The Mystery of the Fire Dragon (14 page)

In a few minutes the flight leader reported, “We have the aircraft in sight.”

“Close in on him and make him turn back!” Rawling commanded.

“Wilco! Closing on him rapidly now.”

Ned heard the flight leader calling the aircraft on the radio, but there was no response.

“They probably hear but won’t answer,” Ned guessed. “Remember Nancy is on board,” he said. “I hope your men won’t shoot!”

“No,” said Rawling. “They may try to make the pilot think they will, though.”

The lieutenant commander gave orders to the Furies, telling them in code the maneuvers to follow. The flight leader called back, “There’s an SOS on one of the cabin windows!”

“Nancy must have put that there!” Ned thought excitedly.

In the kidnapers’ plane, Nancy was both thrilled and frightened. She watched fascinated as one plane dived in front to slow them down, another swooped below, and the third above. One second she felt she was going to be rescued, the next that she might lose her life; her captors seemed to be desperate enough to perish in the battle.

The Chinese pilot, Skinny Kord, and Chi Che were talking excitedly both in Cantonese and in English. They had heard every word the commander of the pursuing three-craft squadron had said.

“Why should we take orders from them?” Kord cried out. “We can get away. They’d never risk shooting with Nancy Drew in our plane.”

“But we don’t dare land in Taipei now or we would be arrested,” Chi Che said. “And we may run out of gas and crash if we keep going.”

The Chinese pilot said, “If we do not go back, I am not at all sure they will not fire on us. I am not risking it. We are returning.”

Since his companions could not fly a plane, they were forced to accede to his decision. In a short time, to Nancy’s relief, she felt the craft bank and turn. The pilot had lowered his landing gear as a token of surrender, she later learned.

Nancy pushed her curtains open. Apparently the fighter planes had changed position. Now one flew on each side of the kidnapers’ craft, so close that Nancy could see each pilot’s face clearly, at least that part of it which was not masked by his helmet and microphone.

Ned was thrilled to hear a new voice calling Kai Tak and asking for landing instructions. “We’ve won!” he shouted.

He strained his eyes on the distant horizon. Suddenly he pointed. “There they are!”

Four dots rapidly grew in size. Soon the kidnapers ’plane came into view with a fighter on either side and one just below.

“We’ll follow them in,” Rawling said. He radioed the airport for police to be on hand. As soon as the mystery plane had set down, the fighter leader landed, but instructed the others to return to the carrier. The helicopter was on the ground in seconds.

The police were just handcuffing the arrested trio when Ned dashed into the aircraft. “Nancy!” He unfastened her bonds.

“Oh, Ned, how can I ever thank you for rescuing me!” she cried. “I admit I’ve never been more scared in my life.”

“How do you feel now?” he asked solicitously.

“I feel fine—really I do.”

“Thank goodness!” Ned said.

None of the prisoners would talk, so Nancy related as much of their story as she knew. Then the three captives were taken away.

The young people said good-by to Lieutenant Commander Rawling and thanked him profusely. Nancy and Ned then walked to the airport building, where Nancy washed her face and hands, combed her hair, and rested for a short time. Then she told Ned she was ready to go on to Kam Tin.

The young man shook his head in astonishment. “You can certainly take it!” he said admiringly.

Ned found that the Chinese helicopter pilot, Jimmy Ching, was still available. Soon Nancy and Ned were air-borne, heading for Kam Tin.

It was not a long ride and soon the helicopter was hovering over the walled city. It looked like a toy city surrounded by a moat. Beyond lay a vast expanse of fields with a farmhouse here and there.

The whirlybird came down on a field and the occupants alighted. As the visitors began walking through the ancient city, the inhabitants stared at them expressionlessly.

The three proceeded up one alley and down another. They could easily look into the houses, which were all open to the roadways and had bamboo curtains. These were now raised, but the pilot said they were lowered at night. Nancy and her fellow searchers saw nothing to indicate any smuggling activities, or that Chi Che Soong was being held prisoner in Kam Tin.

