Red Skies (The Tales of the Scavenger's Daughters) Read Free

have to be broken in—taught the pecking order and the new gang’s brand of expected respect. She herself almost hadn’t survived her training period with Tianbing, and her ribs ached from the memory of what they’d gone through from the tips of his shiny black shoes.
    Xiao Mei didn’t react to the news. An Ni turned her head so that they wouldn’t see the rogue tear that slid down her face. Not for herself, but for Xiao Mei. She felt the girl’s tiny arm slip around her and squeeze gently for support. Xiao Mei was still innocent and wouldn’t be able to save herself—that much was for sure.

 
    Chapter Three

    B y the next afternoon, the rain had not relented. With one hand on the tattered rope, her ladder over her shoulder, and one hand clutching her camera bag, Mari led the camel down the rocky path to the parking lot. In her cheap plastic slippers, her feet were already soaked, and since she’d run out of the apartment late and forgotten her raincoat, the colorful outfit she wore would soon be wet too. With her long, dark hair already damp, it would be a long walk to get the camel to his shed, and then back up the hill for her equipment, then a long walk to the bus stop where she’d get her ride close to home. Even thinking of it exhausted her. She just hoped the weather was a passing shower and wouldn’t turn into a thunder and lightning storm. Her small patio garden could use the rain, but only if it continued slow and steady, instead of becoming the torrential downpour that threatened.
    The camel grunted behind her and stopped. Mari turned around and faced it.
    “ Guo lai, Chu Chu.” She urged it to come along. It stood its ground, glaring at her in defiance. It was no secret that he preferred to be handled by her husband. The beast hated women and always had.
    Mari tugged again. He will not win this battle . Yes, the camel was cranky and tired, but so was she. At least she had been for the last few months, since her husband had fallen off the blasted animal and hurt his back. Now the business—their only livelihood—was totally in her hands. No longer did she simply bring customers in with gentle smiles and persuasion, hand them off to Bolin, then sell them a photo. Now she had to bring them in, get them dressed in traditional Chinese garb, help hoist them onto the camel, then even take their photo. What had always been too much for even two people now fell on her shoulders alone.
    Finally Chu Chu moved forward a foot, and Mari sighed in relief, despite the pinch the ladder was making in her shoulder muscle. Then the camel stopped again. What does the stubborn animal want? Mari had already fed him, and she’d even covered his back with an old plastic tarp because she knew he hated the rain. Why did they have to own such a snippy old creature? Was he too drunk from the beers she’d given him? She knew alcohol wasn’t good for Chu Chu, but the tourists loved it, and Bolin made her promise she’d do it to give them a better chance at more tips. Now besides him being stubborn and drunk, the rain was making him smell horrid.
    She looked behind the camel to see people hurrying down the lane, too inconvenienced by the rain to continue their sight-seeing on the Great Wall. They walked—some running—with their bodies bent and newspapers, bags, or umbrellas over their heads to keep from getting wet.
    On each side of the road, the street merchants with small shops worked fast to pull their items in so they could close the wooden shutters and save their merchandise. It’d be a tough afternoon for most; because of the rain, they’d lose a lot of sales before nightfall. Mari cursed under her breath. She’d really started to hate her life and the selling competition that was such a big part of the Great Wall experience. But they were lucky. Permits to work at the Great Wall of China were hard to come by, and even with it, the government still got the largest piece of profit. It’d taken them three years to