The sound of breaking glass was almost lost in the echoes of their shots.
"I sure hope this works," T.J. said, "because all the ammo I've got left is back on the truck."
"If it doesn't, I'll apologize to you in--"
He was drowned out by the screaming. Shouts and shrieks of terror bounced off the cliffs and reverberated like a symphony from Hell. In the dimness, they could see men running from their cover and up the road whence they had come.
"Fire!" Ted shouted, but his order was lost in the sounds of Damien's rifle, joined by Sums, Kuragawa, and their guides as the fleeing men passed them. Only one reached his fellows, and with the cessation of firing, the Americans could hear frenzied shouting. A moment later, the entire bandit troupe was in hard retreat.
"What was in that jar?" Ted demanded.
"I whipped up something that smelled like the stuff I found in Kate's stateroom after the steward died. I had a hunch that whatever it was, if those guys recognized it, they'd run from it like crazy. And I was right."
"And what if they hadn't recognized it?"
Damien put his hand on T.J.'s shoulder. "Then like I tried to say, I'd be apologizing to you--in Heaven."
"But what is it?"
Damien shrugged. "Beats me. But it scared the devil out of them."
"You realize what that means," Kate said.
"Yeah," Damien answered. "Those guys weren't a bunch of Mongolian bandits. They knew exactly what that smell was--which means they were mixed up in this whole thing, and that means they were probably from Quanyu."
The road they had been following--often no more than two ruts of smashed grasses--had inclined upward almost the entire time they had been traveling, but within a couple of hours of resuming their interrupted journey the next morning, it began to run nearly straight uphill. With the trucks straining and sputtering, it would have been a perfect spot for another ambush, save that on one side the mountain rose hundreds of feet without a break, and on the other side it fell away from them the same distance.
"What happens if we meet someone coming the other way?" Sums asked the driver of his truck.
"Hope he is going slow."
In the second truck, T.J., who had taken over for the wounded guide, hunched over the steering wheel and kept as close as he dared to the vehicle ahead of him, eyes on nothing but that, and never on the precipitous drop just a few yards to his right. Kuragawa was steering the last vehicle, having asserted there was no need to hire a third driver. He claimed that he had experience driving mountain roads in Japan, and to his credit, he seemed to know what he was about.
Without warning, the road flattened out and they found themselves on a wide plateau spreading out almost as far as they could see. Two miles ahead, they spied the first signs of civilization they had glimpsed in days: a gentle slope covered with yurts and low stone houses, seeming to grow more substantial as the ground rose, and at the top of the hill a large stone mansion, two stories tall, behind a wall. Sitting in the third truck, Ted had Kuragawa sound the truck's anemic horn three times, bringing the caravan to a halt.
They got out gathered a few yards away from the parked vehicles, the Americans and Captain Kuragawa, while the guides peered under their ancient trucks checking for leaks, and rocks that could have been flung up into the undercarriage. The principality of Quanyu sat under a thin grey haze of mist. It gave the impression that it had not been built, but rather had always been there, as much a part of the land as the crags and cliffs that formed its backdrop.
Kate, especially, seemed unable to tear her eyes away from it.
"If they're up there, we won't leave until we've found them," Ted softly told her.
"I wonder if--" she stopped, looking around at Sums and Kuragawa. "Never mind. We should go up there. We're expected."
"Yeah, but first…" Ted gathered them all into a huddle. "With everything's that happened, I'm more convinced than ever that Kate's parents are in that castle, or somewhere around here. It's no secret why we've come, so we're going to be watched the whole time. Not only that, but somebody from Quanyu sent those goons after us yesterday. Since we don't know who that was, we don't know who we can trust. Keep your eyes open all the time, and don't go anywhere unless you're armed."
"Please excuse me," Kuragawa said, "but were you planning to carry your rifles around the palace? We didn't buy any handguns in Ulan Bator."
"That's because we didn't want to risk any questions," T.J. told him. "We brought them with us."
