THE IMPERIAL ENGINEER by Judith B. Glad Read Free Book Online

arrangements for regular
transportation yet, since I've spent so little time in town. Before winter I suppose I should
do so."
    "Do you have any objection to riding out with Miss Petersham and the young man
who is bringing her? He is a gentleman."
    "Not at all. It will be a pleasure to meet him. I know so few local residents."
    "Good. I'll have him call for you about half past one." He tipped his hat and
walked toward the hitching rail where his buggy waited.
    "Lulu?"
    She turned around. A small shiver of pleasure made its way up her spine. "Hello
Tao...Tony."
    "I didn't know you were back in town. Will you be here long?"
    "Off and on. I still have some trips planned." Deliberately she didn't tell him they'd
be short and infrequent.
    "Then it's a good thing I caught you. I wanted to apologize."
    "Apologize? What for?"
    "You don't remember?" he chuckled. "Perhaps I shouldn't remind you why you
were ready to snatch me baldheaded the last time we met."
    "Oh, that. I decided it was perfectly typical of you." She turned toward home and
started walking. Having him beside her seemed natural and comfortable. "You always
were so protective of us girls. I never understood why. Not with someone like Soomey for
a mother."
    He was silent for several paces. At last he said, "I think it was because I was
always so afraid something would happen to one of you. I'd learned the hard way that life
is...uncertain." His voice broke on the last word.
    She waited, changing her usual vigorous stride to a slow stroll. Tony so seldom
shared his innermost thoughts with anyone. If he was about to, she didn't want to distract
him.
    "Do you remember the first time I came to Cherry Vale? In some ways it was one
of the most frightening experiences I've ever faced."
    "It must have been terrifying. Being snatched off your horse and hugged half to
death. That would certainly frighten anyone." She did remember that day, and in her
mind's eye saw the skinny, hungry-looking little kid who'd cowered away when the whole
Lachlan family and the three King children burst from the house as the small cavalcade
rode across the pasture. "What were you so afraid of?"
    He stopped and stared off into the distance, as if the answer were written on the
bright blue sky. "I don't know," he admitted. "That I'd wake up and it would all be a dream,
I think. Nothing I'd ever experienced had led me to believe there could be a place in the
world as wonderful--as safe --as Cherry Vale."
    Sensing a deep loneliness and a great need within him, Lulu slipped her arm
through his. "You've never told us about what happened to you before Soomey adopted
you. Why not? Was it so horrible?" While working in the Relocation Program, Lulu had
been sickened by the crimes committed again children too young to be worth anything to
those who would exploit the helpless. Had Tony been like those pathetic victims of war
and hate and intolerance?
    "Compared to some, no. I came to America with my father. I'm not sure why we
came, but I think he was running away from something, some danger. He'd been an
Imperial guard, so whatever drove him from China must have been serious. Unlike many
who worked only toward returning home rich, he saw this country as a new start. A future
for both of us.
    "We were in a little gold camp outside of Sumpter, over in Oregon" he said, his
voice dropping to little more than a whisper. "The whole place was one vast tent city,
because no one wanted to take the time to cut logs and build houses. Any sawn wood went
into rockers and sluices. The camp sat in a narrow canyon, so the tents were crowded
together until you could hardly walk between."
    Again a long pause, as if what was to come next was still painful.
    "It was early fall. Not much timber was left standing within a couple of miles of
town, but there was still a good bit of undergrowth, and a lot of slash from trimming the
logs when they were felled. There hadn't been any rain for perhaps six weeks, and the
hillsides were