ate a good breakfast with Bo Kei. And you should hear them laughing—like two naughty schoolgirls up there.”
“I am glad,” I said. “So nobody has come here looking for Bo Kei?”
She shook her head. “Although I’ve had to warn them that it might not be the smartest thing to betray their presence by talking to each other so loudly in their language. Sound does carry through open windows and we’re not far from Chinatown.”
“I hope she won’t be here too long,” I said. “May I go up and see her?”
“Of course. You know the way, don’t you? I’d escort you but I’m facing a mountain of washing-up.” She gave me a wry smile. “Sometimes I wonder why I thought this would be preferable to making a good match and living a life of ease.”
“Maybe because you are free to choose to do the washing-up,” I said.
“Exactly.” She nodded as she went back to the kitchen, while I made my way up the stairs. Bo Kei and Annie had been sitting on one of the beds together, but they jumped up as I came in. Bo Kei gave me a relieved smile. She looked like a young girl again and I realized that she probably wasn’t more than fifteen or sixteen.
“How are you today, Bo Kei?” I said. “Hermione said you sounded very happy.”
“Bo Kei happy to be safe and free,” she said.
“You’re not out of the woods yet,” I said.
“Please? Which wood is this?” She looked puzzled.
“An expression,” I said. “It means that we still have to decide what to do with you. You can’t stay here very long.”
“Missie Molly,” she said slowly. “I not ask you yet—who send you to find me?”
How was I going to answer this one? Do I make up some story about the good people at the house hearing of a runaway Chinese bride? I couldn’t bring myself to come out with a lie.
“Who do you think might be looking for you?” I asked.
She dropped her voice to a whisper. “My master. Lee Sing Tai.”
“That’s right,” I said. “He hired me to find you.”
She shrank against Annie, clutching her as if she was drowning. “Why you bring me here and say you want to help me then? Why not take me straight back to him?”
“Because I do want to help you,” I said. “When he hired me I had no idea it was a person he was looking for. He asked me originally to look for a piece of jade.”
“My bride-piece. This belong to me,” she said, patting at her chest to indicate it was hidden under her clothing. “I have a right to take it with me.”
“And you still have it?”
“Of course. I no sell my bride-piece. It was present. Given to me.”
“It was only when I couldn’t find it in pawnshops that Mr. Lee told me he was really looking for a woman. The way he spoke frightened me. I won’t help anybody to keep another person as a slave.”
Annie looked up at me with dark, expressionless eyes. “You foolish woman. Lee Sing Tai not forgive you. He find you and punish you, just like he find Bo Kei and punish her. I tell her, she not be free from him ever.”
Bo Kei shivered and grasped even harder at Annie.
“Bo Kei?” I asked. “Was there someone else you hoped was looking for you? Someone you wanted to find you?”
Her eyes gave her away before she shook her head and said, “No. Nobody.”
“I just thought…” I said. “Frederick Lee came to see me today.”
Again her face betrayed her before she spoke. “You saw Frederick? He is well?”
“He wants to find you,” I said. “He wants to rescue you and take you away.”
“Lee Sing Tai not allow him,” she said flatly.
“He no longer works for Mr. Lee,” I said. “Mr. Lee fired him because Bobby Lee told him lies about you. He said that Frederick made advances to you on the train coming here.”
“Not true,” she said vehemently. “He treat me with respect, he behave like gentleman, always like gentleman. He never say or do anything wrong, but I know that he likes me. I can tell.”
“Yes, he likes you lot. And now that he no longer works for Mr. Lee and no longer has to show loyalty to his employer, he wants to take you away somewhere.”
“No use!” Annie spat the words. “You think you can hide from Lee Sing Tai? Where you think you go, huh?”
“I have rich friends,” I said. “Maybe they can find you both jobs working in a white person’s household far from here. I don’t think Mr. Lee is likely to find you if you live in an American community miles away.”
“You think this is possible?” She was staring at me with hopeful eyes, exactly as Frederick had looked at me.
“I’ll do my best for you,” I said. “Tomorrow Frederick will come to see me again and I will arrange for the two of you to meet somewhere safer than this. Before that time, please stay quiet and hidden.”
“And what you tell Lee Sing Tai?” Annie demanded.
