Ozu's Mill

[DSIGFUSS]

Tatsuo puts the wounded man down beside Elizabeth and bows.

Arashi moves quickly to his side and grabs Tatsuo's ear before he has a chance to stand fully upright where the tiny Asian woman would have no ear to grab hold of. She twists the fatty extension in her wrinkly hand.

That is for leaving your mother to fend for herself in the rain Tatsuo. Next time I will twist something far more important to a man of your gluttonous ways and devilish appetites.

Arashi, her temper now blazing like a rising sun, sets her attention to Mae and the old rail of a man she seems to know that lives in this decrepit old mill.

Arashi moves to within just a few paces of Mae and the old man. Tatsuo shivers and keeps watch at the entrance.

And who in the bloody hell is this? You keep strange company Mae!! Or do you live here in all the glorious squalor as well? Doing god knows what with this poor excuse for a man!!

[Mr. Handy]

"Ni hao, Shaosu," says Elisabeth, forcing a smile. When Tatsuo brings in Mario and lays him down, she kneels beside him and applies pressure to the wound using the man's coat, stopping the bleeding and greatly relieving his pain. "I think he'll live, but I don't know how to remove a bullet safely. We need Dr. Renwick for that."

[Tabs]

Professor Pavlov and Professor Eichelstein enter behind Arashi and immediately flop down upon the floor and lean their backs to a wall. The two old men put an arm round each other. Professor Pavlov looks especially weary.

Shaosu nods almost imperceptibly to Elisabeth. He speaks to Mae In a warbling, sing-song voice: "Nǐ shì shuí?"

And who in the bloody hell is this? You keep strange company Mae!! Or do you live here in all the glorious squalor as well? Doing god knows what with this poor excuse for a man!!

"Oh you! You evil bitch, with your diseased mind!" shouts Mae.

"Don't listen to the foreigner," says Mingzhu, regarding Arashi with distaste. Mingzhu is sat upon the kang with Posie, sweeping the little girl's matted, wet hair from her forehead and neck, and tying it back with one of her own ribbons. Mingzhu's legs are splattered in mud and blood oozes from in between the toes of her naked feet.

Elisabeth works skillfully on Mario, saving his life--for now; but she is right: he needs the expertise of Dr. Renwick.

Admiral Kolchak limps through the doorway, supported by his wife and Li. He has been shot in one thigh, his white trouser leg is crimson.



He looks round the hovel. "Where are the others? Except Santiago and Dr. Renwick I was the last man. YEBATʹ!" He adds: "I reckon that we've got five minutes before the soldiers get here."



"Nǐ shì shuí?" repeats Shaosu.

[Mr. Handy]

"Goodness!" cries Elisabeth, rushing to the admiral's side. "Here, let me see if I can help." She tries to treat his wound, but it is beyond her skills. "I'm sorry, I've done all I can. I just hope Dr. Renwick makes it."

[Tabs]

"Thank you for trying, my dear," says Admiral Kolchak. "I fear my femur is broken."

"O Vladimir!" gulps Mrs. Kolchak.

There is little inside this room, just the basics for living: the kang to sleep on, a hearth and cook pot, wooden utensils, a sack of millet, and a ceramic jug for water. A ladder leads up through a trapdoor in the floor above, that Li is climbing, "Shì shénme ne?"; also, there is an internal doorway, at the back of the room, covered by a cloth.

[Mr. Handy]

"You're quite welcome," says Elisabeth.



Samuel lays a hand on her shoulder. "You did an excellent job, Elisabeth," he says. "Thanks to you, our Italian friend will live."



Elisabeth nods. "Thank you, Father. But what do we do now?"

OOC,Do I understand the Chinese that was spoken?

[Tabs]

[ooc: Shaosu said: "Who are you?"; Li said: "What is up here?"]

[DSIGFUSS]

Arashi looks as though she is ready to pounce on Mae and wring her tiny neck.. She stands grinning at her and imaging such pleasantries instead.

Tatsuo stands close to the door keeping lookout. He pokes he head back in and shouts to the others.

We cannot stay here! Are we ready to move if we must?

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm ready," says Elisabeth, "but where will we go from here?" She glances at the ladder. "Maybe we can get a better view of the surrounding area from up there."

[Tabs]

Are we ready to move if we must?

The answer is no, excepting Elisabeth and her father. The professors are still sat upon the floor, their heads bowed dejectedly; Admiral Kolchak is emitting audible moans, and Mrs. Kolchak is trying to comfort him with hugs and smiles, "Vse budet khorosho"; Mario Giovanni is on the brink of unconsciousness; Mae and Shaosu are talking together in Chinese, "Firecracker?" says the miller, "No, gunshots," answers Mae.

She glances at the ladder. "Maybe we can get a better view of the surrounding area from up there."

[ooc: Don't forget, it is nighttime, outside it is dark and cloudy.]