Kuragawa blinked. "How did you get them into Japan?"
Kate smiled. "What customs official is going to search the luggage of a guest of the Emperor? That got us all the way to Ulan Bator, and it was easy to get things past them. You'd be amazed what you can do with a smile and a few Yankee dollars."
"All right," Ted interrupted. "We better get going. Sums, do you need anything?" Sums grinned thinly and patted his coat. Ted glanced pointedly at Captain Kuragawa, who merely shook his head. "Then let's get a move on. I don't want to wait for another reception committee."
That the people of Quanyu were accustomed to seeing occasional trucks driving through their streets was evident from the fact that the main street was wide enough to handle vehicles, and maintained better than the track they had taken from Ulan Bator. They passed a guard station on the perimeter, but their guide drove right past, and as no one stopped them, they followed. The natives came out of their yurts to watch them go by. Later, after leaving the Americans and Kuragawa at the palace, the drivers would find their own lodgings, staying in Quanyu for the duration.
"We stay in Quanyu many times," the one who had not been shot had assured Ted. "We are happy to stay here for as long as you pay us."
They headed for the two-story building, figuring if it was not the royal palace, it would be important enough. They drove through a white-washed wall eight feet high, and pulled up directly in front the edifice, now easily recognizable as the palace by the fact that armed guards were pouring out of an attached building and fanning out around the trucks, their weapons ready but not aimed.
"I thought we were expected," T.J. said. "What's all this?"
Kate, sitting next to him, looked around at the guards. "I don't know. We were expected." She took the handle to open the door. "Stay here. Let me see if I can figure this out."
Hardly had her foot touched the ground before a dozen rifles swung to cover her.
Chapter Eighteen
A Disappointing Audience
An officer stormed up, rattling off orders that Kate could almost, but not quite, understand.
"Do you speak Chinese? Mandarin?" she tried in that language. "We're guests of the king. He's expecting us."
"Get back in your truck, woman," the officer commanded in Mandarin. "I will speak to him, and no one else." He pointed at Professor Death, who was busy keeping his hands visible on the wheel.
"Great," Kate breathed. "Ask to talk to the guy who speaks less Mandarin than you do English." She tried to explain that the Professor did not speak Chinese, but the officer refused to listen.
"Kate?" Ted called, leaning out of his window. "What's going on?"
"I don't know. I tried to explain to this jackass--he speaks Mandarin, but he only wants to talk to T.J."
"T.J. doesn't speak Mandarin!"
"I don't speak Mandarin!" T.J. echoed.
"Try telling him that. Apparently he won't talk to a woman."
But in the next moment, a female voice crackled across the compound, and the officer jumped to attention. Kate turned to see a young woman, simply draped in only a red gown despite the cold, standing on the steps of the palace. The woman barked out another order.
The officer bowed to Kate. "Please come with me."
As she got closer, Kate could see that the woman--girl, really--had almond eyes of deepest brown, hair of a lustrous black, and that her gold-chased gown advertised the slim curves of a high fashion model.
The boys are going to jump out of thei
r shoes, she thought. This girl is exquisite. The officer offered the woman a bow, and Kate followed suit.
The gorgeous young woman stepped down to meet her. "You are an American, aren't you? I am Quanyu." She spoke English like she was born in San Francisco.
Immediately Kate was glad of her own caution in following the officer's lead by bowing. "Quanyu" was not only the name of the kingdom, but also the name of the firstborn of each generation of the royal family. This woman was the king's eldest child, the crown princess of Quanyu.
"Yes, Your Highness. It is an honor to meet you. My name is Katherine Reinhold."
Quanyu blinked, managing to make it look utterly charming. "Reinhold? As in Ambassador Reinhold?"
"Yes, he's my father. Do you know where he is?"
This time her expression was of total bewilderment. "Your father? He's not here. He left here weeks ago."
"He never returned home. I've come from the United States to try to find him."
