After some time, Lei returned with a box under his arm. He entered Tonglong's cabin and emerged a quarter of an hour later with the box, plus a small scroll. Lei was blowing on the scroll's wax seal to cool it down, and ShaoShu noticed that he was now wearing a large ring. It was shiny, so it caught ShaoShu's attention. He strained his eyes and saw that the ring had a raised image on top. ShaoShu knew that these types of rings were used to imprint a special pattern or design into a wax seal as a private signal. The image on this ring matched the image imprinted in the wax on the scroll. Even from where he rested, ShaoShu could see that the image was a cobra.
Lei seemed to suddenly remember that he was wearing the ring and slipped it into one of his holster pouches. He glanced around and then up. His eyes met ShaoShu's, and Lei's face darkened. He slid the scroll into the folds of his robe and ordered ShaoShu down.
ShaoShu stepped onto the deck, and Lei seized his elbow. “I warned you to keep your nose out of my business, Little Mouse,” Lei said in a harsh whisper. “You're coming with me. General Tonglong will be so busy the next few days, he won't even miss you. I am going to show you how a sailor ties knots. Your contortionist tricks will get you nowhere on my watch.”
CHAPTER 16
ShaoShu sat propped beside LoBak in the hold of Tonglong's ship, surround by crates of cannonballs. He had never been tied up so tightly or so thoroughly Complex knots held his arms pinned to his sides with rope that didn't have the slightest stretch. No matter how much he tried to twist or turn or expand or compress his body the bindings did not give.
He sighed and closed his eyes. Above his head, he heard the sound of cannons being repositioned on deck and Lei's strong voice shouting orders. The boats were fully loaded and the men were being pressed to set sail as soon as possible in order to make another attack. It seemed Tonglong was eager to put his new power to use.
ShaoShu opened his eyes and turned to LoBak, whose gag had been removed by one of the kinder sailors. So far, nobody suspected that he and LoBak knew each other.
“I am so sorry,” ShaoShu said. “I should never have asked you to help me.”
“Do not say such things,” LoBak replied in a brittle voice. “I knew what was at risk, even if you did not. Men like HaiZhe, Tonglong, and Lei are not to be trifled with. We should consider ourselves fortunate we are still breathing. You, especially.”
ShaoShu frowned. “I wish I could have snuck off this ship when we first landed. I had planned to run to your shop to get Ying and Hok. They would know what to do.”
“That would have proved fruitless. They are gone. We agreed that if I did not return within a few hours, something was amiss and they were to leave before first light. I am sure they were well on their way before this vessel even made it to the mouth of the Qiantang River.”
ShaoShu breathed a sigh of relief. “That's good. Where did they go?”
“Ying was to take his mother to the mountains, while Hok was to accompany her temple brothers Fu and Malao to a nearby island with a Round Eye called Charles. They will be staying in a place known as Smuggler's Island, which is home to a large band of very rough foreigners. We had agreed that this was the best plan, but now I have my doubts.”
“What do you mean?” ShaoShu asked.
“I overheard sailors talking as they loaded this hold. They spoke of reports about a group of Round Eye pirate ships traveling south together just this morning. They think the boats came from Smuggler's Island, and Tonglong means to attack the island's stronghold cove while it is shorthanded.”
“Oh, no!” ShaoShu whispered. “Tonglong hates foreigners! I wish there was something we could do to warn them.” Frustrated, he struggled and strained against his bindings one more time, but it was no use. He made no headway whatsoever. Tired, he leaned back against a cannonball crate.
Something began to stir next to ShaoShu's belly button, and he held his breath. At first it felt like a mosquito, but then it began to tickle. Unable to control himself, he giggled softly.
“This is no laughing matter,” LoBak said.
“Sorry, sir,” ShaoShu said. “It's my mouse. He lives in a pouch attached to my sash. When Lei tied me up, he must have forgotten about it. He wrapped the ropes right over the pouch. I don't think my mouse likes it. He's squirming around, trying to get out. It tickles.”
ShaoShu sucked in his stomach to give the mouse a little more room, and it stopped squirming. How ever, its lack of motion was replaced with something else—the sound of tiny teeth gnashing together.
“Hey!” ShaoShu whispered. “He's trying to chew his way out!”
LoBak glanced at ShaoShu's ropes. “Are you sure?”