The Paper Daughters of Chinatown - Heather B. Moore Page 0,21
Hong Leen so she wouldn’t have to walk. There was only room for Anna to accompany the small family, so Dolly elected to walk. Along the way, Cook asked Dolly how the young woman they had rescued the other night was doing.
“She’s very quiet,” Dolly said. “But she’s getting along with the other women and seems to have found her place. She also has a beautiful singing voice.”
“I’m glad to hear she’s doing well,” Cook said. “Not everyone can make the adjustment.”
Dolly thought of Tien, and how her animosity still ruled over her, even after a year in the mission home. “Do you know Tien Fu Wu?”
Cook frowned. “How old is she?”
“About ten,” Dolly said. “She’s been at the mission home for about a year. No one at the mission knows her true age. I guess she was sold or kidnapped quite young.”
“Ah, I do remember her,” Cook said.
“Were you part of her rescue?”
“I guess you could say that,” he said. “I’d seen her more than once, and each time, I noticed fresh signs of abuse.”
“Oh,” Dolly breathed. “That’s awful.”
“I questioned her owner once, but then after that, Tien Fu Wu disappeared from the little neighborhood where I had first spotted her.” Cook adjusted his hat. “It was one of those times I knew that her ‘mother’ wasn’t who she said she was. So, when providence brought us in contact once again, I simply picked up the child and brought her to the mission home.”
Dolly stopped walking and turned to Cook. “You what?”
His gaze slid past hers, and he exhaled. “I guess you could say we snatched her from the streets.”
Dolly opened her mouth, then closed it. “Is that legal?” she finally asked. “I mean, you are an officer of the law.”
Cook drew off his hat and scrubbed his fingers through his graying hair. Replacing his hat, he said, “Sometimes, Miss Cameron, war hurts the innocent children the most. I believe we were given the chance to rescue her, and if we didn’t do it then and there, worse things would happen to the little girl.”
Dolly nodded, then started walking again, her steps slower this time, her thoughts tumbling together.
“How is Tien Fu Wu doing now?” Cook asked.
That was a complicated question to answer. “She’s very bright, but she doesn’t like me much. Miss Culbertson says some girls take a longer time to heal.”
Cook nodded. “Years of abuse can’t be erased in a few months.”
His comment took root in Dolly’s mind. A life couldn’t truly change in a short time.
Once she had returned to the mission home, Dolly found Anna and the children in the kitchen, where they were eating.
“How is Hong Leen doing?” Dolly asked.
Anna motioned for her to step out of the kitchen. “I’ve sent for a physician,” she said. “He should be here soon, but I don’t have much hope for Hong Leen. She’s very ill. It’s not good, Dolly, not good at all.”
“What will happen with her children?” Dolly asked.
“Provided the immigration office allows them to stay, we will raise them,” Anna said immediately.
Dolly saw the determination in the woman’s eyes. “Of course. And I will help in any way I can.”
Now, all they could do was wait for the physician to arrive. Dolly returned to the kitchen, and when she sat down, little Jiao climbed onto her lap. She wrapped her arms around the child. Dolly couldn’t explain the overwhelming sense of protection she already felt for these two young children, and knowing that their mother might not survive made her want to shield them even more. When Kang finished eating the rice and chicken, he joined his sister on Dolly’s lap, and she put her arms about them both.
Just then, Tien appeared at the doorway of the kitchen. She gazed at the two children on Dolly’s lap.
“Are you hungry?” Dolly asked, even though the residents weren’t supposed to eat between meals.
Tien turned immediately and left. Dolly couldn’t very well go after her, but she wondered what was going through the young girl’s mind. And what Tien had thought when Officer Cook had snatched her from the streets and brought her to the mission home.
When the physician arrived, Dolly stayed with the children in one of the bedrooms, which was shared with a couple of older girls who were sweet to the new arrivals. She waited until the children had fallen asleep before she went to find Anna and hear the report.
She came upon Anna in her aunt’s office with the door open. Dolly paused