CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains a rather offensive racial slur against Chinese Americans that saw common use in the 19th century and is still in use today. My use of the word comes not from a place of ignorance or hatred, but out of a desire to show how idiotic people can be when they see themselves on a racial pedestal, as was common in the 19th century. If this kind of language upsets you, I'd recommend skipping this chapter. Otherwise, I hope you all enjoy.

Valentine was one of those towns that could be smelled before it was seen. The stench of methane permeated all corners of the small town, from the tent colony on its outskirts to the relative bustle of main street, where the saloon attracted tough mountain men and hardscrabble farmers from all over New Hanover.

The wagon approached on the west side of Valentine and pulled up near the stables. Daiyu released the reins and hopped off into the muddy street, joining Tabitha and Cripps on the other side.

"Well, here we are." Tabitha spread her arms as she faced the main street. "The pinnacle of western civilization. Been a while since I've been this far north."

"I used to come here all the time," remembered Cripps. "Did I ever tell you ladies about the time I wrestled a bull that had escaped from a rodeo?"

"Many times, Cripps," Tabitha groaned.

"Well, that happened here." Cripps pointed at the ground. "No offense to you two, but the women used to love me up here. Called me 'Cripps the Lips', they did, 'cause I kissed so good."

"I'm sure you were quite the catch back in your youth," Tabitha chuckled. "How about you save them stories for the campfire, old man?"

"Sure thing, miss. I'm gonna head to the general store I think, buy us some supper for tonight."

"Sounds good. I'll head over to the sheriff's office and scope it out, ask what all jobs are available, then hit up the gunsmith and replenish all our ammo…Daiyu, you can come with me or go with Cripps, which you thinkin'?"

Daiyu thought for a moment, scratching her chin as she looked over the tiny town. After a moment, she pointed at Cripps, who gave a satisfied grin.

"Oh, I see how it is, Daiyu," Tabitha smirked. "Choosin' him over your best friend, huh?"

"I told you, Miss Tabitha; must be the high mountain air up here that makes all the women love me."

Tabitha cackled at Cripps' joke. "Go on, old man. You two have fun, you hear?"

"We will."

Cripps and Daiyu waved Tabitha good-bye as she headed down main street. Spotting the general store not far to their left, Cripps led the way, Daiyu following close behind.

"Y'know, Miss Daiyu, you're not even the first mute I've ever worked with," Cripps remarked. "There was this other feller I knew, by the name of Silent Tim. He wasn't like you, he was mute from birth 'cause he'd been strangled by his mom's umbilical cord, but that boy was quick with his gun, and he was quick at writin', too. The way we communicated with him was, he would write his thoughts down on this little easel with a piece of chalk, and then show it to us. Can you read or write, Miss Daiyu?"

Daiyu shook her head sadly.

"Well, let me teach you some things then," he offered, stopping in front of the general store. "I'm not the best at it myself, but maybe I can teach you some basic words at least. Heck, I know Miss Tabitha can't read or write neither, so the two of you can learn together, what do you say?"

Cripps received a grateful smile from Daiyu, who nodded readily.

"Well alright then." Cripps smiled and patted Daiyu's shoulder. "We'll look for some learnin' materials while we're in there. You look over the rest of their wares, see if there's anything you want."

Cripps pushed open the door for Daiyu, who entered cautiously. The man at the counter greeted her with a friendly nod.

"Howdy," he said. "Haven't seen you two here before."

"Just got into town today," said Cripps, closing the door behind him. "Say, partner, do you have any basic reading materials, and maybe an easel and chalk as well?"

"We should have some in the back," the clerk remembered. "Follow me."

Cripps followed the man into a back room, leaving Daiyu on the sales floor by herself.

The Chinese girl walked slowly, taking a deliberate interest in the candy section of the store. She picked out a small box of sugary morsels and a huge bar of chocolate, both of which she placed quickly in her satchel before the store clerk could notice.

She then made her way over to the counter, where a catalogue sat half-open. Even though Daiyu couldn't read the descriptions of items, she was rather taken by the clothing section, which showcased a nice selection of dresses, corsets, blouses, trousers, and a plethora of accessories such as gloves, neckties, spurs, and pendants.

