Dead Man's Gold and Other Stories Read Online Free PDF Page A

Mountain men? They leave you, and great distances cloud their memories. That man will never keep his promise. You should forget about him.”
    Instead, Willow decided to travel to the New World. For the first time in her life, she journeyed down the river she saw daily. At the great ocean port of Hong Kong, frantic crowds pushed at her from all sides — on the docks, in the narrow streets, and even in the guarded lobby of her hotel. Never before had she seen so many people. Her room was tiny and dank, and she gladly boarded the steamship at sailing time. Traveling alone, she took a second-class cabin for privacy and safety.
    For days all Willow saw were blue skies and a blue ocean. Seagulls with broad wingspans hovered close, cawing and dipping by her porthole, but soon they veered away. In her cabin, she tried on the Western hats and dresses she had purchased in Hong Kong. Ox had lived in the New World for so long that she thought he would probably prefer to see her dressed like a modern woman.
    When the boat docked, Willows legs and feet felt weak and unsteady as she laced her boots. She stumbled down the gangplank, heavy bags banging at her knees, only to end up spending hours with immigration officials and translators. She pleaded she was just a visitor and not a settler who should pay the head tax, a fee that only Chinese immigrants paid to settle in the country.
    â€œI came to visit a friend.”
    â€œI have a thriving business in China. Why would I abandon it?”
    â€œMy family is in China. Of course I want to go back.”
    When they finally released her, she headed to Chinatown in a horse-drawn buggy. The roads were jammed with wagons and horses, great metal boxes grunting on steel tracks, and small carts with black rubber wheels that ran on their own power. In Chinatown, she recognized people who had passed through her inn long ago. Some had become plump and others thin, while some had grown mustaches. But nobody recalled her face, everyone wore Western clothes, and some even spoke English.
    She stopped at a guesthouse to store her bags and comb her hair. In the mirror over the washstand, she saw deep lines around her eyes and wondered if Ox would notice.
    Downstairs, she stopped at the front door to get her bearings. A shrill blast from the train station across the way startled her, and then the ferocious squeal of moving iron machinery filled the air. She clutched her hat and took a step back.
    â€œHow will I ever find Ox in such a noisy, crowded city?” she asked herself.
    At that very moment, Ox strode by, looking healthy and contented in a Western suit and polished boots. A woman’s delicate hand was tucked into the crook of his arm. She was as plain as a doorknob, but Ox’s face glowed with pleasure.
    The sighting plunged a blunt knife into Willows heart as years of love seeped away.
    She retreated into the hotel and gasped, “Who is that?”
    â€œWhy, that is Ox Woo and his new bride! Her father is a gambler who made a fortune at the racetracks. Those two were married six weeks ago.” The chatty innkeeper added, “Some people say she looks like a horse, too, but she does own a dozen racing steeds. She met her husband-to-be in the stables, where he was a hired hand cleaning the stalls.”
    Willow turned and dashed up the stairs. She repacked her bags and returned to the ship terminal. She vowed to never love another man, even if that meant never bearing children. At home, she flung Ox’s bamboo birdcage into the stove, where it burst into crackling flames.
    At this time, Ox noticed that a crack had suddenly appeared on one side of his jade pendant.
    â€œWhat does this mean?” he roared, and his wife came running.
    She looked closely and said, “Send it back to Willow. It is not yours to keep.”
    â€œNonsense,” he declared. “This marvelous stone belongs to our firstborn child.”
    â€œNo,” she cried, “it will bring