XXVI

The Warehouse

Lin sprinted from the building, her heart pounding as she felt enraged with disappointment over their actions. If all her brother wanted to do was play, she would do the work herself and find the boy to get the seal back for Rathbone…and she hoped that would keep Wu Chow off their backs long enough for a plan to be conjured.

She ran down many streets, cutting through the fog until she came to a small, stony bridge over a canal. The yellow lamps flickered, and it was only then when she slowed her steps to catch her breath that she realized she did not know where she was, or where she was going. Her steps carried her up the arch of the bridge, the sound of clicking steps upon the ground. She paused at the peak of the bridge, turning in hopes of finding Rathbone, and fearful that perhaps it was anything else.

No one there, she whirled around to continue on her way, but a tall, black figure stood before her. She gasped, jumping back in step as she recognized the man before her: yellow teeth and a grimy gray beard. He grinned wickedly beneath the brim of his top hat.

"Nice night for a walk." He growled and unsheathed a hidden blade from his walking stick. Lin reacted, fed up with everything. Twice she swung her foot and both times she nailed him. He flipped over the side of the bridge, yelling all the way down until he splashed with a heavy plop.

Lin pressed herself to the edge to see him drifting with the current. "%?!*#-ING LOSER!" She shouted in Chinese to him.

Her raised voice gave away her position.

"Lin!"

"Lin! There you are," Roy jogged up the bridge with Wang, before quite causally adding, "Don't you know there's a serial killer on the loose?"

Lin frowned between them. Didn't they take anything seriously? Feeling her efforts with them were futile, she waved them off and marched past them. "Forget it!" Slippers scraped the ground as she halted. Two boxers blocked her path.

The sounds of steps from behind brought the three to turn. Three more boxers blocked the other side of the bridge, trapping them on the arch.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Roy asked.

"Boxers." Wang informed him.

"Well, what do they want with us?"

Another voice broke out, "They're with me." Lin paused, knowing the voice all too well. She turned to find Rathbone standing between the two boxers, with the gaslight to their backs and his derringer in hand. "I think we need to have a little chat."

Lin readied herself for a fight when Rathbone shot her a threatening look. She halted just in time to hear the scrapings of more steps approaching. More Boxers. The boxers behind walked up behind them and began binding their wrists. Gagging all three, they were rudely shoved into a fish cart, stuffed and locked inside.

It was a bumpy, stinky ride all the way to the warehouse docks, where they were dragged inside. The men were shoved to their knees, the entrance of the warehouse to their backs. Lin's feet were bound to two rings upon the ground intended for securing cargo, while her bound wrists were looped over a hoist's cargo hook.

The men's gags were pulled from their mouths as Rathbone moved toward Lin. She looked to him pleadingly, her eyes trembling with the fear of what was to come. Rathbone averted his eyes and strolled back to the men, turning his back to her. Vastly outnumbered and unable to untie any of them in time, he remained silent.

It did not take long before Wu Chow arrived, walking briskly through the warehouse, passing the crates of fireworks and ammunition, the sheeted artillery… Mocking surprise, he moved to stand before the kneeling, bound men. "Chon Wang… The man who defied an Emperor."

Wang glared steadily, "The Emperor never should have spared your life."

"Still my brother's lap dog."

"I am not here for the Emperor. I am here for my father."

"Of course you are…" He grinned, shooting Rathbone a knowing gleam before a familiar, waved bladed dagger was pulled from his vest and held before Wang's eyes. "It was my dagger that pierced his heart. The blade is still crusted with his blood."

Wang snapped, pushing himself from the ground in an effort to tackle the laughing Chinaman in English garb. But Wu Chow only laughed more when Wang was suppressed by the nearby boxers and re-sheathed the dagger, tucking it into his vest pocket for safekeeping.

Rathbone shot Wu Chow a disgusted look behind his back. The sooner this was over, the better. Hands clasped behind his back in a patient manner, he turned to the prisoners. "I know the boy has the seal. Where is he?"

"We don't know. That's the truth, we don't know." Roy said in all sincerity.

Rathbone turned to the boxers behind him, who gripped the wheel of the hoist. With a nod, he gave them the go-ahead. Lin squirmed, and they turned the wheel. Her feet lifted from the ground, her limbs straightened as they pulled tightly. She winced and whined behind the gag, her eyes pinching shut.

"No, wait! Stop! Put her down, put her down or I'll-"

Rathbone quickly waved them to lower the hook as he looked to Roy, who was so eager to come to Lin's defense, where her brother remained silent. Roy, the hero of a hundred God-awful American folk tales was becoming defensive over his Lin. "Or what Mr. O'bannon? Are you going to 'kick my ass'?" He mocked the man's American accent. He snorted, "I've read all about your ridiculous exploits. I mean, just how does it feel to strangle a mummy with your bare hands? Only a nation of uneducated rednecks would be amused by such cowboy drivel." Not that he hadn't enjoyed them…in fact he had laughed for a good five minutes the first time he read 'Roy O'bannon Vs the Mummy'.

"Whoa, whoa, what's with the personal attacks?"

Wang wondered the same thing.

"You don't see me commenting on your pasty complexion or your snotty accent. Or even your filthy, dirty, smutty sex books."

