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An especially powerful and painful contraction
pulled Larra’s thought back to the
present. “Oh God, that
hurt!”
“The baby is coming!” said one on the midwives excitedly, “Push!
Push!”
Larra clenched her teeth on the leather strap and pushed as hard as she could.
The pain mounted to excruciating levels.
Her magnificent chest heaved and her back arched as she fought hard
to keep from screaming. Suddenly,
there was a release from the pain, and a feeling of incredible relief and
a wondrous sensation of pleasure as the endorphins kicked
in. She heard a baby give its
first cry, and then her daughter was placed on her
belly. She cradled it in her
arms and held its sucking mouth to her milk-engorged
breast. She was a mother for
the second time.
One of the midwives signaled to Tabin.
He had been close by all the time, but unable to help
her. He crawled up to her, keeping
low. The Japanese were very close
and Larra was hidden from view only by a low screen of
willows. Jia Li also
appeared. The young Chinese girl
had been with them since her rescue from her Russian “allies” eight
months ago.
Larra smiled up at her lover and father of her
child. “It is a girl,”
she said. “We will have
to think of a suitable name.”
Tabin smiled. He said
nothing, but kissed Larra gently on the
forehead. Jia Li took Larra’s
hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze.
The two women had become very close in the last few
months. Larra suddenly, felt
very tired. She snuggled down
into the sheepskin robes that had been laid on the ground during her
labor. Nursing her child, she
slept.
Tabin watched the approaching Japanese column
intently. He saw no sign that
the Japanese had spotted his position, but they were maneuvering closer all
the time. Sooner or later he
and his followers were be found by accident if nothing
else. It was obvious that he
had to act.
He whispered orders to one of his men.
Keeping low the man scrambled
away. A minute later he made
his way to Larra’s side.
“Tabin says for you to get ready to
leave. He will create a diversion
that will draw the Japanese off.
Then you must try to get through their
lines.”
Larra nodded. The time had come
for her and Tabin to part. They
had discussed this eventuality a few days before Larra had given
birth. There were a number of
reasons for the decision. First
and foremost was the safety of Larra and the
baby. Tabin had decided to throw
his lot in with the Chinese communists.
He was not exactly sure what sort of reception he would receive from
them due to his war with their Russian compatriots, but he had no
choice. There was no safe place
for him in
A second reason was one that Larra had brought
up. Although she loved Tabin
deeply, she had other obligations.
She wanted terribly to stay with the father of her
daughter. But she had not come
to
Thirdly, she had finished what she had come to
And so the decision
was made to
separate.
She would leave as soon as she felt able to
travel. Jia Li would travel with
her. The young Chinese woman
had failed in her mission to establish a liaison with the Russians in
Larra and Tabin parted without tears.
They were accompanied by a Mongol guide who knew the safest way to
the closest Japanese garrison. It
would be up to Larra to negotiate herself past the Japanese and get out of
The guide left them about five miles from the nearest Japanese
pickets. The Japanese patrolled
by air as well as on the ground, so Larra, Jia Li and their guide traveled
quite a bit by night. In this
way they were able to move quite close to the Japanese without being
observed. Larra knew that it
was very unlikely that she could get right through the Japanese lines without
being detected. But in fact,
she did not want to avoid the Japanese.
She had been given a safe conduct pass by Lord
Takeda. Even though that had
been lost when she had been detained by Major Fujima the mere mention of
Lord Takeda’s name carried great weight with most Japanese
officers. All that she had to
do was avoid coming into contact with Fujima or his superior officer, Colonel
Hondo. Unfortunately, she was
not quite sure where Colonel Hondo’s jurisdiction started and
ended. She would just have to
hope that the first Japanese she encountered would be willing to listen to
her.
Larra looked down at her sleeping
daughter. She carried her in
a sling slung across her breast.
Mongol women usually carried their children on their backs, but Larra
preferred to be able to see her daughter at all
times. She was a beautiful child,
strong and healthy with a thick shock of fine black
hair. She and Tabin had decided
to call her Lin Yao, choosing
a Chinese name rather than Mongolian, seeing as how she had been born in
A major concern for Larra was, of course, for the safety of her
daughter. It would not do if
Larra fell into hostile hands while she had the child with
her. It was all the more important
that she be cautious in her contact with the
Japanese. While she had been
considering all this, she and Jia Li had been riding closer and closer to
a farming village. There appeared
to be a small Japanese garrison attached to the
village. This might
be as good a place as any to attempt contact with members of the Japanese
army that might be friendly to Lord
Takeda.
