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

chewing?”
    “Oh, sorry,” Max laughed again. “Just American slang that means he hasn’t given me any negative feedback on my job lately.”
    She nodded. Americans were strange. She much preferred to work with the Europeans—at least their English was comprehensible. She’d learned the language from books and unfortunately, books did a shoddy job of presenting actual casual conversation. Now she felt like an idiot.
    “Oh, dui .” She hoped he’d step up his pace. She needed to get home; Bolin would be eagerly awaiting his next medication and would be angry if she was late.

    Mari looked at her watch as Max waited for her answer. He said he wanted to ask her questions about Beijing—get her take on the city. She knew she should be getting right home, but honestly, the man had helped her get stubborn Chu Chu to his shelter again. Not only that, but he’d carried most of the equipment, giving her sore muscles a break. He’d saved her at least an hour and maybe more. Would one cup of tea really be too much to agree to? With one glance at the hopeful expression on his face, she made up her mind. It had been ages since anyone cared to spend time with her, so she wasn’t going to feel guilty for making a friend.
    “ Hao le ,” she agreed. “I’ll go but I really can’t stay long.”
    His smile grew so broad, it covered his face. He took her arm and led her across the path made treacherous by the old stones, to the bottom of the hill and over to the parking lot, chattering as they walked. Mari expected to take a taxi, but instead they stopped in front of a small blue van, and Max pecked on the window.
    “ Aiya !” The driver jumped, startled out of his nap. He sat contorted in the driver’s seat, his legs somehow propped on the dashboard. The noise sent him clumsily working to get back into a proper position, then he leaned over and unlocked the door.
    Max opened it and held his arm out, inviting her to step in. “My chariot.”
    Mari hesitated before getting in. She’d heard of the crazy serial killers the West seemed to breed relentlessly, but would one as chivalrous and kind as Max really have found his way to China? And why would he, when there were so many naïve women walking the streets in America, who were surely easier to get to? She was being silly. There was no way he meant her any harm.
    She followed her instinct and climbed in. Max went to the back and stored all their stuff in the rear hatch, slammed it, then returned to the passenger side and climbed in. He gave the driver instructions, and they were off.
    She leaned back in the seat to take the pressure off her aching feet. She had to admit, it was nice not to stand around and wait for a taxi to take her to her bus stop.
    “Rough day?” Max asked after setting his camera gear in the floor at his feet.
    Mari nodded. “Lately it’s always a rough day.”
    “Don’t you have someone to help you with all that? It seems like a lot for one person—especially one as small as you. I hate to say it, but I can tell that camel is a handful.”
    She looked at him, but his intense gaze told her he didn’t mean anything flirtatious by it, he was truly curious. “I used to, but my husband got hurt and now he can’t work. I’m just handling things until he gets better. Then he’ll be back and take charge again.” She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt. These days, she wondered if Bolin would ever be well enough to leave their apartment. She couldn’t even get him off the couch.
    “I’m sorry to hear that. How did he get hurt?”
    Mari took a deep breath. The truth would make her husband look like an idiot. But a lie would make her feel like one—so the truth it was.
    “You see how stubborn Chu Chu is, right? Well, he never likes to be ridden. We do good just to get him to stand still so we can get the photo shots.”
    “Aw, that camel isn’t so bad. Looks to me like he’s just old and tired. I can imagine when I’m a senior