Genie stumbled to a halt and then spun around, gasping for air. “Li Ming, my sister. I need your help.”
Her friend hurried toward her, a bundle of wool in her arms, her face pinched with concern. “Of course. What’s wrong? You run as if a tiger is chasing you.”
“A tiger . . .” She gave a strangled laugh. “Yes, exactly. I was thinking a fox, but no. Tiger is better, except one who flies.”
“What nonsense is this?” Li Ming put her hand on Genie’s arm. “Is it that stray dog your father brought home? The one you call a fox? My uncle says he’s a harbinger of evil.”
Genie shook her head, not surprised that her friend had already heard the news of their guest. Gossip flowed through the village faster than a spring flood. “The lieutenant’s not an evil spirit. He’s . . .”
“He’s what?”
Fearless and handsome, with eyes I could fall into. Her chest squeezed with misery as she remembered his angry refusal of her father’s request. Fresh tears filled her eyes. “Li Ming—my father wants to send me away, out of China.”
Li Ming was quiet for a moment as she absorbed the news. Then she gestured toward the river. “Let us walk while you tell me everything. We both know you cannot disobey your father, but perhaps there’s a way to change his mind.”
Beyond relieved, Genie impulsively hugged her friend. “I was hoping you would say that. Whatever would I do without you?”
“Live your life as always?” Li Ming said as she awkwardly embraced Genie in return, the wool still tucked under one arm. “Though to be honest, Yu Jie, you know you weren’t meant to stay here forever.”
Genie released her, her newborn hopes plummeting. “But this is my home.”
“No, this is your father’s home,” Li Ming corrected, not unkindly. “Your home will be elsewhere, with your husband after you marry.”
“Unless I can find someone who wants to stay here. Maybe I could convince Nathan . . .”
Her friend waved a dismissive hand. “Bah! Better to marry a stray dog than that pig.”
“Lieutenant Younan is not a stray dog,” Genie said with a shaky laugh. “He’s far too healthy and well fed.”
“Then a successful dog.” Her friend pursed her lips in thought and then nodded. “He has possibilities.”
Genie rolled her eyes. “I’m not marrying the lieutenant, nor is it likely he would want to marry me.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Confusion puckered Li Ming’s brow.
“My father has asked him to take me west, to Kunming.”
“Why? Do you have family there?”
“No, but I have an aunt in the United States, and my father believes the Americans in Kunming will help me get to her, though I don’t know how. It’s nowhere near the coast.”
“Huh. And you are to travel alone with this lieutenant without first being made a proper wife?”
“I guess my father trusts him.”
“More the fool, your father. I cannot imagine going on so long a journey with a strange man and no one to defend my virtue.”
“I doubt the lieutenant is going all the way to America with me.”
“Still, a journey to Kunming is more than a few days. Plenty of time for trouble.” Li Ming drew her to a stop. “You need to talk to your father, Yu Jie. Do not presume to know his mind.”
“I heard him tell Wu Fang that I am leaving. How else should I take that?”
Li Ming thought for a moment. “What if the lieutenant refused to take you?”
Genie snorted. “When has my father ever lost an argument?”
“Good point.” Li Ming tapped her jaw thoughtfully. “But what if he were dead?”
“My father?” Genie stared at her friend in shock.
“No, no!” Li Ming waved her hand impatiently. “The lieutenant. If he ate something that didn’t agree with him and then happened to die, he wouldn’t be able to take you anywhere.”
“Killing people is a sin, Li Ming!”
“I was only joking. But it would solve your problem.”
“We are not poisoning anyone,” she said firmly, as much to convince herself as her friend.
“Then your only option is to tell your father what you want, Yu Jie. Yes, we must listen to our esteemed parents and do what they ask, but that doesn’t mean we must remain silent. Sometimes even the weakest of trees must push back against the wind if it wishes to survive.”
Genie made a face. “I am not a weak tree.”
“Have you ever stood up to your father, even once? Be more like our dear lady Guan Yin. Stand up for what you believe in.”