Nancy observed, as they walked along, that the walled city was crowded and unsanitary. Nevertheless, she was intrigued by an artistic religious custom of the inhabitants. On walls, both inside and outside the homes, were brackets holding candles, flowers, and incense. The candles were lighted and the incense gave off a fragrant aroma.

“I don’t think the people of Kam Tin have anything to do with the mystery of the fire dragon,” Ned whispered to Nancy presently. “The paper Mrs. Truesdale showed Mr. Lung might refer to some farmhouse in the area instead of a place in town.”

Nancy nodded. The trio went through the city gate and set off down the main road toward the nearest farmhouse. As they approached it, the three could hear rhythmic hammering. The sound was not noisy; on the contrary, it was muffled and pleasant.

“That hammering reminds me of goldbeaters,” Ned remarked.

As Nancy and her companions drew closer to the farmhouse, they suddenly noticed a car coming in the opposite direction. It turned abruptly into a lane which led to the house. “Let’s hide and see if we can find out what’s going on here,” Nancy suggested.

They managed to conceal themselves behind a shed a few feet from the house. The driver of the car was talking to a Chinese farmer.

Ned translated, “Is the shipment ready?”

The farmer replied, “Yes.”

The driver then asked, “You kept enough to pay for the work?”

The farmer replied angrily, “I cannot use this. I want Hong Kong dollars.”

The argument went on. The farmer threatened to expose the caller to the authorities if he were not paid at once. Finally the driver pulled out a wad of bills and handed it to the farmer.

The farmer pocketed the money, then called to someone inside the house. Several Chinese men, carrying two heavy chests, came outside and put them in the car. The caller drove off.

“I’m sure we have a clue to the smuggling!” Nancy whispered. “We’d better get back to the airport as fast as we can!”

Her companions agreed. As soon as they reached Kai Tak, the girl detective telephoned Mr. Lee Soong and told him of the Kam Tin trip, giving the car’s license number and a description of the driver.

“I will arrange to have the police find this driver and trail him,” Mr. Soong said. “And the farmhouse at Kam Tin will be searched.”

Nancy thanked him. “I can hardly wait to find out what happens,” she told Mr. Soong excitedly.

THE ex-police chief, Mr. Lee Soong, chuckled. “Impatience,” he said, “is like a goat butting its head aimlessly on the wall. All he does is mar the wall and wear himself out.”

Nancy laughed. “How true that is!” she replied. “I will try to be patient, but I shall have my mind on the case every minute until I hear from you.”

Mr. Soong said it probably would be hours before there would be any police report on the suspicious farmer and the man who had taken away the heavy boxes.

When Nancy told this to Ned, he said, “In the meantime, how about our having some fun? We’ll do a little sight-seeing with Bess and George and your father.”

“I’d love it.” Nancy twinkled. “Is it some place special?”

Ned nodded. “I thought we’d take in the Chinese opera for a while, then go on to eat at a houseboat restaurant out near the little village of Aberdeen. You will be amazed at that place,” he added. “I shan’t tell you any more about it.”

Nancy smiled. “You know the only way you could get me to stop working on one mystery is to intrigue me with another. Now I can’t wait to see Aberdeen.”

Mr. Drew, Bess, and George had not returned, so Nancy and Ned left a note explaining their plan. Then the couple set off by ferry for Hong Kong to attend the Chinese opera.

“It goes on for hours and hours,” Ned told his companion. “Whole families attend, even with their small babies. It is like an indoor picnic, so far as the audience goes.”

Later, as they entered the very large ornate theater, Nancy knew what Ned meant. Small children and adults were moving up and down the aisles. Food vendors seemed to be everywhere and many people were eating picnic suppers. Infants lay asleep in a mother’s or grandmother’s arms, while the older people and the teen-age group tried to concentrate on the show.

In contrast to the plain dress and noisiness of the audience, the production was most dignified and elaborate. Nancy stared in fascination at the exquisitely embroidered silk and satin costumes and the lofty headdresses worn by the players.

Each actor moved about the stage slowly and a bit woodenly. But there was grace and charm to the performance.

“It seems to me,” Nancy whispered to Ned, “that the audience isn’t paying too much attention. Why?”

