Bless the Bride

didn’t want to hand her over to Captain Kear either. I deeply regretted my rash behavior in bringing her here. When would I learn to think first and not act on impulse? I came to a decision: I would tell Sid and Gus the whole story, as much as I knew it. They were worldly wise, intelligent women. I would let them suggest our next course of action.
    “You can go back to your nap,” I said, “but whatever you do, don’t try to leave the house. Every policeman in New York is looking for you. I want to speak to our hostesses. We must decide what to do with you.”
    “They will believe I am innocent,” she said defiantly. “They are good, kind women.”
    I was on my way to the door when I heard deep pounding coming from below. Someone was hammering on the front door. Bo Kei leaped to her feet and ran over to me.
    “The police have found me,” she whimpered.
    “Let’s hope not. Stay put until I come back.”
    As I came out onto the upper landing Sid was coming up the stairs. She held a piece of paper in her hand.
    “That was a messenger boy,” she said. “It’s a message from Sarah Lindley for Bo Kei. Not good news, I’m afraid.”
    She handed me the sheet of paper. It read: I AM SORRY TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR FRIEND ANNIE HAS JUST PASSED AWAY.

Twenty-eight
     
     
     
    Bo Kei was distraught when I told her the sad news. Her face crumpled and she broke into noisy sobs.
    “No, this can’t be true,” she said. “How did she die?”
    I went to sit on the bed beside her and put my hand gently on hers. “She was very sick, Bo. She had consumption. People who catch that disease don’t get better.”
    “No!” She was shaking her head violently now. “She tell me she not so sick. She says she will soon be well and we will go away from New York together.”
    I looked at her with pity. “I’m sure she said that to make you feel better. She didn’t want to upset you with the knowledge that she was going to die.”
    “But yesterday she was well. She was jumping around and laughing. Having good time. She has plenty strength to—” She broke off. “She was plenty strong,” she corrected herself. She stood up suddenly. “I must go to see her.”
    “You know that’s not possible. It’s too dangerous for you to leave the house at the moment. You must stay here.”
    “But I must. I must make sure her bones are taken back to China or she will never rest.”
    “You were raised by Christian nuns, Bo Kei,” I said. “Surely you believe that her soul has gone up to heaven. It doesn’t matter what happens to her bones.”
    “But Chinese believe bones must be buried with ancestors or ghosts will walk without home.” She shook her head, sending out a spray of tears. “All my fault. I should never leave her behind when I come here. I beg you to bring her along, but you say no.”
    “Bo Kei, I couldn’t risk bringing a dreadful disease like consumption into my friends’ home. You have to understand that. I was trying to do my best to save you. I should have left well enough alone.”
    “Yes,” she said. “If I had been with Annie, maybe she would still be alive.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean maybe she doesn’t die from this wasting disease. New York is dangerous place. Perhaps bad men find her.”
    “What bad men are you talking about?”
    I stared at her. She shrugged. “Plenty bad men in New York,” she said.
    I wasn’t quite sure where this was going. “But she didn’t run away from the brothel, did she? She was thrown out because of her disease.”
    “Yes, but…” She hesitated, chewing on her lip. I sensed that she wanted to tell me more, but was afraid to.
    It’s not your business. Don’t get involved. The words boomed through my head. As usual I ignored them.
    “I’ll go to the settlement house, if you like,” I said. “I can find out for you what will happen to her body and where she’ll be buried.”
    “Okay.” She nodded, defeated. “You tell them I must know where they bury her, because one day it is my duty, as family member, to take her home to our village in China.”
    “I’ll tell them that,” I said, thinking that it was most likely that poor Annie would be buried in the potter’s field with all the others who couldn’t afford a proper funeral. I went across to Gus’s studio and poked my head around the door. Gus was sitting with her back to me, facing a canvas covered in a bewildering array of dots.
    “What do you think?” she asked. “I’m