Chapter 24

Tuesday morning, Peng Yan was back at the desk she had occupied some six weeks before, her crutches leaning in the corner behind her. Her sister, Peng Delan, had moved to the desk Tian Wu had used. When Malik arrived, the room smelled of cleaning ammonia and the women’s eyes showed signs of recent tears. The Peng sisters had cleaned the dried blood and stains still remaining from Tian Wu’s brutal murder.

“Good morning Miss Yan, good morning Miss Delan.” To differentiate addressing the sisters, Malik was using their given names, as one might say, Miss Emily or Miss Catherine. “Thank you for cleaning the office. I apologize, I’m so sorry I did not think of the need--”

“Do not distress yourself, Mister Malik,” Peng Delan said. “There were many events of the last few days to occupy your mind. We were saddened by the task, but it allowed us to honor Tian Wu one more time.”

Malik was looking down, shaking his head. “Yes, of course. Still, it was a grievous oversight on my part.” He looked up at Delan. “Are you comfortable using that desk and chair, Miss Delan? We can get new ones if it bothers you to, uh, use the, well, ah, where Missus Tian...”

“No change will be required, sir. I feel a closeness to Tian Wu here. I find, in the desk, her handiwork and items that she used and set in place, just so. Her hand last touched them and now I touch them. You see?” Peng Delan’s English diction was showing less precision than usual.

“Would you benefit from additional days away from work, Miss Delan? Or you, Miss Yan? It would not be counted against your pay or position. Your job here would be preserved.”

Peng Yan, who had remained silent, now said, “Shadow, go about your work. We are fine.”

At the sound of her deeper-toned voice, Malik’s head quickly turned toward her. He stood for a moment, looking at her. Finally, he said, “Yes. Of course.” Then he turned and went to the stairway to the upper floor.

The office had been closed all day Monday, so the follow-up meeting the partners had planned was, by default, moved to Tuesday.

“I would suggest two thousand dollars for each of them, to be held in an investment trust. There is a firm in Boston, Bannerman Lipsky, which is doing quite well. They are conservative but also imaginative. They look for pioneering companies and products, then look very hard at their potential. They have averaged sixteen-and-a-half percent growth over the last ten years and have never dropped below fourteen percent. I think we should have half the dividends released to Doctor Lee to contribute to annual costs and the other half added to the investment principle, and released to the girls at their twenty-first birthdays.”

The partners agreed. Except that Malik added another thousand of his own money, swearing Lewin to secrecy. But then Bream and Nicholson each pressed another confidential five hundred on the accountant. He chuckled and threw in another thousand, himself. Each of Tian Wu’s daughters would have an initial trust investment of thirty-five hundred dollars.

Later, Lewin came to see Malik in his office.

“Please sit, David.” Malik sat in one of the visitor’s chairs as Lewin moved to the other. “I didn’t get a chance to tell her, but I think Sara’s class did an excellent job on that buffet table, yesterday. It was not only loaded with delicious food, it looked pretty, too.”

Lewin grinned. “That is the trick of it, Emil. It really was not all that loaded. Sara learned some techniques from the woman who catered her mother’s parties. One arranges the dishes and the decorations in such a way that the table top is entirely covered, but the food items may only cover the smaller portion of the space. Of course, once all the Chinese dishes were added, then it truly was loaded.”

“Well then, it was an elegant deception. My compliments to Sara. I’m sure those girls are learning from the best. Are her other classes going as well? The literature and writing?”

“Very well. She is quite pleased with the students and the school.”

“I’m gratified to hear it.” Malik shifted forward in his chair. “So, what’s on your mind?”

“I noticed something, when I was researching Bannerman and Lipsky’s investment portfolio. They have been modifying their position in precious metals, very gradually, mind you, but substantially, nonetheless. They are selling off their silver-related investments and buying more of gold.”

Malik sat back, nodding his head. “There’s been a growing movement in Congress to further degrade silver in the monetary supply. There’s even talk of a pure gold standard. The Coin Act of ‘seventy-three initiated that shift, but things could get worse.” Malik looked at Lewin and smiled. “Odd to think that, just a couple years ago, I didn’t care one way or another.”

Lewin nodded. “I know that many of the richer classes are using silver to buy gold, where there is a fixed ratio. The bank Sara’s uncle chairs is buying gold with its silver reserve.”

“I reckon we need to push our mining and smelting. I’m not sure how long we have until silver might be more fully devalued. For that matter, Emmet Quincy was telling me that most research in advance extraction methodology is going into gold ore processing whereas silver presents more challenges in processing techniques.”

“Should we sell to the mint or sell on the open market, then, or should we be buying gold, specifically?” Lewin asked.

“I’m not sure. We should talk with Andy. How about tonight, after the committee meeting?”

Malik went to each of the second floor offices and the library, making certain there were no lamps lit. Then he went down the stairs to perform the same check.

Except Peng was still at her desk.

He paused in the doorway at the foot of the steps.

Peng said, “May we converse?”

Malik sat down in one of the visitor waiting chairs lined against the wall. “You talk, Peng. I’ll listen,” he said, in a neutral, but earnest tone.

