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When she had exited through Maynard’s sealed, filtered front door, Lucy shook her head. “I swear to God, that woman … I don’t know how she comes and goes so free and easy, like it’s nothing at all to get inside or out again. ”
Andan examined the telegram some more, shielding it from Lucy’s curious hovering. He scratched at his ear and revisited the letters again and again, in case a fourth or fifth reading might squeeze some extra meaning out of the few brief lines.
“Captain?” she asked, pretending she was offering another drink.
Without looking up, he said, “Hm? Oh, I’m sure Angeline has her methods. ”
“No doubt. But what about you? What about that telegram?”
“What about it?”
“You taking the job?”
He shrugged and finally looked up. “I could use the money, and there are lots of things I can pick up in New Orleans—things I can’t get just anyplace. I could bring you back some absinthe, Lucy. You ever had any absinthe? You’d be the richest bartender in the Territory if I could fetch you a few barrels. ”
“Oh, you’d do it for me. And here I was thinking maybe you wanted to go strike a match on an old flame. ”
“You’ve got it all wrong. ”
“I bet I don’t. ”
“It was complicated. ”
“I bet it wasn’t. ”
Just then the front door opened, sliding stickily forward on its rubber-coated seals. Everyone in Maynard’s—Lucy, Andan, and the three men playing cards at a round green table in the back corner—turned to see the newcomer. After they looked him over, Cly shifted his weight on the stool, putting one foot down on the floor, and the men at the green table became engrossed in their game, their eyes darting back and forth over the cards.
“Yaozu,” Lucy both announced and greeted him.
The white-clad oriental man surveyed the underground saloon. His attention skimmed past the drunks and the gamblers, settled briefly on Andan Cly, and returned to Lucy. “Mrs. O’Gunning. I’d like to try some of that beer you brew. The local selection,” he clarified in precise, flawless English.
She blurted, “Are you sure? It’s … an acquired taste, or so I’m told. ”
“Then allow me the opportunity to acquire it. ”
“As you like. ” She stepped away from Cly, grabbing a clean mug off the second plank shelf and toting it over to the tap. “But if you don’t care for it, I have some huangjiu on hand. Mrs. Wong gives me a bottle every now and again; I think she takes them away from her husband. A barkeep should have something on hand for all her customers, don’t you think?”
“Yes, but there’s no need to assume. Today I’d like to try this beer … about which I’ve heard so … much. ”
Though the pub was more empty than full and there were many seats available, Yaozu chose the stool next to Andan Cly. He sat upon it with a graceful swish that let the tail of his jacket fall perfectly behind him. A black braid snaked back and forth between his shoulder blades when he turned his head to examine the state of the fixtures, the stock on the shelves, Lucy O’Gunning as she filled his mug, and his own reflection in the mirror behind the bar.
Then he regarded Andan Cly. Their eyes met in the glass.
Cly adjusted his position on the stool, a frequent occurrence, for it was about a size too small for him. “So … what are you doing here, Yaozu?” He aimed for a cautiously friendly tone and more or less hit it.
To what Cly considered the Chinaman’s credit, he did not stall the conversation with disclaimers or pleasantries. “I’d heard you were inside the walls—that your ship is docked at Fort Decatur. I thought I might find you here. ”
Lucy arrived with the beer and placed it before Yaozu with a dubious look in her eyes. Seattle’s home-brewed beverage was distilled from blight-contaminated water, and though it was safe to drink, it was rarely anyone’s first choice. Or second. Occasionally, it came in third.
“Thank you, Mrs. O’Gunning,” he said. Without so much as a nervous sniff, he lifted the mug and began to drink. Two or three swallows into the draft, he paused and cocked his head to the right. “It certainly has a distinctive flavor. ”
“You’re too kind,” she said, still not convinced she wasn’t being humored. “I’m glad it suits you, and I suppose I’ll leave you to it. ” Taking up her rag once more, she ambled to the far side of the bar and started cleaning anything that looked like it might hold still for a wipe-down, whether it needed it or not.
When Lucy was gone, Yaozu set the beer aside. He said to Andan Cly, “I need a ship. ”
“What are you moving? Big sap shipment going out?”
“On the contrary, I want to bring goods into the city. ” He gave the beer a hard stare and a moment of philosophical inquiry. He took another drink before continuing. “I’ve been reorganizing Minnericht’s operations—a task which needed to be done long before his demise, might I add—and I’ve discovered that Seattle is running perilously low on the basic necessities. Between you and me, Captain, I’m not sure how much longer the city can remain habitable. Such as it is. ”
