Gold Mountain (13 page)

“That seems a sensible idea to me, Miss Hudson, but not right here and now, if you don’t mind.” He moved to the side and I entered the storefront.

“Rest assured, Mr. Pandora, that when I do break loose from the constrictions of polite society, I will do so as far from you as possible so as not to offend your delicate sensibilities.” I could tell he wanted very badly to smile, and for a moment he looked as young and natural as I’d ever seen him.

Perhaps somehow able to read my thoughts on my face and unhappy at being considered normal, he scowled and abruptly asked, “So what kind of information do you have for me?”

Since I had intended to steer the conversation, I was annoyed that he had initiated the topic and responded cautiously, “I’m fairly certain I’ve located one of the girls who came over on the Pandora Two. Because she was mistreated, however, she’s been very ill and her memory is shaky at best. I think with time she may be able to tell me more about the men who made the arrangements for the girls and the ones who met the ship. There’s a man named Wing Chee and a woman called Dow Pai Tai involved, but they don’t appear to be the instigators of this trade in children. Apparently they take possession of the girls and then pass them along to others for a price.”

“You’re right. Old Wing and the madam Dow Pai Tai are not the instigators. I’m sure they earn a tidy profit from the enterprise, but the men who had the idea to start with, who fund the ventures, and who are making a fortune from female slaves aren’t Chinese. They’re among the cream of San Francisco society, and they work very hard to keep their identities hidden.”

“How do you know that?” I tried not to sound skeptical or shocked that people my brother-in-law admired or to whom my sister had introduced me might be responsible for buying and selling little girls, but I found the idea almost too incredible to believe.

“I had a talk with Ivan Fletcher.”

“Fletcher?”

“The pilot of the Pandora Two—or I should say the former pilot.”

“And this Ivan Fletcher is credible?”

“He was at the time.” Something in Pandora’s tone made me give his face a closer inspection.

“Ah, I see. That would account for the fading bruises along your cheekbones.”

“Yes,” he responded. “That would. I persuaded Fletcher that I was serious about my questions, and he should be just as serious about his answers.” I recalled the mocking expression in the eyes of the man I’d spoken to on the dock the day I arrived. Ivan Fletcher, I was sure, and a man who would certainly need to be persuaded to remove the smirk from his face and the swagger from his walk.

“Good for you. Was he able to name names?”

“Only old Wing Chee.”

“And what did old Wing Chee have to say? I’m sure your investigation didn’t stop with Mr. Fletcher.”

“I’ve known Wing Chee as long as I’ve been in California and whenever he’s called to account, he slips into speaking Chinese and acting all ignorant and innocent about what’s going on in his own house. He’s a wily old bastard.” Pandora flushed slightly and started to apologize.

“I’ve heard much worse, Mr. Pandora, and it will slow matters up considerably if you feel obligated to apologize every time you slip into the language of the docks. I’ll keep talking about corsets and you can keep talking about bastards and we’ll both be happy. I speak and understand Chinese fluently. Why don’t you take me along with you for a visit to Wing Chee next time?”

“I don’t think it’s a place where you’d be comfortable.”

I recalled a dark subterranean cavern under a wooden floor in Wing Chee’s warehouse and a girl so ill and emaciated I at first mistook her for a pile of rags. “Then you’ve made a mistake in judgment, Mr. Pandora.” My tone implied
another
mistake in judgment, but I refrained from saying so aloud. “You really should stop making assumptions about me. I visited his establishment once already but did not have the opportunity to meet Mr. Wing Chee personally at the time. I’m thrilled that I might be able to correct that omission, and I assure you I’ll be perfectly comfortable. You tell me where and when and I’ll be there. Is that the best way to find out who’s profiting from the import of Chinese girls?”

“I don’t know if it’s the best way, but it’s one way. Think of it as a puzzle, Miss Hudson. Slip one piece into place and it leads to another and then to another and pretty soon you have the whole picture.”

