Daiyu's knuckles were bone-white as she gripped the metal bars confining her in the jail cell. Tabitha could tell that her friend was anxious, and she couldn't rightly blame her for that. She knew as well as anyone that the justice system for her and Daiyu wasn't the same fair and balanced system that most white people enjoyed. Both girls had been previously convicted and sentenced to hang, Daiyu for a framed murder and Tabitha for a case of self-defense. The unfortunate reality was that, for non-whites, being falsely convicted and sentenced for a crime was a much higher risk, something which Tabitha knew many inmates at Sisika had experience with.
At that moment, Daiyu was the Valentine jail's sole occupant. A slow day at the sheriff's office had allowed the deputy to conduct his investigation immediately. Earl's body had been hauled to the coroner, while Daiyu and her entourage had been hauled to the sheriff's office for questioning. Tabitha and Cripps had given their accounts of the shooting, while Daiyu was only able to answer yes-and-no questions due to her lack of a voice. After this, the deputy had excused himself to the saloon to conduct further interviews.
As promised, Tabitha and Cripps hadn't left Daiyu in jail by herself. The two had sat in a small office area in front of the cell, waiting for the deputy to come back. Despite the company of her friends, the Chinese girl spent the time pacing around her tiny cell and rubbing her hands together anxiously. Tabitha had tried to allay Daiyu's anxiety by taking her hands through the bars, but this could only bring limited comfort.
During her long wait, Daiyu's eyes occasionally navigated over to a noose hanging limply on one of the desks, which the deputy had assured her was for a separate hanging that was to be conducted the next week. This hadn't seemed to calm Daiyu's nerves, as the sight of the noose itself had made her skin turn clammy.
One thing Tabitha had noticed about Daiyu was that she seemed absolutely terrified of being hanged. Whenever the word had come up during their time in prison, she had seized up in a nervous panic, sometimes even breaking down into tears in the cell they had shared. Tabitha couldn't exactly blame her for this – from the lynchings she had witnessed in her youth, she knew that it was a horrible way to die. With Daiyu though, Tabitha speculated that this fear had something to do with her throat injury. Whenever any pressure was applied to that area, it seemed to cause Daiyu considerable pain, even if she couldn't express it verbally. Along with the understandable fear of death, a hanging for Daiyu would also be an excruciating process, especially if her neck didn't break from the drop.
Daiyu sat down on a small bed in her cell, munching nervously on one of the candy bars she had bought in the general store. The chocolate seemed to bring her a small amount of comfort, although her eyes still darted to and fro, nervously awaiting the deputy's arrival back at the office.
Tabitha sighed, resting a hand on her swollen jaw.
"Honey, I'm sorry for gettin' us into this…I crowded between those two fellers at the bar earlier to ask where you were, and I'm afraid that may have set 'em off…And if that weren't enough, I had a run-in with that deputy earlier, exchanged some choice words with him. Not even five minutes in this town, and I've gone and messed things up for all of us."
"It is what it is, Miss Tabitha," said Cripps. "When you two go to meet the sheriff, he'll see how capable you are."
"The fella said he doesn't give jobs to women, thinks it's too dangerous," said Tabitha. "So I might have to convince him otherwise. No doubt that's gonna be a bit harder now."
"Well, if he'd seen how well Miss Daiyu can shoot, there'd be no argument…" Cripps turned to the cell. "I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, Miss Daiyu, but that was a fine shot you made back there."
Daiyu attempted a smile, taking another nervous bite of chocolate.
"Fella should've known not to mess with us," said Tabitha with a shrug. "I mean, you kicked his ass into next week and he still came back for seconds? That was just poor judgement on his part. If the deputy can't see that, he must be blind as a bat."
"They also roughed you up pretty good." Cripps scoffed. "Some men those fellers were, beatin' on a couple of women like that."
"We're okay, Cripps. I've had much worse beatings, believe me…Daiyu, did they hit you at all? I wasn't really lookin'."
Daiyu nodded, wincing as she put a hand to her lower back.
"Well…maybe I can hit up the doctor's office next door, get us some salve to put on the bruises."