She took a deep breath, letting some out, then said, “Shadow, you were right. I was in a battle with myself. I had a picture of who I was, a well-trained warrior as well as an educated woman, free of emotional entanglement, and loyal to the assignment I was given. I was unprepared to discover that I was not as resistant to emotional entanglement as I thought. Even more, I was caught wholly off-guard by how ... alluring and ... fulfilling such an entanglement might be,” she said, at times picking her words carefully.

“I became angry at myself and, since you were the ... reciprocal of that ... problem, it seemed, in my angry logic, that I should direct my ire at you, too.

“Then, at our ... our encounter Saturday night, two things made deep impressions on me. The first was what you said, about balance. The other was the trickle of blood from where my jian (jhin) cut you. The former struck at my faulty logic. The latter reminded me how fragile our lives were and that I ... could ... so easily lose you.” Her breath seemed to catch and her eyes had become moist.

She paused, but Malik waited. After a moment, she said, “I know I have made things very uncomfortable between us. I realized, too late, that my effort to ... kill our ... potential involvement may have already proven successful. If that is the case, then so be it. That is on me. On the other hand, even if I have not destroyed it, it is still extraordinarily awkward.

“What I would like to recommend is that we simply wait for a bit, and see what attachments may develop. I admit to feeling very disadvantaged, with my foot in this plaster splint, and I would suggest we at least wait until I have my footing again, before we draw any conclusions.

“Until such time, all I can say, Shadow, is that I am very deeply sorry for the way I treated you. You in no way deserved that.”

After she was silent for a full minute, watching him, Malik said, “I understand.” He sighed heavily. “When we encounter perspective-shattering events and we have no similar experience as a framework in which to operate, it is like moving in the dark through an unfamiliar room. We are then most at risk of making serious missteps. That’s only human. None of us are perfect. We mess things up. It may be a cause for sorrow, but not for blame, and certainly not for penance.

“It’s just that the timing is so unfortunate, at least as far as my own frame of reference.

“I lost the two most important people in my life, last year, and several others who I felt close to. It’s left me rather ... raw, I suppose you could say. The wounds of those losses had barely scabbed over, when I was dealt another loss of someone else who was of unexpected and growing importance.”

Peng looked down at her hands. Malik said, “No, I don’t mean to recriminate, that’s not my purpose. I’m simply pointing out why I am not able to show any resilience here, why, when the rug was pulled out from under me, I remained sprawled on the floor.

“I wish I could tell you what I feel, but it is as if I were a runner who has just this second completed the marathon when someone asks me if I’d like to go for a stroll in the park. I am so exhausted that I cannot even make sense of the question.

“So I think your notion to wait and see, as it were, is a worthy proposition. In the meantime, I would urge you not to reproach yourself. It isn’t appropriate and it would be contrary to our purposes.” He smiled at her in a friendly way. She returned a smile of wistful gratitude.

“Have you transportation?” he asked.

“Delan left the trap in the alley.”

“May I assist you to the seat?”

“That would be kind.”

The events of the past week made clear to the peacekeeping committee both the urgency of the situation and the type of violence they could be facing.

Sean Edwards said, “You should be prepared to defend yourself or your place of business. Fire off a shot, if you feel threatened. It worked to help summon help to Baylor’s store on Saturday. On the other hand, poor Missus Tian died in silence.

“Don’t walk the streets alone at night. Avoid alleyways, even in daylight. I would only caution you about shooting someone before you are truly threatened. I would hate for some careless boys to be shot just for some thoughtless roughhousing. But, as I look around this group, I see folks who are not likely given to false alarms.”

He turned to the uniformed railroad police officer seated next to him. “Sergeant DeWitt, have you any further thoughts or advice?”

DeWitt, a square-jawed young man, with a short beard and with wavy dark hair, said, “Only to say this: you folks are miles ahead of any other community I’ve heard of, which has had to face this type of problem. Most townspeople tend to remain isolated from one another and react in fear, which makes them easy to intimidate. You have joined together and you’ve planned and practiced how to react.

“I would only add one caution: in a town of this size, if you face a mob, it is inevitable that some of you will end up squaring-off against people you know, possibly friends and relatives. Each of you needs to decide what you will do if that happens, and you need to talk to your teammates about it. That is one reason why using methods that avoid injuring people, like your water spray, is so important. And, as an afterthought, keep in mind that a water spray is effective in itself, but if the mob is on a dirt surface, using the water to have them standing or moving in mud and mud puddles is also a deterrent. Wet heads and wet feet are our weakest points when it comes to discomfort.”

Jacob Baylor asked, “Sergeant, what exactly is the railroad’s interest here? I mean, what gives you authority away from the trains?”

“Good question, Mister Baylor. I guess I really didn’t get into that, did I?

“If you’ll recall, the K and ASR bought most of the Kuiper ranch back in ... what? About the time of statehood, I reckon. Waypoint was platted one of those purchased sections. Those that bought town lots from that plat were buying them from the railroad, or, really, the railroad’s Land Resources Division. There are many vacant lots still owned by the railroad. Even more, all the streets and alleys are owned by the railroad. So our interest lies in protecting our property.”