Genie rolled her eyes. Like any child of China, native or adopted, she had grown up with tales of Guan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy and compassion who had been an imperial princess granted immortality for her loyalty and unfailing kindness. In many ways, the goddess served a similar role to her worshippers as the Virgin Mary, except with a couple of key differences. “You do remember that Guan Yin was executed by her father for disobeying him.”
“Not true,” Li Ming corrected sternly. “He may have ordered it, but she didn’t die. The Celestial Tiger came down from the sky and saved her.”
“By carrying her to hell, which I can’t see as an improvement!”
Li Ming waved Genie’s rebuttal away. “Far better to suffer and be alive than be dead. Nor did the Tiger leave her there. In fact—”
“Eugenia!” Nathan’s voice echoed down the alley in English, cutting her friend short. “Your father wishes to see you immediately.”
“I’ve got to go,” Genie said, letting her friend know the gist of Nathan’s command. She hugged her friend again, afraid as she had never been in her life.
“The wind blows, Beautiful Jade,” Li Ming whispered before pulling back. “Be brave, sister. Speak.”
Genie nodded, though she wondered if that would even be possible. A lifetime of holding her tongue, of always trying to please, had bound her as tightly as the sturdiest cords.
“Eugenia!” Nathan called again, impatience lacing his voice.
Drawing a deep breath, she turned away from Li Ming. Nathan waited for her, his hands in his pockets, his light-brown hair uncharacteristically tousled as if he had run agitated fingers through it. An odd expression had hardened over his narrow face like a nuo opera mask.
Her sense of foreboding increased.
The house was silent when she and Nathan reentered, empty of men and activity. Leaving Nathan in the front entry, she peeked into the study. Her father stood at his desk, her most recent translation in his hand.
Straightening her spine, she walked into the room. “You wished to see me?”
“Yes.” The still-damp ink winked in the afternoon sunlight as he set the paper back on the desk. “Your calligraphy is beautiful, Eugenia. Truly the finest I have seen.”
“Then let me stay so I may continue.”
His gaze remained on his desk as he lifted another of her pages. In the harsh afternoon light, new, deeper lines creased his chapped, sunburned cheeks. And there was a new gauntness to his already-spare frame.
She suddenly felt very small. “Baba?”
He glanced at her, a faint smile twisting his weary, beloved face. “You haven’t called me Daddy in a long time.”
“Why are you doing this? Don’t you love me?”
“More than life itself.” He inhaled as if to say more, then seemed to change his mind and looked down at the desktop.
“If it’s no longer safe, perhaps we should leave together,” she said hesitantly.
“Have I ever told you how much you look like your mother?” He looked up, his blue eyes clear and calm. “China took her from me, but it won’t take you. Oh, I know you’ll say I’m being fanciful, but it’s true. I should have sent her home when I learned she was with child, but she so loved China, she wouldn’t hear of leaving.”
“More likely it was you she wouldn’t leave.”
A small, sad smile crossed his lips. “I fear
she loved this country more than she loved me, and not without cause. I was not a very good husband.”
She shook her head. “I cannot believe that.”
“Nevertheless, what I failed to do then, I will not fail to do now. My resolve is firm. You will go to Kunming with Lieutenant Younan.”
“And you’ll come, too, yes?” she asked, daring to press.
“My life is here in these mountains with Zhenzhu. If I leave, where would she go, with no family, no one to take her in?”
“Then bring her with us.”
“No, Eugenia.” He pulled her into his arms, and his familiar scent of wool, sweat, and road dust cocooned her in comfort. “But don’t worry. Your aunt Hazel is waiting for you in America. We agreed shortly after your birth that if anything should ever happen to me, she would take you in without hesitation.”
Fear gripped her. “Are you saying you are ill?”
He sighed. “No, I’m fine. However, the country is not, and it is no longer safe here. I wish it were otherwise, but apparently the Almighty has other plans for you. So bowing to His will, I talked to Mr. Sterling. He has agreed to accompany you as far as your aunt’s.”
