took her in for a day utnil the next ship arrived. Only then was she renewed with hope and determination to hunt down her father's killer.
Someone called from the deck above. Lin was roused from her daydream, scurrying to her feet to make her way to the deck. Pushing her way through the crowd of English passengers, she found her way to the edge and caught sight of gray docks and frosted rooftops. It wasn't the most spectacular sight, nor was it close to the prettiness of the white shores of the ocean coast… but the Thames certainly had it's own flavor.
England. Rathbone thought, looking upward through his frosted window. It was good to be home in London, beneath the mucky sky and the filthy streets below. Though it hardly held the fragrance of blossoms and spices like China, it had its own familiar aroma of chimney smoke, and with the season, cider.
Letting the curtain drap back to cover the window, he turned to the rest of his study. His steps muffled by the thick carpet, he paced, conjuring and perfecting the last of his speech for Parliament. Leaning over his desk, he scribbled the last note onto his paper and crossed out the previous section.
Dropping the pen to the desk, he rubbed his hands together and then clasped them behind his back. Something still nagged him, gnawing at the back of his mind. Pacing slowly upon the carpet, he closed his eyes, allowing the source of his troubles to bring an image.
She had followed them all the way to the harbor. She would likely follow him all the way to England… But the girl could not have known who he was, he was certain. Or was he so certain? He stopped pacing, frowning at himself as he realized he was thinking too much on it. With all of England for her to search, and being supressed by her nationality and leniage, he should not have had anything to worry about. But it stuck to his mind like flypaper… and he wondered where she was.
Lin had little with her: a small bag and a roll of a blanket upon her back. She walked down the roped ramp into the crowded dock below, nervous as there fell a few strange glances her direction. People pushed, people shouted, people waved their arms up high. The thickness of the crowd's airspace brought her to cough and gag, and when she hit a cloud of cigar smoke it had been the last straw. The man bellowed out a deep chuckle, and the smoke poured from his brown teeth before her, his arms lifted, widespread to greet the man who walked behind her. The smell from under his arms was worse. Lin clasped a hand over her mouth and nose and dropped to the floor, crawling her way out of the crowd and onto a more desolate portion of the docks.
She looked back to the dissipating crowd as they took their friends and loved ones from the docks with rosy, merry cheeks. Taking her first breath of fresher air, she stifled a hiccup of sobs, wondering if Wang would receive her letter anytime soon … Or if ever.
Taking her single bag and blanket, she pressed on down the street, attempting to ignore the awkward and curious glances toward her. She turned down a less crowded street… or she thought it was.
The alley was darker, and for a moment she stopped there, taking in her surroundings as she leaned against the wall, looping her thumbs beneath the bag on her shoulder. A ruckus caused her to look down the alley in time to see a cat digging into a knocked over trash bin.
Sighing, Lin pressed on, journeying down the alley in silence.
"Pleasant morning for a tour of Lud's town, isn't it?" A croaky voice called.
Lin didn't stop walking, keeping her face forward and her back to the voice. But the voice followed, growing closer to her ear. "Care for a tour?"
She frowned, casting a side-glance to the man and his yellow smile before pushing his hand away from her face and continued walking.
He tipped his top hat and scratched his rugged gray beard. "I'll give you a discount if you do something for me…" He appeared on her other shoulder, grinning ear to ear before a foul breath poured out from his mouth, "Come on, love. I don't want to play nasty." A small blade snapped out, shimmering against the light before her eyes.
Lin jumped to a standstill. Lin had enough. Without anymore warning, she turned and slammed the ball of her palm into his jaw. He hit the floor with an, "Oof!"
Knocked silly, he rocked on his backside until his eyes straightened. But Lin had vanished.
"I'll get you… wait and see." He gruffly vowed, holding his jaw.