Slowly they rode into the village.
They immediately attracted the attention of a number of Japanese soldiers
who were lounging about a machine gun
post. Dressed
as they were in their Mongol clothing, the soldiers rushed at them, rifles
at the ready.
They did not appear overly
friendly.
Larra greeted them in fluent Japanese.
A look of stunned surprise came over their
faces. They had not expected
this. “Take us to your
commanding
officer,”
Larra ordered.
“We require the assistance of the Japanese
authorities.”
Larra had learned that when dealing with the average Japanese conscript,
it was best to act in a superior manner.
Japanese enlisted men were considered the lowest of the low by their
officers. Larra reckoned that
if she acted like an officer she might get more
respect. It seemed to
work. One of the soldiers ran
off quickly. The others milled
about them, looking somewhat bemused but
non-threatening. A minute later
the soldier returned. Trailing
behind him was a young monocled officer.
Larra greeted him pleasantly.
“Konnichiha,
Lieutenant. We are travelers
in need of your assistance. I
hope that you may be of service to us.”
The young Lieutenant also seemed somewhat taken
aback. Larra was dressed in the
clothing of a Russian soldier and Jia Li dressed like any Chinese
peasant. Their attire did not
seem to match the language Larra was speaking, or her direct and confident
manner.
Larra a felt that
it was important to maintain the initiative in the
encounter.
The young officer did not reply, but simply stood looking at
them, twisting his monocle she continued to address
him. Dismounting from her horse,
she bowed slightly, fully cognizant of the fact that women were expected
to bow more deeply to men than men were to
women. “We were captured
by bandits some months ago and have only just been able to escape,”
Larra continued. “We need
help to get back to
The last comment was intended to have a profound
impact. There were few Japanese
officers who did not know of Lord Takeda.
If the young officer believed her, he was most likely to
cooperate. “Provided of
course, that he does not regard Lord Takeda as his hereditary enemy,”
thought Larra.
At the mention of Lord Takeda’s name the officer’s eyes
widened. He returned Larra’s
bow, seemingly recognizing her status by bowing more deeply to her than she
had to him. “Please accompany
me into my headquarters, I will attempt to contact
the Japanese high command
immediately.” He turned
on his heel and marched toward the largest building in the village, a rather
dilapidated two-story structure covered with yellow
plaster.
Larra turned and nodded to Jia Li.
Carrying her child, Larra followed in the young officer’s
footsteps. Jia Li trailed
behind. The rest of the soldiers
fell in behind the two women. Larra
found this a little unsettling. The
young officer had been a little too
abrupt. It was not good manners
to walk off without introducing oneself, but that was exactly what he had
done. Still, she had committed
herself by riding into the village in the first place, now she would just
have to play it by ear and hope that things worked
out.
Just before the door to the building the officer
stopped. In a low tone he directed
his voice toward the open door of the
building. He was about twenty
paces ahead of them and Larra could not hear what he was
saying. Several soldiers
began to file out of the open doorway.
Their rifles were held at the
ready. Larra and Jia Li both
stopped dead in their tracks.
Automatically their heads swiveled around to see what was happening
behind them. Larra’s heart
skipped a beat when she saw that the soldiers who had been trailing them
had their weapons trained on her and Jia
Li. She turned back to the young
officer, who she saw had drawn his pistol and was once again approaching
them.
Jia Li went into a defensive stance, although what kung fu would do against
a well-placed bullet was hard to imagine.
Larra remained outwardly calm, although her heart was beating like
a trip-hammer. “What is
the meaning of this, Lieutenant?”
Her voice was filled with outrage and
indignation. Perhaps she could
bluff her way out of the situation.
“It is a rather simple meaning,
“But I am not an enemy of
“Lord Takeda’s support is of no influence
here. He is known by the followers
of Colonel Hondo to be suspect in his loyalties, having maintained friendships
with too many foreign influences.”
Larra signaled to Jia Li to drop her defensive
stance. The young woman was quite
aggressive and likely to get herself
killed. Also Larra did not want
any bullets flying around while she still held her infant
daughter. She and Jia Li were
caught like flies in a web. Only
diplomacy was likely to get her out of this
predicament.
“Lord Takeda will be most displeased when he hears of
this. He has great influence
at the Japanese court.”
The officer laughed. He seemed
to be enjoying this repartee.