Genie stiffened. “Baba, no.”
“He’s a good man, Eugenia. Decent, upright, and of good moral character. You need not fear for your virtue in his company. And he has traveled enough times with me that I know he is capable of providing and protecting you, no matter what hardships the journey may bring.”
“But—” She tried to push back from him so she could look him in the eye.
“I’ve made my decision. There will be no discussion,” he said sharply, and she stilled. Then he relaxed and kissed her on the forehead. “Your reluctance warms my heart, but in the dark days ahead, to know my precious daughter at least is safe will be of great comfort to me.”
“Fine.” The word was barely intelligible for the tears clogging her throat.
“Wu Fang wishes to leave at first light tomorrow, so pack your things tonight. He has agreed to guide you all as far as the Kunming highway. Lieutenant Younan will lead the rest of the way and has promised to make arrangements for you and Mr. Sterling once you reach the city.”
Feeling as if the ground were falling away beneath her feet, she could barely comprehend her father’s words. It was all too much, too fast. She knew her chance to do what Li Ming had counseled was slipping away. She should tell him she wouldn’t go. Except she couldn’t make herself say the words. She was too afraid that he would stop loving her if she did.
He gave her a gentle push toward the door. “Go. Zhenzhu is preparing an early dinner so you’ll have plenty of time to say goodbye to Li Ming.”
“And to you, too, I hope.” Every second with him was beyond precious now.
“I’ll be with Wu Fang after dark, helping set up the transmitter. Which reminds me.” He reached over to his desk and picked up a sheet of paper. “I translated the lieutenant’s message while you were out, but your Chinese is better than mine. I wonder if you could please check it.”
She took the paper from him. It actually contained two messages. One was the original English version, scrawled boldly in all capital letters, and then under it, in more delicate strokes, was the same message in Han Chinese. Or rather, something approximating the original message.
Her lips quirked a little as she read her father’s attempt at translation. She couldn’t help it. “Does the lieutenant know he is a tiger found in the stone forest without his wings?”
“My hope is that it will describe the situation in a slightly safer manner than the lieutenant’s version.”
She had to agree, as Lieutenant Younan had written what amounted to a military situation report. Frowning slightly, she reread her father’s version, checking the characters for accuracy. “Will it really take six days for us to get there?”
“That is merely an estimate. It usually takes me at least three days to get to the highway. My hope is that you’ll be able to catch a ride on a passing truck, which will shorten your journey considerably. But with the war . . .” His voice trailed off as he glanced at her. The sorrow in his gaze tore at her. The image would haunt her for the rest of her life, she knew.
She handed the paper back to him, her resolve to resist dissipating like winter mist before a breeze. Her father worried so about everyone. It would be selfish of her to add to his burden. “Wu Fang should have no trouble with the translation. And I’ll be ready to go tomorrow. Don’t worry, Baba.”
Chapter 5
The morning dawned clear and cold. Genie shivered as she waited for her father to finish talking with Wu Fang about the journey. They stood in a small group not far from the trailhead that led west, following the river up into the mountains and then beyond. Nathan hovered near her father, as did a silent, subdued Zhenzhu. Lieutenant Younan stood off to the side, alone, his gaze on the mountains. The sunrise was just touching the tips, turning the usually white rock to gold.
Huddling deeper within her many coats, the varying heights of the collars turned up against the winter chill, she gazed out over the valley, steeped in deep-purple shadow. The familiar contours, the frosted slopes that had contained, all these many years, everything that was precious to her, brought tears to her eyes. How could she bear to leave this place, not knowing when or if she might return? Her one hope that her father would relent had faded the night before, when he had donated a pair of his old trousers for her to use on the journey. He had been concerned her long skirts would endanger her on the trail, and he wasn’t about to sacrifice her safety for modesty. And her father’s willingness to abandon modesty spoke volumes about his resolve.
