Gold Mountain Blues - Ling Zhang [235]
Red Deer consisted of only a few streets. Yin Ling asked a couple of passersby for directions, and made her way down three short streets to the tavern. It was at the end of a lane, and had an illuminated sign outside which read “The Goldpanner.” Yin Ling sat down opposite the entrance, on a bench used by the townsfolk to rest their legs, read the paper or drink a coffee. As she sat in this strange town, on this strange bench, feeling strange eyes flicker over her, she felt every pore of her body come to life.
Through the window she saw the room was full of men wreathed in clouds of cigar smoke. The Goldpanner was an illicit drinking hole where the coal miners and farm workers came at the end of their shifts to drink and smoke and play poker. Occasionally women would go inside, but only the sort who could charm the sweat-soaked coins from these men into their own pockets. Yin Ling knew she would have to stay outside. She was prepared to wait on the bench until morning. She had never stayed out all night, but she was fired by a fierce longing and she did not feel afraid. As she waited, her longing blazed until her heart was as pleasurably hot as peanuts roasted in a wok.
Of all the men in the room, only one had anything to do with her. Even without looking she could hear he was there.
Go West, where there’s endless gold
Go West, where there’s land untold,
Where your horse stops, hey, goldpanner
That’s where you stake your claim, so bold.
The guitar chords punched holes in the night sky like a handful of birdshot. He sang in a voice so raw the song sounded like it was clawing its way from his throat. The room stank of sweat and the men tapped out the rhythm with their dirt-encrusted boots on the rough pine floor. Yin Ling found her feet tapping along with them.
It was hard to believe that on the other side of the world a bloody war was being fought. She had classmates with older brothers who had joined up and were on the front line. Their families spent the time anxiously waiting for the postman to bring them news.
The music and the liquor lulled people, making them forget the war, the endless wait for news, and death.
The frenzied strumming of the guitar chords eventually made Yin Ling feel tired. She lay along the bench and went to sleep.
She was woken up by a road cleaner.
“Miss, shouldn’t you be home at this time of night?”
He was a kindly looking old man, thought Yin Ling, the kind that might call the police to look after a girl like her.
“I’m waiting for my big brother. He’ll be out soon, to take me home,” she said.
He looked doubtful, but went away.
Yin Ling rubbed her eyes. The sky above her was an in-between confusing colour. It could be the smoky grey of dusk, or that of pre-dawn. Her clothes were damp from the dew. She looked across the street. The illuminated sign from the Goldpanner had gone out without her noticing, leaving only a dim bulb above the door while someone with a big bag on his back appeared to be locking up. Yin Ling grabbed her bag and rushed across the street, colliding with the man in the doorway.
“Johnny.”
The tears began to run down her cheeks.
It was a year since she had seen him. He used to be baby-faced, but the months he had spent moving from place to place had roughened the smooth curves and given his face character. Yin Ling felt herself drawn to the new Johnny like a moth to a flame.
Johnny’s face froze in a rictus of astonishment.
“Yin Ling! Whatever are you doing here?”
“Looking for you,” Yin Ling said a little hesitantly.
“Do your parents know you’re here?”
“Did you tell your parents when you left?”
Johnny was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing. The sound ricocheted off the walls, waking the slumbering street.