The Paper Daughters of Chinatown

by Heather B. Moore

  His smile beneath his mustache was brief, but his eyes remained warm. “Are you doing well, Miss Cameron?”

  “I am,” she said. “Thank you. I see that you are in one piece as well.” Officer Cook seemed much less imposing in the light of day, even though the day was a gray one. That might also have had to do with the fact that he wasn’t carrying a sledgehammer.

  “Things have been quiet lately,” Cook said, as they continued toward the docks.

  “I suppose that’s good news,” Dolly said.

  “We’ve had these calm spaces before.” Cook touched the brim of his hat to acknowledge a passerby. “It only means that messages are being intercepted.”

  This didn’t sound good at all. “Is there a way to find out if someone needs help without a note?”

  “All types of messages, on paper or in person, are equally dangerous.” Cook pointed his chin toward a storefront they were passing. “Notice how the shop owners disappear into their shops as we approach.”

  Dolly looked down the street they were walking on. Things had suddenly gone quiet. “You’re recognized.”

  “We’re recognized,” Cook corrected. “Word is already out about the tall white woman from the mission home.”

  It was a strange thing to consider, even though Miss Culbertson had warned her.

  “Don’t worry, Miss Cameron,” he said. “You can call upon the Chinatown police squad anytime.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Dolly said.

  He lit another cigarette, but stamped it out when it was only half smoked. As they neared the docks, Dolly asked how long ago Hong Leen had lived at the mission home.

  “Oh, many years ago,” Anna answered. “She was rescued by my aunt, and eventually she married Woo Hip. They returned to China together to build a new life.”

  “Where is her husband now?”

  “I don’t know,” Anna said. She slowed her step as they passed by a long, warehouse-type building sitting on piles over the bay. “I hope she’s not in there.”

  Dolly studied the low building. “What is that place?”

  “The detention shed,” Officer Cook said. “They keep the foreigners inside while they wait for their hearings. No latrine facilities, and they’re fed only the very minimum. Most of them are deported. A rough place.”

  Dolly wanted to pry open the door and let out the poor people locked inside.

  Passing the detention shed, they reached the pier, where they paused in front of the immigration office. “I’ll wait for you ladies out here,” Cook said, “in case you need an escort back to the mission home.”

  Dolly thanked him, and she and Anna walked into the office, where they were greeted by an immigration officer. He led them to the back room, where a Chinese woman waited with two young children. Hong Leen’s face brightened at the sight of them, but the pallor of her complexion told Dolly she wasn’t well.

  Anna hurried to Hong Leen’s bench and embraced the woman. While Hong Leen communicated with Anna in a combination of English and Chinese, Dolly soon discovered that the woman had been ill the entire voyage over. She had also lost her husband to plague a couple of years ago.

  Dolly focused on the two young children, a four- or five-year-old girl and her younger brother, who couldn’t have been more than two. They watched Dolly with open curiosity as the other women talked.

  Dolly smiled, and when they smiled in return, she crouched before them and asked them their names in what little Chinese she had picked up. The girl broke into a giggle at a white woman’s jarring attempt to speak Chinese.

  They exchanged names, and Dolly learned the boy was Kang and the girl, Jiao.

  “Would you like to come to the mission home?” Dolly asked in English.

  “Yes, we will come with you,” the little girl answered, speaking English herself, to Dolly’s surprise. “Our father died,” Jiao said matter-of-factly.

  Kang leaned his head against his sister’s shoulder and popped his thumb into his mouth.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Dolly told the children.

  The conversation between Anna and Hong Leen continued, with the Chinese woman explaining how her husband had come down with the plague when they had arrived in Hong Kong, and by the time they had reached his family’s home, he had gone mad with the disease. Her husband’s passing had left an irreversible void, especially since Hong Leen’s in-laws had blamed her for their son’s death.

  Hong Leen had continued to live with her in-laws, but they had found small ways to persecute and disparage her.