"We'll also have to set up our camp for the night," said Cripps. "It's already gettin' late…Miss Tabitha, you should probably rest. You're in no condition to do all that liftin'."
"Don't be silly, Cripps, I'm fine. No white man is gonna take me out of action that easy, believe me. Hell, same with my girl Daiyu over there – no matter how many people may try to put us down, it ain't gonna break our spirit. Ain't that right, Daiyu?"
This managed to irk a small grin from Daiyu, who nodded affirmatively as she chewed on her candy bar.
The door opened; the trio all stood up as the deputy entered, carrying a jangling set of keys in his hand.
"Your friend is free to go," he said without emotion. "We couldn't firmly establish any wrong-doin', and old Earl was known to be pretty violent."
"Oh, thank God…" Tabitha breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as her cell was unlocked, Daiyu rushed out past the deputy and into Tabitha's arms, nearly knocking her friend over.
"Goodness, honey, it's good to see you too." Tabitha chuckled, hugging her friend back. Daiyu reached a hand over to Cripps, who leaned partly into the embrace as well.
"Well, you three are an unconventional bunch," said the deputy. "And I'm not blind to the fact that this town attracts some disagreeable men, people who might take offense to that. But next time you discharge a weapon, Miss Daiyu, please refrain from doin' so in a crowded space. If you need to duel someone, take the matter outdoors where you won't accidentally hit anyone."
Daiyu nodded rapidly, reaching for her gun belt and her satchel, which were hanging on a small hook near the entrance.
"We'll try not to get into any more trouble, Mister Deputy," promised Tabitha. "You have our word."
"I'll take your word for what it's worth," he said, sitting down at his desk. "But I'm also aware that trouble has a habit of findin' some folk. Tread lightly the next time you come into town, and keep away from Walt. He was particularly disturbed at seein' his friend gunned down in front of him."
"Well…I guess I would be too," Tabitha conceded. "Me and Daiyu here are real close."
"I have no doubt. Go on, now."
The three left the sheriff's office, Daiyu with a noticeable bounce in her step as they headed out into the street.
"Okay then – I'm gonna head to the doctor's office and the gunsmith," said Tabitha. "After that, we can get the hell outta here."
"I must admit, this place has changed a lot," Cripps lamented. "I didn't expect a tiny frontier town to be so backwards."
"Oh, honey, if this had happened in Rhodes or Saint Denis, both me and her would be swingin' right now, I guarantee it…But, thankfully, at least some of the folk 'round here can look past our skin color and do what's right. Where I come from in the South, that ain't often the case."
"It's probably better if we stay out west for a little, anyway. Too many law lookin' for you two in Lemoyne."
"Yeah. I'm sure we'll have to go down there eventually, but for now, I'm just glad we're all safe. Daiyu…thanks for havin' my back in there, sugar."
Daiyu gave a small wave of her hand, signaling that it was no big deal.
Tabitha entered the doctor's office, still holding her swollen jaw. Walt had given her a decent beating, but one which could easily be healed in a few days. Passing the saloon again on the way to their wagon, Daiyu and Cripps once again heard the jaunty piano emanating from the saloon, as if nothing had ever happened. Even Earl's blood had been washed away by the earlier thunderstorm, leaving absolutely no trace of violence.
A group of men playing poker glanced at the two through a window, then quickly looked away, drawing their cards up to their faces. Cripps laughed, patting Daiyu on the shoulder.
"Well, you've certainly made an impression here, Miss Daiyu. Hopefully, no one will try to mess with you again."
Daiyu smiled, adjusting the red flower pin in her hair.
Passing people as they headed down the street seemed to have a similar effect. The townsfolk seemed to go out of their way to keep their distance from Daiyu, no doubt having heard of how thoroughly she had dealt with Earl. Although she wasn't large or imposing, people had reason to fear those who were quick with a gun and who knew how to fight.
As they passed into the main street, Daiyu hiked up her dress, not wanting to stain the new garment with mud as they approached the wagon.
"Hmm. A lot of these letters do look familiar," said Tabitha.
"Yeah. I know you've probably seen 'em a lot on storefronts and stuff like that."