“Well,” I volunteered thoughtfully, “In a few weeks, my sister is making me rub elbows with the cream of San Francisco society at something called the summer cotillion, so I’ll pay attention to what I see and hear there. I know wicked men don’t wear the word
villain
embroidered on their cuffs, but champagne sometimes makes interesting conversation.” I paused a moment, then asked bluntly, “I know why this matters to me, but why do you continue to care about this so-called puzzle? I told you I wouldn’t report your transport line to the authorities, and I meant it. You’re free and clear. Why are you staying involved?”

“Someday the Pandora name will be a household word because I intend for my steamship line to grow as San Francisco grows. What my children will inherit will be a successful and profitable business without the shadow of human slavery as part of their inheritance.”

His words held a simple sincerity I didn’t doubt, but I found myself distracted by the inheritance part of his little speech. Somehow I hadn’t pictured Jake Pandora married, let alone a father. The idea surprised me with a quick pang of disappointment.

“I see.” I couldn’t help myself. “How many children do you have?”

“None that I know of. Yet.”

“Then your planning for the future is certainly admirable. What’s our next step?”

“I’d like to talk to that little girl you mentioned. What’s her name and where is she?”

“Suey Wah.” I answered without thinking and stopped abruptly at the words. For no reason I could explain, I was suddenly reluctant to say more. What did I really know about this man? He said the right things, but what if he had motives of which I was completely unaware? What if he were not as ignorant of the human cargo aboard the Pandora Two as he pretended to be? What if my saying her name had already endangered Suey Wah? I could have kicked myself for speaking thoughtlessly.

Jake Pandora did not say a word as all these thoughts ran through my head, and after a long pause, he commented, “I see. Well, I suppose there’s no reason you should trust me, but I’m disappointed, Miss Hudson. I thought you were a woman unafraid of risk.”

“I am when it comes to my own well being,” I replied, scrambling for a response, “but not when it comes to others’ safety, especially children.” I refused to give the man the satisfaction of knowing that his apparent ability to read my mind had completely disconcerted me.

“A fearless woman then.” The anger I felt at Pandora’s offhand comment was totally out of proportion to his light words and slight touch of scornful disdain, and I believe my fierce and heated response surprised him. I know it surprised me.

“I never said I was fearless and I never will. I know better,” Hearing the tremor in my voice, I took a breath. “I hardly know you, Mr. Pandora, so I think it’s premature to have you meet my only witness. Let’s join forces against Wing Chee first and then we’ll see. I should tell you I’m not always home and available. I’m doing some volunteer work.”

“At the Mission Home for Oriental Girls on Sacramento Street. I know.”

“How do you know?”

“I asked around,” he replied. “How else would I have found that out? You’re not a woman people forget.” From his tone, I didn’t mistake the comment for a compliment, and again I felt a vague uneasiness about what Pandora knew and how and why he knew it.

“So you must also know that I’m telling the unvarnished truth about my proficiency in the Chinese language. If for no other reason than your children’s inheritance, you and I should visit Wing Chee together.”

He shrugged and said, “All right. If you think you’re up to it. I agree that I could use some assistance with the language. It will have to be a time when he doesn’t expect us. I’ll send word, either to your home or to the mission. I can figure out where to find you.” Pandora eyed me. “In case you think you’ve put me in my place, you should know that spending time with a woman who doesn’t trust me isn’t an entirely new experience.”

I smiled at that and picked up my skirts, preparing to make the less strenuous downhill walk to the bottom of the hill where I hoped Casey still waited with his cab. If Pandora’s words
I can figure out where to find you
caused a tiny shiver, I didn’t let it show.

