By evening, when she was returned to the little pen, it was with equally mixed feelings, eagerly excited to be re-united with her new partner, but conscious that their anticipated union would be treated as a public show.
The Yeren seemed not to notice the giggling audience and Nicola soon lost her initial shyness. They satisfied the curiosity of their captors several times before darkness fell upon their activities. During the day, as she pursued her duties like an animal, her mind was active as never before. Thinking of her softly furred partner she had become worried by the prospects for their future. She hated the idea of her partner being used as a beast of burden and it was clear that the quality of his coat would undoubtedly make the Yeren more valuable dead and skinned than alive.
During that night, aided by the darkness, she furthered her command of the sounds that her companion made. She made herself mistress of the sounds for ‘you’ and ‘me,’ ‘go’ and ‘come,’ ‘push’ and ‘pull’ as well as many words more intimate but less relevant to making an escape. The Yeren’s fingers were just as nimble, and far stronger than, Nicola’s. Under her direction they proved equal to dealing with the rusty iron of the padlock on his chain.
As the first streaks of dawn appeared in the east the peasants of Lui Feng were woken rudely from sleep by repeated shouts of “Yeren! Yeren!” The news that the Yeren had broken free seemed to bring with it a reluctance to be foremost in tracking it. Amid the shrieks and wails of women and children, men shouted and ran aimlessly until at length, gathering courage from numbers and the growing light, they headed in a bunch towards the Chairman’s house yard and the pen that had held the Yeren. They found it broken and empty, the door pulled apart at the hinges and both the Yeren and his female companion gone. The sharp sounds of shattering bamboo stakes and frightened screams indicated the direction of escape. Streaming through vegetable gardens and back lanes they followed a trail of shattered fences. They were well behind their quarry, however, by the time they crossed the fields and, reaching the high outer bank, climbed its steep height in a panting mob.
Lining the top, they peered out gaping and pointing over the mud flats. The myriad creeks and waterways glinted in the early light. The figure of the Yeren was far out on the mud running strongly, splashing through the pools and kicking up a spray of mud and water, going straight as an arrow as if inspired by sudden vision towards the distant mountains that showed up blue in the distance.
None ventured to suggest pursuit though the escapee was visible for a long time, a reddish misshapen bulk with a smaller white one slung over its shoulder from which, one keen-eyed man swore, he had seen a white arm lift and point, as if directing the creature in its course.
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