"Well thank you, sir." Cripps emerged from the backroom, carrying a couple of basic reading books and an easel. "We're in luck, Miss Daiyu, this fella helped us. We can start on this reading whenever you and Miss Tabitha have some time."

Daiyu's smile lit up the room. Even though she was unable to verbally thank Cripps, this smile was so genuine and so bright that it could be taken as a universal sign of gratefulness.

"You interested in the clothes, miss?" asked the clerk. "There's a changin' room back there, if you wanna try some stuff on."

Daiyu looked back down at the catalogue, squinting at a particular outfit that she liked. Taking the catalogue with her, she entered the changing room, the clerk's eyes following her all the way.

"Just so you know, miss, I was gonna take inventory here in a minute, so I wouldn't steal nothin' if I were you."

Daiyu looked back at the clerk, nodding affirmatively. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment that she had been suspected of shoplifting. Was it something she had done that had given her away? Or, as was more often the case, was it because she was Chinese?

She closed the door to the changing room in the back of the store, leaving her alone with a room full of clothing. Looking up, she found the item she had been looking for, called the Fairbairn Dress by the catalogue. Feeling the dress's soft fabric between her fingers, Daiyu's face lit up, and she went to work unbuttoning her blouse so she could try the garment on.

"So lemme get this straight, partner," Tabitha asked the deputy. "You sayin' you ain't got no jobs for women?"

"Not in this town, we don't," the deputy replied snidely. "Sheriff Malloy is a traditionalist, he don't want no women gettin' themselves killed on his watch."

"Gettin' ourselves killed?" Tabitha laughed in disbelief. "We ain't housewives lookin' for a fix, mister, we're professionals. Ask the fella over in Tumbleweed, he'll vouch for us!"

"I can't help you, miss." The deputy rose from his chair. "If you want, you can go to the sheriff yourselves, ask him to hear you out. He's on assignment out at Painted Sky."

"So he just goes out on a trip and leaves the whole town to you, of all people?" Tabitha chuckled, shaking her head. "Wise decision there, sheriff."

"Hey, watch your mouth," the deputy threatened. "Or I won't think twice about puttin' you in the cell."

"For hurtin' your wittle feewings?" Tabitha scoffed. "I sure hope the sheriff is more of a man than you. Otherwise, this town is screwed."

"You will be too if you don't get outta this office in five seconds!"

The deputy was livid by this point, his face flushed red and his eyes bulging out of his skull. Seeing this and not wanting to be arrested, Tabitha quickly exited the sheriff's office, making her way across the street to the gunsmith.

"Dammit, Tabitha," she whispered to herself. "That temper of yours is gonna get you lynched in this town. You've got to control yourself, sugar."

With a heavy sigh, she pushed open the door to a business that had several posters of different weapons plastered on the windows, greeting the man inside with a nod.

"Welcome," said the gunsmith. "How can I help you today?"

"Lookin' to stock up on ammo, sir," said Tabitha, withdrawing her money. "We got ambushed on the road earlier and need all of it we can get."

"Well, you've come to the right place. Take a look at the catalogue here."

Tabitha nodded and ventured over to the counter, noticing some of the shiny new weapons the clerk had in stock. However, she knew that her budget was limited and that she should stick to ammo.

Knowing that Daiyu's gun had seen extensive use over the past couple of days, she bought several boxes of repeater cartridges, along with just as many boxes of rounds for her two revolvers. Although the pair rarely used shotguns, as they considered them too messy, Tabitha also bought a couple boxes of slugs, just in case they ran into any grizzly bears or wolves on their travels up north.

"Maybe I could interest you in a new sniper rifle?" the gunsmith offered. "Next time, you'll be able to see the fellers on the road before they see you."

"Oh, uh, I'd rather not," Tabitha laughed. "We're a bit low on funds right now."

"Like I always tell my customers: how much money would you put down on your lives?"

"Well, we've been survivin' thus far," Tabitha mused. "Despite some folks' best efforts to the contrary."

