A Promise in Defiance: Romance in the Rockies Book 3 (19 page)

Hannah’s heart went out
to Sai Shang as she sat beside the young girl. Lying on the bed in the examination
room, the poor thing looked so small and frightened in the baggy, ill-fitting
men’s clothes. Her long, tousled, dark hair and a swollen, bloody lip testified
to the last several terrifying hours. Hannah couldn’t imagine being alone in an
alien culture, surrounded by strange people, unable to speak the language. And
then to be nearly raped. A shudder shot up her spine as she wiped away blood from
the girl’s mouth.

Sai Shang flinched and
pulled back, her almond-shaped eyes rounding. Hannah dropped her hand. “I’m so
sorry. For . . . for all of it. But you’re safe now.”

A moment passed between
them, and Sai Shang relaxed a little. Hannah smiled and dabbed at the lip
again. At least Logan had remembered to grab the girl some clothes, but they
had to find something more suitable.

She heard the door, and
an instant later Doc eased into the examination room, shirt untucked, graying
blond hair a tousled mess. Cleaning his spectacles, he approached the girls. “Well,
hello.” He slipped on the glasses and peered at the patient.

To Hannah’s amazement
he jabbered something to Sai Shang in Chinese, which unleashed a torrent of
babbling from the girl.

Apparently desperate to
communicate, she latched on to Doc and started spouting sounds and words that Hannah
couldn’t begin to understand. Owl-eyed at her outburst, Doc patted the girl’s
shoulders, pushed her back to the bed, all while speaking soothingly but haltingly
in her native tongue.

“Doc, I didn’t know you
spoke Chinese.”

“I worked for the
railroad for a few years back in the sixties. I picked up a little.”

He straightened up and
scratched his head. “Near as I can tell, a bad man had her, meant to have his way
with her . . . but a bear saved her?” He shook his head. “Musta
missed something in the translation.”

Hannah laughed. “No, I
think you got it just right. Crazy as it sounds. Sai Shang was sold in an
auction tonight over at the Chandelier. Big Jim Walker, the Preacher, and
Emilio rescued her and brought her here.”

“That so?” Doc
tsked
the situation. “That Delilah. Talk about a woman with no shame. Well, what are
you plannin’ on doing with this little celestial Flower, now that you’ve saved
her from indentured servitude and a life of prostitution?”

“Well, “Hannah squirmed
under Doc’s skeptical what-have-you-gotten-yourself-into look. “Mollie went to
find Mrs. Lee. She owns the laundry. We thought maybe she could keep Sai Shang . . .
for a while, anyway.”

Doc took a step back
and sat on the corner of a small table. “That might not be a bad idea. Put her
with her own people. ’Least she could understand something.”

Hannah dipped a finger
in a small jar of menthol and peppermint and dabbed it on the cut on Sai Shang’s
lip. “I wish she could understand me. I’d like her to know I’m her friend.”

“Say
pengyou
.”

“
Pengyou
?”

Little Sai Shang’s eyes
ricocheted back and forth between Doc and Hannah as they talked.

“
Pengyou
,” Hannah
whispered, testing the word again, then faced her patient. Moving her hand from
herself to Sai Shang, she said, “
Pengyou
.
Pengyou
.”

Doc intervened and said
something more, and Hannah heard
pengyou
in there somewhere. Sai Shang
nodded and then gave Hannah a tentative smile.

Hannah beamed. “I’m sure
we could be great friends if we could understand each other.”

Sai Shang babbled away
at Doc for a moment. He rubbed his chin, listening attentively, then babbled
something back slow and haltingly, motioning a time or two to Hannah.

“What did she say?”

“She wanted to know if
you were a doctor too. ’Least that’s what I think she asked.”

“Oh. Oh, so you told
her I’m a nurse.”

“I don’t know the word
for nurse. Far as she’s concerned, you’re a doctor. And I told her we’ll keep
the bad man away from her.”

The door opened again
and Mollie entered, trailed by an unusually tall, slender, middle-aged Oriental
woman wearing a traditional Chinese suit of dark blue silk. Mollie touched the
woman’s elbow. “I found Mrs. Lee. She said she’d help.”

Doc stood up to greet
them. “Mollie, Mrs. Lee.”

“Mornin’, Doc.”

Mrs. Lee ducked her
chin and did a small bow.

“Hannah, it doesn’t
look like Sai Shang is too much the worse for wear, but with Mrs. Lee here we
can be sure. I’ll slip home and fry me up an egg then be right back.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

Mrs. Lee sat down on
the bed with Sai Shang and the two started jabbering at a frantic pace. At one
point, the older lady pulled the girl’s shirt up and touched her ribs, then
nodded. She then motioned to Mollie and Hannah, as if explaining their
presence. After another few minutes, Mrs. Lee sat back and addressed the girls.

“This man who took her
tried to rape her, but she was saved. Yes, he hit her a few times, but she will
have only minor bruises.” She picked up Sai Shang’s arm and pulled back a
sleeve to show the marks on the girl’s wrists. Both Mollie and Hannah flinched.

Sai Shang pulled her
arm away and engaged Mrs. Lee in more conversation. Hannah watched the women’s
faces carefully. They didn’t seem to be having a happy conversation, but she
saw the acceptance settle on both of them.

