"Ah. . . ." Chen said, seeing the likeness in their faces. So the thief had brothers. He got up slowly. "You have a score to settle?"
The momentary smile on the eldest brother's face turned quickly to a scowl of hatred. Chen could see how tense the man was and nervous, but also how determined.
Chen let the hoe he had been repairing drop, then stood there, empty handed, facing the man, watching him carefully now, knowing how dangerous he was. A careless, boastful man would often talk too much or betray himself into ill-considered movements, but these three were still and silent. They had not come to talk, nor to impress him. They had come for one thing only. To kill him.
He glanced across and saw, in the distance, outlined against the lip of the irrigation dike, the Overseer's man, Teng. So. That was how they knew. He looked back, weighing the three up, letting his thoughts grow still, his breathing normalize. His pulse was high, but that was good. It was a sign that his body was preparing itself for the fight to come.
"Your brother was a thief," he said, moving to his right, away from the stool, putting the sun to one side of him.
The eldest made a sound of disgust.
Yes, thought Chen; I understand you. And maybe another time, in different circumstances, I'd have let you kill me for what IVe done. But there are more important things just now. Like DeVore. Though you'd not understand that, would you?
Chen saw the man's movement a fraction of a second before he made it, the sudden action betrayed by a tensing of the muscles, a slight movement in his eyes. Chen bunched his fist and knocked the big knife aside, then followed through with a kick to the man's stomach that left him on his knees, badly winded.
The other two yelled and charged him, their staves raised.
Chen moved quickly to one side, making them wheel about, one of the brothers momentarily hidden behind the other. Taking his opportunity, Chen ducked and moved inside the stave's wild swing, his forearm lifting the man's chin and hurling him back into his brother.
At once Chen was standing over them, kicking, punching down at them, his breath hissing from him sharply with each blow, until the two men lay there, unconscious.
The eldest had rolled over, groaning, still gasping for his breath. As Chen turned, facing him again, his eyes widened with fear and he made to crawl away. But Chen simply stood there, his hands on his hips, getting his breath, and shook his head.
"I'm sorry. I did what I had to do. Do you understand me? I have no quarrel with you. But if you come again—if any of you come again—I will kill you all."
Chen bowed then walked back to the barn, picking up the hoe. Only then did he see Pavel, watching from the doorway.
"You saw then, Pavel?"
The young man's eyes were wide with astonishment. "I saw, Shih Tong, but I'm not sure I believe what I saw. I thought they'd kill you."
Chen smiled. "Yes. And so did Teng. I must deal with him, before he can tell others."
Pavel's eyes narrowed; then, as if he had made up his mind about something, he took Chen's arm and began to turn him about.
Chen shook him off. "What are you doing?"
Pavel stared at him. "You said you must deal with Teng. Well, he's gone already. As soon as he saw what you could do. If you want to catch him you had best come with me. I know a quicker way."
Chen laughed. "A quicker way?"
Pavel grabbed his arm again. "Yes. Now, don't argue with me. Come on! We'll cut the bastard off."
,
At the lip of the dike Pavel didn't stop but went over the top and down. Chen followed, splashing through the shallow water, then following Pavel up the other bank, pulling himself up a rough, indented ladder which had been cut into the side of the dike.
"Teng will go by the bridges," Pavel explained breathlessly as they ran across the field toward the intersection. "He won't want to get his uniform muddy. But that means he has to go along and across. We, however, can go diagonally. We can cut him at the fourth west bridge."
"Where's Chang Yan?" Chen asked, not slowing his pace. "I thought those two bastards were inseparable!"
"Chang Yan's on leave in Lodz. Which is where Teng should be. But it looks like he wanted to see the outcome of his troublemaking before he went."
Yes, thought Chen. But De Vore's behind it. I knew it. I felt he was up to something the other evening.
The fourth west bridge consisted of four long, thick planks of wood, embedded into the earth on either side of the irrigation canal. Chen waited, hidden among the man-tall stand of super-wheat to one side of the path, while Pavel stayed down below, in the water beneath the bridge.
Teng was wheezing when he came to the bridge. He slowed and wiped his brow, then came out onto the wooden planking.
"Teng Fu," said Chen, stepping out onto the pathway. "How fortunate to meet you here."
Teng blinked furiously, then turned, looking about him. The sun was quite low now. The fields on every side were empty.
He turned back, facing Chen, slipping the rifle from his shoulder and holding it out before him threateningly. But it was clear he was shaken.
"Get out of my way, Tong Chou! I'll kill you if you don't!"
Chen laughed scornfully. "It's Chen, by the way. Kao Chen. But that aside, why should I move? You've seen too much, Teng. If I let you go, you'll say what you've seen, and I can't have that. Anyway, it was you set those poor bastards onto me, wasn't it? You who told them. Well. . . this will be for them. And for their brother. Oh, and for Pavel too."
Teng turned too late. Pavel had climbed the bank and come up behind him. As the Overseer's man turned, hearing someone behind him, Pavel launched himself forward and pushed. Teng fell awkwardly, going headlong into the shallow stream, the gun falling away from him.
Chen ran forward, then jumped from the bridge into the water. Pavel followed him a fraction of a second later.
Teng rolled over, lifting his head from the water, spluttering, his eyes wide with surprise, only to find himself thrust down again. He was a big man and struggled hard, straining with his arms and neck to free himself, his feet kicking desperately beneath him, but the two men gritted their teeth and held him down beneath the water until, after one final, violent spasm of activity, Teng's body went limp.
Pavel shuddered, then stood up in the water, looking down at what he had done.
"Gods. . . ." he said softly. "We've killed him."
"Yes," said Chen, steeling himself, recognizing the pain in the young man's twisted face. Oh, Pavel had hated him beforehand—had hated him even enough to kill him—but now that it was done the boy saw Teng clearer, as another man. A man he had robbed of life. "Come on," he said, getting to his feet. "We have to hide the body."
For a moment Pavel just stared at the lifeless body that now floated, facedown, in the shallow water; then he seemed to come to himself. He swallowed deeply, then looked back at Chen. "What?"
"We have to hide the body," Chen repeated, careful to be gentle with the boy. "Do you know a place, Pavel?"
The light was failing fast. They would not be missed at once, but if they delayed too long . . .
Pavel shivered again, then nodded. "Yes. There's a place. Farther along."
They towed the heavy body between them, pulling it by its arms, moving as quickly as they could against the resistance of the water, until they came to a place where the reeds on one side of the canal threatened to spill right across and block the stream. There Pavel halted.
"Here," he said, indicating a vague patch of darkness against the bank.
Chen heaved the body around, then, with Pavel's help, moved it in among the tall reeds. There, behind the cover of the reeds, a small cave had been carved out of the bank. Inside, it was curiously dry. Small niches, like tiny, primitive ovens, had been cut into the walls on either side. Pavel turned and reached into one. A moment later Chen saw the flicker of a flint.