Darkness had settled thoroughly over the Heartlands. A chorus of crickets and the occasional howl of coyotes echoed through the empty grasslands while the splashes of a crackling fire warmed the girls' hands and feet as they sat on either side of Cripps, who held a children's literacy book in his hands. All three of them were tired from the day and from setting up their camp, but had agreed to a quick reading lesson before settling down for bed.
Both Tabitha and Daiyu squinted down at the book, which Cripps had been using in an attempt to teach them the alphabet.
"So, there are twenty-six letters in total in the English alphabet," Cripps explained. "Each of these letters makes a different sound, and you put those sounds together to make words. Now, the good part is that you two know spoken English already, so we just have to worry about translatin' the words you already know into written English."
"Screw it, how hard can it be?" Tabitha shrugged. "Daiyu here will be writin' her romance novel in no time."
Daiyu covered her mouth as her shoulders shook with silent laughter. Tabitha couldn't help but love seeing her friend laugh, even if Daiyu couldn't verbalize how tickled she was.
"Oh, the stories Miss Daiyu could write would sell millions," Cripps mused. "And you too, Miss Tabitha…Hey, I know this book has lessons that we can follow, but what better place to start than learnin' how to spell your names?"
At this, Daiyu perked up – she grabbed the easel sitting beside her along with a stick of chalk, then immediately went to work scribbling on the blackboard.
Tabitha and Cripps watched with intense interest as Daiyu hunched over her writing. After a few moments, she held up the easel, showing the two complicated-looking characters she had written.
"Wow…That's your name in Chinese?" Tabitha asked. Daiyu nodded proudly.
"That's quite beautiful handwriting you have, Miss Daiyu," said Cripps. "Did your parents teach you to write in Chinese?"
Daiyu smiled, a profoundly sad smile as her mind wandered back to the past, to things far out of her reach that she could never have back.
"Well, lucky for us, I spent a couple of years in the Orient myself," said Cripps. "I was a smuggler for a while during the Opium Wars, but that's another long story."
"I'm sure you were, old man," Tabitha laughed.
"You don't believe me, Miss Tabitha? Well here, I'll show ya' how I think you spell this name in English."
Cripps took the easel and chalk, writing English letters beside the Chinese characters Daiyu had written.
"Now, we English are kinda lucky to have only twenty-six letters – the Chinese, meanwhile, have tens of thousands of different characters in their language."
"Damn…" Tabitha's eyes widened. "You had to memorize all of that, Daiyu?"
Daiyu shook her head, turning to Cripps so he could explain further.
"Even most Chinese I encountered didn't know all of 'em – a lot of the fellers I knew could only write a couple hundred, and most peasants can't even write their own names. Miss Daiyu, your parents did you a blessin' by at least teachin' you a little. It might make it easier for you to learn how to write English, too."
Cripps finished writing on the easel and showed his work to Tabitha and Daiyu, who leaned over and gazed at his work.
"Now, you're the expert, Miss Daiyu, so feel free to stop me if I'm wrong. But I think with this first character you wrote, the first few strokes on top here tell ya' how it's pronounced, while the rest of the character conveys the meanin'. So I think this one is pronounced 'dai' and not 'da', correct?"
Daiyu nodded affirmatively.
"Okay, perfect. And I remember from my time in China this other one is pronounced 'yu'. So 'dai' and 'yu' together make…"
Cripps wrote the five letters of Daiyu's name in English down quickly, handing it to her afterwards. This was accompanied by letters beside each of the two characters Daiyu had written, telling her the English translation of the sounds those characters made.
"To the best of my knowledge, I believe that's how your name is spelled in English. If you ever wanna buy land, start your own business, or enter any kind of contract, those five letters are gonna be your signature."
"Well, I must admit, the Chinese version looks a lot prettier," Tabitha commented.
"English is an ugly language, Miss Tabitha," Cripps laughed. "Ugly and doesn't make a lick of sense sometimes. You'll see when we get to spellin' your name shortly."
"Alright, let's do it…Daiyu, you mind if we borrow your board for a second, sugar?"
Daiyu nodded, withdrawing a small twig from the blazing fire. The end of the twig glowed brilliant orange in the moonless night, encircled by the warm halo that engulfed the campsite. When the end smoldered and turned black, Daiyu began attempting to draw her English name in the soil, which was just sandy enough to make for a nice impromptu canvas.
