The Magic of You
Page 24

floor. 295
The two people she'd passed in the lobby, both hotel employees, had barely noticed her, probably assuming she was a guest returning to her room, which was what she had hoped for. No questions. She'd have enough of those to answer in just a few moments.
She had remembered his room number. She paused when she finally stood before the door. The thought that he was going to be in bed, asleep, returned with a vengeance. Would that be to her advantage? If she could tempt him before he fully woke up ... her heart started slamming against her ribs. Tonight, it was going to happen tonight ...
She knocked smartly on the door, to make sure the sound would rouse him. She wasn't expecting the door to be yanked open immediately, along with four other doors in the nearby vicinity. Her cheeks started glowing brightly for causing such a turnout of guests, but her embarrassment turned abruptly to surprised confusion when she glanced both left and right to see only short Oriental men crowding into the hallway, and in front of her, still another one.
"Sorry," she got out, just before she was yanked into what should have been Warren's room.
She was let go, but the door was closed behind her. She turned to face the little culprit--he was no taller than she--only to find there were two of them. The other was standing to the opposite side of the door.
Had they been guarding it? Was that why it had opened so quickly? And the other doors? Had those men been guarding something, too? Good God, what had she blundered into?
These people must have secured the entire floor for their use, which meant that Warren was probably on a different floor, that the management must have asked him to change rooms to accommodate this crowd. Now, how was she supposed to find him without questioning the desk clerk?
"I believe I've--was
"Be quiet, lady."
"But I've made--was
"Be quiet, lady." She was interrupted by the same fellow again, with more insistence.
Her indignation rose abruptly. Amy was about to blast the fellow with it when an Oriental dialect was barked from the bed in a tone even more indignant than hers would have been. Amy glanced that way to see still another man, sitting 297 up. He was young--or maybe not. It was hard to tell. He wore a white silk sacklike thing that covered him from neck to below the covers. An extremely long black braid had fallen over one shoulder. He had sounded angry, but black eyes were fixed on Amy with apparent interest.
She tore her own eyes away from him to turn back to the chap who'd been so rude. "Look, I'm sorry I woke him," she whispered. "But could I leave now? I've obviously made a mistake."
Her answer came from the bed, though she couldn't understand a word of it. And she was too embarrassed to look in that direction again. Whoever the man was, she'd disturbed his sleep. He was still in bed. The situation was highly improper, no doubt about it.
The little man who'd been so rude deigned to talk to her again. "I am Li Liang, lady. I am to speak for my lord. You are looking for the American captain?"
Amy blinked. They couldn't possibly be part of Warren's crew, could they? No, the idea was too absurd. But maybe they knew where he'd been moved to, which would save her a trip to the desk clerk.
"Do you know Captain Anderson?" she asked.
"He is known to us, yes," Li Liang replied. "He is also known to you?"
The truth or a lie, and if a lie, husband or fianci? They didn't know her. She'd never see them again where whatever she said now could be disproved. A lie, then, to save her from even more embarrassment.
"He is my fianci." Well, he would be.
Something else came from the lord in the bed before Li Liang said, "It pleases us greatly to know this.
You may tell us where to find him."
Amy sighed, thinking she was back to having to face the desk clerk. "I was just going to ask you that.
This was his room, as I'm sure you're aware. I suppose he was moved to another floor."
"He is no longer sleeping in this hotel."
"He's changed hotels?" Then she said, more to herself, "Now, why didn't his sister tell me that?"
"You know his family?"
She noted the excitement in his voice now, but couldn't determine the cause. "Certainly I know his family. His sister is married to my 299 uncle."
The lord in the bed was heard from again. Li Liang said, "This pleases us even more."
"All right, I give up. Why am I making you so happy?"
She didn't get an answer, but another question instead. "The sister will know where to find the captain?"
"I'm sure she will," Amy grumbled. "And she would have saved me a good deal of trouble if she'd bothered to mention it. Now I'll be off and let your lord get back to sleep. I apologize again for disturbing him."
"You cannot leave, lady."
Amy drew herself up stiffly. That gave her an added inch on the little fellow, and superior height went side by side with arrogance. Obviously the man didn't know English as well as he thought he did.
"I beg your pardon?"
He tried again. "You will remain here until the captain joins us."
That threw her off. "You're expecting him? Well, why didn't you say so?"
Li Liang looked chagrined now. "We
expect him to come once he knows you are here. First he must be told."
"Oh. Well, run along and do so. I suppose I can wait a little while," she allowed. 'Course, seeing him in this crowd wasn't what she'd had in mind. "On second thought, I believe I can wait to see him some other time."
She took a step toward the door. Both of the little men moved to stand in front of it.
Amy's eyes narrowed. "Did I say it too quickly for you? You didn't comprehend?"
"We require that you send a message to the captain's sister so that she will inform him of your whereabouts."
"The devil you do. Disturb Aunt George at this time of night? My uncle wouldn't like that, and he's not the kind of man you'd care to have displeased with you."
"My lord's displeasure is also to be feared."
"I'm sure it is, but this is something that can certainly wait for a decent hour," she said reasonably. "Or aren't you aware that it's the middle of the night?"
"Time is of no importance."
"How fortunate for you, but the rest of us 301 live our lives by the clock. No deal, Mr. Liang."
He lost patience. "You will comply or--was
A spate of that Oriental dialect cut him off. Amy glanced toward the bed again. The lord was still there, still in that same half-reclining position, but there was nothing pleasant about his expression.
Amy said hesitantly, "Maybe someone ought to explain what this is all about."
The lord answered her, though it was Li Liang who translated the words. "I am Zhang Yat-sen. The American stole a familytreasure of mine."
"Stole it?" Amy said doubtfully. "That doesn't sound like Warren at all."
