Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson

Author:Rae Carson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

My friend stands at the stable door, and even though she’s supposed to be back in Glory, taking care of the Worst Tavern, I’m so glad to see her. She’s wearing a printed wool challis dress, with beautiful patterns in swirling red and purple. I throw my arms around her and hug tight, before remembering she doesn’t much like to be hugged.

I step away sheepishly. “Sorry. I’m just really glad to see you.”

“I forgive you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“About a week after you left Glory, I missed you and decided to come to San Francisco to find you.”

I study her face. “That sounds like a bunch of hogwash.”

She frowns.

“Mary? What happened?”

She becomes fascinated by the bridle hanging beside Peony’s stall. “Nothing. I mean, I left before something could happen.”

“Mary! Tell me!”

Her frown deepens. “It wasn’t safe for me, all right? Once my friends left, everyone expected me to . . . be like I was before. Some of the men were . . . demanding. They just assumed that because I’m a girl from China, I’m in a certain line of work. So I left.”

“Oh. I see.” And I do. Mary was a prostitute before she joined up with us in Glory. At barely seventeen years old.

“This town is even bigger than when I was here last,” she says, but I won’t let her change the subject just yet.

“What about the Worst Tavern? Becky left you in charge.” She glares, and I hold up my hands in protest. “Not judging. Just asking.”

She sighs. “Old Tug and some of his Buckeyes are working the place in shifts—when they’re not working claims. They’re terrible cooks, but no worse than Becky.”

“And how is Tug? Wait . . . is he one of the fellows who—”

“No! He’s the best man in Glory, if you ask me. Kept an eye on me as best he could, but he couldn’t be there every waking moment. Even Wilhelm could only loom so much. But you and Becky and the Major—you’re the leaders in our town. And once you left . . . one of the Buckeyes’ claims was jumped. And a group came down from Rough and Ready trying to make trouble. Almost had our very own gunfight, but Tug talked them down. It’s just not the same without you all there.”

“So you set off for San Francisco. All on your own. Mary, that was dangerous! You could have—”

“Hey! I stowed away on a ship and traveled across an ocean all by myself. And if I recall correctly, you covered half a continent with nothing but your mare and a saddlebag. So don’t be lecturing me about it now!” Her eyes are bright and fierce, made more so by the meager lantern light.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry we left you there all alone.” It doesn’t set well, that Glory could turn out as lawless and frightening as any other frontier town. As if Glory’s residents are a parcel of naughty children who play dangerously when their mama and daddy are away.

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