Shadow's Stand Read Free

padre.”
Padre was a loose term for preacher, that she understood. But if the man of God who served this camp had ever known the inner peace that came from greater wisdom and a connection to his ancestors, it was long gone. He drank to excess and always smelled of urine and vomit and was rarely coherent. Yet they still called him a man of God.
There were many things she didn’t understand about this land. Her father had raised her in the way of his people, separate from the world, trained in obedience and duty. Until he’d decided to leave their home in China where he was but a third son and return to America with her and Lin to take up work on the railroad and make his own fortune. Dutiful daughter had never been a role with which she was comfortable, but life was exhausting outside it. She couldn’t wait for the day when she could escape. Her cousin wanted to go back to China. Fei Yen didn’t know where she wanted to go, just someplace where there was peace. She would really like to live in a world where she wasn’t seen as “less.”
The priest stumbled forward, hawking and spitting as he got close. “You decide to marry up, Fei?”
His lack of cleanliness was an affront. More so than his abbreviation of her name. She bowed slightly. The priest looked over at the thief. “Are you sure about this one? He’s more likely to kill you than help you.”
Could no one stop harping on that? “My father made the choice.”
“Jian’s a strange one, but you’re a good daughter to do what he says.”
She wasn’t, but she tried. Sometimes. Bowing, she kept her voice. “It is my duty.”
The thief still watched her. She felt his gaze like that of a burn on her skin. He didn’t have the look of a thief. There was pride in his stance and an arrogance in the lift of his chin that one didn’t expect to see in a criminal.
“Are you sure he’s guilty?”
“As guilty as sin, Miss Fei,” the padre responded.
She still couldn’t believe it. The thief cocked an eyebrow in response to her searching look. There was something about the man that led her to believe he wasn’t what he seemed. Then again, neither was she.
“Are you sure your pappy won’t reconsider this one?”
Not looking up, she nodded. It was humiliating, standing there in front of men who knew she was purchasing a husband. And not even one of decent character or her race, but just the next available. Because they thought her father wanted it, and they thought she was an obedient daughter. When nothing could be further from the truth. It was her secret shame.
The prisoner’s eyes narrowed. For a thief he had quite an attitude.
“Sure you don’t want to wait a bit, Miss Fei? There’s bound to be a white man along shortly.”
A white man who would feel superior to her because of the color of his skin. A white man whom all would see as superior to her because of her mixed heritage.
She kept her voice soft. “I cannot go against my father’s wishes.”
“Ain’t natural, him pandering you out,” Herbert muttered. Herbert was older, decent, a worn-out miner bent from too many hours panning for gold, and she’d often wondered what kept him among these men of no honor.
“Don’t be talking a daughter out of her duty,” the padre snapped.
She wished the priest’s concern was for her well-being, but she knew it was from fear of losing her father’s skill with explosives and what that would do to the income of the men who bought him his liquor.
“Don’t see why the man can’t just hire help like others,” Herbert muttered.
“He’s Chinese,” Barney interjected. “They’ve got strange notions.”
As long as they believed that, it would work for her.
“Well, what’ll it be, woman? Either he’ll do or he won’t,” the sheriff snapped. “If we’re not going to have a hanging, then I want to get back to drinking.”
Her stomach clenched. She had to make this decision. Years of discipline maintained her poise as she found her courage. “If you