The Paper Daughters of Chinatown - Heather B. Moore Page 0,100

eyes against the brightness.

“Mei Lien?” the woman’s voice was soft, spoken in an accent.

Then another woman spoke in Chinese. “Mei Lien. We are from the mission home. We are here to take you to safety.”

No one touched her, but the light remained.

Slowly, she opened her eyes to find two women crouched before her, their gazes upon her. One woman was Chinese. Her face was clean, her black hair looked soft, and her eyes were intelligent. She couldn’t be much older than Mei Lien. The other woman had lighter eyes, pale skin, and she seemed oh-so-tall, even though she too was crouched before the cupboard.

“No, no! Fahn Quai!” Mei Lien burst out.

Neither woman looked startled. In fact, the pale woman smiled. She spoke in a soft but firm voice, and the Chinese woman translated, “Miss Cameron says she’s been called much worse.”

Wang Foo yelled something from the corridor. He hadn’t even come into the room?

“My name is Tien Fu Wu, and we are here to rescue you from the men who hold you captive.”

The pale woman scanned every inch of Mei Lien.

“Come with us,” the Chinese woman continued. “We will clean you up, feed you, and give you an education. You will be free to find your own path—”

“I cannot,” Mei Lien said, her voice trembling. “They will make my mother pay.”

Wang Foo echoed this sentiment from the hallway.

The pale woman who was called Miss Cameron gave a soft smile. “They have no power to harm your mother. I will make sure of it.” She held out her hand. “Come, you will see.”

Mei Lien shrank away. Wang Foo was still hollering in the hallway, spitting out threats about Zhang Wei hunting her down, and how her mother would be beaten, and how Mei Lien would be swallowed up by demons. Hot tears scaled her cheeks, and her chest felt like it would crack in two.

The two women looked at each other, then the pale woman nodded.

The Chinese woman named Tien Fu Wu leaned close and whispered, “Huan Sun sent us. He wants you safe, Mei Lien. He visited us last night and told us he sold his shop to get money. Huan Sun tried to give us all his money so that we could come find you.”

Mei Lien stared at the crouching women. Could this be true?

“We told him to keep his money,” Miss Cameron said through her interpreter. Her eyes also filled with tears, which Mei Lien found remarkable. Why was she crying?

“We told him that we would find the woman he cares about and that we would take care of her.”

“Why?” Mei Lien whispered.

“We will show you why,” the pale woman said. “But first we must get you to safety.”

Mei Lien raised a shaky hand and put it into Miss Cameron’s outstretched one. “Huan Sun really sold his shop?”

“Yes.” Miss Cameron’s eyes were kind, and in them Mei Lien saw compassion. Understanding, perhaps.

“Then I will come with you,” Mei Lien said.

She let the women help her out of the cupboard. Mei Lien’s limbs felt as if she’d been folded into a paper decoration. The women urged her to hurry, and she ran with them past the cursing Wang Foo. She followed the women down the corridor, then around a corner.

They descended a set of steps, and Mei Lien’s legs burned. She wasn’t used to much running, but she pressed on. Someone shouted from within the house, and instead of heading out a front door, as she expected, the women leading her turned another direction. They reached the kitchen, moved around the table, and Tien Fu Wu opened the kitchen door.

“Through here,” she said.

When Mei Lien stumbled against the edge of a chair, Miss Cameron grasped her arm. She murmured something Mei Lien didn’t understand, and Tien Fu Wu didn’t take the time to translate.

No matter, because the moment Mei Lien stepped outside into the cool night air, nothing else signified. She wanted to be free more than she had ever wanted it in her life.

A buggy was waiting, and the two women ushered Mei Lien inside just as two men came out the same back door, shouting for them to stop. But the driver of the buggy had already whipped the horses into a frenzy, and the buggy lurched forward.

Mei Lien realized she had been gripping Miss Cameron’s arm so tightly that her fingers ached. She could only imagine the bruises she’d left. The horse continued to move forward, drawing Mei Lien farther and farther away from her place