"For right now, you can just focus on the first letter, Miss Daiyu. It's best to take this kind of learnin' slow, anyway. The first letter of your name is 'D', so just draw a straight line up-and-down and connect the ends with a half-circle."
"What sound does that letter make, Cripps?" asked Tabitha.
"D goes 'duh'. Just a short, hard sound with your tongue against the back of your front teeth."
"'Duh'," Tabitha repeated.
"Try to make it more percussive than anything else, that way whatever words you're making flow better. So it's not 'Duh-aiyu', it's just 'Daiyu'."
"Ohh, okay," Tabitha nodded slowly. "You followin' this, sugar?"
Daiyu squinted down at the charcoal-stained letter D she had drawn in the dirt. She practiced pronouncing the letter; even though her vocal cords didn't vibrate from the effort, her tongue could still punctuate against the back of her front teeth, producing some form of a sound.
"If you're havin' trouble understandin' at any point, feel free to stop us," said Cripps. "I know you can't talk, so the whole learnin' process might be a little more difficult for you. If you get stuck on anything, just let us know, okay?"
"And I'll be sure to ask lots of questions and pronounce everything super clear for you," assured Tabitha.
Daiyu smiled gratefully, nodding at Tabitha and Cripps.
Tabitha got to work on spelling the seven letters of her name, Daiyu watching closely as Cripps wrote the letters down and enunciated the sounds each one made, Tabitha doing her best to repeat them as he went along. At the same time, she continued practicing drawing with her stick, eventually covering the dirt in front of her in a mosaic of the letter D, repeated about ten times for good measure.
After about half an hour of lessons, Tabitha's brain was working in overdrive. Before her on the easel was her name in neat capital letters, which she consciously focused on remembering the phonemes of.
"So…" Tabitha scratched her chin. "When T and H are separate, they make their own separate sounds, but when you put 'em together, they make one 'thuh' sound?"
"That's right," Cripps nodded. "With some words we'll learn, there are gonna be letters added that don't make any sound at all, they're just silent. With these first lessons though, I want you ladies to get used to each letter and the sounds they typically make. There are always gonna be bigger or weirder words out there that bend the rules a little bit, but we can worry about spellin' those later."
"Well, me and Daiyu sure do like bendin' the rules." Tabitha stood up, stretching her legs. "In any case, thanks for teachin' us, Cripps. We'll be sure to give you some extra cash for your trouble."
"I assure you, it's worth it, Miss Tabitha," said Cripps as he closed the book. "Like I was sayin' earlier, if you ever wanna start your own business or buy property, you're gonna at least need to know how to read the contract and write your names on the dotted line…In fact, I was thinkin' the three of us could maybe go into business together at some point. I've had some ideas cookin' for a while, if you two could help me get set up."
"Business partners, eh?" Tabitha smiled. "What are your thoughts on that, Daiyu?"
Daiyu thought for a moment, her face scrunched as she pondered, but she was interrupted by a tremendous silent yawn, the product of a very long and eventful day.
Cripps laughed. "Don't worry, you won't be handlin' the boring side of things. What I had in mind was a tradin' company, namely animal pelts. You ladies collect the pelts, I make and sell the finished products, and we all split the profit. How's that sound?"
"Daiyu, you're really good with a rifle," Tabitha said excitedly. "That could be an easy sideline for us, don't ya think?"
Daiyu shrugged, covering her mouth as another yawn overcame her.
"Yeah, I'm tired too, sugar," Tabitha laughed, stretching her arms. "Tired and achin' all over. We should probably get to bed-"
A sharp scream pierced the still night air, echoing through the silent prairie. Daiyu immediately stood up and grabbed the repeater beside the campfire, her senses ablaze with the signs of danger.
"What was that?" asked Cripps.
"It sounds like someone might be in trouble," said Tabitha. "Cripps, you stay here and watch the camp. Daiyu, let's go investigate."
Cripps took up his own repeater, preemptively feeding it some cartridges.
"You two be safe, you hear?" he said firmly.