“She has never worked,
as she comes from a wealthy family. I explain to her the situation. She can be
a prostitute or work in my laundry. She say she choose laundry.”

The girl added
something quickly and Mrs. Lee nodded, looking more pleased. “She says she work
hard. I will not need to sell her to a man for his pleasure. Not that I would,
of course.”

Hannah touched Mrs. Lee’s
arm. “Could you tell her that we would like to be her friends and help her in
any way we can? We could give her dresses if she needs them.”

“We could try to teach
her some English,” Mollie offered.

“That is very generous
of you.” Mrs. Lee relayed the information to Sai Shang.

Sai Shang studied Hannah
for a moment, then Mollie, and slowly allowed a tiny smile. “
Xie xie
.”

“She say ‘thank you.’”
Sai Shang went off into another frantic conversation with Mrs. Lee, who
listened intently for a moment, then shook her head and pulled away a bit,
waving her hand. “She ask me if I can take the other girls away from Crystal
Chandelier. I run a laundry, not a boarding house.”

Hannah leaned forward
and grabbed Sai Shang’s hand and held her gaze. “Tell her, somehow, we’ll get
them out. I promise.”
OH, Lord, surely there’s something we can do
 . . .
“We’ll pray. Tell her we’ll pray for them and their release.”

Mrs. Lee again relayed Hannah’s
words. Confusion and finally hope surfaced on the girl’s face. She clutched Hannah’s
hand desperately tight and nodded.

Hannah knew Sai Shang
was going to hold her to this promise. 

Sunday morning. Billy
had a good feeling about the day as he finished tying his tie in front of the
mirror. He was proud as a rooster to take Hannah and Little Billy to church on
a regular basis. Life was good and he whispered a
thank You
as he
stepped into the hallway of the former saloon.

He still had a while
before church; the hour was early. He thought he might have a cup of coffee
then take a walk, do a little praying and a little thinking. The hotel was
nearly complete and he’d found three women in town, miners’ wives, who were
eager to do something other than sift through cold mud for gold nuggets. He,
however, did not want to live in the hotel, and was considering reworking the
second floor of the mercantile. It could easily be made into an apartment for
his new family.

Approaching the stairs,
he heard footsteps and came back from his musings, expecting to see Hannah or
Mollie. He did not expect their condition. The two girls trudged up the stairs
as if they hadn’t an ounce of strength left in their bodies. Their braids were
loose and frayed, and they had gray smudges under the eyes.

“You two look as if you’ve
been in a saloon all night.”

Both girls started at
his voice. Hannah clutched her throat. “You scared me. I’m about half asleep.”

“You look it too.”
Billy didn’t mean to sound annoyed, but he was, vaguely. Where had she been?

“I’ll let you two talk.”
Mollie nodded at them both as she slipped past Billy. “See you at church.”

Billy returned her nod
then patted Hannah’s hand as she hugged his arm. “Is everything all right?” he
asked.

“I’m exhausted. We’ve
been up all night. If I can just get an hour’s nap, I’ll be ready for church.”
She yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Hannah still had not
answered his question and he fought the urge for more aggressive questioning.
Perhaps she sensed it.

“Emilio and Preacher
found the girl who was auctioned off at Delilah’s place last night. Emilio
asked me to come look her over. I brought Mollie in case I needed any help.”

Billy held his face
still, but inwardly he was churning.
Emilio. Ever the hero.
He shouldn’t
be jealous, but he couldn’t help himself.

“Anyway, we made sure
she was all right and then hid her. Even the Preacher doesn’t know where’s she’s
at. It’s a temporary solution at best.”

A dozen questions raced
through Billy’s mind, but he picked the most obvious one with which to start. “Where’s
our son? Why didn’t you leave him with me?”

Hannah obviously heard
the frustrated tone in his voice. She released his arm and stepped back. “I
knocked on your door. Twice. I know you’re tired from working at the mercantile
and trying to get the hotel ready to open. When you didn’t wake up, I decided
to take Little Billy over to Rebecca and Ian’s.”

Properly
humbled
, Billy nodded and grasped his hands behind
his back. Emilio was always awake. Always ready to go. Always ready to save
damsels in distress. He groaned at the petulant thought and raked his hand
through his hair. “I’m sorry. I should have been there for you . . .
and Emilio.”

Hannah stepped up to
him again and laid a hand on his chest. “Don’t beat yourself up. If I’d thought
it was important, I would have woken you. All that matters is Sai Shang is
safe.”

“Yeah.” That should
make Billy feel better. It didn’t.

She kissed him on the
cheek. “Wake me in an hour?”

“Sure.” Hannah smiled
and dragged her fingers across his hand as she disappeared into her own room.

Billy tried not to read
too much into things, and rolled his shoulders to release some tension. It didn’t
help. His inadequacies compared to Emilio felt glaring this morning.

The man had lived a
pretty adventurous life. He’d tracked Indians and bandits, grown up in a
saloon, met the Indian chief Cochise, knew how to ride and rope, and make
medicines out of herbs.

Billy could run a dry
goods store and hotel.

Yippy-ki-yay.