“Apparently your isolation in the wilds of
Larra realized that she had no more cards to play, but perhaps she could
do something for Jia Li. “If
it is me that you want then please release my
servant. She is only an ignorant
peasant girl and knows nothing of Japanese
politics.”
The officer laughed again. “I
hardly think that she is only a simple Chinese
peasant. That martial arts stance
she affected looked very professional.
But we have talked enough.
It is my duty to place you and your companion under
arrest. Please realize that any
resistance will be fatal. He
turned to his men. “Escort
them to the hole.”
Larra signaled to Jia Li to remain calm.
There was little that they could do when surrounded by a dozen armed
men, all of whom had their weapons trained on
them.
A pair of soldiers took hold of Larra’s
arms. Two more seized Jia
Li. They were propelled toward
a small shack off to the side of the main
building. As she approached Larra
noticed that the door of the building was heavily reinforced and that the
windows had iron bars. Just before
the door to the building the two women and their escorts
stopped. The soldiers escorting
them gave them a quick search, removing Larra’s knife and
revolver. Jia Li was also relieved
of her weapons. Then the door
to the “hole” was opened and they were thrust
inside.
Inside, Larra saw that their prison was well
named. It was a filthy hovel,
devoid of any furnishings. There
was not even a blanket for warmth.
In a corner was a stinking bucket, still dripping with human refuse
from its last use. As they entered,
rats scattered into holes in the walls.
Depressed, Larra cleared a space in the straw that littered the floor and
sat down. She had led herself
and Jia Li into a trap.
Jia Li seemed to sense her emotions.
She placed her hand on Larra’s shoulder and gave it a comforting
squeeze. “Do not worry,
Larra, we will get out of this.”
Larra smiled up at the girl. She
was a wonderful companion. Perhaps
if they kept their heads they could find a way out of their dilemma. In the
meantime they would just have to wait. Outside a Japanese guard peered in
through the barred window.
It was still dark when the guards came for them the next
morning. Jia Li and Larra had
not had much sleep. They had
spent much of the night keeping the rats and other vermin away from one another
and the baby. So it was that
they were wide awake when the door was unlocked and flung
open.
Two men entered, while outside the cell another man shone the light of an
electric torch through the cell window.
The Japanese were taking no
chances. Larra heard the clank
of chains. One of the soldiers
pushed Jia Li to her knees. For
a second the young girl resisted, but then thought better of
it. The muzzle of a rifle was
pointed directly at her from the cell
window. There was a further clanking
sound as an iron collar was placed about Jia Li’s
neck. It was followed by the
click of a padlock being snapped into
place. Next it was Larra’s
turn. She made no resistance
as the heavy metal band was clamped about her throat and the padlock snicked
shut. Then both women were marched
to the door and out into the night air.
It was as dark outside as it had been in the cell, but Larra could
make out the lights of a truck about fifty feet
away. As they were propelled
in the direction of the truck, both women realized that the iron collars
around their necks were connected by a length of heavy
chain. This would make any flight
doubly difficult. Reaching the
trucks they were marched up a ramp at the back and pushed onto a wooden bench
that ran the length of the back of the
vehicle. Soldiers piled in alongside
them and onto a bench facing them.
They were to have a full escort to whatever their destination
was.
With a grinding of gears the truck lurched off into the
night. Soon choking clouds of
dust enveloped the passengers in the back of the
vehicle. As best she could, Larra
tried to shelter her sleeping baby from the dust, holding her close to her
bosom.
For several hours the truck ran on, throwing up the suffocating clouds of
dust as it went. Both Larra and
Jia Li were now suffering the effects of dehydration and
hunger. They had not had any
food or drink for about a day.
Although the Japanese soldiers had water bottles and occasionally
drank from them, they did not offer any to their
captives.
Larra became concerned about her
daughter. Without water she knew
it was only a matter of time until her breast milk began to dry
up. Already, the baby
was having to suck longer to get the same amount
of nourishment. Larra prayed
silently for the journey to end.
Eventually the road ended in a larger
town. The truck pulled up in
front of an imposing building. It
looked to have been some sort of palace or temple in the past, but now seemed
to be used by the Japanese for their
purposes. Larra and Jia Li were
pushed unceremoniously from the truck.
Forced to jump from the back, Larra almost stumbled, burdened as she
was by her daughter, and handicapped by the chain around her
neck.
The two captives were herded into the interior of the building. They entered
a spacious hall. Directly before
them was a large desk. An officer
sitting behind the desk looked up as they were driven in his
direction. Larra stifled a
gasp. It was Major
Fujima!