  When Hong Leen finished her story, Anna asked Dolly to go speak to the immigration officer and vouch for the little family. Dolly straightened and left the back room, sensing she would repeat these types of requests to immigration officers many more times.

  Taking a deep breath, she offered a small smile to the officer. The worn lines about his eyes told her that he’d already had a long day, and the morning was still young.

  “We are willing to care for Hong Leen in her illness and take on her children as well,” Dolly said.

  The officer nodded. “You’ll need to sign paperwork that you have her in custody until we decide on her legal rights to remain here.”

  “Of course.” Dolly’s heart thumped as he produced a form for her to sign. Hong Leen and her children were able to come to the mission home. Every part of Dolly flooded with relief.

  After signing, she hurried back to the room and shared the news.

  The children hugged Dolly, and her heart brimmed as she squeezed them back. These children were so innocent, so trusting. Now, she could only hope that their mother would recover her health soon.

  Officer Cook was waiting for the small group as they left the immigration office. True to his word, he escorted them all the way back to the mission home—except he hired a carriage for Hong Leen so she wouldn’t have to walk. There was only room for Anna to accompany the small family, so Dolly elected to walk. Along the way, Cook asked Dolly how the young woman they had rescued the other night was doing.

  “She’s very quiet,” Dolly said. “But she’s getting along with the other women and seems to have found her place. She also has a beautiful singing voice.”

  “I’m glad to hear she’s doing well,” Cook said. “Not everyone can make the adjustment.”

  Dolly thought of Tien, and how her animosity still ruled over her, even after a year in the mission home. “Do you know Tien Fu Wu?”

  Cook frowned. “How old is she?”

  “About ten,” Dolly said. “She’s been at the mission home for about a year. No one at the mission knows her true age. I guess she was sold or kidnapped quite young.”

  “Ah, I do remember her,” Cook said.

  “Were you part of her rescue?”

  “I guess you could say that,” he said. “I’d seen her more than once, and each time, I noticed fresh signs of abuse.”

  “Oh,” Dolly breathed. “That’s awful.”

  “I questioned her owner once, but then after that, Tien Fu Wu disappeared from the little neighborhood where I had first spotted her.” Cook adjusted his hat. “It was one of those times I knew that her ‘mother’ wasn’t who she said she was. So, when providence brought us in contact once again, I simply picked up the child and brought her to the mission home.”

  Dolly stopped walking and turned to Cook. “You what?”

  His gaze slid past hers, and he exhaled. “I guess you could say we snatched her from the streets.”

  Dolly opened her mouth, then closed it. “Is that legal?” she finally asked. “I mean, you are an officer of the law.”

  Cook drew off his hat and scrubbed his fingers through his graying hair. Replacing his hat, he said, “Sometimes, Miss Cameron, war hurts the innocent children the most. I believe we were given the chance to rescue her, and if we didn’t do it then and there, wor
se things would happen to the little girl.”

  Dolly nodded, then started walking again, her steps slower this time, her thoughts tumbling together.

  “How is Tien Fu Wu doing now?” Cook asked.

  That was a complicated question to answer. “She’s very bright, but she doesn’t like me much. Miss Culbertson says some girls take a longer time to heal.”

  Cook nodded. “Years of abuse can’t be erased in a few months.”

  His comment took root in Dolly’s mind. A life couldn’t truly change in a short time.

  Once she had returned to the mission home, Dolly found Anna and the children in the kitchen, where they were eating.

  “How is Hong Leen doing?” Dolly asked.

  Anna motioned for her to step out of the kitchen. “I’ve sent for a physician,” she said. “He should be here soon, but I don’t have much hope for Hong Leen. She’s very ill. It’s not good, Dolly, not good at all.”

  “What will happen with her children?” Dolly asked.

  “Provided the immigration office allows them to stay, we will raise them,” Anna said immediately.

  Dolly saw the determination in the woman’s eyes. “Of course. And I will help in any way I can.”

