China by Edward Rutherfurd (historical books to read TXT) 📕

Then Bright Moon started to cry. And Mei-Ling cried with her. And stayed with her for an hour until she had fallen asleep.

But she herself lay awake for a long time afterwards. And she thought of all the good things about her husband and wished she could speak to him just one more time, at least to say goodbye.

And then she felt anger towards him for leaving her like this, as the living often do towards the dead.

—

Her son slept and she would not let anyone disturb him. He slept through the evening, all through the night, and into the next morning. At noon he woke. Mei-Ling brought him a little food; and she made him go for a long walk in the afternoon. It wasn’t until the evening that he faced the rest of the family, who gathered to hear his story.

Elder Son presided. It was strange to see him sitting in old Mr. Lung’s chair, trying to look important. As long as her husband was alive, Elder Son knew that however little he did, there was someone else to take over control. But now Second Son was suddenly gone. Until Mei-Ling’s boys were older, there was no one to be head of the Lung family. Perhaps Elder Son meant to do his duty after all, though she wondered how long that would last.

“Tell us how it happened,” he said gravely.

“It was an accident,” his nephew explained. “No one’s fault, really. Laying the tracks is hard work, but it isn’t difficult. The work’s always the same. Clear the land, build the foundation, place the wooden crossties, then the iron rails on top of them. You have to be careful because the timber and iron are all so heavy, but it’s all routine and we knew what we were doing. Everything was all right until we went up into the mountains.”

“What mountains?”

“A range they call the Sierra Nevada. Runs parallel to the coast. The mountains are high, but the railroad has to cross them to go east. It can be dangerous working in the passes.”

“How did he die?”

“An avalanche. No one saw it coming. The foreman had sent me down the line to order extra gravel. I’d gone just a quarter of a mile when I turned and saw a section of cliff high above the tracks split from the mountain and come sliding down. It was almost silent for a moment, and it seemed to be moving quite slowly. Then there was a rumble, and a sort of gravelly hiss, and then a roar. I could see rocks bouncing down the mountainside, and the earthslide was so fast it was almost like a waterfall. Then a huge cloud of dust at the bottom.” He paused. “We all started working with shovels or anything we could use to dig the men out. There were twenty or thirty. A lot of them were quite badly hurt and two or three suffocated. But we didn’t find Father.”

“He didn’t escape?”

“I thought he might have and I kept calling his name, but there was no sign of him. So I just kept digging with some of the other fellows. And after an hour I found him. Well, what was left of him. A big boulder hit him. It must have killed him at once.” He glanced at his mother and little sister, then at his brother. “I’m sure he didn’t feel any pain.”

“When was this?”

“About a year ago.”

“Then why,” asked Elder Son, “did you return? You should have completed your contract.” Mei-Ling looked at him furiously, but Elder Son shook his head and continued sternly: “You must have given up a lot of money, and that’s what you went there for.”

“I know. I thought of all that,” said the young man. “And I didn’t leave. They gave me what was due to Father, and I went on working.”

“Then why are you here now?” Elder Son pursued relentlessly.

“The young American came by. He checks on all the people he transports. I believe he’s the only one who does that. So he knew about Father before he even got to me. Then he said, ‘Do you know there’s smallpox in the next work camp?’ Well, I’d heard a rumor that some of the rail workers were sick, but since I was under contract, I didn’t see much point in worrying about it. ‘You’re to get out of here,’ he told me. ‘I watch out for my Chinese fellows, and I’m not losing you as well as your father.’ ”

“That’s all very well…” Elder Son started, but his nephew hurried on.

“I was going to refuse. But he said he did a lot of business with the railroad and he’d take care of it. And before I knew it, he’d got them to pay out my full contract and Father’s as well; and I was on my way back home.”

“Let me see the money you brought,” said Elder Son.

“It’s in a safe place,” said Mother firmly. “I’ll show you tomorrow.”

All this time, Mei-Ling was watching her daughter, who’d been listening, wide-eyed but silent. Then Bright Moon closed her eyes, as though she was trying to shut the news out. When the little girl opened her eyes again, her look was so blank that Mei-Ling had the feeling that her daughter was retreating, closing herself off from them all, like a person folding their arms across their chest. She hoped it would pass.

“Where is your father buried?” she asked her son.

“Farther down the valley. It’s a proper grave. I’d know where to find it.”

She nodded slowly. Would she ever tend her husband’s grave? She didn’t imagine so.

“What is this place like, this California?” asked Elder Son.

“The weather’s mild, drier than here. America’s big, but not many people.”

“They don’t have big cities like ours?” Elder Son asked.

“Not in California. Not yet, anyway. There are big cities in other parts of America. But mostly they don’t have walls around them.”

“How can you have a city without walls?” said Mother. “What if you’re