Crimson Palace (21 page)

"Well, boss lady, I’m ready if you are," she grinned at Sofie. "I dare you to find a single speck of dust in this whole place, and you’ll find the best biscuits and corned beef you’ve ever eaten out there in the kitchen."

"It’s wonderful, isn’t it? I declare, I get goose pimples when I think about opening those doors tomorrow night. But I don’t think we could have done one thing better, do you?"

"It’s perfect, honest it is. You and Alex ought to be real proud of yourselves."

"Alex is pleased as punch, and that’s no lie. Why, it’s almost like being respectable, it’s so fancy."

A sharp rapping on the front door interrupted their conversation.

"Now, who do you suppose that is knocking at the door? I thought everyone knew we weren’t opening until tomorrow. Maybe it’s a customer so eager, he just can’t wait!" Sofie laughed as she went to answer the door.

Looking over Sofie’s shoulder, Shinonn saw a scruffy looking man standing on the wide porch. Standing to the side and a couple of paces behind him was a very frightened looking, very young Chinese girl.

"You the madam of this here whorehouse?"

"I manage this establishment, if that’s what you mean." Sofie’s icy tone would have frozen hell, but the man chose to ignore the unspoken rebuke as he continued.

"I brought you this here China doll. She cost me a bundle down in San Francisco, so I figure she’s worth a lot more way out here where her kind ain’t so plentiful."

Shinonn’s heart went out to the poor girl. What must it feel like to be talked about as if you were nothing more than an object to be sold on the open market?

"I pretty much broke her in myself, if you get my meaning, so’s she got the experience she’d need in a place like this. I figure that alone makes her more valuable, don’t you?"

"Just how much were you asking for this young lady?"

Shinonn was shocked at Sofie’s question. She couldn’t be serious! This girl was little more than a child!

How could Sofie even consider something so shameful as to buy another human being and then use her in a bordello?

"Paid two-fifty for her in Frisco, and I figure you owe me some for breaking her in and all, plus all the trouble of bringing her way up here. I figure she’s worth five hundred at least. Why, she’d be a bargain for twice that."

"Don’t tell me you paid for this girl. I’d bet money you stole her, and against her will at that."

Shinonn could tell by the look on the man’s face that Sofie had hit the truth square on.

"I’ll give you two-fifty for her and not a dime more. You better accept my offer, mister, or I’m just likely to march right down to the sheriff’s office and tell him you tried to sell me a girl you kidnapped over in California," she added when the man hesitated at her offer.

"Just give me the money, lady, and nothing more needs to be said. I ain’t done nothin’ wrong, but I don’t want no trouble. Hell, she’s just a Chinee. Why you gettin’ so het up for anyway?"

"Just a ‘Chinee’!" Sofie sputtered in rage as she slammed the heavy door shut. "I should have shot that animal down in cold blood. Can you imagine what he’s put this poor thing through? And he feels perfectly justified because she’s Chinese!"

"Sofie, are you really going to put her to work up in one of those rooms?"

"Shinonn! How can you even ask me that? You know me better than that. I bought her to get her away from that low down vermin. I haven’t a clue what we’ll do with her."

Both women turned their eyes to the tiny Chinese girl. Her downcast eyes and submissive stance bespoke of years of mistreatment.

"Do you speak English?" Sofie asked.

"Yes, Misses, a little." The answer came out as little more than a whisper.

"What’s your name, honey?"

"Mei Jung."

"Now, Mei Jung, just because I paid money to that disgusting excuse of a man for you, does not mean I own you or anything like that. This is a free country and nobody has the right to own another human being. We put all that sort of thing behind us in the war. I want you to understand that you are perfectly free to walk right out of here if you want."

"But where I go? What I do?" She looked up at Sofie with terror-filled, pleading eyes.

"Can’t she stay here? We can’t just throw her out."

"I work hard, Misses. I even be one of your girls like I was on the Barbary Coast. I promise to be good girl."

"But you’re just a mite of a thing, not much more than a child. Are you sure you know what kind of work my girls do here?"

