Undercover - In China - Book 7

Part 60 - River Pirates

It was dark by the time we got to Grandpa Chen's boat, but a crescent moon reflected just enough sun light to see where we were going as we hauled up the sail and set off back upriver. Chen Ling and I took the first shift while Denny, Licia and Miguel found comfortable positions to snooze. 

 Then the wind died so I had to stand up and row to prevent us drifting downstream. For a long time, the only sounds were the squeaking oars and the occasional snore. Gradually, a mist rose off the river and the moon disappeared leaving us drifting in a dark featureless space. I lost all sense of direction. I stared into the fog until I began to hallucinate. A black shape rose out of the mist in front of me until it was taller than I was and then there was the sound of running water.

'Sorry, I had to tinkle over the side,' Miguel whispered. 'I drank too much tea. You can get some sleep. I'll row.'

I curled up on a thwart and was soon dreaming. I was floating toward a distant light which became steadily brighter until the brilliance woke me up. The river fog was glowing with an unearthly luminescence. It was some time before I realized it was scintillating with a million flashes of reflected light from an invisible sun. It was dawn.

I stared into the fog until I saw a line of floats and behind them three fishing boats. I shook Miguel awake and we each took an oar and rowed to avoid drifting into them. 

 Licia woke up and stared into the fog. 'Miguel, they're river pirates. It's a trap!' She steered for a gap between the floats. 

 Miguel and I pushed at the oars as hard as we could while Denny adjusted the sail to catch the light breeze. The boat stopped abruptly at the line of floats. The rudder was caught on a line below the surface. Two of the fishing boats were rowing to cut us off as Miguel tried to raise the rudder but it was stuck so I lowered myself over the stern, into the freezing water, and tried to push the line down. 'It's caught on something,' I gasped, through chattering teeth. I took a breath, ducked underwater and tugged the line under the rudder.

'Got it!' I gasped triumphantly as I resurfaced. 'Pull me out.' Denny and Miguel hauled me back into the boat while Licia and Chen Ling rowed us away from the fishing nets. I sat on a thwart, coughing and shivering. 

 'The fishing boats are gaining on us,' Miguel said. 'Whistle for some wind.' We all whistled but the wind died and the fishing boat rapidly approached. 

 'Miguel, aren't we a little close to the shore?' Licia asked. There's a bamboo pole sticking out of the water.'

 'It's probably marking . . .' Miguel started to explain as the boat came to a shuddering halt, 'a mud bank,' he finished. While Miguel and Denny tugged the rudder up one of the fishing boats crashed into us and a soldier, wearing dragon scale armour, stepped onto the edge of our boat. Wang Bang! The boat rolled sharply under his weight, and I jumped across the boat causing it to roll even more. Wang Bang lost his balance and toppled slowly into the gap between the boats. He resurfaced, spouting water and curses, and grabbed the edge of our boat as Chen Ling and Licia fended off the fishing boat with the oars.

Our boat moved away with Wang Bang clinging to the side like a limpet alternately cursing and coughing up water. Finally, Licia dumped the contents of the honey bucket over his head, and he let go of the boat.

'Eeugh!' I exclaimed. 'You wouldn't do that to poor old Big Bang?' Wang Bang resurfaced, still cursing as Licia grinned evilly and dead-panned a translation. 'Come back, you vulgar obscenity. I can't swim.'

'He can't swim!' Miguel exclaimed. 'So he gets in a boat with all that armour and no life jacket!' Wang Bang splashed about in panic until he realized that he could stand up on the mud bank. The crew of the fishing boat hauled him back into the boat as Miguel and Denny rowed madly away. 

 But it wasn't long before the two fishing boats caught up with us again. The crew grabbed our oars as several soldier jumped onto our boat.