with Commercial Street. She used her cotton umbrella to keep her face hidden away from curious onlookers and, more importantly, the white guards or police officers. She was familiar enough with the street that she knew which tenement building Leung had been referring to.
When Dolly saw the young girl lying across three wooden chairs, curled up like a rag doll, she rushed to her side. Dolly knelt beside the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her body was still warm. A good sign.
Ah Cheng knelt on the other side of the girl and leaned close. “We are here to help you,” she said in soft Chinese.
The girl didn’t stir. Dolly guessed her to be about eleven or twelve, although she was severely undersized. Dolly rested a hand on her forehead. Her skin felt cool to the touch, but still she didn’t move or wake up.
“Let’s take her to the mission home,” Dolly said. “From there we can call the Board of Health.” She scooped the little girl into her arms. They returned to the skylight, and with both Ah Cheng and Dolly working together, they were able to climb through it with the girl. Once they reached the herbalist’s shop, night had fallen over Chinatown, pierced with glowing lights.
Leung was waiting just inside the door of the mission home when they arrived with her sister.
“Don’t touch her until we know what’s going on,” Dolly immediately said, and Ah Cheng translated.
They settled her onto the couch in the parlor, and Tien took it upon herself to make sure everyone stayed away from the room.
“Mrs. Field wants to see you,” Tien told Dolly.
For an instant their gazes connected, and Dolly knew Tien was not happy about the request.
Dolly needed to use the office telephone anyway, so if she had to deal with Mrs. Field at the same time, so be it.
“What are you doing?” Mrs. Field said the moment Dolly walked into the office. The woman’s eyes seemed to be on fire. “If that girl is sick, you’ve just given the entire mission home a death sentence.”
Dolly clasped her hands tightly in front of her. “I am calling the Board of Health right now, and I will follow their advice. No one needs to touch her except me.”
Dolly could see the argument in the director’s gaze, but Dolly wasn’t about to back down.
“If the girl has the plague, I will see to it that you’re dismissed,” Mrs. Field said. “Are you ready to take that risk?”
“I am,” Dolly said, keeping her voice steady.
Mrs. Field turned on her heel and strode out of the room, leaving silent disapproval in her wake.
Dolly crossed to the desk and telephoned the Board of Health. Thankfully, the doctor who answered the phone was much calmer than Dolly felt. “I’ll send an ambulance to 920,” he said. “You can come with the little girl, and we’ll do our best to help her.”
Dolly thanked him, then hung up and wiped at the new tears in her eyes. Next, she hurried into the parlor to tell Ah Cheng and Leung the good news.
Leung pleaded to come, but Dolly told her that she didn’t want her around more sick people. Besides, Dolly knew there was a risk of Leung being taken away or quarantined. Dolly wrapped an arm about the girl’s shoulders. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Ah Cheng translated, and Leung threw her arms around Dolly’s legs. She patted the girl’s head, already feeling a great deal of affection toward this child.
When the ambulance showed up, Dolly bundled the sick little girl into it. The ride to the house at Jackson Street in the dark seemed agonizingly slow, but once they arrived, they were ushered inside without delay. The same doctor she had spoken to on the phone led her to one of the rooms set aside for examination.
As the lights cast a warm glow about the room, Dolly silently prayed, telling herself that everything would be fine. The doctor would know what to do. She gripped her hands together as she watched the doctor check for signs of bubonic plague, then press down on various areas of the girl’s body. When the little girl cried out as the doctor pressed on the right side of her stomach, he lifted his hands, then looked over at Dolly.
“It appears that she has acute appendicitis,” he said in a quiet tone.
Dolly’s mouth went dry. Her mother had died from appendicitis. Perhaps medical science had advanced enough to treat