Fujima smiled falsely as his eyes focused on the two chained
women. “Welcome back
Turning to the guards he ordered them to take Larra and Jia Li to a holding
cell and bring them food and water.
The he said something else that froze Larra’s
blood. “Give your child
to one of the guards. We will
care for it while you are being
interrogated.”
The guard next to Larra reached out to take the child from Larra’s
arms. Larra clutched the baby
tightly, but then relented once the guard began to pull on the
child. Any resistance would only
harm her baby.
In complete despair, Larra allowed herself to be led away, while her baby
remained in the arms of the guard.
As she left Fujima called after
her: “Do not worry, the
child will be well cared for.”
Larra and Jia Li were marched down a long
hallway. Eventually they came
to a section of the building that was being utilized as a
jail. The two women were escorted
to a cell. As promised, food
and water was brought to them.
Larra ate and drank, despite the complete loss of her
appetite. As Fujima had said;
she would need her strength.
Larra gauged the length of the chain joining her to Jia
Li. It was about ten feet
long. While moving
she and Jia Li had carried part of it in their
hands. It was long enough, Larra
estimated to give them limited freedom of
movement. A plan was forming
in her brain.
The next morning found Larra and Jia Li somewhat
refreshed. The cell had not been
especially comfortable, but it was clean and contained warm
blankets. In addition they had
been brought enough food and water to satisfy
them. The loss of her daughter
still preyed on Larra’s mind, but at least now she might be able to
make an escape attempt without the danger that a stray shot would kill her
baby.
The guards came for the two women bright and
early. There were six soldiers
to escort the two chained females to the interrogation
room. Since Larra and Jia Li
had given no indication of resistance, the six armed men were expecting very
little trouble form their seemingly helpless
prisoners. After all, what could
two chained women do against six guards?
Larra and Jia Li were hardly out of the cell before they
struck. It was critical that
they overcome the guards before they were able to sound the
alarm. Overconfidence on the
part of the guards played into their
hands. Without thinking they
placed the two women in their midst.
Three guards led and three guards trailed them as they were escorted
down the corridor. Larra was
in front with Jia Li following. As
previously planned Jia Li struck hard at the guards that were following
her. With a speed that was impossible
for the untrained eye to follow, Jia Li pivoted on her right leg and struck
three times in rapid succession.
The edge of her foot caught each of the guards just below his jaw,
viciously snapping their heads back.
Two of them were unconscious before they hit the
floor. The third need some more
help and Jia Li obliged, striking the falling man three more times on the
way down.
As Jia Li dealt with the rear guard, Larra struck at the backs of the guards
in front of her. She too used
her powerful legs, using a front thrust kick to hammer the kidney area of
each of the men in front of her.
With incredible speed, she was able to deliver a succession of six
blows in just a few seconds. The
heavy blows paralyzed the men in front of her, and they collapsed without
a sound. Incredibly in less than
five seconds the two women had taken out six trained
soldiers.
Larra and Jia Li looked around them.
They were free of their escort, but still chained
together. However, they had overcome
the first obstacle in their planned
escape. Now they had to find
a way out of the prison and somehow rescue Larra’s
daughter. That task seemed almost
impossible, but they had to try.
They searched the guards for keys to the padlocks that held the iron collars
in place about their necks, but had no
success. They would have to remain
chained together for the moment.
“We have spent enough time here,” whispered
Larra. “We had better get
moving.”
Jia Li nodded. They were probably
already overdue at the interrogation
room. It would only be a matter
of time until someone came looking for
them. Moving quickly but quietly
they moved down the cell corridor toward the exit
door. As they did so they passed
cells occupied by other inmates.
Larra wondered briefly if she should try to release them too, but
that thought was swiftly laid to rest when one of the other prisoners spotted
them and began to shout loudly in
Japanese. He was sounding the
alarm!
Larra was stunned and chagrined.
She should have realized that most of the other prisoners in the cell
block would be Japanese soldiers guilty of minor
crimes. They might have committed
some minor transgression, but were still loyal to
Larra and Jia Li dashed down the cell corridor as quickly as they
could. They had to get out of
the cell block before they were trapped by other Japanese coming to see what
all the noise was about.
They were too late. Before they
even reached the door it burst open.
The two unarmed women found themselves looking down the barrels of
a dozen or more rifles. Resignedly,
Larra and Jia Li slowly raised their
hands. Their freedom had been
extremely short lived.
