Blood Alley Page #2

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hey, Baby?

- Excuse me.

- That's all right.

This is my favorite spot.

No one comes up here anymore but me.

- Live here long?

- Seven years.

- You must like it.

- Sometimes I hate it.

Sometimes I think

if I have to stay another day...

I'll turn to stone,

like everything else in Chiku Shan.

If I don't, what then?

You wait for some other China skipper

to get washed ashore?

I should think you'd be proud

to do something for these people.

There's 500 million of these people.

I don't intend to play David

to China's Goliath.

- What are they doing with those stones?

- That's one of our secrets, Capt. Wilder.

Down Blood Alley in a ferryboat.

Give it to me straight.

There must be some better reason...

why your three wise men

chose the ferryboat.

There is. Mr. Tao's nephew

is the chief engineer.

Keeping it in the family?

Your father must be a big man.

He is, here.

The Reds intend to keep him here.

- He's the only doctor along the river.

- When is he getting back?

I don't know. They flew him

all the way down to Haifeng...

to operate

on some very important commissar.

What does he think of this ferryboat trip?

Dad's always wanted to be a ship's doctor.

What's that waiting for?

Somebody to build a road?

Old Feng got rich in the Philippines.

He brought it home with him.

Commie?

The Japs took the engine and tires

years ago.

It was too much trouble

getting the body down...

so they left it.

Now he just sits in it...

and his sons and grandsons

and nephews keep it polished.

It's gonna get mighty lonely here.

- We're taking them with us.

- You're what?

They'd be held responsible.

They'd all be killed.

Now, wouldn't that

be just too bad, hey, Baby?

That means the little ones, too.

Rocks, tides, screwball currents,

300 miles of them, and fog.

Not even a chart to go by.

They don't know what they're asking for.

One of God's footsteps.

I wonder what that stretch of coast

really looks like...

rock by rock, mile by mile. Remember?

But if you made it...

if you made it,

it'd be a sweet bit of grand larceny.

A whole village scratched off the Red map

and put down in Hong Kong.

Wouldn't be bad, hey, Baby?

Susu!

Bring me a piece of paper that big!

As big as a window, you understand?

And something to write with.

My getcha, you bet.

Let's see, there's Half Tide Reef...

off Swatow, isn't it?

Pagoda Point. Think.

You got to remember every landmark.

There's Three Chimney Bluff.

Plenty big piece, you bet.

Plenty big, you bet. Scram!

Oh, Baby.

Amoy.

Hong Kong.

300 miles.

Breakers Point. There's a lighthouse there,

remember, Baby?

Don't let's forget Brothers Islets.

And what about Chilang Point Light?

Where were the graveyard of ships?

Were they at Honghai Bay?

Were they, Baby?

Yeah.

Not bad for a start, hey, Baby?

Susu!

Want you very number-one wash?

Tell Mr. Tao, him catchy very number-one

ferryboat captain.

That won't be necessary. I already have.

Capt. Wilder, wake up!

- I'm awake.

- The soldiers are in the lagoon.

This house will be

one of the first they search.

Please hurry. Mr. Tao's waiting outside.

You know what will happen

if they find me?

I know what they'll do to the village.

Makes me a kind of a one-man plague,

doesn't it?

You will be safe

among our honored ancestors.

I'm to stay here?

They await the proper time for burial,

according to our customs.

So, this has been prepared

for just such an emergency.

Would you kindly help me?

I want you to know

I appreciate this very much.

Are you comfortable, Baby?

Maybe we better talk about other things.

That 300 miles.

Goat Island. Thunderhead, remember?

And Pedro Blanco. Where is Pedro...

Baby! The chart!

That chart has "escape" written all over it.

- Next time we'll trust her, hey, Baby?

- Capt. Wilder!

Are you trying to kill us all?

In my room.

Mr. Tao told us

to stay with the Han family.

Comrades aren't always well-mannered.

- Get back to the Hans. I'll be all right.

- I'm staying.

Don't be a fool just because I was.

Shove off.

Don't ever try ordering me around,

Capt. Wilder.

And keep your hands to yourself!

Get in bed.

Under the mattress.

This is quite a piece of real estate

you sleep in.

- Where's my chart?

- I had Susu burn it in the kitchen.

- You what?

- There wasn't time to find a safe place.

That's great.

You were seen from the ferryboat

last night.

Heroes in tennis shoes.

One of the deckhands remembered

the smell of bean cake.

Now they're trying to thrash answers

out of Big Han.

They'll never get to first base.

- Your hero is coming back.

- I'll handle it.

Get out of here.

Get out!

I'm not very good at saying thank you.

Then don't bother.

You were certainly cool and efficient.

It wasn't pretty, but it was silent.

Why did you kill him?

It seemed like a good idea.

Do you think I'm the first woman

ever touched by a soldier?

He'll be missed.

You may have ruined everything.

Start making sense.

I would have lived through

the affair in the hall without you.

Stop kidding me. You're glad I came along.

With a little luck,

they'll think he went over the hill.

They'll grab that ferryboat tomorrow

and be gone before they miss him.

You better go

before I start making a fool of myself.

Over what?

Over you.

Now, wait a minute.

You're a nice kid...

and so far, I've managed

to keep my hands off of you.

But don't press your luck,

and don't kid yourself about me.

I won't.

I hate the Reds because they closed

a lot of Chinese ports...

where I have dames.

Chinese, Eurasian, and White Russian.

We ever get back to Hong Kong...

you can step back up to your world,

where you belong...

and I'll get back down to mine.

I can't believe

that's all the Reds mean to you.

Let's cat the anchor once and for all.

Somebody pinned the bleeding heart

of China on your sleeve...

but they never got around to me.

There's been some trouble.

I had to kill a soldier.

He's hidden in the kitchen.

Such things are sometimes necessary.

We better pirate that ferryboat

and shove off.

That will be impossible.

The soldiers brought news there was

boiler damage in the South River.

Our ferryboat no longer runs.

What you think you do?

Keep closed. Understand?

The Commie family's back?

- You must stay in house now.

- Any news on the ferry?

Soon, maybe.

- How about Cathy's old man?

- Not come back yet.

My thinky Captain sailorman

need cutty hair.

My cutty, all right?

My thinky Captain sailing man want bathy.

- All right?

- Can do.

Captain sailorman have

before time pretty wife?

Married?

Likey Missy Cathy?

Missy Cathy, she likey Captain sailorman.

My thinky so.

- What you thinky about Missy Cathy?

- I thinky you talky too muchy.

You remind me of a barber in Baltimore.

Missy Cathy get old now.

Needing husband man.

She makey pretty fine wife, you bet.

You likey? My fixy.

My fetchy Tao's pigeon man.

Are you blind, Susu?

Can't you see that it's you

who's got the saily man's eye?

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