"Hmm….Tell you what," said the gunsmith. "You're a first-time customer, so I'll give you twenty-five percent off, and include the scope and some rifling at no extra charge."

"You seem mighty eager to get rid of that gun, mister," Tabitha said suspiciously.

"I can just see that you're no joke, miss. That gun belt, the bloodstains on your shirt, the smell of sweat and gunpowder, I can see that folk shouldn't be messin' with you. With some long-range weaponry, they'll be less likely to try somethin' like they did earlier today."

Tabitha's eyes widened; she looked down at her work shirt, whose sleeves were indeed stained with tiny flecks of blood. She hadn't even noticed this before the clerk had pointed it out, but this was most likely the blood of the men she had killed, and the transfer onto her shirt had occurred while she had been looting their bodies.

She sighed, looking at the gunsmith.

"Alright, smooth-talker, you got me. I'll take it."

The gunsmith smiled, a thin smile of success as he rang up the purchase.

"Your total comes to three hundred ten dollars even," he said.

"Goodness gracious. So much for that new wagon, Cripps…" Tabitha reached into her satchel and withdrew more bills. Recounting them, she noticed she was a bit short. "Erm…Would you mind holdin' onto this purchase for me while I go grab some more money?"

"Will do, miss."

"Thank you, baby." She turned to go, then stopped to look back at him. "…Say, uh, is my smell really that bad, or were you just jokin' with me?"

"It's not as bad as some of the men that stop in here," the clerk assured her. "But if it bothers you, there's a hotel at the other end of the street where you can pay for a bath. I'll hold your purchase right here for you."

"I appreciate it."

Tabitha left the store, heading back out into the bustling street. At the other end, she saw Cripps loading bags of corn flour and other food items into the wagon, with the help of the general store clerk. She made her way quickly over to him, avoiding scattered piles of horse droppings and the curious stares of men. She held her arms close to her sides, trying to hide the bloodstains on her sleeves. She looked at the hotel and the sign that said 'bath 25 cents', considering it intensely as she made her way to Cripps.

"Hey, Cripps, have you seen Daiyu?" Tabitha asked. "I'm a little short on cash for the gunsmith."

"She's in the saloon right now," said Cripps, pointing at Smithfield's, the largest saloon in town.

"The saloon?!" Tabitha cried out in shock. "Cripps, we shouldn't let her go in there by herself! Especially not in a town like this."

"Miss Daiyu can handle herself," Cripps assured her. "She's probably just havin' a quick drink before we head out."

Tabitha sighed. "I just worry about her, Cripps. I know she's tough, but she's still a mute. I mean, what if some men decided to gang up on her?"

"You can check on her if you like, but I'm not worried. She went in there fully armed," said Cripps as he lifted a parcel into the wagon. "She may be mute, but she's not dumb…Speakin' of which, I picked up some reading materials in the store, I'm gonna teach her how to read and write so she can communicate with us better. I can teach you too, if you'd like."

"Readin' and writin'…" Tabitha pondered. "Y'know, Cripps, my parents were slaves…Technically, I was a slave too, for the first two months of my life. Then the War ended and we were all supposed to be free. Where I come from though, they didn't like negroes gainin' knowledge, thought it was dangerous. Before, anyone teachin' a slave to read and write would be whipped in public. After the War, it was a visit in the night, a beatin', possibly a lynchin' if you were black, or just unlucky."

"I ain't afraid of no lynching, Miss Tabitha," Cripps said adamantly. "I'm too old to worry about that kind of stuff. If you wanna learn, I'd be happy to show you."

"Well, I appreciate the offer," Tabitha smiled. "I ain't too worried about up here, but if our travels ever take us down South, just be careful, okay? They really don't like women gettin' an education, especially not black women or Chinawomen…Anyway, I'm gonna check up on Daiyu, see what she's gettin' into."

"Sounds good. And hey, uh…" Cripps reached into his bag and pulled out some money. "This should cover the gunsmith, right?"

"Oh Cripps, baby, you don't have to do that."

"I'm payin' for my own protection, Miss Tabitha," said Cripps. "Besides, I don't know how much Miss Daiyu has left. She went kind of overboard in the general store, from what this fella's been tellin' me."

