2S4
Tristan had hoped that as soon as they got to a city street, they could merely melt into the crowd. But unfortunately this wasn’t the case. They hadn’t gotten enough of a head start. The men could still see them. All they could do was keep running.
They ran west into the Yaw Ma Tei section of Kowloon, desperately looking for one of the policemen they’d seen on motorbikes when they had been driving earlier. They would have settled for a traffic cop, but none were to be found.
The crowds of Chinese pedestrians parted as they ran. They seemed curious but not willing to become involved.
Tristan and Marissa came to a wide thoroughfare totally jammed with double-decker buses and stalled traffic. Even the bicycles had been forced to a standstill, making crossing the road difficult. Reaching the other side, they could see that the width of the road was all that separated them from their pursuers.
Once they were in the heart of the Yaw Ma Tei district, the congestion got worse still. Without meaning to, Marissa and Tristan turned into a market street with hundreds of canopied stalls loaded with herbs, clothes, fish, kitchenware, fruits, sweets, and other foods. In their haste, they collided with shoppers and even some of the vendors.
Despite her fear, Marissa began to falter. The hormones and her added weight made running a strain. Unintentionally she began to pull against Tristan’s hand.
“Come on!” he urged when he realized she was falling behind.
“I can’t!” she cried through gasps.
Tristan knew she wouldn’t be able to keep up with him much longer. What they needed was a place to hide. Tristan veered between several stalls, frantically searching. There seemed no place to go. The space between the line of stalls and apartment blocks was filled with discarded produce rotting in the sun. Cats foraged in the gutter for whatever they could find. There were no open doorways. Everything was shut tight. Even the windows on the ground floor were tightly shuttered. Then Tristan noticed a small side street about half a block away.
“Come on,” he urged.
“Just a little further.”
Reaching the street, they turned into it. It was so narrow only one car could drive down it at a time. They passed an open-air shop with a row of skinned ducks hanging by their necks. Next door to that was a shop that sold edible insects and then another that sold snakes.
Separated from the general din of the market street with its clamor of car horns, jackhammers, and spirited bargaining, the side street was comparatively quiet. The main sounds came from hidden radios and from the click of Mah-Jongg tiles. Elderly Chinese were busy playing the game on wooden tables. As Marissa and Tristan dashed by, the elders gave them a cursory glance before going back to their gambling.
“Who are these people chasing us?” Marissa managed between labored breaths.
“What’s going on? Why are they after us?”
“I have no clue,” Tristan said, equally as winded.
“But I’m quickly learning to dislike Hong Kong. Swimming in croc-infested rivers in the Northern Territories is healthier, I’m convinced.
I’ve always had a dislike for guns.” Nervously, Tristan glanced over his shoulder. He was relieved to see no one was following them down the narrow street.
“I’ve got to sit down for a moment,” Marissa said. With all her infertility treatments and little or no exercise, she wasn’t in shape for this kind of exertion. Just ahead there was a tea shop with gleaming pots hanging above a beaded doorway. She pointed.
“How about something to drink?”
After another look behind them, Tristan reluctantly agreed.
The tea shop occupied a windowless room that looked more like a storeroom than a public space. The tables were worn, unfinished wood. A handful of customers were seated at several.
In the usual Chinese tradition, they spoke at a level just below a shout. Combining the loud conversation with the de rigueur Chinese music blaring from a tiny Panasonic, the atmosphere was hardly restful. Even so, Marissa was pleased to sit down. Her legs ached and she had a pain in her side.
The proprietor eyed them suspiciously. He walked over to them and addressed them in guttural Chinese.