  Now, all they could do was wait for the physician to arrive. Dolly returned to the kitchen, and when she sat down, little Jiao climbed onto her lap. She wrapped her arms around the child. Dolly couldn’t explain the overwhelming sense of protection she already felt for these two young children, and knowing that their mother might not survive made her want to shield them even more. When Kang finished eating the rice and chicken, he joined his sister on Dolly’s lap, and she put her arms about them both.

  Just then, Tien appeared at the doorway of the kitchen. She gazed at the two children on Dolly’s lap.

  “Are you hungry?” Dolly asked, even though the residents weren’t supposed to eat between meals.

  Tien turned immediately and left. Dolly couldn’t very well go after her, but she wondered what was going through the young girl’s mind. And what Tien had thought when Officer Cook had snatched her from the streets and brought her to the mission home.

  When the physician arrived, Dolly stayed with the children in one of the bedrooms, which was shared with a couple of older girls who were sweet to the new arrivals. She waited until the children had fallen asleep before she went to find Anna and hear the report.

  She came upon Anna in her aunt’s office with the door open. Dolly paused in her step. Anna sat at the desk, her shoulders slumped while she propped her chin with her hands, gaze downcast.

  Dolly entered quietly and sat in the chair opposite.

  Anna slowly lifted her eyes. “It’s cancer,” she said in a rasp. “The physician found signs of internal bleeding and doesn’t think she’ll last more than a few days. The hospital would just want to run painful tests. He advised us to make her comfortable here until she passes.”

  Sorrow rippled through Dolly. “What will we tell the children?”

  “I don’t know yet.” Anna traced a small circle on the desk with her finger. “We will have them visit their mother in the morning. Perhaps she’ll tell them.”

  Dolly’s throat felt as if it had turned to sandpaper.

  “Hong Leen gave me her final wishes,” Anna continued. “She wants her daughter to become a medical missionary and her son to become a minister.”

  “Hong Leen is Christian?” It shouldn’t have surprised Dolly, because Bible study was part of the curriculum at the mission home. The residents all attended church on Sundays, but that didn’t mean everyone converted or kept with the faith after moving out.

  The edge of Anna’s mouth lifted, and her brown eyes warmed. “Hong Leen became a devout Christian while living here the first time. Her husband converted as well. Sadly, that would have been another complication in her relationship with her in-laws.”

  Long after Anna left, Dolly sat in the empty office with the changing shadows of the afternoon shifting through the room. Distractions would come soon enough, and the busyness of the day would consume her time, but for a few moments, she contemplated how the lives of these children were about to change once again. She knew firsthand what it was like to lose a mother at such a young age. But her father and older sisters had been there for her, had continued to raise her.

  And now, Dolly would be there for someone else.

  Two days later, Miss Culbertson returned from her travels.

  Three days after that, Hong Leen died.

  Dolly did her best to soothe the orphaned children’s fears and sorrows. She held them, she fed them, and now she sat with the children, distracting them with picture books while Anna directed the funeral preparations. Anna had taken over the arrangements, since Miss Culbertson had been ill since her return. The director was thinner than ever and depleted of energy.

  Hong Lee was to be buried at the Six Companies cemetery in Colma.

  The youngest child, Kang, didn’t seem to fully understand the loss of his mother. But he followed Dolly about the mission home like a shadow, frequently tugging on her skirt so that she would pick him up. Jiao had cried and cried the day of her mother’s death, but now she sat very still, listening to the story with all her attention.

  Although Dolly’s heart was heavy with the tragedy, she read story after story in a cheerful tone, exaggerating the character parts and earning a few smiles from the little children. More children gathered about them to listen, including Lonnie and Dong Ho, and Dolly marveled that all these orphans or sold children were now starting to feel like family. With no husband or children of her own, Dolly believed she now had a taste of what it was to love completely and fully. She could not deny the attachment she had to each child, which only grew deeper the more time she spent teaching them and serving them.

