Part 30 (2/2)
Sunny frowned. ”For a bomb?”
His back still turned to her, Charlie shrugged. ”Not much purpose in a fuse without an explosive.”
Sunny lowered her voice. ”A few months ago, you mentioned the railway station. Is that what it's for?”
”Perhaps.” Charlie's tone was flat as he focused on the equipment in his hand. ”The targets have not been decided yet.”
”Where did you get the supplies?” Sunny asked.
”Some of his men smuggled them into the city for us,” Jia-Li said.
”Us?” The last time they had discussed sabotage, Jia-Li was outraged that Charlie would even consider it. Now she seemed to be part of it. Sunny found the change in her best friend dizzying; it was as though she were staring at a stranger.
”Someone has to do it, xio he,” Jia-Li explained happily.
”But why you two?” Sunny asked. ”Charlie is a wanted fugitive, hobbled by his . . . injury. And you, bao bei, what do you know of sabotage?”
”What did you know before you got involved with the Underground?”
”Nothing!” Sunny cried. ”And look how much I regret it. You are no more a saboteur than I am. It's not our purpose.”
Jia-Li met her gaze. ”I am obliged to support my husband.”
”Your husband?” Sunny grimaced.
”He will be soon.” Jia-Li broke into a huge smile. She dropped to her knees and threw her arms around Charlie's neck, kissing him. ”Chun proposed, xio he. Only yesterday. I couldn't wait to tell you!”
”Congratulation. That is . . . wonderful news,” Sunny sputtered.
Jia-Li sprang to her feet, dashed over to Sunny and flung her arms around her, wrapping her in another hug. ”Oh, xio he! I have never been so happy.”
”I am happy for you. Both of you.” It was surreal to be discussing an engagement while Charlie a.s.sembled a bomb on the living-room floor, but Jia-Li's happiness was infectious. ”Have you chosen a date?” she asked, wriggling free of her friend's grip.
Charlie lowered what he was holding to the floor and reached for his crutches. ”As soon as we find someone to marry us.” He stood up. ”Today would not be too soon.”
”How about your old reverend?” Jia-Li asked. ”Is he still alive?”
Sunny shook her head. ”He has been interned with all the other Americans.”
”And that rabbi, xio he? The one at your wedding.”
Sunny grimaced. ”Rabbi Hiltmann? Seriously?”
Charlie made his way over to Jia-Li, put an arm around her waist and drew her close to him. ”A rabbi, a judge, a sea captain . . . Anyone short of a j.a.panese officer would do. Can doctors perform weddings?”
Sunny shook her head. ”At this point, I don't know who in Shanghai has the legal authority to officiate.”
”It does not have to be legal. Only official.” Charlie stroked Jia-Li's cheek and stared at her adoringly. ”So one day we will be able to tell our children.”
Sunny detected a note of fatalism in Charlie's tone, but Jia-Li didn't seem to notice. She planted a lingering kiss on Charlie's lips before turning back to Sunny. ”I have found a real gem, haven't I?”
”I agree.” Sunny looked up and down, indicating Jia-Li's plain outfit. ”But this change in you-it's so dramatic.”
”I am done with the old me, xio he. The outfits, the Comfort Home, Chih-Nii . . . all of it! Oh, how I have wasted my life.” She put her hands on her hips. ”No more. For the first time, I have found a purpose. A role that I can take pride in.”
”That's wonderful,” Sunny said. ”I am happy for you. Franz will be too. Really. But sabotage, bao bei?”
”Whatever it takes to free Shanghai. To rid our country of this j.a.panese scourge. It is the first step.” She stole a quick glance at Charlie. ”And then maybe we can consider a family.”
Sunny realized that there was no arguing with her friend. She knew Jia-Li never did anything halfway, and never before had she seen her friend's eyes burn with such fervour.
On her way home, Sunny crossed over the Garden Bridge and headed along Broadway. Although far quieter than usual, the city's busiest thoroughfare still buzzed. The cries of the merchants were as shrill as ever. Coolies hauled crates or carried loads on bamboo poles across their shoulders. Despite the early hour, several wild pheasants-most of whom looked to Sunny like teenagers at most-loitered at the dockside, approaching soldiers and other pa.s.sersby. The smell of burned oil from the street kitchens wafted through the air. Her stomach rumbled, but hunger pains were something she hardly paid attention to anymore.
Sunny noticed a crowd of Chinese gathered a block or two ahead of her. Not until she reached the edge of the gathering did she see the wooden beam that had been rigged up between two lampposts like a scaffold. Then she spotted the bodies. Tethered to the beam with thick ropes were eleven corpses hanging no more than a foot or two apart, their shoes clearing the ground by roughly the same distance.
They had been badly beaten around the face, a few beyond recognition. All were men, Sunny could tell, but they ranged in age from young to old: one looked to Sunny as if he might have been a teenager. Blood, dirt and what Sunny a.s.sumed was vomit stained their s.h.i.+rtfronts.
Sunny's gaze landed on the hands of the body hanging nearest to her. His fingernails had been ripped out, and his fingers appeared to have been dislocated or fractured. They pointed every direction but straight. The other victims' hands had been similarly mutilated.
Sunny fought off the urge to gag. Desperate to flee the grisly scene, she started to turn away when her eye was caught by something about one of the bodies. The man's nose had been bashed in and his lips were swollen, but his hooded eyelids gave him away. ”Oh, G.o.d,” she whispered under her breath, recognizing the old man as her Underground contact.
Sunny elbowed her way through the crowd until she could make out the faces of the dead men. Afraid to breathe, she prayed that she would not see Wen-Cheng among them. Her eyes reached the end of the beam without spotting him.
Her relief was short-lived when she considered what the men might have confessed under torture. Her eyes moved back to the old man's crumpled face. Did you tell them about me?
CHAPTER 41.
”I should leave straight away,” Sunny murmured to Franz as they sat side by side on the sofa, fingers interlocked. ”It's too dangerous for me to stay. It's not fair to any of you, especially Hannah and the baby.”
Franz squeezed her hand rea.s.suringly. ”If the j.a.panese knew anything, they would have already come for you.”
”How can you be so sure?”
”We know by now how the j.a.panese behave. They would never wait. If they suspected you, they would pounce.”
She nestled her head into the crook of his neck. ”To have to leave you, Franz, that would kill me.”
He stroked her hair. Even though she had not been able to bathe in days, somehow her hair was still soft and smelled like soap. ”This might actually work to our advantage.”
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