the vicar waved his hand dismissively. “I am aware of the diplomatic situation, but I am afraid that you are now in my care…” He gestured at the Taiping cavalry around them. “I certainly don’t want to hand you over to our friends here… they can be a little unpredictable …” He looked over at the detached head that rested in the street – some distance from its body. “As you have already witnessed.”
Jack, Angus and the captain were marched to the vicar’s strange vintage car and they clambered into some cramped seats in the back as their fellow captives stared after them bemused.
“Don’t worry,” Backhouse assured them. “Your companions will not be harmed.”
He poked the driver, and the car’s rough engine burst into life.
“We’re still perfecting the design, but I hope you find itcomfortable, gentlemen.” They rumbled their way back down the street, escorted by a contingent of the Taiping horsemen. As the car trundled on, all Jack could think about was what chance they would have of intercepting his father when he arrived in three days time. It wasn’t looking good.
“Where are you taking us?” the captain pressed.
“Please, Captain Fleming, we will be there soon enough.” Josiah turned back to them from the front passenger seat, dabbing the sweat on his podgy face with a handkerchief, “First you must introduce me to your young friends.” He looked at Jack and then at Angus, his eyes lingering on Jack who returned the stare uneasily.
“I say young man, don’t I recognise you from somewhere?”
“I don’t think so – I’ve never seen you before.” Jack thought fast. “Er, we have spent most of our lives outside England.”
This seemed to satisfy Backhouse who turned away with a shrug. Jack, however, thought it really odd that this strange-looking country vicar, completely out of place in the dust and heat of a Shanghai street in late summer, might somehow think they had met before.
“How did you two come to find yourselves manning a barricade in a city under siege?” Josiah asked.
“Our father… he’s a trader,” Jack lied. “We got lost in the confusion… the captain here saved our lives… we got split up during your attack. My father is expecting to meet us at the waterfront… we need to go back. You need to let us go.”
“I am very sorry to hear about that. But there is no chance I can release you.”
“These young men must be reunited with their family, Backhouse…” the captain began.
“Now Captain, please. I am afraid there is no question of reuniting anyone for the moment. The city will still be very dangerous but I promise that all of you will be returned in due course.” Backhouse said brightly. Then his tone changed and he muttered under his breath, “Assuming we get co-operation from the British government.”
This was too much for the captain. “You call yourself a man of God, Backhouse, yet here you are in league with these Taiping barbarians,” he burst out.
Josiah’s red face turned a little redder. “Captain, your comments are uninformed – like those of so many of our English countrymen. The Taiping are hardly barbarians. They are our Christian brothers, fighting a holy and just civil war against the corrupt and decadent Imperialist Qing dynasty.”
But as Jack peered from the back of the strange car which lumbered its way through the outskirts of Shanghai, he did not see much that could be described as holy or just. Everywhere he looked there was devastation from the Taiping assault on the city. Smoke plumes rose from burned-out huts and houses, and at points along the road bodies were piled up high. Taiping were everywhere – squads of infantry marching at the double into Shanghai, cavalry patrolling the streets, and, occasionally, armed wagons.
“Look at all this,” Fleming said, “the misery of war… and all aided by you Backhouse – a supposed Christian . At home in London, they say you are a
Jack, Angus and the captain were marched to the vicar’s strange vintage car and they clambered into some cramped seats in the back as their fellow captives stared after them bemused.
“Don’t worry,” Backhouse assured them. “Your companions will not be harmed.”
He poked the driver, and the car’s rough engine burst into life.
“We’re still perfecting the design, but I hope you find itcomfortable, gentlemen.” They rumbled their way back down the street, escorted by a contingent of the Taiping horsemen. As the car trundled on, all Jack could think about was what chance they would have of intercepting his father when he arrived in three days time. It wasn’t looking good.
“Where are you taking us?” the captain pressed.
“Please, Captain Fleming, we will be there soon enough.” Josiah turned back to them from the front passenger seat, dabbing the sweat on his podgy face with a handkerchief, “First you must introduce me to your young friends.” He looked at Jack and then at Angus, his eyes lingering on Jack who returned the stare uneasily.
“I say young man, don’t I recognise you from somewhere?”
“I don’t think so – I’ve never seen you before.” Jack thought fast. “Er, we have spent most of our lives outside England.”
This seemed to satisfy Backhouse who turned away with a shrug. Jack, however, thought it really odd that this strange-looking country vicar, completely out of place in the dust and heat of a Shanghai street in late summer, might somehow think they had met before.
“How did you two come to find yourselves manning a barricade in a city under siege?” Josiah asked.
“Our father… he’s a trader,” Jack lied. “We got lost in the confusion… the captain here saved our lives… we got split up during your attack. My father is expecting to meet us at the waterfront… we need to go back. You need to let us go.”
“I am very sorry to hear about that. But there is no chance I can release you.”
“These young men must be reunited with their family, Backhouse…” the captain began.
“Now Captain, please. I am afraid there is no question of reuniting anyone for the moment. The city will still be very dangerous but I promise that all of you will be returned in due course.” Backhouse said brightly. Then his tone changed and he muttered under his breath, “Assuming we get co-operation from the British government.”
This was too much for the captain. “You call yourself a man of God, Backhouse, yet here you are in league with these Taiping barbarians,” he burst out.
Josiah’s red face turned a little redder. “Captain, your comments are uninformed – like those of so many of our English countrymen. The Taiping are hardly barbarians. They are our Christian brothers, fighting a holy and just civil war against the corrupt and decadent Imperialist Qing dynasty.”
But as Jack peered from the back of the strange car which lumbered its way through the outskirts of Shanghai, he did not see much that could be described as holy or just. Everywhere he looked there was devastation from the Taiping assault on the city. Smoke plumes rose from burned-out huts and houses, and at points along the road bodies were piled up high. Taiping were everywhere – squads of infantry marching at the double into Shanghai, cavalry patrolling the streets, and, occasionally, armed wagons.
“Look at all this,” Fleming said, “the misery of war… and all aided by you Backhouse – a supposed Christian . At home in London, they say you are a
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