Chapter 17: A Question of Restraint

It was six o’clock when the disappearance of one of the slaves was noticed. Tsai Linn had been sent to collect two slaves for kitchen work and realised that one of the cages was empty. The unfastened padlock lay on the floor beneath the open cage door.

Whack! Bernard was startled awake by a cane slamming against the door of his cage. “Where is your friend, stupid round eye? You think we can’t count up to four?”

“I - I - I don’t know,” stammered Bernard with some degree of truth.

“Cha!” Tsai Linn exclaimed. She checked the padlocks on the other cages and then stormed out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with Madame Chao, Liu Wei and Mary Tang.

Madame Chao looked at the open door and shook her head. “Stupid boy. No sponsor. Fugitive. How did this happen? Who locked them up?”

“I got one of the trainees to do it,” Liu Wei volunteered. “The thin girl, Fara. She must have not fastened the padlock properly. Look, it is here...”

“You,” Madam Chao snapped at Bernard through the bars. “Did Mistress Fara lock you in here earlier?” Bernard nodded. Madame Chao rattled the lock on his cage. “Well, this one secure. Pity this one not go walkabout — maybe get a better replacement. Liu Wei, call police, tell them there is runaway. Which one was this? Ha! Anyway, file on my desk. Tsai Linn, you need to talk to Miss Dangerfield. This is most unfortunate incident; she must learn from her mistake. I shall call Ms Daniels. She must be told and we will need new training boy. Mary, please see what could be done to stop this happening again.”

“I could have a talk with the others,” Mary said, giving the three remaining occupants of the locked cages an appraising look. “I am sure,” she paused to flex her riding crop threateningly between her hands, “they will be happy to provide every assistance in discovering the whereabouts of our missing friend.”

Bernard gulped. Mary Tang’s enigmatic expression hid, he was sure, a determination to discover what had happened. He was certain that the fact that he had no idea of where the fugitive was wouldn’t prevent a distressing interrogation. The idea of a talk with Mary Tang and her riding crop did not appeal.

Madame Chao shook her head. “Do not trouble. Police either catch him or not. Not our problem. We need to get on with training programme.” Bernard was relieved.

A few minutes later, Tsai Linn confronted Fara. She was distraught at the thought that her carelessness might be the cause of the escape. “I can’t have left the lock open. I am sure I checked. He was the first one I put into a cage. One other slave was already in a cage and then I went back and checked all the locks.”

“I think, Miss Fara, you didn’t push the hasp home quite tight. Then the slave could have opened the lock.”

Fara looked devastated. “I’m so sorry. I can’t think how it could have happened.”

“We all make mistakes. Trick is only make them once. We will have to postpone yellow qipao test, though. You are not ready yet, I think.”

Fara looked tearful She had been anxious to progress as quickly as possible but she could see that this stupid mistake was going to set things back quite a bit. “Of course,” she said, biting her lip. “I understand.”

“No worry, you soon bounce back. Slave probably bounce back, too, once he find out how tough it is outside no-sponsor.”

Fara smiled, but she didn’t feel any happier.

The next morning, Liu Wei and the four trainees were sitting in the small lounge at one end of the training room discussing the planned morning’s class. The four girls were enjoying cups of coffee. Liu Wei looked disapprovingly at the cups as she sipped her own delicately-scented jasmine tea. “I don’t know how you stand the smell of that in the mornings,” she said shaking her head. “Still, no matter. Today we try ways to keep slaves restrained. Why we do that?”

Liu Wei’s question was met with blank looks. “Isn’t it obvious?” one of the girls asked.

“Maybe, after last night,” Liu Wei responded with a sneer directed towards Fara. “If so – quick lesson; we all go shopping in Oxford Street! I think it’s more difficult than that. Remember: thought makes good deeds.”

All the girls except Fara laughed. “All right, how about to keep them in one place?” one of the girls volunteered. “I mean, if you wanted to make sure they stay somewhere, then you could use something to do that. I mean that’s the obvious one; what else is there?”

Liu Wei nodded in encouragement.

One of the other girls leant forward. “Well, I saw your demonstration at the station where you were using those wooden things, what were they called?”

“Cangues?” a third answered.

“Yes, those. Well, they made the men look pretty silly. So perhaps that’s another use, humiliation.”

“Very good. See, when thought is given, new ideas appear.” Liu Wei clapped her hands together encouragingly.

“Oh, I know,” the girl who had suggested “cangues” leapt in again. “You could use it as a punishment – making them unable to move or tying them in an uncomfortable position because they’ve done something they shouldn’t.”

Liu Wei nodded. “Any other ideas?”

“Oh yes – so you can make use of them. I mean, like if you wanted a seat or a table or something like that. You’d have to keep them in the right shape or it wouldn’t work.”

“Excellent! All good ideas. But be careful. No matter how clever the idea, you have to make sure the knot is tied or the lock is shut.”