"Spent over two hundred dollars on clothes and candy, that one," the clerk remembered as he loaded a sack of corn flour into the wagon.

"Did she, now?" Tabitha clicked her tongue. "Well, she does have a mean sweet tooth. I'd better catch up with her before she can buy any more candy."

Cripps and the clerk waved Tabitha good-bye as she made her way to Smithfield's, quickly stuffing Cripps' money in her satchel. On the way, she couldn't help but notice the sign on the hotel window again advertising baths.

Growing curious again, she raised her right arm, taking a sniff of her armpit. She immediately recoiled, the smell overpowering her.

"Goodness," she whispered. "Maybe I really do need a bath."

With a shaky sigh, she pushed open the double doors leading into the saloon. A half-drunken man sat at the piano, tapping out an improvised tune while a collection of day laborers leaned on the bar, taking a moment to relax from a day of hard work.

Tabitha searched around the bar, not seeing a trace of her friend. She squeezed her way between two men, who both shot her annoyed looks as she intruded on their personal space.

"E-excuse me, mister?" she asked the bartender. "Did you see a Chinese girl come in here? Long hair, really skinny…"

"Yeah, she's over there getting her hair done," said the man, pointing to the back corner of the saloon.

Tabitha hadn't even noticed the small barber shop at first, tucked into a tiny corner of the saloon. The barber's hands were a whirlwind as he styled the shiny black hair of a woman sitting in his chair.

A sigh of relief escaped Tabitha's lips upon seeing that her friend was okay.

"Well okay, I guess I'll leave her to it. Get me a beer, honey."

A quarter was plopped down on the counter, which the bartender quickly took and replaced with a beer in one swift motion. She took the bottle of amber liquid and opened it, then took a prolonged sip, relishing in the feeling of cool liquid refreshing her parched throat.

"That Chinawoman's with you?" one of the men beside Tabitha asked her.

"That's right," said Tabitha, setting her beer down on the counter. "What of it?"

"Well, we don't much like Chinawomen, me and Walt here." The man gestured to his friend on the other side of Tabitha. "We don't like 'em 'cause they give birth to little chinks that take all the jobs from white men."

"Uh-huh," Walt agreed, sipping his beer.

"Now, negroes like you is more civil, 'cause most of them know their place. Not so much with the chinks. My cousin lost his job on the railroad they're buildin' up north, after the owner hired a bunch of workers from China."

"Well, I'm very sorry to hear that," said Tabitha. "Look, fellas, I don't want no trouble. Me and my friend will be out of y'all's hair in a minute, okay?"

"Thing is though, chinks are never out of your hair," the man proclaimed. "They may go away for a while, after the white workers rise up, but they always come back. 'Cause of Chinawomen like her havin' little yellow babies."

"Yep," said Walt, sipping his beer again.

Tabitha was trying, but failing to hide how angry she was at these men insulting her friend because of her race. She cleared her throat, excusing herself from the bar. The men's eyes followed her all the way to the tiny barbershop, where Daiyu was admiring her appearance in the mirror.

Daiyu was dressed in a deep red cotton dress, a simple ankle-length garment adorned with black polka-dots, along with a pair of elbow-length black silk gloves and a pair of shiny black boots. Her long black hair had been meticulously curled and styled up in a poofy pompadour, adorned with a red flower pin. Her face had also been painted with smoky eye shadow and glossed with a healthy layer of red lipstick.

Noticing Tabitha come up to her, Daiyu smiled, standing from the barber's chair and twirling around in her dress.

"Oh, sugar, you look beautiful," said Tabitha, taking Daiyu's hand. "Listen, baby, we gotta go. I met some unpleasant men back there at the bar, and they want you out."

"Go back to China!"

"Ha! You tell 'em, Walt!" the man from before cackled.

"Let's just go, Daiyu, they ain't worth our time," Tabitha urged, taking Daiyu's hand. Daiyu, however, wasn't moving. "Honey, let's go! We don't want this whole place turnin' on us."

Something seemed to flash across Daiyu's eyes as she stood there, looking at the men, her body suddenly going rigid. Tabitha didn't know why this was, but all she knew was that they needed to leave immediately.