One of the soldiers ran past them to the heap of bodies that Larra and Jia
Li had left down the corridor. The
two women made no attempt to stop him.
Caught in the narrow corridor they had no chance to
escape. Any sudden move on their
part and they would be shot down like fish in a rain
barrel.
A scream of rage came from the soldier who had reached the bodies of his
fallen comrades. In a few seconds
he came charging back. He was
almost incoherent with anger, but he shied away from the two women as he
passed them. Picking up his rifle
from where he had left it, he flicked off the safety and took deadly aim
at Larra’s breast. Larra
calmly watched as the man’s finger slowly tightened on the trigger and
waited for the bullet to come.
From behind the soldier a sword blade
flashed. Slowly the soldier crumpled
to the floor. As he did so, his
severed head toppled from his shoulders and rolled to Larra’s
feet. The blade of his katana
still dripping blood, Fujima stepped into the space once occupied by the
dead soldier. “No one,”
he said quietly, “gave any orders to shoot
anyone.” Stooping, he carefully
wiped the blood from the blade, using the dead soldier’s shirt for the
purpose.
Approaching Larra he took in the chaotic scene in the corridor at a
glance. He looked long and hard
at Larra and Jia Li. There was
a faint hint of respect in his eyes. “Escort these two to the interrogation
room,” he barked. “And
keep your eyes on them. And get
someone to clean up this mess,” he said, gesturing to the body strewn
corridor.
Larra and Jia Li were hustled out of the cell block and into the interrogation
room. It was only a few feet
past the cell block door. “We
like the inmates to be able to hear the screams of those we question,”
explained Fujima cheerfully.
Larra noticed that there was another officer waiting in the center of the
room. Since he wore a colonel’s
insignia Larra concluded that she was probably facing Colonel Hondo, the
man responsible for many of her woes.
Keeping their rifles trained on the two women, Larra and Jia Li were brought
before the officer. He fixed the two women with an icy
gaze. “Sooo…”
Colonel Hondo said
slowly,
“you like to fight.
Good! We will give you
a chance to show your skills.”
Larra gazed back. “Where
is my child?” she said steadily.
“Surely the Japanese army does not make
war on nursing infants.”
Hondo gave a mirthless smile. For
several moments he did not reply.
Then he snapped out an order: “Bring the white slut’s
child.”
Hondo directed his gaze to Larra’s
chest. “I see that you need
the child as much as it needs you.”
Larra looked
down. A large wet patch was spreading
down her front. She reddened.
It was more than a day since she had nursed Lin Yao, and her swollen breasts
were leaking milk. She suddenly
realized how much her engorged breasts were
hurting.
Larra heard Lin Yao long before she saw
her. Since the infant had not
nursed in over 24 hours her cries were hardly
surprising. Eventually she saw
her daughter. She was swathed
in a blanket and being carried by a Manchu serving
girl. Almost too eagerly, if
such an emotion was possible, Larra clasped the child to her
breast. Within a few seconds
she had loosed the front of her quilted jacket and was nursing her
baby. She paid no attention to
the ogling of the assembled Japanese, most of whom had never seen breasts
as large as hers.
“Remove the chain from the Chinese bitch and chain this one to the
wall,” ordered Hondo.
“Major Fujima you take over.”
Larra found herself being led to the wall of the
room. A number of rings were
fastened into its surface and the end of Larra’s chain was padlocked
to one of them. There was enough
slack in the chain to enable her to sit down, but Larra remained
standing. She wanted to see what
they were going to do to Jia Li.
As soon as Jia Li’s collar had been removed she had been seized by four
Japanese soldiers. They immediately
locked a short light chain to her ankles.
It would enable her to move her feet enough to walk or run, but she
would be unable to launch one of her deadly
kicks.
Fujima approached her. Through
a translator he spoke to her.
“We are going play a game to test your
skills. These are the rules of
the game. You will face several
opponents, but they will come at you one at a
time. If you win you survive
to fight another day. If the
soldier wins he can do anything he wants with
you.”
Jia Li blanched. A tight knot
of fear formed deep in her stomach.
She was being presented with a no win
situation. If she lost she would
be raped. If she successfully
fought off her opponents she would simply face another until eventually she
lost,
and then she would still be raped. But she also knew that she
had no option. She would have
to fight. However, the Japanese
had handicapped her by taking away her ability to
kick. She would have only her
hands and arms as weapons.
Fujima had backed away from her.
The soldiers in the room formed a ring about
her. Her test was to
begin.
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