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“Especially if Lone Wing is there when we arrive,” Lee-Lee said, suddenly getting stars in her eyes. “He is a handsome brave.”
“Tcha! He is younger than you, Lee-Lee, so do not dream of things that can never be,” Jade said tightly.
“He is not that much younger,” Lee-Lee quickly corrected. “And does age truly matter that much when you fall in love?”
“Love?” Jade said, her voice filled with shock. “Remember your age. You are older than that young man. It was not written in the stars for you to be with him in the way you are imagining.”
Lee-Lee smiled softly, lowered her eyes humbly, then ate the last of her bread and cheese. She knew, down deep in her heart, that there was something good between her and Lone Wing. If they should marry when they both got somewhat older, she knew the stars would smile down on their union. They had a special bond already. Nothing would tear it asunder.
“Mother, I miss Tak Ming so much,” Lee-Lee then said, tears in her eyes. “My big brother would have favored Lone Wing as my future husband. There is much about Lone Wing that reminds me of Tak Ming.”
“Tak Ming is gone from us forever. It only hurts to talk of him, Lee-Lee,” Jade said, swallowing hard.
She was transported back in time, to the ship that she and her children had been forced to board. The long journey from China to America had been hard. Tak Ming had not survived the grueling work the Americans had forced him to do.
But she and Lee-Lee had survived . . . and they would continue to survive, for she would not allow anything to stand in the way of their freedom or happiness.
“I hope these days
in the cave pass quickly by,” Lee-Lee said, stretching out on a blanket close to the fire. “I am so weary, Mother, of this life we have been forced to live. And now? The cave? It is horrible.”
“It is by fate that I found this cave; by hiding here we will survive,” Jade said. She reached out and stroked her daughter’s face. “This is our destiny, Lee-Lee. Be happy that we are here, not sad.”
“Ai, I shall try,” Lee-Lee said, then closed her eyes and fell into a restful sleep, the first since she had arrived in America.
Jade watched her daughter sleep and prayed that she could make things better for her. It did seem that it all depended on one man, and that man was Chief Thunder Horse.
His studies completed for the day, Lone Wing made his way swiftly toward Tombstone.
As always, he was on foot, having left his pony some distance away. He felt he would be less noticeable if he were traveling by foot as he came into the horrible town. He always ran fast until he came to the cribs, then darted quickly into the alley where he had first met Lee-Lee at the door of her assigned crib.
It was the hour of the day when he knew she would not be on display in the front window.
It was the time when she rested or prepared herself for the dreadful nighttime hours when she was forced to spend time with the filthy men who came filled with spirit water, their grubby hands and mouths ready to touch his Lee-Lee’s beautiful, frail body.
He so badly wanted to find a way to help her escape. And he had to do it before he and his people started on the long journey to the reservation.
He could not even think of how it would be to leave Lee-Lee behind. No. He could not leave her behind. He had to convince his uncle to help effect her escape.
But there were two things foremost on his uncle’s mind now: his ailing father, and the woman.
He was now so close to the door of Lee-Lee’s assigned crib, he could almost see her standing there, smiling a sweet welcome to him. Lone Wing broke into a faster run and stopped at the door of the crib.
He looked cautiously from side to side. There was no sign of the man who guarded the crib, so he knew it was safe to knock on the door.
He would ask her if he could come inside this time, for while he’d been standing in the alley talking to her, there had been a chance they both would be caught. He did not want to think what might happen to them if they were caught together. He knew that the white men who frequented the cribs would get much pleasure in humiliating him, would possibly even go so far as to kill him.
He knocked on the door and clasped his hands behind his back as he waited. When the door swung open, he took a quick step backward, for it wasn’t Lee-Lee standing there.
It was another woman.
He could tell that she was much older. She had a hardness about her that made him cringe.
And when she reached a hand out for him, smiling, he knew that she wanted him to go inside the crib for all the wrong reasons.
“My, oh, my, don’t they come young in this town?” Marla Bates said, raking her violet eyes slowly over Lone Wing. “And Indian. I think it would be interesting to have an Indian boy in bed with me.” She beckoned with a hand. “Come on. Don’t be bashful. You knocked on my door. Surely you have coins to pay for my time with you.”
“No, I do not,” Lone Wing said, blushing. He looked quickly past her. “Where . . . is . . . Lee-Lee?”