Li pokes his head back through the trapdoor. "Up here is a storeroom: sacks of millet and barley, ready to be ground; there is a wooden shoot, I guess it runs to the grinding stone in the next room? I also found this"--Li waves an ancient fowling piece--"and this was buried in the thatch"--he drops down a rusty cutlass, à la Treasure Island.

The minutes are ticking away: somebody needs to make a decision.

[ooc: Roll Idea.]

[DSIGFUSS]

Tatsuo, normally more fat than savvy, has an idea.

ooc,- rolled a 7. http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3958149/

[Mr. Handy]

Elisabeth thinks quickly, but her normally brilliant mind is blinded by rising panic, and a solution just barely eludes her.

[Tabs]

DSIGFUSS,if the plan is to run? then, there is somebody who knows the land round the water mill intimately: Shaosu.

Admiral Kolchak takes the old shotgun off Li and breaks open the single barrel. "Well done, sir, got any shot?" Li hands over several cartridges. "I don't suppose you found any vodka up there?" says he, smiling.



Professor Eichelstein scrabbles across the earth floor, and snatches the cutlass. The portly man jumps up, brandishing the weapon, the rusty blade shakes in mid-air: a signal to the man's emotion. He snaps his heels together, as if he is a cadet in the Prussian Army, and addresses Admiral Kolchak:

"Permission to mount a forlorn hope against the enemy! it may buy the women some time."

The Admiral watches the Professor's martial ardour; an incredulous look crosses his face, like he is going to laugh at the man; however, instead, he says: "Your bravery has been noted, but put the cutlery down, you'd be shot before you can shout 'Charge!'" He shakes his head and grips the shotgun tightly: anger, fueled by testosterone is surging through his blood.

"I need you with me, Professor Eichelstein--"

"Otto."

"--Otto. Together, we'll hold the mill against attack, and allow the women, and child"--he looks at Posie--"time to escape. I'm fu--sorry, I mean I'd slow you up--and speed is of the essence. Therefore the Italian stays here too."

Mrs. Kolchak begins to sob.

The Admiral continues in a grim tone of voice: "I need not elaborate on the fate of the women, should they be taken alive by the soldiers! . . . "

[Mr. Handy]

Elisabeth gasps in fright when she hears this last, her worst fears confirmed.



Samuel looks his daughter in the eyes. "You have to get away from here, Elisabeth," he says. "We men will hold them off and buy you all the time we can."



Elisabeth's eyes water. "But...you'll be killed, Father! You're not even armed, you'd just be throwing your life away! You can move quickly. You should come with us! Please..."



Samuel glanced back at the admiral and the professor. "Gentlemen, you have shown exemplary courage. I would gladly stand alongside you, but perhaps my daughter is right."

[Tabs]

"Go with your daughter," says Kolchak to Samuel Grey, "the women will need you. I include Li, and the big man"--he looks toward Tatsuo; he doesn't mention Professor Pavlov, who he considers to be less effective than Posie. "Were you in the army, Mr. Grey?"



Mingzhu and Posie are sat upon the kang, the Chinese woman, wearing an inane smile, is still fiddling with the girl's hair, seemingly oblivious to the conversation round her.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, sir," says Samuel. "I was a captain in the Great War."



"I was only a baby when he left for the war," says Elisabeth. "When he finally came back, I didn't know who he was at first! Thank you both...for everything." She pulls at her father's arm. "We'd better go while we still can, Father. And I won't hear any more talk of you dying heroically. I need you alive! And Mother would be distraught if anything happened to you."



Samuel bows. "I'll take your leave now, gentlemen, so that your brave sacrifice is not in vain."



Elisabeth leads her father over to where Mingzhu and Posie sit. "We have to leave now. The soldiers will be here soon." She translates into Mandarin for the benefit of the Chinese woman.

[DSIGFUSS]

Tatsuo eyes the old man from the mill and speaks to Mingzhu, not having been formally introduced to Shaosu.

Maybe your man in the mill could guide us to safety. He works here, does he not? He will know the land better than the rest of us.

Tatsuo's mother Arashi glares at her son. She is not used to him having a voice in important matters such as these.

[Mr. Handy]

"A splendid idea!" says Elisabeth, silently berating herself for not having thought of it. She smiles at Shaosu and speaks to him in Mandarin. "You know this area well, yes? Can you show us a route that will get us all safely away from the soldiers?"

[Tabs]

Mingzhu stares glassily at Tatsuo, but perks up when Elisabeth exclaims "A splendid idea!"



Shaosu seems unsure. He warbles in Chinese: "I want you to leave my home--leave me in peace--that is all."

"Please help us!" pleads Mingzhu, "We are--"

Mae cuts in: "--We will be shot; you as well, Shaosu." She digs down in between her cleavage and pulls out a Mexican silver dollar.

"I can lead you through the paddy fields to the Catholic Mission," says Shaosu, his eyes wide at sight of the glinting coin.

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you," says Elisabeth with relief. "I'm no Catholic, but any port in a storm."