Rathbone's amused smile turned downward. It was the most inappropriate, unimportant subject and Roy had just brought it to light. Roy narrowed his eyes dramatically, "Yeah, I saw your book. It disgusted me." That, Rathbone knew, was a lie. Wu Chow had had enough as well, and with the head of his silver cane he popped Roy upside the head. "Owe! Look at us! We're acting like a bunch of animals! Over what? Some seal?"

Wu Chow instantly replied, "It has been a symbol of imperial power since Genghis Khan. I will use it to unite the Emperor's enemies and storm the Forbidden City."

Rathbone had to hide his smirk. By informing them, he was empowering them… Roy's attention turned to him then. His smirking caught Roy's attention.

"Then what's in it for you?"

"You're looking at the future king of England."

"You're like… twentieth in line from the throne!"

Miffed, he corrected, "Tenth." He looked between Roy and Wu Chow. "But my friend here is going to change all that by simple…process of elimination." Now he was simply having too much fun informing these two, flaunting their villainous plot. Snapping his fingers, Rathbone ordered idle Boxers into action. They jumped to uncover the propped gun upon the barge. If Lin would not explain it to them, he would do it himself. "They call it a gatlin gun, although I'm sure your American friends remember this well from your civil war."

Roy looked to Wu Chow, "So he steals some seal and you knock off nine royals? You certainly got the short end of that stick my friend." Wu Chow hit him again.

A moment of silence passed as Wu Chow watched Rathbone in the corner of his eye.

Rathbone would break the silence again. "Dump them in the river."

Lin's eyes rounded wide. She gasped and kicked as they unhooked her from the hoist. The boxer threw her over his shoulder and began carrying her outside. Rathbone turned to Wu Chow, offering an expression as though to silently say, 'unless you have a better idea?' Wu Chow made no protest.

Wang turned to him, "Where are you taking her?"

"To make history." He smirked, "I can already see the headlines. 'Nation mourns as Looney Lin massacres royal family!'"

At Wu Chow's command the boxers began pulling them to their feet, moving them toward the hoist where they bound their feet to the hook. With a glance to Rathbone, Wu Chow exited the warehouse to see Lin secured safely into the carriage waiting outside.

Waving off the remaining boxers once the prisoner's feet were bound, Rathbone walked to stand over them. The rebels didn't move far away enough to not overhear, and Rathbone shot them a tedious look. Kneeling down, he narrowed his eyes upon the two, "How disappointing. I thought you would have surely lied if only to spare your sister some pain."

Wang glared most dangerously as Rathbone stood and walked from the warehouse. The air was crisp and damp, breath smoking on the wind as he turned to Wu Chow.

"I need your assurance that you will find the seal."

Quick to answer, "Don't concern yourself. My men are scouring the city."

Wu Chow tensed, "You had better pray they find it, or our agreement is off and you will never get the crown!" Wu Chow turned haughtily on his heels and stepped down the misty lane.

Rathbone studied him a moment more. Wu Chow obviously had his hands full. Wu Chow seemed to still think he wanted the crown. Averting his eyes a moment, he stepped toward the carriage. Taking the handle beside the door, he moved to pull himself inside when he paused. Lin sat inside, bound and gagged. Her cheeks glistened with tears as she hiccupped and gasped. He knew he could not leave yet… one last reassurance.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped back to the pavement and patted his vest as though he had lost something. "Damn." He looked to the boxer who sat waiting upon the driver's perch. "Wait for me in the stalls. I'll be there shortly." Without so much a nod, the boxer cracked the whip and sent the carriage into action. It clopped down the lane and out of sight.

Returning to the warehouse, he slipped inside and closed the door behind himself. Lord Rathbone needed Chon Wang and Roy O'bannon to make it out alive…

The moment the door latched there came a deafening, repetitious popping. Rathbone hit the floor, hands clasped to his ears to block out the sound before he realized they were indeed bullets flying.

"Botch it!" He said to himself and slipped back outside. To hell with O'bannon! He never liked the man anyway. His ears pounded as he sat against a nearby crate, rubbing at his lobes.

All fell silent. He grunted, wondering what sort of lie he could conjure to tell Lin about what happened to her brother. Damn. What a pickle. Those two could have been useful. It was a pity they had to be shot to he-…

His ears perked to the sound of sloshing water. Two, wet hands slapped to the surface of the docks. Rathbone shifted to hide himself behind the crate. Wang and Roy pulled themselves from the Thames, having escaped near death.

Quite impressed, Rathbone nodded silently in respect, all the while watching from the shadows.

"I can't believe you." Wang said to Roy.

"What? I was tied up – I couldn't do anything. Besides, you're the one who said I didn't need to do anything."

"I mean Lin!"

"What?" They started walking, passing the crate along the way, "You said that if I break her heart you break my legs. That's fair, isn't it? Besides we know she likes me. It's you that's being a stinker about the whole thing…"

Rathbone stared at them as they wandered away and out of sight, their voices trailing off into the night. Aghast, he thought back to Lin and realized he had never heard any clarification on her feelings toward him. It suddenly seemed quite possible she was using Rathbone as an easy means of getting the Seal and Wu Chow, the two things she was most obsessive over from the start…

Confused, he made his way to the street where Lin lay hidden in the carriage in the dockside stalls.