The Paper Daughters of Chinatown - Heather B. Moore Page 0,101
of captivity.
The women in the buggy with her wasted no time in unwrapping a basket of food and drink.
Miss Cameron draped a thick blanket over Mei Lien. She hadn’t noticed the cold as they were fleeing the house, but now she was shivering. Then Tien Fu Wu handed over the food, and Mei Lien took a bite of a wonton. It was cold, but it was perhaps the best thing she’d ever tasted—a dish like her mother would have made on one of their holidays. After all that had happened and all that she’d gone through, this bit of food brought tears to her eyes.
“Thank you,” Mei Lien told both women.
Miss Cameron could understand that much, and she nodded, then placed a hand on Mei Lien’s shoulder. Through Tien Fu Wu, Miss Cameron said, “You will soon have plenty to eat. A bed to sleep in. A chance to learn skills to prepare you for a full life.”
Mei Lien nodded, although she wasn’t entirely sure she believed this woman’s words. What if this were some delightful dream from which she would soon awake, only to find that the Fahn Quai had come to drag her to Diyu—a dark hell?
When Tien Fu Wu said, “No one is following us,” Mei Lien found herself starting to relax.
And she was so very tired. “We lost them?” She hardly dared believe they could escape men in the tong.
“We’ve lost them,” Tien Fu Wu said.
Mei Lien noted the hesitation in her voice, but her exhaustion won out, and she allowed her eyes to close. The warmth of the blanket along with the motion of the buggy soon lulled her to sleep.
A tap on her shoulder sometime later awakened Mei Lien, and for a moment she froze, wondering who had entered her locked room and what they would ask of her. But then the memories of her rescue flowed into her mind. She cracked her eyes open to find that it was still dark outside, and Miss Cameron was smiling at her.
Mei Lien saw Tien Fu Wu’s face as well. Her eyes were warm, so unlike Ah-Peen Oie’s eyes filled with distrust and hatred.
“We’re at 920,” Tien Fu Wu said.
Mei Lien straightened and looked out the window. They were in a small alley, one with brick buildings on both sides. Looking up, she could see the sliver of a cloudy night sky.
“This is your new home,” Tien Fu Wu said. “But we need to enter through a tunnel in case any of the tong are watching.”
At the mention of the tong, it felt like needles scraped her skin.
But Tien Fu Wu grasped her hand. “I will come with you while Miss Cameron enters the front of the building. No one will see us go in.”
Mei Lien nodded. “All right,” she said in a voice thick with sleep.
The door to the buggy opened, and the driver motioned for Tien Fu Wu and Mei Lien to hurry.
Mei Lien needed no prodding to climb out of the buggy. She winced at the aches that shot through her body, but she moved quickly and followed Tien Fu Wu. The woman led her along the alley, then stopped at a grate that covered a window. Instead of moving the grate, though, she lifted a heavy board on the ground.
“Down here,” Tien Fu Wu said. “Hurry. Feel for the ladder.”
Mei Lien stared into the blackness as cold rushed over her. “I cannot.”
Tien Fu Wu grasped her hand. “You must. There are no evil spirits inside. I have been through many times.”
Still, Mei Lien couldn’t climb in. She scanned the dark alley. The stench reminded her of the streets where she had tried to flee but had only been captured again. “Is there no other way in?”
“The tong went to great lengths to recapture you,” Tien Fu Wu said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Huan Sun told us what happened. They will try to find you again. You need to go through this tunnel, or I cannot protect you.”
Mei Lien squeezed her eyes shut and thought of Huan Sun. The last time she had seen him, his face was bruised and his lip split open. “I will go.” She swallowed back her fear, then knelt on the ground. She felt around until she touched the top of a ladder. Then she turned and descended into the darkness.
Tien Fu Wu came after her and pulled the board back into place, sending the two of them into utter black.