"We always are…C'mon, Daiyu."
The two girls moved quickly to their horses, who were tethered a few feet away from the camp. Mounting her huge white stallion, Daiyu withdrew a lantern from her saddle and lit it. The night was black and moonless, nearly impossible to see in without the lantern.
"I think it was comin' from this way, towards the river," said Tabitha as she lit her own lantern. "Let's go see what's goin' on."
Tabitha spurred her brown mare to urge it forward, Daiyu doing her same to her horse. They proceeded at a steady trot down from the small hill they were camped on, dodging the occasional stray rock as they made their way down to the Dakota River valley, home to roving packs of wolves and the occasional bandit group to intercept nighttime travelers. Daiyu felt warily for the repeater slung across her back, visibly uneasy about what they might be getting into.
Another scream reverberated through the night, spooking the pair's horses. Daiyu reached over and put a hand behind her stallion's ear, giving the horse a scratch to calm it down.
"Hold up here, I think I see somethin'."
Daiyu and Tabitha's horses stopped simultaneously. Dread settled in the pits of their stomachs at the two outlines barely visible in the pitch-black night. One of the figures was knelt on top of another, smaller figure that lay face-down on the banks of the river, its head held firmly underwater by the larger silhouette.
Both girls sprang to action immediately; Tabitha leapt off her horse and ran over to the struggle, while Daiyu snuffed out her lantern and bolted out of sight.
Holding her lantern out in front of her, an orange light was soon cast over an appalling scene. The huge bearded man was kneeling on the back of a young girl, her cries muffled by the silt-laden waters of the Dakota. The girl's legs kicked flailed violently, but she was no match for the man's superior weight as he drowned her.
"Hey!" Tabitha yelled. "Hey, you! Get off her right now!"
"Back off," the man snarled. "This ain't nothin' to do with you."
Tabitha drew one of her revolvers, clicking back the hammer. "I said get off her now, you son of a bitch!"
Seeing the gun, the man quickly sprung up, grabbing the girl by the hair and pulling her out of the water. He held the girl close to his body as she coughed and retched, taking a fistful of her long auburn hair and pulling it harshly.
Anyone could tell that this girl was young – very young. A splash of freckles across the bridge of her nose was accompanied by a plethora of bruises, enough to darken the milk-white skin of her face. Despite the cold night, she was wearing nothing but a nightdress, stained with blood and dirt, no doubt having been worn for some time.
Seeing the huge age difference between the two, a wave of revulsion washed over Tabitha, but she was careful to not let it show. Instead, she kept the gun aimed, but dared not fire it. In the dark, there was a great chance that she could end up hitting the girl, especially given how close the man was holding her.
The girl looked at Tabitha with wide, frightened eyes as the man withdrew a knife, holding it up to her neck. She reflexively held her hands to her throat, revealing deep purple marks that encircled both of her wrists.
"You shouldn'ta got involved, woman," he said.
"Let her go or I'll shoot you, I swear!"
The man chuckled, brushing a hand against the girl's trembling face.
"You shouldn'ta got involved because I don't think you have the full picture," said the man. "You see…this right here is a whore."
The girl yelped in pain as he pulled her hair tighter, her exposed scalp painted with bruises.
"I found her a few nights ago workin' the streets of Valentine, all by herself. She should've known better than to rip me off, bein' as small as she is. I've been havin' fun with her at my house the last few nights as a repayment."
"I don't care if she killed yo' mama and robbed yo' grandma!" Tabitha snarled. "This girl is under my protection now, you hear? So let her go, and maybe I won't put a extra hole in yo' empty head!"
"Aww, now I can't do that." The man brushed the knife against the girl's neck. "We were havin' so much fun together, ain't that right, Hannah?"
"P-please, miss," the girl whimpered. "Please help me, he's gonna kill me…"
Tabitha swallowed a lump in her throat, her eyes moistened with tears. She struggled to keep eye contact with the man with how disgusted she was.
"This is your last warnin', partner," she said. "You let that child go, or else."
"Or else what?"
A loud thwack sounded against the man's skull. With a short groan, his knees buckled under him and he fell forward. In the darkness, he hadn't noticed Daiyu creeping up behind him, then knocking him unconscious with the handle of her revolver.