  As she turned the page of the picture book, she scanned the young, eager faces, their deep brown eyes, golden skin, and black hair. She knew everyone’s names now, along with their personality quirks, and she loved seeing their eyes light up when she spoke to them. Kang had claimed his usual place on her lap, and the other children crowded about her knees.

  Ever so silently, Tien crept into the room. Dolly pretended not to see her because she knew if the girl was acknowledged, she would flee. Dolly held back a smile as Tien sat cross-legged by an end table.

  “I want to read!” Lonnie cried out. As usual, she shouted her demands, unlike most of the other young girls, who had more demure personalities.

  “May I please?” Dolly corrected.

  Lonnie looked far from repentant, yet said in her same volume, “May I please read the story?”

  “Do we all agree that we should let Lonnie read to us next?” Dolly asked the group.

  The dark heads bobbed. Dolly glanced at Tien. She was now leaning forward, seeming intent to hear the story. Dolly shifted over on the settee to allow more room for Lonnie to sit on her other side. The children became equally entranced with Lonnie’s rendition, and after she finished, another little girl wanted to read next. Dolly obliged, wondering how many more times she would hear the story read before the dinner hour. Then Anna arrived in the doorway.

  Dolly extracted herself from the children and went to meet Anna in the hall, passing by Tien, who merely watched her walk out.

  “We’ve had a message,” Anna said in a hushed voice as she handed over a folded piece of paper.

  Dolly’s heart dropped like a stone to her stomach as she read the scrawled address on the piece of paper. It was a street several neighborhoods away in the heart of Chinatown.

  “This came with it.” Anna handed over a torn piece of red fabric.

  Dolly grasped the fabric remnant. It might once have been a scarf or handkerchief.

  “The girl you need to rescue will have the other half of this cloth,” Anna whispered. “Ah Cheng will go with you, and I’
ve already notified the Chinatown squad. They’ll meet you at the bottom of the hill in a few hours.”

  “Tonight?” Dolly said. “Is Officer Cook coming too?” The rescue couldn’t wait—she knew it couldn’t. Miss Culbertson was still ill, so this rescue would be up to Dolly.

  “I don’t know which officers will be there,” Anna said.

  Dolly returned to the children and the storybooks, but her mind was no longer engaged in the entertainment. Thankfully, dinner was ready soon, and Dolly ushered the young ones to their places at one of the dining tables to eat dumplings and stew. Tien never had a problem eating, so she sped past Dolly to join others at the table.

  During the meal, Dolly took small glances at Tien, then the other rescued girls. All of them had been in deplorable situations before. If it weren’t for Miss Culbertson, who knows what their fate might have been? Confidence renewed, Dolly returned to her bedroom to quickly change. Then she headed downstairs to find Miss Culbertson and Ah Cheng waiting for her.

  “Thank you for doing this,” Miss Culbertson said. Her complexion was wan, and she was wearing a thick shawl, as if she were cold. “I wish I could—”

  Dolly placed a hand on the woman’s arm. “We will be fine. Ah Cheng will be of great help. Just give me the directions.”

  The director’s relief was palpable, and she showed the note to Dolly that contained the number of the place. “The girl is at the end of Bartlett Alley in one of the cribs.”

  When Dolly had gone with the director on that first rescue, they had gone to Bartlett Alley as well. But they had not ventured as far as the cribs: a place of the vilest depravity where girls and women were kept in cagelike rooms and forced to peddle their services. Dolly’s stomach felt leaden at the thought of facing such a place without the guidance of the director, but the wan pallor of the director’s face told Dolly that she was needed more than ever. “We will return as soon as possible.”

  Dolly and Ah Cheng left 920 and met Officers Cook and Riordan at the bottom of the hill. Dolly was relieved to be accompanied by men she knew already, but needles of anticipation pricked the back of her neck at the sight of their sledgehammers and crowbars. Hardly a breeze stirred the trees above, and the air felt warm, nearly stifling. The brightness of the moon, and the thought of saving another woman from her life of abuse, sent a shiver through Dolly.