Tabitha pulled desperately at Daiyu's hand, but the Chinese girl's feet remained firmly planted on the floor. By this point, several of the other customers had turned to witness the altercation that would surely ensue. The man at the piano also stopped his jaunty playing.

"Didn't you hear us, Chinawoman?" Walt's friend stood up. "We said, go home!"

"We can take 'em, Earl!" Walt shouted, also rising from his seat. "Come on, let's get these bitches!"

Grinning wickedly, Earl took the beer bottle in his hand and threw it at Daiyu. She ducked her head, and the bottle exploded into the wall behind her, sending glass shards and beer flying all around the room.

"Oh no, not this again!" cried the bartender, ducking down behind his counter.

"You take the negro, Walt!" shouted Earl. "I'll take little miss chink here!"

Tabitha and Daiyu looked at each other as the men advanced toward them. Daiyu's eyes were narrowed in defiance, and she raised her fists into fighting stance to show Tabitha she was not afraid.

Earl laughed as he threw a half-drunken punch at Daiyu's face, which she easily dodged and countered with a hard left hook to his side. He cried out in pain, stumbling a bit before steadying himself on the nearest wall. While he was still in shock, Daiyu spun him around, grabbed his collar, and clocked him in the jaw, sending a chorus of 'Ohhhh's all around the bar.

Holding his jaw, Earl laughed, steadying himself on a table.

"Got some fight in ya, don't ya, Chinawoman? Well, I'll teach you to mess with me."

Behind her, Daiyu turned to the sound of a struggle and saw Tabitha take a punch to the gut. She doubled over, allowing Walt to take her down with a punch to the jaw.

Before Daiyu could move to help her friend, she was taken by surprise and grabbed in a chokehold from behind. The pressure on her injured throat seemed to drive Daiyu crazy; she gasped, struggling with all her might as Earl laughed wickedly, punching her several times in the lower back and flooding her senses with pain. She thrashed and squirmed like a cornered animal, eventually loosening his grip on her neck enough that she was able to bite down on the man's arm.

Earl cried out in shock, immediately releasing his grip. Tabitha was being held down by Walt, having her face shoved into a table. Daiyu took the opportunity to pick up a wooden chair and slam it down into Walt's back, releasing his grip on her friend.

Daiyu was almost surprised again by Earl, but she dodged the man's attempt to grab her throat. She moved to her right, then successfully ducked a left jab by Earl and delivered a series of quick punches to the face that the man was too slow to block. These punches didn't have the raw strength of someone heavier, but they came in such rapid succession that Earl was left winded, backed up against a wall.

Bleeding from the nose, Earl tried to throw another punch that was deftly blocked. Wild with anger by this point, Earl threw his head forward in an attempt to headbutt Daiyu. This failed to connect with Daiyu's head, only dealing a glancing blow to her right shoulder as she moved left. As his momentum was thrown forward, this also allowed Daiyu to take Earl by the neck in a sleeper hold and then knee him in the mouth, loosening a couple of teeth.

The patrons of Smithfield's were left stunned. Anyone looking at the Chinese girl in the red dress could tell she was no stranger to combat, allowing her to take on this man that was many times heavier than her with relative ease.

Earl was breathing hard by this point, his shirt collar drenched in blood. Daiyu grabbed the racist man's hair and hurled him face-first through the nearest window. He was careened outside the saloon by his own momentum, landing in a crunch of broken glass.

With Earl incapacitated for the moment, Daiyu turned her attention to Tabitha, who was holding her own against Walt, although she was bruised and bloodied from the effort. Daiyu walked over to Walt and casually tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, allowing Daiyu to deliver a hard jab to his left cheekbone.

Wasting no time, Tabitha grabbed both the man's arms and held them behind his back, allowing Daiyu to land several punches to his face and torso. Once he was unable to hold his own weight, Tabitha released him, allowing him to slump down to the floor.

Tabitha looked at Daiyu, breathing hard, her face bruised and already swelling.

"Whew, goodness…" Tabitha sniffed, wiping some of the blood that was leaking from her nose. "You okay? That feller got me pretty good."

