The Willow Pattern

You might have told me instead of tripping me up,' he muttered angrily.

'You were in an awful hurry to rush to the rescue, colonel!’ the puppeteer said dryly.

The girl had taken an iron ball from her right sleeve, and put it on the counter. Now she was trying to wash the blood-stained sleeve in the basin of dishwater. The hunchback had disappeared again.

Ma Joong got up and sauntered to the counter.

'Let me help you,' he said gruffly.

She gave him a quick look, shrugged, and held out her arm for him. While rinsing the tip of the sleeve he was going to say that taking off the jacket would make things easier. But something in her cool stare made him hold the proposal back. She was unusually tall for a young girl, her face came up to his chin. Her hair was done up in an untidy fashion, but there was a mass of it, and so glossy that it seemed to be moist. He now noticed also that she wore nothing but jacket, bodice and skirt. The whiteness of her round breasts shimmered through the worn black silk.

'Thank you,' she said when he had wrung the sleeve dry. She remained standing where she was, close by him. He felt a strong desire to fold her in his arms, but realized that this was a woman accustomed to associate freely with men, on an equal footing. Watching her take up the iron ball and put it in her sleeve, he remarked:

'You certainly made short work of those scoundrels. And with only one loaded sleeve too!’ Pointing at her left sleeve, which was empty, he added: 'I thought one always carried those weights in both sleeves.'

She darted him a quick look from her flashing eyes.

'I find one quite sufficient,' she said coldly.

Ma Joong was so absorbed in her that he didn't hear the door open. Heavy footsteps sounded behind him. The girl turned round. A gruff voice addressed her:

'There was no need to flee, miss. You should've stayed, and lodged a complaint against that doctor.'

As Chiao Tai rapped his knuckles on the counter, Ma Joong stared at his friend in utter astonishment.

'Happened to hear her scream, brother,' Chiao Tai ex­plained. 'In the street just below our boss's office. A fellow called Lew was bothering her. A doctor at that!’ Seeing the hunchback, who had resumed his place behind the counter, he ordered a cup, then asked the girclass="underline" 'What about a drink for you, miss?'

'No thank you,' she said. And to the hunchback: 'Chalk mine up, will you?'

She pulled her jacket close, briefly nodded to them and went to the door with that same, quick stride.

'Where did you meet her?' It was the puppeteer. He had come up to them, and was fixing Chiao Tai with a worried look. As Chiao Tai surveyed him with raised eyebrows, Yuan asked quickly: 'What was that about Doctor Lew?'

'He's all right,' Ma Joong told his friend curtly. 'A travel­ling showman.'

'I met her in the street below the Governor's palace,' Chiao Tai told the puppeteer. 'She was singing a song while playing her guitar. Doctor Lew was bothering her, but she scurried away after I had arrived on the scene.'

The puppeteer muttered something. He made a stiff bow, then went hastily back to his corner. He put the legs of the peepshow over his shoulder, and the small monkey at once seated itself on its top. Yuan picked up his bamboo basket, and hurriedly went out into the street.

'That being settled,' Chiao Tai said, 'we'd better have strictly one good bowl of wine, and then be off. There's a lot of work downtown, brother. We'll have to inspect those damned sewers there.'

Ma Joong nodded absentmindedly. He watched the hunch­back as he refilled his wine-bowl, then asked in a casual manner: 'Who is she?'

'Don't you know? That's Yuan's daughter, Bluewhite.'

'I'll be damned! She being the old man's daughter, why did she ignore him?'

The other shrugged.

'Probably had a tiff, at home. She's quite a strong-minded girl, you know. A real hell-cat when she gets angry. She's a fine acrobat, though. Performs on the street corners down town, together with her father. She has a twin sister, called Coral. That's a sweet child if ever there was one! Coral sings and dances, and she can play the guitar.'

'It was Coral you met, brother,' Ma Joong told Chiao Tai.

'What if it was? The drinks are on me. What do I owe you, fellow?'

'Any idea where they live?' Ma Joong asked while Chiao Tai was settling the bill.

The hunchback darted a shrewd look at him.

'Now here, then there. Where their business takes them.'

'Come along!’ Chiao Tai said impatiently.

'When they were outside, Chiao Tai looked up at the dark sky.

'Not a breath of wind!' he remarked, disgusted.

'Downtown it'll be hotter still,' Ma Joong said. 'Any news, up in the office?'

'Only bad news. Number of deaths is still going up. Lew the Leech was there, told the story of old Mei's accident. Mei was a splendid old fellow. Lew is a dirty son of a dog.'

A cart came round the corner, drawn by six hooded men in black cloaks. The front of the hoods which covered their faces completely was provided with two slits for the eyes. The cart was piled with formless shapes, wrapped in canvas sheets. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai quickly pulled their neck­cloths up over their mouths and noses. When the creaking cart had passed, Chiao Tai said in a worried voice:

'Our judge should've left, together with the Cabinet. It's too damned unhealthy here for a fine fellow like him!’

'You go and tell him!’ Ma Joong said dryly. They walked down the deserted street in silence.

They followed the main thoroughfare along the broad canal that crossed the city from east to west. Soon the monumental Halfmoon Bridge came into sight. Its three arches spanned the canal in a graceful curve that had given its name to the bridge. The weatherbeaten bricks had with­stood the ravages of time and war for more than three centuries. In normal times the Halfmoon Bridge was con­gested with traffic, day and night, but now it was completely deserted.