Baylor asked, “Is that why you’re putting in the cobbles? Are you going to pave all the streets?”

Malik said, “Sergeant, may I answer that?”

“Be my guest, Mister Malik. It’s not really something I know all that much about.”

“Thank you.” He turned toward Baylor. “To give a short answer, Jacob: No. Paving the roads is not the railroad’s responsibility.”

Baylor began to splutter. “But if--”

“Jacob, let me finish, please. There’s a clause in every purchase contract that makes it clear that, while the railroad owns the streets and alleyways, it assumes no responsibility for maintenance or improvement.”

“Then why the hell is -- ow!” Hannah had given him an elbow from one side at the same time that Christina had elbowed him from the other.

Malik mostly suppressed a smile. “The railroad came into possession of a supply of cobblestones when it bought out a short-line railroad in New Mexico Territory. The K and ASR’s owners in Wichita recognize that Waypoint is a growing commercial hub that is helping to bring business to the railroad. The paving of Jackson Street and Wagon Road Avenue in the business district is a gesture to improve the town to help encourage that growth. They consider it priming the pump.”

“Is that why they’re improving the road to Ranch Home?” Molly Rademacher asked.

Andy spoke up: “No, that’s a different matter altogether. The Malik ranch and the railroad worked out some trades. They are getting some of our water rights and a right-of-way for the Kylie Loop along the east edge of the ranch. We are getting a small depot and siding down there and the improvements to the Waypoint-Ranch Home Road.

“By the way, we will begin a twice daily coach service between here and Ranch Home as soon as the road improvements are complete, probably within a couple weeks. Coaches will leave each way at six in the morning and one-thirty in the afternoon, arriving at the other terminus by half past ten in the morning and six in the evening. We’ll be stopping at the depot here and the Ranch Services building on the south side of the plaza, but at the back door, away from the plaza, itself. During the trip, there will be a fifteen-minute rest stop at Halfway Wash, where we’ve built some privies, separate for gents and ladies. We’ll also change out the teams, there, so we’ve built a permanent way station where someone will always be in attendance.”

“How much?” Baylor called.

“One dollar, though we will be discounting that for our employees,” Andy said. “We’ve purchased two semi-enclosed, Concord coaches, their latest model. There will be seating for nine inside and one next to the driver, first come, first serve, though ladies will have preference for inside. Reserving a seat is an additional fifteen cents, not later than a day in advance. Fares are paid to the driver, in advance.”

Another Baylor question: “What was that schedule, again?”

“We have two coaches. They will start out at six in the morning, one from Ranch Home and the other from Waypoint. With the team change and rest stop, we’re allowing four-and-a-half hours so we can do it with just two teams of mules drawing each coach. The teams will be held to a trot.”

Baylor said, “You’ll never pull that with a four-in-hand.”

Andy said, “We’ve had some trial runs that seem favorable. The coach wheel hubs have a new type of roller bearing and the framework of the coach and the draw bar has been strengthened with steel elements, reducing their size and weight. In addition, we’re not going to gallop the teams. Mules do well at a trot and we’ll not be expecting more than six or so miles to the hour. Finally, we’re going to have an improved road surface to run on. However, if we can’t keep the schedule or the animals start losing weight or show other signs of distress, we’ll switch to a six-mule team.

“Returning to the schedule: The afternoon runs will be at one-thirty, from each town, using fresh teams. So, you can leave either town at six or one-thirty, arriving four-and-a-half hours later. We’ll also have some rooms to rent if one wishes to spend the night at Ranch Home, with a chit for breakfast at the Ranch Home Bakery. Alternatively, you can camp along the rio, where there are already fire pits and enclosed privies. They’ll be an announcement in the paper when we start the service.”

“Thanks, Andy,” Malik said, “Sergeant DeWitt, would you like to bring us back to the topic of the meeting?”

Andy said, “I think we should use it to buy gold from South American and African brokers. South Africa has become a major gold producer. Despite ‘seventy-eight’s Bland-Allison Act, there’s still heavy pressures against silver in Washington, and most recent proposals have been for devaluing it.”

Andy was speaking to the questions David Lewin had brought to Malik earlier in the day. Lewin and his wife, Sara, along with Christina, Matilda, and the Rademachers, were all listening to what Andy, as general manager of the Dry Valleys Mining Cooperative, had learned in recent months.

“The problem is, back East, they’re a lot more comfortable with paper money then we are out here, so silver or gold makes no difference to most folks there. But, here in the West, we like the metal, so the elimination of some of the smaller silver coins and the limited minting of others, coins like the half dime and the two- and three-cent pieces, have really hurt our coin-dependent economy.

“It all keeps eroding the price of silver, here in the States, while the value of gold, in balance, is rising. Gold has taken on the aura of the rich man’s standard, while silver better serves the regular folks. In the long run, I’d say converting our silver to gold, at the most favorable trade ratio we can get, is our best bet.

“Morton Quincy feels the same way. He’s talked to our congressional delegation. They’re pushing against the tide, but a tide it is. There’s likely to be no stopping it.”