«They stopped for lunch. One of the women watched the fire and the kids while the other went to take a piss. A piss and a crap. The one who took a crap took off her robe when she did it. She was white.»
«Compared to what?» Staff Sergeant Cawber asked.
«Compared to the other one, who was yellow. And shorter. One of them was white.»
«They see you?» Chief Brewer said.
«Yeah,» Cassidy said. «I rode a little ways ahead and stopped, letting them see me, and one of the guys on the camels rode up and took a good look at me. He had a beard, a white beard, so he's probably white, too.»
«And?» Cawber asked impatiently.
«He let me see he had one of them Mauser Broomhandle pistols, the ones with a stock? But he didn't aim it at me or anything. So I just rode off until I was out of sight, and then I come here.»
«What do you think, Sergeant Abraham?» Chief Brewer asked.
«If anybody cares what I think,» Cawber said before Abraham could reply, «we should just let them go their merry way. If there's only that many of them, they probably don't have anything they'd be willing to sell. If Cassidy made sure they didn't see him turn back this way, they don't know we're here. Leave it that way, is what I say.»
«What is a white woman and maybe a white guy with a beard doing out here all alone?» Sergeant Sweatley asked.
«Making a lot better time than we are, Sergeant, I'll tell you that,» Corporal Cassidy said. «If we had camels pulling our wagons, we'd be a lot farther down the road.»
«I mean, what are they up to?»
«Who the fuck cares?» Cawber said.
«Maybe they have something we can use,» Sweatley said.
«And maybe they don't, and maybe they'll just get ahead of us and tell somebody that we're here,» Cawber responded.
«Sweatley, you curious enough to ride out there and have a look for yourself?» Chief Brewer asked Sergeant Sweatley.
«Shit,» Staff Sergeant Cawber said. «The last fucking thing we need around here is another woman, two women, to feed and worry about. Don't start thinking you're the Good Samaritan, Sweatley.»
Sweatley considered the question a minute, then said, «Yeah, I am that curious.»
«Shit,» Staff Sergeant Cawber repeated.
«Take Doto-Si with you,» Chief Brewer said.
«I think I'll have a look myself,» Sergeant Abraham said, rising to his feet.
«Cassidy, you're going to have to show us where they are,» Sergeant Sweatley said.
«I figured,» Corporal Cassidy said.
«Sweatley, you go roll two Marines out of the sack while I go find Doto-Si,» Sergeant Abraham ordered.
Father Boris saw the six riders on Mongolian ponies and didn't like it.
Two hours before he had seen the large man with a rifle, and now he was back, with four other men and what looked like a woman—all armed with rifles.
We are in God's palm
, Father Boris decided.
Whatever happens will happen
.
Turning the camel, he rode back to the first wagon and told Mae Su what he had seen. Both times.
«I will come with you,» she said, and reined in the camels pulling her wagon.
Father Boris brought his camel to its knees and slid off, then went to one of the camels tied behind Mae Su's wagon and tightened its saddle cinch and brought it to its knees.
By then Mae Su was out of the wagon, carrying her Broomhandle Mauser and a blanket. She climbed onto the camel and got it to its feet, then concealed the machine pistol under the blanket.
They rode toward the four horsemen and the woman. Their small Mongolian ponies were standing in a line halfway up a gentle rise.
It took them five minutes to get within shouting distance.
«We come in peace,» Father Boris announced, and then he realized that the five men were all white. Their faces were mostly hidden by scarves. But their skin was white, and they had Caucasian features.
«You are the Americans we have been hearing about,» Father Boris said.
«Who the fuck are you?» Sergeant Sweatley demanded.
«I am a servant of God, a priest, my son,» Father Boris said.
«You are Americans?» Mae Su asked.
«Who are you?» Sergeant Abraham asked courteously.
«I am the wife of Sergeant Ernest Zimmerman, Fourth Marines,» Mae Su said.
«You said 'Ernie Zimmerman'?» Sweatley asked, obviously surprised.
«Yes,» Mae Su said.
«We talking about the same guy? Used to run the motor convoys out of Shanghai?»
«Sergeant Ernie Zimmerman,» Mae Su repeated, nodding her head.
«Shit, I knew him,» Corporal Cassidy said.
«I'm Technical Sergeant Abraham, retired from the Fourth Marines,» Abraham announced formally. «And these are Marines from the guard detachment, at the U.S. legation in Peking.»
«What are you doing out here?» Corporal Cassidy asked.
«Probably, my son, doing the same thing you are,» Father Boris said. «Trying to leave China, perhaps go to India.»
«How many of you are there?»
«Two of the priest's men, Chinese,» Mae Su said. «Another woman. And our children. How many are there of you?»
«Twelve Marines, some soldiers, and some Yangtze River sailors,» Sweatley said. «And wives and children.»
«In numbers there is strength, my son,» Father Boris said.
«The other woman. She's white?»
«She is Russian,» Father Boris said.
«She is the wife of Captain Edward J. Banning, of the Fourth Marines,» Mae Su said.
«How is it she didn't get out of China with the other officer's dependents?» Abraham asked.
«Because she is a Russian,» Mae Su said.
«You mean a Nansen passport Russian,» Abraham said.
«Yes,» Mae Su said.
«If you're thinking what I think you're thinking. Sergeant. I'm with you. Fuck Cawber,» Corporal Cassidy said. «Ernie Zimmerman is one of us.»
«Yeah, me too,» another of the Marines said. Abraham looked at the second Marine. «Yeah, me too, Sergeant.»
Sergeant Abraham looked at Sweatley, then kicked his little pony and cantered toward the two small wagons below him.
A .45 Colt automatic pistol appeared in an opening of the canvas of the second wagon, aimed at his midsection.
«Mrs. Banning?» Sergeant Abraham asked.
After a pause, in a faint voice, the Countess Maria Catherine Ludmilla Zhivkov replied, «I am Mrs. Edward J. Banning.»
Sergeant Sweatley trotted up on his little pony. Sergeant Abraham turned to look at him, then turned back to Milla. He saluted. «Technical Sergeant Abraham, ma'am. United States Marine Corps.»
Sweatley saluted. «Sergeant Sweatley, ma'am. I know the Captain, ma'am.» The flap opened and Milla was visible. She had the pistol at her side now. She held her baby with her other arm. Tears ran down her cheeks.
I
am the daughter of an officer and the wife of an officer. I must not lose control.
«How do you do?» Milla said formally. «I am pleased to meet you. This is Captain Banning's and my son, Edward Edwardovich.»
«Is he all right, ma'am?» Sergeant Abraham asked.