Of course the garment needed to be altered to fit Genie’s shorter, slighter frame, a task Zhenzhu had worked late into the night to finish.
Genie had been torn between gratitude and resentment at the older woman’s eagerness to help. If anyone could have changed Father’s mind about today’s departure, at least anyone female, it would have been Zhenzhu. Yet she had ignored Genie’s frantic pleas to talk to him, and with single-minded determination, she had continued fixing the trousers and reinforcing Genie’s coat with a heavier lining.
Genie’s anger hadn’t lasted, though. Especially after, in the small hours of the morning, long before sunrise, she had been awakened by the older woman’s muffled sobs, the only outward evidence of a sorrow so deep it could no longer be contained by correct behavior.
Biting her lip, Genie dropped her gaze to the frozen ground, the memory bringing her despair too close to the surface. She scuffed the path with the toe of her leather boot, her mood as bleak as the dead grass caught beneath the coating of frost. How could her father stand it, knowing his decision was causing such pain to the two women he loved most? Her own heart felt like it was tearing in half.
Or maybe into thirds, since she was leaving Li Ming, too. Genie wished she could hug her friend one last time but knew better than to hope. Li Ming, for all her loyalty and kindness, had no patience with sentimentality. So Genie hadn’t been surprised when Li Ming had said she wouldn’t come this morning. Sad, yes. Li Ming had been her confidante and closest friend since Genie had moved to the valley ten years ago. But maybe it was for the best. She didn’t want to see the change in her friend’s eyes when she became nothing more than an inconvenient ghost, a painful memory that couldn’t leave fast enough.
Stop it. Desperate for a distraction, she glanced at Lieutenant Younan. With his unshaven cheeks already bluish-black from beard stubble and an impatient scowl tightening the sharp planes of his face, he looked unnervingly fierce, dangerous even. He shifted from one foot to the other as if impatient to get going, his intense gaze alternating between Wu Fang and the mountains.
Perhaps it was a good thing Nathan was coming along to protect her. She wasn’t at all certain the lieutenant wouldn’t push her over a cliff just to be rid of her.
As if summoned, Nathan appeared beside her. “Ready?”
“No.” The word sl
ipped out before she could stop it.
Nathan took her mittened hand. “It’s all right, Eugenia. Your desire to stay does you credit. But it’s also right and proper to submit to what cannot be changed.”
“Says who?” the lieutenant interjected sharply, startling her. She glanced over to find his dark gaze watching her with an almost ferocious intensity. She swallowed nervously. “If you don’t want to go, Miss Baker,” he continued, “don’t. In my book, no one should force a child to leave a parent behind if she doesn’t want to.”
“Forgive me, Theodore,” her father said, temporarily abandoning his conversation with Wu Fang. “Eugenia and I have already discussed the situation, and a child’s greatest gift to a parent is obedience.”
Lieutenant Younan’s focus didn’t waver. “Miss Baker?”
Her skin flushed hotly as everyone’s attention turned to her. The lieutenant was serious; she could tell by the set of his jaw and the tension in his posture. All she had to do was say the words, say she wanted to stay—be the tree that stood against the wind—and he would leave without her, her father’s wishes be damned.
Of course, the lieutenant had also made no bones about the fact he didn’t want her on the trip, so it would be in both their interests for her to speak up.
She wiped her palms on her trousers, searching for the courage to say what she felt, that every fiber of her being ached with the need to stay. That she was terrified not just of leaving her family and her home but of becoming alone in the world. That at the ripe old age of twenty-two, she had never been apart from Zhenzhu for more than a night or slept in any bed other than her own. Though her father traveled extensively, she hadn’t set foot outside this valley in years.
The reality of what her father was asking of her hit Genie like a landslide. She could scarcely breathe for the rising panic. He might as well have asked her to jump off a cliff and fly. She wasn’t ready to leave everything she knew.
Come on, Genie. Don’t shame your father. You’re not a coward, nor will the war last forever. You’ll be home before you know it.
A Girl Divided Page 4