The Prisoner's Gold

56

Papineau was the first to speak. ‘Well done, everyone!’

The team celebrated with high fives and hugs, a moment of pure joy that temporarily made up for all they had been through in China.

Their efforts had paid off. They finally had a solid lead.

Despite her happiness, Maggie held up her hand and asked them to stop. She needed them to understand that their search was far from over.

‘People,’ she said, ‘listen to me. There’s still a lot of work to be done.’

Cobb agreed. ‘Okay, guys. That’s enough fun for today. There’ll be plenty of time to celebrate after we find the treasure.’

‘There’ll be plenty to drink, too,’ McNutt added.

Maggie shook her head. ‘Joshua, don’t plan your party quite yet. Just because we have his diary doesn’t mean we’ll find his treasure.’

‘Why not?’ McNutt asked. ‘Seems pretty simple to me. “Dear Diary, Today I buried my treasure in the yard behind my house. I hope no one looks there. Signed, Marco.”’

Maggie smiled at the comment. ‘Obviously, I wish it were that easy, but the truth is I haven’t had time to read the document yet. Assuming there are no maps or step-by-step directions to the prize, I will still have to search for details about the treasure. Also keep something in mind: this book was most likely left in Tibet before the Polos set out on their return journey. For all we know, it could have been toward the beginning of his trip — before he even had a treasure.’

‘Understood,’ Cobb said before McNutt could crack another joke. ‘But it will certainly give us a better picture of the man himself, even if it contains no direct clues.’

‘True,’ she said. ‘That’s why I’m smiling.’

‘In the meantime, we have to worry about the Fists. What can you tell us about them?’

‘Rumors, mostly,’ she admitted. ‘Their full name in English is The Brotherhood of Righteous and Harmonious Fists. They are quite famous in the south of China.’

‘Famous for what?’ Sarah asked.

‘They are a secret society, well trained in the martial arts. But more than that, they are fiercely anti-Christian and against all involvement of foreigners in China. They became convinced — most likely through cult-like dogma from their leaders — that they were mystically imbued with a resistance to foreigners’ weapons. They believed they were bulletproof.’

‘Bulletproof? I proved that wrong,’ McNutt bragged.

Maggie nodded. ‘Disgusted with imperialist tactics by the Western nations and the wishy-washy politicians that allowed the West to interfere in Chinese issues, the Fists marched on Beijing. They started a siege that lasted for two months, while diplomats, foreigners, and Chinese Christians all took cover in the Dongcheng District near Tiananmen Square.’

‘What happened?’ Sarah wondered.

‘What usually happens with such things,’ Maggie said with a tinge of sadness. ‘Politicians were divided, some throwing their support behind the Fists, and others claiming the desperate need to stamp out any public disobedience. They called for foreign aid: the exact thing the Fists were fighting against. The army split, half of them joining up with the Fists while the rest teamed up with international troops from Japan, Russia, five European countries, and the United States. There was chaos in the streets and rampant vandalism and plunder. Rioting, rapes, murder. Looting and atrocities of all sorts, until the uprising was crushed and the situation was brought under control. Then there were the inevitable recriminations and the prosecutions.’

‘How come I’ve never heard of this?’ McNutt asked.

‘Because these events occurred in 1898. In the West, it is often called the Boxer Rebellion.’

‘Oh yeah,’ Garcia said. ‘The Boxers were those dudes with the front of their heads shaved and the long braided ponytails that you always see in martial arts films.’

McNutt grinned, thinking back to the kung fu movies that he used to watch as a child. ‘I loved those guys! Anyone who’s willing to cut their hair like that is a badass in my eyes.’

‘Actually,’ Maggie said, ‘that hairstyle was forced on the men of China by imperial edict, beginning in the seventeenth century. Those who refused were put to death.’

‘That’s insane!’ Sarah blurted.

‘Nevertheless, it lasted for centuries and was seen as a sign of loyalty to the Qing rulers. The Fists eventually rebelled by letting their hair grow.’

Cobb interrupted them. ‘That’s all well and good, but how are these guys still running around? And why are they after us?’

‘I can answer the first question only,’ Maggie said. ‘They were clearly not eliminated, and they stayed underground. There were always whispers through the early part of the twentieth century that the Fists were still in operation. Whenever anything went wrong for foreigners or Christians in China, people claimed the Fists were responsible.’

‘Regular boogeymen,’ McNutt said.

‘Indeed. Eventually they became gangsters, with hands in all manner of illicit activities. By the 1980s, they were mainstream enough that they were mentioned in the Western media.’

‘And now?’ Papineau asked.

‘They diversified,’ Maggie said. ‘Rumors are that they moved a lot of their resources into legitimate enterprises like utilities and steel.’

Cobb suddenly made a connection. ‘What about mining?’

‘Probably,’ Maggie conceded.

‘Damn,’ McNutt said, reaching the same conclusion as Cobb.

‘They must have spotted me and Josh when we were in the desert,’ Cobb said. ‘If their helicopter had a camera, they could have taken our pictures without us knowing it.’

Papineau took a deep breath. ‘So these men — these Fists — they spotted you in Loulan, and they again spotted you again in Hong Kong? Then they followed us to Guangzhou? And later to Tibet? Pardon me for saying so, but that seems unlikely at best.’

‘Not really,’ Maggie said. ‘The Fists are fanatically opposed to foreigners being in China at all. If they thought Jack and Josh were looting the ruins in Loulan, they would have been very keen on stopping them. And clearly, at some point they put our locations together and figured out that we are looking for something valuable, something hidden in their homeland.’

Garcia seemed worried. ‘Will they follow us here?’

Maggie pondered the question. ‘Normally, I would have said “no” since the Fists are so focused on China. But with such a treasure on the line, who can say? These men will assume that the treasure is composed primarily of riches that originated in their homeland and they are violently hostile to the theft of resources and archeological artifacts from Chinese soil. If I had to guess, I’d say they’re going to follow us to the ends of the Earth.’