"Yes, Misses, I know." She dropped her eyes to the floor once again. "I was one of those girls when that man took me away. He promised to take me to where I wouldn’t have to do that anymore. But I will, Misses. I’ll do anything for you if you don’t send me away."

"Mei Jung, just how old are you anyway?"

"I fifteen year old, Misses. I work as a happy girl for three year, after captain of ship bring me here from China. When sailors all left the ship when we came to San Francisco, the captain said he didn’t want me anymore, so he took me to that house and left me there."

"But that’s a crime! How could he have treated you like that?" Shinonn was appalled at the girl’s story.

"It was his right. When my mother sell me to him, she tell me to always do what he tell me. She say that he now my master."

"Sold you! Your own mother? How could a mother do such a thing?"

"This is common practice in my village in Canton. My father, he killed in opium war. We have too many children to feed. I the oldest daughter, so my mother sell me so the others can eat."

"Still, I don’t see how she could have done it." Shinonn shook her head in disbelief.

"She couldn’t help herself. But still I wonder if she had let me stay if we couldn’t have gotten along somehow. I feel bad that I’ll never see my brothers and little sister again. I miss them. But not mother. I don’t like to think about my mother. It still hurts to think she sell me when I’m only ten year old. I think I too young to leave home."

Shinonn was filled with pity for the poor girl. Her own difficult childhood took on a whole new perspective. True, she had had to work hard all her life, but at least she had never been so bitterly betrayed by one of her own parents.

"Well, don’t you worry, honey," Sofie put a comforting arm around Mei Jung’s shoulders, "we’ll find a place for you here - and it won’t be working as a ‘happy’ girl!"

"Maud could use some help with the boys," Shinonn suggested.

"Right! Mei Jung could watch the boys at Maud’s house, not here. I never did feel right about having those boys around here, even though they stay in the kitchen. It’s going to be hard enough on them having their mama cooking in a place like this, let alone having the other kids know that they practically live here themselves."

And it won’t be that long before I’ll be needing her too," Shinonn placed her hand protectively on her slightly swelling stomach.

"I be so happy to care for children." Mei Jung’s eyes glowed. "This the happiest day of my life!"

Chapter 15

Shinonn sat in the shade of the porch, a copy of the Territorial Enterprise spread across her more than ample tummy, a dictionary handy on the table beside her. She was deeply engrossed in an article written by the renowned Dan DeQuille. Under Alex’s tutorship, she had progressed in her reading ability to the point where she seldom needed to refer to the dictionary.

"And a good afternoon to you, my dear." The friendly greeting came from her employer and tutor, Alex Santini. "Anything worth reading in the paper today?"

"Just the usual, complaints from the miners that the mine owners treat them like cattle and complaints from the owners that the miners want too much money. Oh, and here’s an article that says all "houses of ill repute" should be closed down and those who run them tarred and feathered. As I said, just the usual."

Alex chuckled as he drew a chair closer to Shinonn and lowered himself into it. He took a piece of the paper, folded it in half and fanned himself.

"Whew! I don’t know if I can tolerate much more of this heat. And they tell me that this is just the beginning."

"If you think you’re uncomfortable, you ought to try being this hot and seven months with child too!"

"No, thank you. I’ll leave such matters to you ladies," he laughed. "Only the ‘weaker’ sex has the strength and fortitude to put up with such discomfort. The good Lord knew what he was doing when he gave that job to you women."

"I don’t know about that. It seems every day gets just a bit longer than the last. And I find myself having to stop to catch my breath a lot lately. I just don’t have the energy I usually have."

An expression of concern crossed Alex’s face.

"Have you spoken to your doctor about this? Is everything all right?"

"Oh, I’m fine. I did mention it to him last week and he said I should start taking it even easier than I have been. And I have been putting in a lot fewer hours at work. But I’d go crazy just sitting around here all day with nothing to do."

"Nonsense! If the doctor said for you to slow down even more, then as your employer, I must insist you follow his orders. You’ve gotten everything running like a top at the Bonanza House, so I see no reason why you should be down there so much of the time. You should take off until the baby comes. You need to learn to relax a little."