“I don’t doubt that at all, Mr. Pandora. Not at all,” I said and stepped past him into the street. “In fact, I suspect it’s more the rule than the exception. You let me know when we can surprise Wing Chee. I’ll wait to hear.” I looked back, but he had disappeared into the storefront’s dim interior. I thought he might already be regretting our loose partnership, but I had no intention of allowing Jake Pandora to wiggle out of this arrangement. The idea that some of the city’s palatial mansions Colin O’Connor so admired might have been built on the thin, pale bodies of little girls made me so furious I believed I could tear the buildings down with my bare hands. Since that seemed an unlikely possibility, however, I would be just as content with exposing the unscrupulous means that had been used to afford those grand houses. Let the bricks fall where they may.

I had promised Donaldina Cameron that I would be at her disposal for the next several weeks and she was pragmatic enough to hold me to my words without apology. Mondays and Tuesdays I was kept busy with Mission activities and the days always sped by. I spent additional afternoons at 920, too, and sometimes accompanied Miss Cameron to meetings with lawyers and city officials. Jake Pandora’s words colored every introduction, however, and I never met a man, no matter how prestigious or educated, that I didn’t wonder if he were involved in the slave trade of children. I had lost a measure of innocence and was glad of it. Naiveté had no place in opium dens and brothels.

Rescue requests like the one on which I had discovered Suey Wah were rarer than I had originally thought, and when I expressed my disappointment to Frances Thompson, she responded, “Dolly and I were just breathing a sigh of relief at the quiet, which probably means we’ll soon be in for a rush of activity. That’s usually how it works. Don’t get too complacent, Dinah.”

She was right, but the prophesied activity wasn’t what I had expected. One afternoon, I was left in charge while Miss Cameron visited an influential judge and Frances Thompson slipped out to pick up a few kitchen commodities at a local shop. It was the first time I was solely responsible for the house and its inhabitants, and my concern must have shown because Frances stopped pulling on her gloves long enough to pat me on the shoulder.

“It’s the middle of a bright Wednesday afternoon, Dinah. Don’t look so worried. How many days did you survive the siege of Pekin?”

“It’s not the same thing.”

“My point exactly. I’m taking Fei Yen with me, but Lu Chu will know what to do if you have any questions. Don’t let her frail looks deceive you. She’s a sturdy helper to everyone in the house. Dolly counts on her and so do I, so I’m leaving you in her capable hands, not the other way around.” She smiled at her little joke as she departed.

While the older girls worked at their domestic chores upstairs, practicing their small stitches on torn bed linen or trying their hands at knitting, Lu Chu taught an English lesson to a handful of younger children, including Suey Wah, around a table in the first floor classroom. I seemed, in fact, superfluous to the operation of the house. So much for the heavy mantle of responsibility, I thought, at exactly the moment I heard the thud of the knocker on the front door.

“I’ll get it,” I called, conscious of a little thudding of my own in the general area of my heart. What if this were a request for a rescue? Should I go alone? Should I leave the girls on their own? Should I contact Jesse Cook and how did I reach the sergeant? All my questions were unnecessary, however, because I wasn’t being summoned to a rescue. Instead, I opened the door to face a rotund Chinese man and a pale, thin, bearded man dressed in a black suit and hat that gave him the look of an undertaker, although I soon discovered there was nothing gentle or solicitous in the bearded man’s character. In one hand he held an envelope that he waved in front of my face like a fan.

“Miss Donaldina Cameron?”

I took both men in an instant dislike and replied, “Miss Cameron is away,” planting myself firmly in the doorway and resisting the impulse to shut the door in their faces. I could tell from the triumphant expression that crossed their faces at the news of Donaldina’s absence that they were not there for any good cause.

“My name is Quentin Farmer, attorney at law, and I represent Mr. Lin Chanyu here. May we come in?”

“You’ve caught us at an inconvenient time, I’m afraid. Perhaps you could come back when—”

“Miss—what did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t say, but it’s Dinah Hudson.”

“Well, Miss Hudson, we’re here on important legal business that involves one of the girls in this house, a girl kidnapped from her legal guardian, Mr. Chanyu here, and I have in my hand a court order that commands you to turn that girl over to Mr. Chanyu immediately.”