Quanyu digested this for a moment, her eyes flicking over the three trucks in front of her home.
"You didn't come alone, surely?"
"No, I have several friends with me."
"Then gather them up. We'll speak to my father immediately."
"Before any of you says anything stupid," Kate whispered, "just remember that we don't know the low-down around here. Any smart-alec remarks and we could be walking back to Mongolia."
"Got it," Damien said, and the others nodded vigorously, but whether she was making any impression was a coin toss, because the moment the boys had tumbled out of the trucks and gotten a look at Princess Quanyu, they had suddenly realized that they'd left their brains in Ulan Bator. Quanyu had dismissed the guards and summoned porters with a short series of crisp orders, but it was plain she could have led Kate's companions around with a crooked finger and a raised eyebrow.
Even Ted seemed taken, and that Kate found not to her liking. All of Eric's friends were sweet on her to some degree--though none of them had ever approached her--but Ted was the only one for whom she felt anything in return, and she was not entirely sure what that was. She had only kissed him on the ship on an impulse based on her fear for his safety, or at least that was what she had been telling herself. Now, she was not so certain.
She sighed. This was neither the time nor the place. How the king reacted to her news, and how much he was willing to help, were of paramount importance right now. If he was not of a mind to offer assistance, the entire journey from California might be for nothing.
King Quanyu was a small man, thin but wiry, hair clipped short. To Kate's trained eye he seemed ethnic Chinese, rather than Mongolian or Russian, which matched with what she knew of the history of Quanyu, founded five centuries ago by a disgraced Imperial retainer who had fled the Forbidden City minutes in advance of the headsman's axe.
The king sat on a small but ornate throne, leaning forward to receive his daughter's news. Two other men stood next to the throne, also listening. One was strikingly similar in appearance to the king; the other, armed with a sword, looked every inch the reincarnation of Genghis Khan. Soldiers at attention lined each side of the room, and a hulking Chinese with long, lank hair stood behind and to one side of the throne, arms crossed, expression impassive, his eyes never still. Kate heard the king grunt, then he straightened.
"Miss Reinhold?"
Kate stepped up and bowed deeply.
"Please rise, Miss Reinhold. You are my guest. It was an honor to receive your father and mother on behalf of your President Hoover." The king's English was good, but somehow more stilted and formal than his daughter's. He indicated the man who looked like him. "This is my brother, Ruyan. And this is General Xi. But Quanyu tells me you have come here looking for your parents?"
In respectful tones Kate explained the reason for their trip, beginning with the telegram from the State Department, her flight to Washington, and the decision to embark on a voyage to Quanyu.
"I was quite anxious to see them, Your Majesty, as there had been a recent death in my family. My brother was killed in Los Angeles soon after they departed to come here."
"Ah, I am so sorry to hear that. I do not think your parents knew of this, or if they did, they never mentioned it. They stayed here for two weeks, and we discussed how our two countries might serve one another." His eyes seemed to flicker for an instant in the direction of Captain Kuragawa. His plain clothing could not disguise his military bearing, and he had opted to be open with his host as to his identity. "It had been planned that my daughter would return with them to the United States, where she could attend university, but at the last circumstances changed and she elected to stay. Your parents departed with six guides, and an honor guard that accompanied them to the border." He spread his hands apologetically. "I would have rather my guards could have stayed with them all the way to Ulan Bator, but now that the Russian Communists are in charge, our relations with our neighbors are not as close as they were." The king's eyes crinkled as he tried to speak as kindly as he could. "There are many bandits on the road between here and Ulan Bator."
Kate tried to keep a stoic face, but failed. A stifled sob choked past her lips, though she kept herself standing straight. General Xi hurriedly stepped forward.
"I deeply apologize, miss," he said in heavily-accented English. "My men would have taken your parents all the way to Ulan Bator, but they could not." His eyes flicked toward Kuragawa. "As the king says, we are not on good terms with our neighbors."