"Regardless of how he came by it, I am dishonored until it is returned."
"Couldn't you have just asked him for it?"
"I intend to. But he needs incentive to comply."
Amy started to laugh. "And you think I might be that incentive? I hate to mention it, but I was exaggerating a tiny bit about his being my fianci. I have every confidence that someday he will be, but now
he's fighting tooth and nail to avoid matrimony. Actually, he'd probably be delighted if I disappeared."
"That is a distinct possibility, lady, if he does not come for you," Li Liang said menacingly.
Chapter 28
Amy was beginning to have serious doubts about refusing to be helpful to her new acquaintances when she was stuffed into a trunk and transported to a ship in the harbor. That word "disappear" began to take on new meaning. Certainly she had to wonder if these chaps weren't a bit more serious about this thing than she'd first thought.
Title-dropping hadn't gotten her very far either. English thieves might be impressed, but these Orientals didn't seem to understand that the Marquis of Haverston was someone you didn't want to get on the bad
side of. Threats of dire consequences if they didn't let her go had been ignored as well, so she had retaliated by scoffing when told of the torturous instruments that might be employed to loosen her tongue.
The very
idea, whips and nail-pulling and such. 303 They wouldn't dare. 'Course, she hadn't thought they'd keep her all night and into the morning either. So much for sneaking back into the house with no one the wiser.
Since she was in this mess indirectly because of Warren, the least he could have done was share this misadventure as he had the last one. But no, he had to go and change hotels after his brothers sailed. But even being annoyed with him for what she saw as "leaving her to the wolves," she still wasn't going to assist Zhang Yat-sen in finding him.
Whether he had stolen Yat-sen's family treasure or not, he just might refuse to give it back. He could be stubborn that way. And Amy didn't care to find out how these foreigners would react if they really got angry. They weren't all as short as Li Liang, and there were just too many of them. Besides, leading them to Warren would be a betrayal in her book, which she couldn't do, even though he had thought nothing of betraying her to her uncles.
No, she was simply going to have to get out of this on her own, without her soon-to-be fianci's assistance. Her family wasn't going to be able
to help in this instance either. Georgina might remember their talk yesterday and think that Amy had gone in search of Warren, but since she hadn't found him, they'd have no way of tracing her.
Now she was locked in a cabin of minuscule proportions, with no more than a pallet of rough blankets on the floor, a lantern--there were no windows--a bucket for necessities, and the now empty trunk, which hadn't been removed after she had been released from it. No doubt about it, she was not enjoying herself.
But she had every confidence that she could escape on her own, just as long as the ship didn't suddenly hoist sails and depart. She even had a plan formulated that she intended to implement when she was brought another meal.
The first meal, a bowl of rice and strange-looking vegetables in a tangy sweet sauce, had been delivered by a cheerful little fellow who called himself Taishi Ning. He was a stringbean of thinness in his loose trousers and belted wraparound tunic, his thick black braid nearly as long as he was. Like Li, Taishi was no taller than Amy. How hard could it be to overpower him with the assistance of her rice bowl?
Not hard a'tall. 305
However, Amy was beginning to doubt she'd have a chance to find out, as the hours dragged by with excruciating slowness. She had dropped her purse when she had struggled against being stuffed in that trunk, but she still had her pocket watch to help her keep track of the time, and much too much time was passing without anyone coming by. They were going to continue to feed her, weren't they? Or had starvation become their first method to try to loosen her tongue?
It was approaching evening when Taishi finally unlocked her door and came in with another bowl of food, proving that starvation wasn't part of the agenda --yet. But Amy wasn't interested in what he had brought her this time, despite her growling stomach. She was more interested in seeing that no other guard had been set outside her door. They apparently figured that the lock was all that was necessary to keep her on hand, and that she wouldn't try anything with Taishi. Well, they were wrong.
It was a shame, though, because he was really a likable fellow with his toothsome grins and his stilted, funny-sounding English. But Amy couldn't let that deter her now. He might not be the one who had put her here, but he worked for the one who had, and getting out of this misadventure and back home to safety had to take precedence. She would simply close her eyes when she hit him over the head with the heavy rice bowl and apologize afterward.
"Lookee what Taishi bring, little missee. Big-time good stuff. You no likee, I chop off cook's hand lickety-split. Big-time promise."
"That won't be necessary, I'm sure," Amy replied. "But I'm not hungry enough yet to find out. You may set it down over there."
She pointed to the trunk, her other hand clutching the empty rice bowl behind her back. All she needed was to get behind him for a moment. And he followed her directions. This was too easy.
Amy held her breath until Taishi had passed in front of her; then she raised the rice bowl, closed her eyes, and swung. But before the bowl reached anything, her wrist was grabbed, she was flipped into the air, and she landed with several bounces on her backside.
Amy wasn't hurt, but she was bloody well stunned. When she turned her head to glare at the skinny little runt, she saw that he 307 hadn't even dropped the new bowl of food. And he was grinning at her.
"How the devil did you do that?" she demanded furiously.
"Easy. You likee learn?"
"No ... I ... do ... not!" she huffed as she got back to her feet. "What I would likee is to go home."
"So sorry, missee. When man come, maybe, maybe not." He shrugged to indicate he wasn't privy to what was to be done with her either way.
"But man isn't--Warren isn't coming."
"Lord Yat-sen say he come, he come," Taishi insisted. "You no needee worry."
Amy shook her head in exasperation. "How can he come when he doesn't know where I went, where I am now, that I'm even missing? Your Lord Yat-sen is an idiot!"
"Shh, missee, or lose head big-time," Taishi said in alarm.
"Rubbish," she scoffed. "No one is going to cut off heads because of a little insult. Now do go away. I want to be alone to sulk over my