Fortune Is a Woman - Elizabeth Adler [69]
In the candle glow he caught the glimmer of tears in her blue eyes and he reached across and took her hand. “You have a tender heart, Little Sister,” he said quietly. “And a trusting one. Once I was like you, my wounds were as deep, my sorrows maybe even greater. I promise you that life goes on and one day all our ghosts will be laid.”
“I tried to lay my father’s ghost this morning,” she whispered, clutching her blanket tighter, chilled by the thought of him. “But it was no good, Lai Tsin, his spirit was still there, still searching for me….”
He put down his pipe and beckoned her closer. She leaned toward him and he took her face in his thin, narrow hands, turning it first to one side then the other, running his fingers across her temples and the lobes of her ears. Then he took her hands and placed them palm-up in his, inspecting the thumbs and peering at the minute whorls and lines.
“Your fortune is written here,” he said at last. “Here is the line that says you were strong in your childhood, and here the jagged cross-lines that show illnesses and sorrows. And I see cleverness and ability in your face, you have the power to command other people and they will do as you wish. That power is there, in your head and in your hands. You will gain much money. It will encompass many lands and much travel and earn you great respect. There are hardships, yes, but these will be overcome because your will is strong and you are stronger than those who seek to curtail you. And I see children, maybe two—” He stopped and looked at her strangely.
“Oh, but I’ll never marry,” Francie cried passionately, “never.”
His brown, almond eyes were mesmeric in the candle glow; she could not take hers away from them. “There will be men in your life,” he said. “You are a beautiful girl and soon you will become a woman. Men will not ignore you, and men will love you. It is also your fate.”
She dropped her eyes, staring down at her hands still lying in his, and he said gently, “There is violence in your fortune. Much violence. There will be times you will not avoid it and it will bring you great sorrow.”
“Then my fortune is already decided,” she whispered, looking at him, frightened.
He nodded again. “Fortune has made her plans. All we can do is try to fool her. There are many things I could tell you about myself and how to cheat fate.”
She watched as he relit his bubble pipe. “Please, won’t you tell me now?”
He shook his head and said, “Maybe one day, Little Sister.”
Francie lay down on her bedmat in the corner next to the boy. She peered at his innocent sleeping face, marveling at the resiliency of children. The boy had lost his family and his home, he had gone through earthquake and fire and yet he slept the sleep of the angels. She covered herself with her blanket and lay down beside him, soothed by his gentle, even breathing and the soft bubbling of Lai Tsin’s water pipe, and within minutes, like the boy, she slept.
Lai Tsin sat till dawn over his pipe and his memories. In the early morning light his face looked gray and careworn and his eyes were black with unnamed tragedies. He put away his pipe and lay down on his mat by the door, turning his face from the others, as though his memories might trouble their dreams. He thought of Francie and what was to come and he sighed. It was a long time before his eyes closed and he slept, the light sleep of a cat keeping watch for its enemies.
CHAPTER 16
Annie recognized the place from the postcard Josh had sent her. She stood on the sidewalk gazing at the pile of bricks and rubble that had once been the Barbary Coast Saloon and Rooming House, wishing she had never come to San Francisco. She had seen the list of missing and presumed dead and Josh’s name had been among