On top of her emotional pain, Marissa also began to fear going out on the open sea, worrying that she might get seasick to add to her problems. During the ride out to the junk in the motorized sampan, Marissa again considered demanding they go back. The sound of the water and the thought of the ocean not only made “FA her queasy but also brought back the memory of Wendy’s death with stark vividness.
“Good show!” Tristan exclaimed as they rounded the row of junks and saw that Captain Fa-Huang had not yet departed. The sampan pulled alongside the receiving port.
Marissa saw that the captain had company. A couple of fierce looking
Chinese men were standing at the railing on the poop deck, watching their arrival with interest.
Grabbing Tristan’s arm, Marissa pointed.
“Who are those men?” she asked.
“They look like bandits.”
“Dunno,” Tristan said.
“Must be the crew.” e Bentley scrambled up into the opening, then turned to lend a hand. Tristan handed up the boxed lunches and the bottled water.
“Okay, luv,” Tristan said taking Marissa’s arm.
With a boost from Tristan and a pull from Bentley, Marissa found herself aboard the junk.
Once on the boat, they went forward and climbed the ladder to the main deck. The captain bellowed a greeting and introduced them to Liu and Maa, the two deckhands. Everyone bowed. Then the captain yelled a command and the men fell back to work.
The junk was in the final stages of preparation. Even the two women that Marissa had seen earlier were occupied. They were busy lashing down a cage containing four live chickens.
Within fifteen minutes of their arrival, the mooring lines were cast off the junk. With much straining the boat was eased out of its berth by sheer muscle power. Once in the channel, the captain fired up his twin diesels. Soon the boat was pulsating with the deep, throaty vibration of its engines, and slowly the ponderous craft chugged out of the congested harbor.
They headed due west toward the setting sun. In other circumstances,
Marissa might have found the experience exhilarating.
The scenery was magnificent, especially once they cleared the tip of Ap Lei Chou Island. It was then that they had a view of the wooded Lamma Island to port and the much larger mountainous island of Lantau directly ahead.
But the beauty was lost on Marissa. She sat by the railing with her eyes closed and held tight. She was glad for the strong sea breeze; it dried the tears from her cheeks before anyone could see them. And on top of everything else, she was beginning to feel a little seasick as the boat began to pitch.
Ned Kelly swore as only an Australian can swear when he found himself looking at the empty space where he’d hoped Fa-Huang’s junk would be moored.
“Couldn’t we have gotten here faster?” he steamed. Coming from Australia, he had trouble understanding how people could conduct their lives with so much traffic.
“Ask the neighbors if Williams and Blumenthal were on the boat!”
“I am not your servant,” Mr. Yip said. Ned was irritating him more than usual.
“Stone the crows!” Ned exclaimed, peering heavenward to muster some patience. He well knew Yip was a character to be reckoned with, particularly on his home turf.
“Please ask them,” he said.
“I’m sorry if I insulted you.”
Mr. Yip spoke to the family on one of the junks that had been next to Fa-Huang’s. He spoke to them in Tanka, a language Ned did not understand.
Turning back to Ned, Mr. Yip said: “There were two white devils on board. That is a literal translation.”
“It must be them,” Ned said.
“Can we go after them?”
“Of course,” Mr. Yip said.
Ordering the sampan operator back to the quay, Mr. Yip had one of his henchmen bring around a sleek speedboat. Ned climbed in the front seat with Willy and the driver. Mr. Yip and two of his men got in the back. Both the men were armed with machine pistols.
With a roar, they left the quay and raced down the length of the harbor. Ned was encouraged by the boat’s speed. But when they reached open water, his mood soured. The ocean was dotted with junks. They all looked alike. After cruising by a handful with no luck, they gave up.