"If His Majesty wishes," Kuragawa replied, "we could speak of that while I am here. As Miss Reinhold can tell you, I have the ear of the Emperor." He stepped forward, spreading his hands in invitation.
Instantly, the general's sword flashed out and the guards surged forward. Ted grabbed Kate and shoved her behind him where Damien and T.J. flanked her.
"Stop!" the king commanded with a raised hand. "This is my guest." The general returned his sword to his scabbard, and nodded at the soldiers around him, who returned to their stations. "I apologize, Captain Kuragawa. My men are nervous."
Ted's eyes narrowed. He thought that Ruyan shot the king a look of warning at those last words, but it was so fleeting that he could not swear to it.
Quanyu the elder turned to his brother, asking that the palace major-domo be instructed to arrange quarters for all of his guests. The Americans and Kuragawa bowed. This audience was over.
Chapter Nineteen
A Midnight Meeting
Late that night, Ted, T.J., and Damien snuck into Kate's room for a summit around a fireplace large enough to roast a pig.
"Okay, what we've got here is a missing-persons case," Damien said. "That being said, I propose we turn it over to our resident expert."
Ted acknowledged the hand-off by shifting in his chair, but continued to stare into the fire for several moments.
"It goes without saying that except for those of us this room, everyone in Quanyu is a suspect. I'm not saying that to get your hopes up, Kate, but if something did happen to your parents on the road back to Ulan Bator, there's nothing we can do about it, so there's no use worrying over it. I'm sorry, but that just the way it is."
"I know," Kate said quietly. "All we can do is eliminate the possibility that they're still here. If they're not…" She shrugged and stared into the fire.
T.J. said, "If they're here, though, then somebody's got them. The question is, who?"
"And that's where we start our investigation," Ted announced. "If someone here made them disappear, then why? Who gains from it?"
"I thought it was kind of suspicious that the princess was supposed to go with them, then she changed her mind," Damien said. "The king said 'circumstances changed.' I'd sure like to know what circumstances were those."
Ted hmm'd. "If he were trying to hide something, why bring it up at all? We wouldn't have known the difference."
"But Quanyu would have known," Kate pointed out. "He might have thought it was better to mention it himself rather than have it co
me out later and look suspicious."
"I like that theory," T.J. said enthusiastically.
Kate made a face at him. "You'd like any theory that made Quanyu look innocent--but if she were a suspect, you might get to question her; did you think of that?"
"I think I'd be the obvious choice to question anyone," Ted said. "Hey!" He rubbed his shoulder.
"You didn't even feel that." Kate shook out her hand. "But I did."
"So do we think can we trust Quanyu, then?" Damien asked.
Ted sighed. "I think she has less obvious reason to want to hurt the Reinholds than anyone else. That means she has less motive, or at least, nothing obvious. Whether we can trust her is another question."
T.J. leaned forward in his seat. "So if it's a question of motive, what kind of motives do people have? The way I see it, there are two: Either you want something, or you don't want someone else to have something."
Ted looked at his friend with raised eyebrows. "That's…actually very good. I mean, it's very generalized, but you've hit the nail on the head. So which are we likely looking at?"
"Let's step a bit. Why did my father come here in the first place? If we knew that, I bet we'd know our motive."
"Well," Damien said, "let's go back to what the Professor said. In this case, either he came here to get something, or he came here to give something to someone. Sound reasonable?" The others nodded. "Then if he disappeared at the end of his visit, it sounds like he came here to get something, and someone didn't want him taking it away."
Ted sat back. "If you guys go on like this, I'm going to bed. You don't need me."
"The question is, what was he taking away?" T.J. asked.
"I think that's pretty obvious," Ted offered. "Since we've been on the trail of this thing, two people have died in closed rooms after smelling something sweet in the air, like tropical flowers. Damien duplicated that smell in his gas grenade, and those bandits ran right into our line of fire to get away from it. And yet we have no idea what it is."
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