The child stumbled forward a few steps before sinking to her knees in the grass, sobs wracking her small body. She was immediately wrapped in Tabitha's arms.
"Shh shh, it's okay, baby. You're safe now."
The girl hugged Tabitha back as she rocked gently on her knees. Daiyu, meanwhile, took out her lasso and set to work hogtying the unconscious man.
Tabitha didn't say anything for a while. Instead, she knelt there hugging the girl, attempting to calm herself down as much as she was the child in her arms. She wiped a stray tear from her eye in an effort to stay strong for the girl she had rescued.
"Do you have a home we can take you to, sweetie?" asked Tabitha.
"No…" the girl sniffled. "I…I ran away from home, miss. I've been stayin' in Valentine the past week, tryin' to make some money. And he…he…"
"We've got a camp just up the hill there," said Tabitha. "We're gonna take you there for the night, okay? Get you warmed up and fed, maybe treat some of those bruises."
"Thank you, miss…" the girl looked up at Tabitha. "M-my name's Hannah."
"It's good to meet you, Hannah." Tabitha smiled, brushing some of the girl's hair from her face. "I'm Tabitha, and over there is my friend, Daiyu."
Hannah looked over at Daiyu, who finished hogtying her captor. With one last hard tug, the man was immobilized, bringing visible comfort to Hannah's face as she leaned into Tabitha.
"That man told me he killed all the other girls he picked up," said Hannah. "I…I don't want him to be able to hurt anyone else."
"We don't either," said Tabitha. "Daiyu…take care of him how you like, okay? I'll take Hannah up to our camp and get her warm."
Tabitha stood up, gently taking Hannah's arm as she led her over to her horse.
"Th-thank you both," said Hannah as she climbed into the saddle, boosted up by Tabitha. "I don't have any money to give you, but I can-"
"Now, don't you worry about that, child," said Tabitha. "We would've helped you out either way. Right, Daiyu?"
Daiyu nodded, waving the two good-bye as they rode off back to the campsite.
Noticing the man begin to stir, she gave him a hard kick to his side, jarring him awake. Taking him by the elbow, she dragged the man through the soft muck by the river, getting him closer to the water.
"Wha…H-hey, what are you doin'?"
The man struggled to break the ropes holding him, but Daiyu had tied them so tight as to cut off most of the circulation to his hands and feet. Freezing river water began lapping at his chin as he realized what was about to happen to him.
He looked up at Daiyu, who avoided meeting eyes with him. Knowing his end was near, he was visibly shaking.
"C'mon, now. You're really gonna kill a defenseless man like this?"
Daiyu nodded slowly. The man struggled to crane his neck and keep his head above water as she dragged him with impressive strength into the river.
"No! Wait, I-I didn't mean to-!"
Daiyu cut the man off by pressing his head underwater with the heel of her boot. She held her foot there with a blank expression, watching as air bubbles erupted on the water's surface. The man squirmed, but Daiyu's rope made sure he couldn't move very far.
Her foot pivoted on the man's head as she pressed his head down further into the brown muck. For a couple of minutes, the squirming and bubbles continued until the fight slowly drained from the constricted man's body. Daiyu kept her foot there for another minute or so, making sure he had expired before slowly releasing the pressure on his head. His top half remained firmly in the water, signaling that he was finally dead.
Water sloshed around in Daiyu's boots as she stepped out of the river, the hem of her red dress thoroughly soaked. She gave a frustrated sigh as she looked down at her new dress, then back at the man she had killed, whose top half was being carried listlessly by the current.
Daiyu's eyes lowered as she shook her head, as if disappointed at the violence she'd had to propagate throughout the day. From the encounter with bandits on the Upper Montana that morning, to this incident with the small girl on the Dakota, rivers seemed to be a gathering place for the worst kinds of people, people with sins that even the raging waters couldn't wash away.
After a moment, Daiyu whistled for her horse. The magnificent stallion was like a beacon of light in the darkness, one which Daiyu could easily navigate to. Leaping onto her horse, she clicked her tongue as she spurred it to urge it up the hill, where Tabitha had taken the girl.