Red Skies (The Tales of the Scavenger's Daughters) Read Online Free PDF Page A

every day to just make ends meet, and she had no one to share it with, because she didn’t want anyone to know. She’d continue to return letters to her mother, full of fairytale details of her adventurous Beijing life, until she could figure out a way to get back on track. And first things first—she had to find a way to turn Bolin back into the strong man she’d married. Even more than his assistance in providing for their tiny family, she missed the intimacy between them—that feeling that she wasn’t alone in the world. She missed his arms around her at night, his voice whispering in her ear. This person—this new cold thing that lay quiet and lifeless before her now—he was only a shell of the man she’d married, and she wasn’t going to stand for it anymore.
    She took a deep breath and pulled back her shoulders before she slid the wok off the heat and pulled two bowls from the cabinet. She looked at Bolin again, willing him to wake up—wishing for one of the smiles or kind words he used to be so generous with.
    He remained still. She sighed and prepared herself. It would be a battle, but she would have victory tonight, even though getting him to actually eat would probably be harder than getting Chu Chu to move.

 
    Chapter Four

    “N i hao ,” Mari heard someone behind her calling out. She turned and was surprised to see the foreigner, Max, strutting toward her. She didn’t have the energy to force a smile, but she waved half-heartedly. Once more, a difficult night with Bolin had made for an even more difficult day. She’d had only a few customers, barely any tips, and the stubborn camel was giving her a headache.
    Max jogged the last few feet until he stood before her. “How are you?”
    Mari looked at him and then back at the camel. Couldn’t he see? She was exhausted and aggravated—the story of her life, lately. It was ironic that people used to tell her she had the most musical laughter and lightest spirit they’d ever known. If they could all see her now, they’d not even recognize her.
    “I’m fine. Just taking this stubborn creature back to his shed for the day.” Chu Chu glared at her under the fringe of coarse hair that mostly hid his eyes. She looked up at the stranger. What did he want? Were the photos not good enough? Mari looked around him and didn’t see the fat boss man anywhere in sight. “What do you need? More photos? You’ll have to come back tomorrow, and this time I mean it. I’m done for today.”
    Max reached out and put a hand on Chu Chu. Mari expected the difficult camel to rear his head back and show his yellow teeth, but surprisingly he allowed the gesture.
    “I’m shooting my own photos today. This is one of my favorite places to take in the scenery. Then I saw you and wanted to thank you again for what you did.”
    Mari raised her eyebrows. “You came all the way out here—probably by taxi, as I don’t see many of you people on the buses—and made your way past the aggressive shop owners and souvenir hawkers, to climb this rigorous wall to look at the scenery ? Please.”
    Max nodded, and his face took on a serious expression. He looked over the wall at the steep mountainside and wild terrain. “Really. I do it all the time. If you avoid looking at the flashy cable cars, the hawkers pushing all the mass manufactured junk, and the thousands of rude tourists—the history underneath it all is phenomenal. Can you imagine, when this wall was being constructed, it was called the longest cemetery in history because of all the workers who lost their lives and were buried along it?”
    Mari shrugged. It sort of stung that a foreigner would know more about her own country’s history than she did—but she wouldn’t let him know that.
    He pointed toward the west. “And out there, thousands of hostile Mongolians threatened to charge, and the Chinese stood their ground and pledged death before destruction.”
    Mari watched him talk, watched the excitement shining