William Wu - Emperor

Steve knew that she couldn’t actually turn her mount completely. However, she might slow him down, even make him turn a little. Now, Steve could see that he was gaining ground on Marcia.

Her horse went over the crest of a rounded hill and down a steep slope. Marcia leaned to one side in the saddle, struggling to steer her horse to the right. Steve rode hard and gradually came up on her left. Her reins would be trailing loose from her horse’s bridle.

Steve leaned forward over his mount’s neck, still riding hard. He looped his reins over his left wrist and shifted the paper lantern to his left hand. With his right hand, he reached out and flailed in the dark for Marcia’s reins. Suddenly his hand snagged the loose, unseen reins and he jerked them taut.

“Whoa!” Steve drew back, reining in his own mount and also Marcia’s.

Back on the road, the other riders did not stop. They rode on into the darkness. In a moment, even their shadows were lost around the next bend.

Steve and Marcia finally came to a halt. He maneuvered his horse next to hers so he could reach her gag. She leaned toward him to make it easier.

“Got her, Hunter.” Steve reached over and untied the cloth around Marcia’s mouth. “You okay?”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly, nodding. “But my hands are tied.”

“I am glad,” Hunter said, his voice still sounding distant through the static.

“We have to hurry,” said Steve. “I’m afraid those guys will gather their wits and come back for us.” He wished he still had the knife he had carried on their second mission in Jamaica during the seventeenth century. Instead of cutting Marcia loose, he had to untie her. Finally he pulled her bonds free, and she rubbed her sore wrists.

“Can you handle your reins?” Steve asked.

“Yes, I think so.”

“Good. Let’s go.” Steve turned his mount and kicked it to a trot. Marcia kept pace.

“Hunter, we’re heading back south at a trot. The guys who kidnapped Marcia are riding fast in the other direction, but I’m afraid they may change their minds.”

“I understand,” said Hunter. His voice came through slightly more distinctly than before. “I read you more clearly now. I have almost reached the small town by the gate in the Great Wall. I hope to join you soon.”

“Good,” said Steve, “just in case they come back. But you’ll have to bribe your way through the gate. If we’re lucky, the kidnappers won’t stop running till they reach Siberia. We just can’t take that chance.”

As they rode, Steve glanced back over his shoulder. He saw no sign of the other men behind them, nor did he hear them. Maybe they truly were too frightened to stop fleeing anytime soon.

In the distance to his right, he could still see the lights of the Mongol camp in the distance. Some of the campfires had burned down, but others remained as bright as ever. He supposed that Timur and the other sentries kept some fires burning all night.

Steve and Marcia rode side by side at an urgent trot. Every so often, he turned to look behind them again, but he still saw no one. At times, the moonlight outlined the crenellations atop the Great Wall and the watchtower over the gate ahead of them. Then the road would dip and take them out of sight of the Great Wall again.

They had ridden for some time when suddenly the dark silhouettes of men on horseback moved out from behind a small bluff. The riders crossed the road at a walk in front of Steve and Marcia. Then they calmly turned to face them and stopped to block the way.

Startled, Steve yanked back on the reins and started to turn. He saw more riders moving around them on each side. Behind them, several more blocked the road. Marcia, looking around frantically, gasped in surprise.

“Who are you?” A voice demanded in Mongol. “Where are you going at this hour?”

“Back to the Great Wall,” Steve said politely in the same language.

Suddenly one of the other riders made a clicking sound and lit a torch. Steve winced in the sudden light, then saw that the Mongol raising the torch held a flint and steel in his other hand. By the flickering orange torchlight, Steve recognized Timur as the man who had spoken.

“Ah!” Timur grinned, seeing Steve’s face clearly for the first time… .So, it is my friend from dinner!”

Steve smiled back Timur, relieved to see him in a friendly frame of mind. “Good evening.”

“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night, my friend?” In the flickering torchlight, Timur glanced at Marcia, then back at Steve.

“Be careful,” Marcia whispered in English. “Kidnapping probably gets the death penalty here. Almost every serious crime does.”

Steve understood her point. They did not want to cause her kidnappers, or anyone else, to die. Already, the team had influenced local people to take many actions they would not have otherwise taken.

“We had a misunderstanding with some of our fellow travelers, but it is settled now. I apologize for the inconvenience to you and your men.”

“We can find these people for you. Perhaps you want them punished.”

“No! No, the problem has ended. I gave them a good scare myself.” Steve glanced at the riders around them, hoping to change the subject. “You must have brought all the sentries out with you.”

Timur chuckled, and so did many of his companions. “No, my friend. Most of the sentries remain on duty. I saw a mysterious light out here a short while ago and woke up a squad of riders to join me in finding it.”

“It was just this.” Steve lifted up the paper lantern.

“I first saw it moving north. By the time we got out here, we heard you returning and took our positions to intercept you.”

“You were very quiet,” said Steve. He figured a compliment couldn’t hurt. “I had no idea you were coming toward us or waiting here.”

Timur simply nodded casually. “We shall escort you back through the gate.” He turned his horse, and his men imitated his movement. The rough circle of men around Steve and Marcia began to ride south at a walk.

Steve exchanged a glance with Marcia, and they kept pace. He felt safe from Marcia’s kidnappers, but he also knew that Timur was not giving them any options. Their host wanted them returned to where they belonged. In any case, they were now safe from Marcia’s kidnappers, even if that group did turn around and come back.

“You’re okay?” Steve asked Marcia quietly in English. He was not asking for information. Instead, he wanted to convey a message to Hunter, who undoubtedly had heard the entire conversation with Timur. He would still be listening, concerned about their condition.

“I’m fine,” she said clearly.

“So am I.” Steve grinned, sure that she understood what he was doing.

Tired after a long day of riding, Steve would not have minded moving faster. His mount was weary, however, and he decided that asking the Mongols for more speed might lead to a full gallop. He definitely had had enough breakneck riding for one night. So he said nothing and simply gazed up at the Great Wall in the moonlight as they returned to it.

Under the watchtower, Timur reined in. As his companion raised the torch high, the other riders also stopped. In the windows of the watchtower, sentries looked out, their silhouettes outlined against the light of their own fire inside the watchtower.

“Open the gate,” Timur shouted in his accented Chinese. “Open for two lost travelers.”

“The gate opens in the morning,” a sentry called back. “Who is there?”

“You know me,” Timur growled angrily. He rose up in his stirrups. “Open this gate now! ’

The man with the torch held it so that the light fell clearly across Timur’s face. The sentry who had spoken disappeared from sight. Several of the Mongols had already nocked arrows to their bowstrings.