"I’ll think about it, really I will," she insisted when she saw the look of disbelief on Alex’s face.

But idleness and Shinonn Flannery had never gotten along very well. Since she had had to work long hard hours from the time she was a child to help support herself and her family, she had never mastered the art of relaxation. How could she possibly fill her days if she were not allowed to work?

Alex came up with a partial solution when he appeared at her house a couple of days later with a deck of cards.

"Sit yourself down here in the shade, little mama. Uncle Alex is going to teach you how to play cards."

"You can save yourself the trouble. I’ve already learned from the best," she answered grumpily.

"Oh? And now I suppose you think you know everything there is to know about cards? And who was this master card shark?"

"Lincoln Bradley, if you must know. And all he taught me about cards was how to play poker. He said if you knew poker, that was all you’d ever need to know.

"Course he taught me a couple other lessons I guess I would have been better off not knowing," she added ruefully.

"Be that as it may, I’m here to teach you a whole lot about cards that I’m sure your Lincoln Bradley neglected to show you. I’m going to teach you how to cheat like an expert."

"Alex! I’m shocked. I never would have thought it of you. I have absolutely no intention of cheating at cards!"

Alex merely chuckled as he shuffled the deck with surprising dexterity.

"I’m not suggesting that you do. But I’m going to teach you every trick in the book. That way, when you’re dealing in the casino, you’ll know enough to spot a cheater when you’re playing with one."

"But since I’m not going to be dealing in the casino, why should I bother?"

"Oh, but you are. That’s really what I came by to tell you. Sofie and I feel that you’ve done such a great job as housekeeper that you’re entitled to a promotion. Maud’s got that kitchen completely under control, and Ying Sang and his boys do their work like a superbly engineered machine. You’ve done so well, in fact, that you’ve worked yourself right out of a job.

"Which brings us to the casino. We need you there. I can’t keep tabs on it from the bar, and Sofie sure doesn’t have the time or the inclination to do it. We can make tons of money in there, but we’ve got to keep a closer watch on the dealers and the customers."

"I don’t know, Alex. I’m not sure you’re talking to the right person. Look at me," she glanced significantly at her bulging belly. "Do I look like someone who ‘manages’ very well? It’s plain to see I haven’t been able to manage even my own life."

"Come on, Shinonn, stop punishing yourself. I won’t have you talking ill of yourself like this."

"I can’t help it. With all this time on my hands lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Alex, I can’t believe the mess I’ve made out of my life."

Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, the moisture causing her sapphire blue eyes to glitter like precious jewels.

"And the thing is, I still miss Lincoln. I think of how rotten he treated me, and yet I still want him. I must be the biggest fool alive."

"Not a fool, my dear, just a woman in love. Unfortunately, good sense has nothing whatsoever to do with love."

She reached across the table, taking the deck of cards from Alex’s hand. Her hands began shuffling the cards automatically, independently from her mind. As her fingers riffled the cards, she gazed off into space, seemingly unaware that tears still streamed down her cheeks.

"We had a dream, Lincoln and I. It seemed so real I can still see it. He said he wanted his own gambling house and he wanted me there beside him. He was going to dress me like a queen, he said. And I was going to be his dealer. He said I had more talent than anyone else he’d ever seen."

Like a dam bursting, the tears poured forth. Anguished sobs tore from her throat. For the first time since Lincoln abandoned her, Shinonn gave vent to her emotions. Alex rushed to her side, holding her, rocking her gently as the sobs continued to rack her body.

"There, there, sweetheart. Go ahead and cry. You poor baby, it’s about time you got this out of your system."

He held her in his arms, cradling her body against his. His touch soothed her soul, much like a child being comforted by a loving father.

"I’m sorry about this. I never meant to cry. Ever. But I just don’t know what I’m going to do. Here I am about to have a baby when I don’t have a husband. I’m working in a bordello, and glad to have the job.

What would my parents have thought? They’d have been so ashamed of me.

"Oh, I see how the townswomen look at me. Even Maud. She can’t help it, she was raised to see women like me as just so much trash. Don’t get me wrong, she’s always very polite. But I know what she thinks of me, and I don’t blame her."