Who Speaks for the Damned by C. S. Harris

Author:C. S. Harris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-04-06T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

J i watched the barges from a wharf near the grim, looming fortress Hayes had called the Tower of London.

The River Thames was a wonder to Ji. The waterways and canals of Canton were filled with vessels of every description—junks, chop boats, sampans, coffin boats, leper boats, and endless houseboats jammed one next to the other and occupied by people who lived their entire lives on water. Ji still found it amazing that there were no houseboats clogging this river.

But today’s parade of carved, gilded barges with their flapping silk banners and rich carpets felt familiar to Ji—an ostentatious display of wealth and privilege that seemed expressly designed to emphasize the existence of a gulf much wider than the expanse of mere water that separated these special beings from the ragged, hungry crowds who cheered them from every bridge and wharf.

Ji had played the bamboo flute for the first time that morning. It was a form of begging, really, and that knowledge had brought feelings of great shame. But the battered old tin cup Ji had bought from a street stall filled quickly—too quickly, for the lilting, haunting music was so strange to English ears that it drew a great deal of attention. And too much attention could be deadly.

Ji would need to be careful, playing the flute just enough to buy a safe place to sleep at night and keep from going hungry, but not so much as to attract the man Poole.

Poole and whatever dangerous enemy had hired him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.