March 21

Grey day today, rain and the temp. is 5 C. Son Steve phoned last night with the news that old friend Ron Hawkins had passed away. I first met Ron in 1955 we were good friends. Our professional paths crossed many times and kept us in touch. Today an early task will be to get away my sympathy to Sharon.

Part 2 of the Pearce story.

CHAPTER 3

 

D

octor Pearce started walking slowly toward the hospital, his shoulders hunched.  He knew what would be found.

  His wife joined him and without knowing they clasped hands as they moved forward, skirted the crater where the steps had been and stepped on into the rubble.

  There had been ten patients in one large ward and for the night, one nurse and two nurses' aides had been on duty. No one had survived. Most were unrecognizable and only by a count of limbs were they able to ascertain there had been thirteen people inside the building.

  Together they managed to gather all the bodies and body parts, first trying to lay them out properly but then giving up, they piled them all together on a piece of floor that was relatively unscathed.

  As they were finishing, the day staff started arriving, disbelief was replaced by sorrow and pain. They helped do what they could then watched silently to see what the Pearce’s would do next.

  Doctor Pearce looked at the twisted and broken bodies then pointing to one of the aides said, “Quickly go find four or five men, tell them to bring shovels, we must bury our people,”

  Turning to his wife he said, “Please try and find some of my robes in there.” He nodded toward the remnants of the chapel.

  Mrs. Pearce hesitated then said, “But some of them aren’t Christian, do you think we should put them all together?”

  “I don’t think we have much choice, we can’t just leave them and with what has gone on out there,” he waved toward the city, “I don’t think we will get any help. I’ll record who we have buried.”

  Mrs. Pearce turned without another word and went to look for the robes.

  By early afternoon, the bodies had all been buried in two graves, one containing their best guess of which were the patients and the other the hospital staff.

  Mrs. Pearce had returned home as soon as the brief ceremony was over; Doctor Pearce remained at the hospital site until early afternoon, gathering up records and tying them in bundles. The staff had all been dismissed and sent home.

  He carted all the bundles across the road and stored them in a small garden shed behind the house and then squaring his shoulders walked in to tell his family what he had decided.

  His wife came through to the kitchen as he entered, “My dear,” he began. “I think we must face reality and leave. I would like you to start selecting what we will need, but we will have to travel as light as we can.”

  “I anticipated that you would make that decision so the children and I have been getting ready. But we cannot possibly carry everything.”

  ‘Then I’m afraid we will have to leave almost everything, this will not be an easy journey. Let me see what you have prepared.”

  The next hour was spent in taking apart and repacking several boxes and two suitcases. When they finished they looked in despair at each other.

  “We cannot expect the children to manage even those small boxes.” Doctor Pearce said. “They will tire quickly and packing them in their arms will be inviting falls.”

  “Then we must have help. Do you think we can borrow Mu Hoy’s horse and wagon?”

  “I don’t think I can ask him, things are going to be very difficult and he will need it here.” He paused then said, “I have an idea, I must go find Mu Hoy, there maybe a way that he can help.”

  “Take John with you, that will keep him busy and there is little to do here.” Mrs. Pearce said.

  A moment later John and his father struck off down the road to walk the two miles to Mu Hoy’s small farm.

  When they arrived they found Mu carrying buckets of water from his well and dumping the water between the rows of vegetables.

  “Welcome Doctor.” Said Mu Hoy.

  “Hullo Mu. Have you heard what happened?”

  “Yes, it is very sad; you should have left many days ago before the airplanes come.”

  “I know, I know but I thought the hospital would be safe, but forgive me I have no come to ask a favor.”

  The old man said nothing but waited for the Doctor to go on.

  “Even with care we have more than we can carry, I remembered that you have an old rickshaw and I would ask that you to sell it to me.”

  Mu stared at the ground for a moment then raising his head said, “No Doctor I will not sell it to you, but I will give it to you.”

  “No, no Mu I cannot do that, you must let me pay for it.”

  “Doctor you have done much for all of us, I think that sometimes you work many hours for which you have never been paid. The rickshaw is of little value so please, you take it.”

  A few minutes later the two Pearce’s were going back, Doctor Pearce in the belt harness and John walking along side. 

CHAPTER 4

W

hen Doctor Pearce and John got back to their home they found that Lim Siu, with Mrs. Pearce’s blessing, had left to go to her family.

  After a brief discussion the two elder Pearce’s decided that they would not leave until morning. They loaded almost everything they were taking into the rickshaw and after a late tea, studied maps of the region and laid out a route that they would follow.

  “I think we must head for the Yangtze, then try and find passage down the river.” Doctor Pearce commented. Once we get to a seaport we should be able to find a ship and find our way back to England. Hopefully we will still find some where that still has cablegram.”

  Before he got into bed Doctor Pearce unlocked a small trunk that was in one corner of the bedroom, reaching in he pulled out a small cloth wrapped bundle. He looked across at his wife and said, “It’s not a lot but with God’s help this should be enough money to see us through.”

  The next morning the whole family was up early. Margaret and Mary, not quite fathoming the seriousness of the situation were excited at starting out on an adventure. Jean was her usual quiet self and for a change John was quiet and pitched in to help with the final preparations with no prompting.

  Just as Mrs. Pearce was looking through the house for the last time and the Doctor was locking the small shed; the first of a long stream of refugees came into view, they were coming from the city.

  “Father!” John cried. “Look at all the people! They are coming this way.”

  Doctor Pearce hurried out to the road. ‘Odd’ he thought, ‘I didn’t expect this.’ When the first few arrived he walked along with them for a short distance asking questions. Not satisfied with the answers he dropped back and posed the same questions to others as they went by.

