All Bets Off by Jaime Clevenger

Author:Jaime Clevenger [Clevenger, Jaime]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: historical romance
Publisher: Spinsters Ink
Published: 2015-09-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

April 19, 1906

At dawn, I saw the green grass lining the boundary of the Presidio. A military guard was pacing the sidewalk near the entrance gate. He saw me approach and jogged over to catch the reins.

He said something unintelligible and repeated it twice. The only part I understood was: “Well, you’ve had a rough night, no doubt. Barely alive.”

“Barely.”

He pointed toward the hillside facing the bay. “Follow the path and you’ll run into another guard. He’ll give you an assigned tent and direct you to the medical tent.”

I didn’t need a medical tent. I needed a cot and a warm blanket. Trader and Midge stumbled behind me as we made our way through the army’s training ground. As explained, another guard was waiting for me near the first hill. He asked me my name and whether I was traveling with any relations. I guessed they were starting a census to determine how many lives had been lost, but I didn’t want to know the number.

“I have no relations with me,” I answered.

“You’re alone in the wagon?” he asked.

What he meant to ask was, how could a girl be driving a wagon team in the dark? All of the streetlights were out and, if not for Lee’s candle, which I lit several times over the past few hours to check the route down Broadway Street, there would have been no way I would have reached the Presidio by dawn. “No. I have two passengers. Sarah Douglas and,” I paused, realizing that I didn’t know Lee’s son’s name. I tried to think of a name quickly so that the officer wouldn’t be suspicious. “And a Son of Lee.”

“Chinese?” He spit out the question with his face twisted in a grimace.

I nodded, feeling my jade pendant swing on my neck. What had the Chinese done to this ugly soldier to make him hate even the word? He could easily see in the wagon, so I didn’t bother lying. “My father worked with the Lee family and they are upright citizens.” I had to defend the family to this guard even if he wouldn’t listen to me. “The rest of the Lee family perished in the disaster yesterday.”

“We are placing the Chinese in a separate area from the other evacuees. He’ll have to get out of your wagon now and walk to the Chinese camp.” The officer scribbled my name and the names of my two passengers in his notebook. “How many were in the Lee family? I have to record all casualties.”

“Four casualties in the Lee family. I don’t know their first names.”

“Surname is adequate for the Chinese list.” The gatekeeper pointed down the road and groaned. “I don’t believe it. Another load.”

I turned to look in the direction he pointed and spotted two soldiers in a wagon that looked familiar. After a moment I realized that it was Jack McCain’s. Someone had taken the wagon from the stableyard, and apparently the army had later assumed control of it. But I

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