Daiyu nodded, wincing as she raised a hand to her throat. Her eye shadow and lipstick were smeared by this point, and her hair had partly fallen out of its pompadour. She looked back at the human-sized hole in the window, not knowing if Earl had gotten back up or not.

Cautiously, Daiyu placed a hand over the revolver in her gun belt. When Earl kicked open the double doors screaming for blood, the glint of a firearm in his hand, Daiyu wasn't in the least bit surprised. She quick-drew her revolver and delivered a bullet across the saloon into his torso, followed by another one to the forehead.

The patrons stood up, some screaming in terror as Earl fell to the ground just outside the saloon, his body falling down the wooden steps and into the muddy street below.

Daiyu then directed her attention down to Walt, who looked up at her like she was the Devil. Cowering, he ran like the wind out of the saloon, not even looking back as he passed the body of his friend.

"Oh God…" the bartender lamented. "What in hell's name am I gonna tell the sheriff?"

"You tell him this was self-defense, you hear? We have witnesses!" Tabitha placed a hand on Daiyu's shoulder. "Go meet up with Cripps, baby. I'll grab our purchases from the gunsmith and then meet you at our campsite, okay?"

Daiyu's eyes were heavy with concern for her friend. Sensing this, Tabitha gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

"I'm okay, sugar, don't worry about me," she said, attempting a smile. "One thing I've learned in my life is how to take a beatin'."

Daiyu turned hesitantly out of the saloon, followed by the curious stares of onlookers as she passed Earl's body. By this point in the day, a late afternoon thunderstorm had churned up on the Plains, turning the streets to a mix of mud and horse droppings, within which Earl lay ignominiously.

She paused again; the same flash that had come across her eyes in the saloon returned as she stared down at the corpse. The flash came and went, like a bolt of lightning across the steel-gray sky. One could only speculate what was contained in that glimpse into Daiyu's past, but whatever it was, the feelings were raw and fresh in her mind.

The Chinese girl gathered a wad of saliva and spat on Earl's corpse, her face brimming with spite as she did so.

"Miss Daiyu!" Cripps came running up the street. "A-are you alright?"

Daiyu nodded, looking back as Tabitha also stumbled through the saloon doors.

"Yeah, w-we're alright, Cripps…" Tabitha groaned, holding her swollen jaw. "You two better get outta town. I'll catch up with you at camp."

"What happened in there, Miss Tabitha?"

Tabitha spat out some blood. "Just…met some fellers. But we handled 'em, same as always."

"Afraid all three of you'll have to come with me."

The deputy Tabitha had confronted earlier was standing on the wooden walkway leading to the saloon, hand placed over his revolver.

"I just had a fella come up to me ramblin' like crazy, tellin' me he his friend was killed by a Chinese girl in a red dress."

"It was self-defense, Mr. Deputy," said Tabitha. "Ask anyone else in that saloon, they'll tell you the same. Hell, ask old Cripps over here."

"There'll need to be an investigation into the matter. Until then, I'm afraid I'll have to place you in custody, miss." The deputy pointed at Daiyu, who froze up at the word.

"What? Oh come on, mister, she didn't do anything!" Tabitha pleaded. "That feller pointed a gun at her, she didn't have a choice!"

"As soon as we establish what happened, she'll be free to go. Unless you wanna occupy the cell along with her, miss."

Tabitha grimaced; she could tell that the deputy was still angry at how she had treated him earlier and that this was probably affecting his decision to put Daiyu in jail.

Tabitha could see Daiyu shaking like a leaf. While she didn't think a livestock town like this would care enough to look into their pasts, Tabitha knew that if they found out that she and Daiyu had escaped from prison, the consequences could be dire. She pulled her best friend into a hug, taking her firmly by the shoulders.

"It's okay, baby, nothing's gonna happen to you. Me and Cripps will go to the office too, we won't leave you in there."

Daiyu exhaled, a shuddery sigh that shook her slender frame. She looked at Tabitha and nodded, then took the deputy's hand, who led her quickly down the main street and towards the sheriff's office, Tabitha and Cripps following close behind.