“They have armor!” Helena shouted.
“I am well aware of that, go for their eyes.”
Entirely focused on her attacker, Helena never noticed that Sigmund had already disarmed one attacker, broken the arm of another, and bounded to her aid with the stolen sticks.
Helena saw her attacker’s eyes grow wide as Sigmund came up behind her, sticks in hand ready to thrash the man. Before he attacked, the bandit turned and retreated as fast as possible followed by the last assailant.
“I’d heard rumors the gangs down here wore medieval armor under their clothing I would’ve never guessed that was true,” Sigmund said.
“I’m more concerned about where Lane is. How did we lose him in the narrow alleyway? I paid such close attention to you I never saw him leave,” Helena said looking down the backstreet they had earlier walked down.
Before further discussion on Lane’s whereabouts happened, they heard the door close behind them. Turning and saw, the white man at the top of the stairs, pistol in hand, seven-pointed silver-star distinctly visible on his chest.
“Who are you? What do you want? And why did you just attack those Hop Sings?” the man holding the gun asked.
Helena stepped forward her clearly feminine voice breaking her disguise, “I might ask why you ran off as soon as we were attacked aren’t you supposed to be a police officer?”
“My first responsibility is for the children,” that she understood, “I am Detective Longstreet, I am here looking after some residents in my precinct. Now asking again, who are you? What do you want? And why did you attack those men?”
“Officer, my name is Sigmund, and I am employed by the Brandywine estate, this is my... ward, Hell... Manfred. And those men attacked us,” Sigmund said.
“Oh, you can give it a rest Sigmund, my disguise is ruined as soon as I open my mouth. I’ve got to learn how to speak differently. Officer, I’m Helena Brandywine, heir to the Brandywine estate, we are here for two reasons. First, a friend of mine has gone missing, and the second a friend of mine asked me to deliver a message for Miss Tsang Mei Yan who I presume runs the school behind you,” Helena said.
“Miss Helena, most police officers, are not to be trusted, they are typically bought and paid for by politicians,” Sigmund whispered.
“You know I can hear you?” Doyle holstered his pistol and about to wave them up when the door behind him burst open.
The Chinese woman he had been speaking to rushed through the door. “I am Tsang Mei Yan. Please come in so you can give me my message.”
Doyle said, “I was about to say that.”
Both Helena and Sigmund heard a shuffling noise coming from behind. They both witnessed Lane walking down the alley holding a handful of bamboo skewers each piercing bite-size chunks of meat, busy devouring one as he entered the courtyard. “What’d I miss?” he mumbled from around a mouthful of barbecue.
“Must you always be stuffing your face?” Sigmund asked.
“You missed a fight. We won,” Helena added.
“If he’s your friend, bring him as well,” Doyle waved them all into the school.
They were led into a small one-room apartment. The seven girls huddled in the back corner until Miss Tsang Mei Yan in perfect English said, “It’s all right these people are friends,” she then translated it into Cantonese. Given the all clear, the girls swarmed the Westerners all wanting to practice their English. The four instantly hit with rapid questions such as, ‘where are you from, how old are you, and what your name.’ The group also learned every student’s age, English, and Chinese name, and how much they liked America, all in about the span of thirty seconds. Miss Tsang gave the students free rein and then shooed them back to their seats so they could begin practicing their writing.
“Please take a seat,” Miss Tsang motioned as she went about fixing some tea with a kettle on the small gas stove, “I am sorry I don’t have much to offer. Our school does not make much money,” she finally sat at the table placing her hands in her lap, “You said you had a message for me?”
Helena didn’t say anything until Sigmund nudged her leg, “Yes, I’m sorry. I am just amazed that you have done so much with these children. They are all wonderful. We found Lo Wai Han, she is safe at my house. She wanted us to let you know she is well and misses you.”
A wave of relief washed over Miss Tsang’s face, “I’m so glad you have been able to help her, she is such a brilliant child. It broke my heart when the Hop Sings came for her.”
“Hop Sings?” Sigmund asked.
“Those were the men you attacked. I hope they don’t realize who you are, or there might be a bounty on your heads before nightfall. I’m hoping they will keep the attack to themselves since they lost,” said Doyle.
“How can you tell who they are?” Helena asked.
Doyle pulled from his satchel his red notebook and began taking notes. “The white headbands signify the Hop Sings. I guess it makes them look scary, in Chinese culture white has the meaning of death or the demons. There’s a lot of Chinese culture I still don’t understand.”
“But why did they attack them?” Lane pointed at Helena and Sigmund with one of his empty skewers before reaching for another.
“I don’t think they came here for them. They have been trying to kidnap one of my students. She has recently turned sixteen and has no family to protect her.”
“Why would three men need a sixteen-year-old girl?” Helena wished she hadn’t asked the question, remembering the story that Wai Han had told her.