  Finally shaking his head he went back to his family and drew his wife aside. “It seems that there were heavy attacks on all the cities between here and the coast. Shanghai was especially hard hit. Apparently there are Japanese gunboats in the Yangtze.”

  Her composure unruffled, Mrs. Pearce asked, “What does that mean for us, what do we do now?”

  “Let’s look at the maps again, we must get to the ocean but maybe further east.”

  They pored over their maps once more, then the doctor said, “We have little choice, we will go on the paths and roads that go south to the Yangtze, we will cross to the other shore and then make our way to a tributary of the Zhujiang River and then down the Zhuijang until we reach the end near Guangzhou, from there we should be able to find a boat to take us to either Hong Kong or Macau.” He spoke quietly and firmly, his voice not revealing his fears over the close to three thousand miles that they must travel.

  A few minutes later he was hitched back to the laden rickshaw, and with his family beside him joined the other refugees. As they entered the ragged procession, the two youngest twins looked back and started to cry. “Mrs. Pearce commanded, “Enough of that, don’t look back!” Then in a softer voice added, “Look forward children we are going on a journey.”

  By noon they had reached the point where a narrow wagon road branched off from the road they had been traveling. “This is the road that will take us to the river.” Doctor Pearce panted. “When we get along it a few yards we’ll have a rest and a bite to eat.” When he unhitched himself he sank with a groan onto the ground. In answer to his wife’s look of concern he said, “I’m alright it’s just that tending to patients and preaching sermons didn’t quite prepare me for being a beast of burden.”

  After luncheon and a few miles further the two little girls began to tire and began having trouble keeping up even though the pace was slow. “Can the little ones ride?” Mrs. Pearce asked. “The rest of us will help with the cart.”

  “Of course,” Was the reply. “I’ll have a short rest while they get settled.”

  They walked until evening, occasionally meeting others traveling in both directions. That night they took shelter with a rice farmer and his family.

 

  The next day and the next and the next they carried on, the only real change was that the Doctor hardened quickly and although he kept to a steady but slow pace, the need for rest breaks became less and less frequent.

  On the evening of the fourth day they reached the bank of the Yangtze River and a small village of a half dozen families. For a small sum arrangements were made to take them across the river by sampan; they would leave at first light.

  The crossing was without incident but the river being very wide at this point, the journey took all day. The ferry man decided to stay for the night and allowed them to sleep on the deck of the boat. 

 

  The rest of the overland journey took eight days, they could have made it in seven but the third day after they left the river was a Sunday and Mrs. Pearce insisted that it was to be a day of rest. Finally they arrived at a large village of perhaps five hundred people and the headwaters of the Zhujiang River.

  Although airplanes had been seen and heard, there had been no bombs or strafing and the villagers were aware of the war but were complacent and relatively unconcerned.

  The family found that there was a small medical outpost and for a few hours of the combined services of the two elder Pearce’s, an unused building was provided for their use.  There was no furniture but some straw was found for mattresses. They stayed there for two days working and looking for a suitable boat to take them downstream.

  Doctor Pearce looked at several boats but realizing his expertise was vastly challenged decided that a guide with knowledge of the river and of boats might be the wisest way to proceed.

  Through his labors at the little clinic he put out word of what he was looking for and on the second day an old man and a young boy of about sixteen came to him. When they approached him Doctor Pearce at first thought that one of them needed medical attention but finally at the old man’s prodding the boy said, “My grandfather has a boat and can take you down the river.”

  “He can? When can he leave and may I see the boat?”

 The old man nodded and signaled with his hand that they should go to the river.

  Doctor Pearce said, “I have one more patient waiting, perhaps you could wait for me?”

  The boy and the old man whispered together then, the boy said, “I will wait, my grandfather will go to the boat.”

  A few minutes later, finished with his medical duties, Doctor Pearce left with the boy.

 “Tell me, what is your name and your grandfather’s name.”

 “I am Lui De Chong, my grandfather is called Hoy Chang.” Was the reply.

  “Why does he not speak with me?”

  Lui smiled, “Oh, he is afraid that you are a magician, he has only seen one other round eyes like you and he told him in a very loud voice that if he did not do as he was told he would not pass through the seven gates.”

  Doctor Pearce smiled, “I am no magician and I will not raise my voice.”

  When they arrived at the river, Hoy Chang was waiting beside his boat. It was moored in a hand dug channel.

   “Please Doctor, go on board and look about” Lui said.

  The boat was about thirty feet long, there was a small cabin amidships and he thought it would accommodate the female members of his family in the event of foul weather. The boat itself was worn and unpainted, but was clean and looked cared for. There was a stubby mast and a single sail neatly rolled and secured.

  Doctor Pearce turned to the old man and smiling said quietly, “It is a fine looking boat Hoy Chang; I would be honored if you would use this boat and be my guide.”

  Hoy Chang hesitated then looked at his grandson, who was several feet away and seemed preoccupied with something in the water. Turning his attention to the Doctor he said softly, “I am pleased that you find my boat worthy.” Then lowering his eyelids, he went on, “How much will you pay me?”

  Doctor Pearce smiled inwardly but kept his face straight and sober, “I think Hoy Chang, that I must trust you to say what is fair. I do not know how many days this journey will take and then you must come all the way back. If you will tell me what you think is fair, I will think on it and tell you if I agree.”

  Hoy Chang studied the Doctor’s face for a moment then said, “”I will talk to my grandson and will come to you in a short while.”

  “Good, I will return now to where we are staying, you will find me there.” The doctor offered his hand and with out hesitation, Hoy shook it briefly and bowed slightly.

  Doctor Pearce returned to his family, filled them in on what was happening and suggested that they have tea prepared when Hoy Chang arrived.