Back in New York

Two Weeks Later…

Roy followed Chon off the ship in a daze. His bright blue eyes had lost their spark.

Chon was worried about his friend. He stopped to let Roy catch up.

"I was so close, Chon! So close to finally finding happiness…" his voice trailed off.

Chon's face darkened. "Roy, Lin knows she will never see you again. You need to except that fact. She has set you free."

Roy looked at Chon as they continued walking. "Free from what?" he looked back at the ground.

Chon smiled knowingly. "Marriage."

Roy's head snapped up. "Marriage? Who said anything about marriage?"

" See, Roy, you are afraid of commitment. You could not have survived marriage. It's for the best."

Roy's eyes grew wide as he realized it was true. "I never thought of that. I guess it's for the best."

Chon smiled. "Right. Now quit acting like…"

"Like I'm in the doghouse?" Roy finished.

Chon nodded. "Come on, let's get our stuff. It's still in your hotel room, right?"

"Yeah I didn't have time to pick it up before we left for England."

When they reach the front steps, Roy grabbed the sleeve of Chon's coat and pulled him aside. "Hey, it's only been six weeks since the incident with the mayor's daughters. We can't just waltz in there like nothing ever happened! They'll arrest us in a heartbeat!"

Suddenly, Chon had a thought. "Roy, where's our luggage?"

"Umm…our luggage?"

"Yes!"

A woman rode up on a horse pulling a cart of trunks behind her. "Is this yours?" she asked.

Roy looked up in surprise. "Yeah, how'd you know? I didn't see you on the ship."

" I was there, I never saw you either. Papa was the one who recognized this stuff as yours. He's over talking to the baggage Handler because he lost our luggage. So he asked me to bring this to you." She leapt to the ground in a flurry of skirt ruffles.

Roy held out his hand. "Roy O'Bannon. Pleasure."

The woman shook his hand with surprising firmness in her grip. "This is my friend, Chon Wang." Roy continued motioning to Chon. The woman also shook Chon's hand.

"I'm Roxanne Owens," She said.

Roy looked Roxanne over. She was about the same height Chon. She had golden blond hair, bright blue eyes, and mischievous smile. She was wearing a blue –violet dress that was trimmed with black. She wore a hat that sat at a rakish angle. Though thoughts of Lin still lingered in his mind, his flirtatious instincts took hold. "So what does your father do? I seem to remember someone by the name of Owens, but I can't quite remember his first name…what was it?"

"He's a banker," Roxanne explained. "His name is Frederick Owens. He and I have been out west of helping establish new banks in small towns."

Suddenly, Roy realized where he'd heard that name before.

Roxanne continued, "he was in London to conduct business with a friend of his named Parker Smith. Would you like to meet papa?"

"Uhhh…no …I don't think I should." Roy replied nervously.

Roxanne's expression seemed to ask "why?"

"Look, Roxy. Can I call you Roxy? Several years ago, I was on, I guess, the wrong side of the law. Anyway, I robbed a bank that belonged to your dad!"

Chon interrupted. "What about the luggage?"

"Oh, right," Roy said, returning from his flirtations.

Roxanne led the two around the cart so they could make sure the trunks were theirs. As they walked, Roxanne asked Roy, "did you ever kill anybody?"

Roy looked nervously at Chon. "Uhhh…no, I haven't." he lied.

Chon opened one of the trunks. "Roy, I think you need to see this."

Roy and Roxanne peered into the trunk. They saw a young tramp who couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen years old laying face down on the contents of the trunk. There were red stains everywhere. Roxanne was horrified. She looked at Roy in shock.

"I didn't do it!" Roy said in defense when he saw Roxanne's expression. He turned his head over his shoulder and shouted at the boy, "Hey, scram you little punk!"

The young tramp stirred and sat up, revealing the source of the stains. An inkbottle they had received from Queen Victoria had broken, spilling the red ink.

"Charlie!" Chon exclaimed.

"Where am I?" Charlie asked, brushing his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.

"Where are we? We're in New York!" Roy said in annoyance.

"Who are you?" Roxanne asked.

"The name's Charlie Chaplain," he answered, climbing out of the trunk.

"Why are you here?" Chon asked.

"I thought I could go to Hollywood with you."

Roy rolled his eyes. "You have got to be kidding!"

Roxanne's interest was sparked. "You're going to California?"

"Yes," Chon said.

"Could I come with you?" She asked hopefully. "I've wanted to go to California for some time!"

"I thought you said you and your dad worked in the west." Roy commented.

"We did, but we only went as far west as Nevada." She explained. " But I've heard California is beautiful."

Roy and Chon were a bit wary of letting a woman join them. It would have been no problem if they didn't have Charlie to look after.

"Roxy, Charlie, I have a job for you." Roy said.

Chong caught the fleeting flash in Roy's eyes that told him Roy was thinking of some sort of plan. However, the question in his mind was "What is it?"