Ned explained that the Chinese like to see the same plays over and over. Many of them practically knew the scores by heart.

“Even though they don’t keep their eyes on the stage every minute, and can even converse or move about, they still know everything that is going on,” Ned told her.

Half an hour later, he said, “Let’s go now.”

It was growing dark as Ned hailed a taxi to take them to Aberdeen. “It’s the oldest village of the fishermen of Hong Kong Island,” he explained. “Families live on the junks and even in the small sampans.”

When they reached the water front of Aberdeen, Nancy stared in wonder. “Why, it’s almost a city of boats—of all sizes!” she cried.

“Yes,” Ned said, adding that the residents jumped from craft to craft when they wanted to go ashore.

“But they spend most of their time on the water,” he added. “The junks go out for deep-sea fishing, but the sampans stay around here. The women and children remain on them while the men are at work. The women are good oarsmen, and take their boats everywhere. Out there in the harbor are a floating church and a floating school.”

“How fascinating!” Nancy exclaimed.

“We’ll hire one of the sampans,” Ned said. “It’s the only way to reach the floating restaurant.” He pointed off in the distance where they could see a long boat brilliantly lighted.

“There are several others, but I think we’ll go to the Sea Palace,” Ned added.

Several women were already calling to the couple, offering to take them. Ned finally signaled a mother and daughter with whom he had ridden before. They smiled as Nancy and Ned stepped down into the sampan and walked into the arched open-front cabin at the rear.

As they left the dock, Nancy was amazed at the strength of the two women propelling their boat. Both were short and very slight, probably weighing not more than ninety pounds. Yet they seemed to have muscles of steel as they stood so straight and rotated their heavy oars through the water.

Upon reaching the Sea Palace, Nancy and Ned climbed a stairway to the deck. They walked around to the far side where a group of people were leaning over the rail and pointing below.

“See those boats down there?” Ned asked.

Nancy had never seen anything like them. They had compartments of water in which live fish and shellfish were swimming around.

“You pick your dinner alive,” the young man said, laughing.

Fishermen below were recommending the various native fish. Nancy sighed. “I wouldn’t know one fish from another,” she confessed. “I shall leave the entire dinner to your judgment, Ned.”

“Good!” he said, and guided her inside the restaurant.

The headwaiter told them there were no small tables left. “Do you mind sitting at a larger one?” he inquired. Ned said they would not, and they were escorted to one near a window.

“First we’ll have bacon and cucumber soup,” Ned told the waiter. “Then some stewed shrimp.” He looked up at Nancy to see if she approved. When she nodded, he went on, “A little sweet-and-sour pork, beef fried in oyster sauce, bamboo shoots, rice, and almond tea.”

Nancy laughed. “This sounds like a Chinese Thanksgiving dinner. I’m not sure I can eat so much.” Ned assured her that the portions would not be large.

The couple finished the delectable soup and were busy with the stewed shrimp when Nancy happened to look toward the entrance door.

“Ned!” she said tensely. “Here comes Mrs. Truesdale with a Chinese escort! He’s not Mr. Lung, though.”

Ned turned to look. The headwaiter led the newcomers to a table some distance up the long room. Mrs. Truesdale did not notice Nancy and her companion.

Ned suddenly grinned. “Mrs. Truesdale’s shadows are right behind her!”

Nancy’s eyes widened. Bess and George, looking extremely weary, entered the room. As they began to follow Mrs. Truesdale, Nancy quickly got out of her chair and went after the girls.

“You!” Bess exclaimed.

“Come join us and enjoy yourselves for a while,” Nancy invited. “I can see you’ve really been on the job.”

“Have we!” George laughed. “That Truesdale woman has nine lives when it comes to energy. We’ve been shopping everywhere with her today, and we decided to keep trailing her this evening.”

The two girls dropped exhausted into seats at the table with Nancy and Ned. They had hardly had time to put napkins in their laps when a nice-looking Chinese man hurried up to them. He paused a moment to whisper to George:

“I’ll take over. Get some rest.” He went on, and without waiting to be seated, pulled out a chair at the table next to Mrs. Truesdale. From this vantage point, the others knew, he could overhear every word of her conversation.