Chapter 7: The Last Night Before

The shutters went up at nine that night, and Auntie Hu counted the till without a word.

She hadn't said anything all day about the thief on the roof or the banker's wife in the storeroom.

At the stair she turned and looked at Jinyu for a moment too long.

"There's hot water in the pot upstairs," she said. "For two."

Then she went into the annex and shut her door.

Jinyu stood alone in the empty hall and put her forehead against the cool post.

Upstairs, a lamp was lit in her room.

Qiao sat on the edge of the bed with her glasses folded in her lap, and the ledger on the table, tied shut.

She looked up when Jinyu came in.

"Dawn," she said.

"Dawn."

"Tomorrow they'll turn out every room on the lane."

"I know."

"And the ledger will be in the stove, or in a sack of tea under a sergeant's boots."

"We'll think of something in the morning."

"I know." Qiao stood. "I don't want to think tonight."

She crossed the floor and took Jinyu's hands.

"Last night, you led," she said. "I let you. I wasn't brave enough to do anything but fall."

"You were very brave."

"I was shaking."

"So was I."

Qiao's mouth trembled into a smile.

"Tonight I'd like to try," she said. "If you'll let me. I don't know how to do it well."

Jinyu looked at her, the earnest face and the ink on her fingers and the crooked collar of the borrowed gown.

"Show me what you know," she said.

Qiao drew her to the bed, sat her down on the edge, and knelt on the floor in front of her.

"Take your hair down," she said.

Jinyu lifted her hands to the brass pin.

It slid out, and the heavy knot of black hair came loose over her shoulders.

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