The Girls of Good Fortune

Celia goes to Marie’s room and detects the signs that Marie has been taking opium. Marie is not inclined to let Celia leave her work for the sake of the trial. When Celia explains that she was the one who advised Frank to confess, Marie grows sarcastic, saying, “I so grateful to a white woman for helping my people” (199). Celia reveals that her father was Chinese and was among the men killed at Rock Springs. She wants to see the trial so that she might finally witness some sort of justice. Marie concedes, saying that Celia may attend the trial for the others. Celia thinks, “Others felt like another word for us” (201).

Celia takes the train north to Wallowa County. Three of the accused gang members have fled, leaving the remaining three to stand trial. Celia notes that the white spectators are segregated from the Chinese spectators, and she wishes that there were a place in the middle where she might sit. When Frank takes the stage, Celia hopes that some sort of justice might be served. However, Frank tells the prosecutor a different story than the one he confessed to Celia. He places all the blame for the murders on the three missing men, claiming that they wanted to use the Chinese miners’ boat. He makes no mention of robbing the men’s gold. As Frank describes the murders, Celia sees some of the Chinese women sobbing.

As the trial unfolds, it is clear to Celia that the three men present will be exonerated and the three missing gang members will be found guilty. The woman sitting beside Celia says that she hopes the true killers will get their due. Celia believes that the prosecutor overlooked huge holes in Frank’s testimony, and she feels that justice has not been done. She knows that she can do no more on her own, but she does have someone to turn to.

Though it is late, Celia goes directly to the Bettencourt household, where Edwin Bettencourt is working in his den. Celia is angry at the injustice of the trial, at the Bettencourts’ mistreatment of her, and at the fact that Stephen did not even write to tell her he met someone else. When she sees the chess set with which she and Stephen used to play, she feels even more betrayed.

When Celia asks Edwin to call for an investigation into possible corruption of the trial, he balks. She accuses him of being too cowardly to do the right thing because he wants the support of people like the governor and Gordon Humphrey, whom she calls “[d]espicable thugs full of hate and deficient of morality” (221). Bettencourt reminds Celia that he needs the support of those men to win his race for a senate seat. Celia wonders aloud if they would still support him if they were to learn that his granddaughter is “tainted with Chinese blood” (222). At this, Edwin ejects her from the house. As Georgia Bettencourt watches her go, Celia decides that she is done with this family.

Lettie finds Celia baking in the kitchen. Lettie claims that she has a regular client, a man named Owen, who is trying to collect funds so that he can propose marriage to Lettie. Owen also claims to know the hideout where the three fugitives from the trial hid the gold that they stole from the Chinese miners they killed. Lettie suggests that Celia meet Owen in a nearby gambling den to find where this hideout is so that she can report it. Celia feels ashamed that she threatened to use Pearl to create a scandal; she isn’t sure that the mayor will believe her. Lettie convinces her to wear a disguise to meet Owen.

Celia feels uncomfortable with the facial hair she has glued to her face. Because only men are allowed in gambling dens, Celia is wearing men’s clothing and a wig. She locates the shop of Lee Tao, a Chinese tailor who grants her passage to the gambling den. Celia has taken the string off her left hand, and her finger feels bare.

In a large room, she sees men gambling at games of fan-tan, mah-jongg, and faro. She sees a statue of a Qilin (a half dragon, half horse figure that is a Chinese symbol of good fortune). She sees Owen at a table and joins him. He greets her as Miss Hart and says that he is offering her a deal on behalf of “a quite powerful gentleman [who] feels [that her] presence could complicate his […] grand ambitions” (235). Celia assumes that he is speaking of Mr. Bettencourt. Owen says that the unnamed man wants her to relocate to a different state and will pay her to move. He reminds her that a brothel is no place to raise a child and hints that harm might befall Pearl there.

Before Celia can answer, men suddenly attack. Owen says that this is a tong raid. Celia sees men with their hair bound atop their heads: “Highbinders—known to be killers” (237). Owen pulls Celia through an opening in the wall, which leads into a tunnel. Although she is not certain whether to trust him, she follows.

They emerge from the tunnel into a saloon. Owen recommends waiting there until the police are done rounding up people in the raid. A woman in a provocative dress approaches them. She hints that she is a “seamstress” and could mend Celia’s trousers. Celia declines. Owen orders them drinks. Celia wrestles with the decision that Owen presented to her and asks for more information. She realizes that Lettie gave her a fabricated story. Suddenly she feels disoriented and loses consciousness.

The two narrative timelines finally merge. Celia is on the ship and now understands the events that brought her here. She longs to return to Pearl. Owen climbs down the hatch into the hold and explains that they have been “shanghaied,” which he never intended. Celia suggests that if she simply tells them she is a woman and a mother, they will let her go free at the next port. However, Owen hints that men who have been at sea for a while might demand sex of her. The idea nauseates Celia. Owen instructs her to maintain her male disguise and play along.

At breakfast, Celia meets other sailors. One she names Lecherous Leo for the way he talks about women. Another sailor, Jonathan Smith, seems to have been kidnapped as well. One with an accent identifies himself as Calum from Zurich. Celia claims that her name is Stephen. The captain arrives and hints that he paid crimpers to have them delivered to his boat. Celia is assigned to shovel coal, and Owen arranges to go with her.

Owen explains that the captain has documents claiming that the captured people supposedly signed up for service aboard the ship. Celia wonders if they could sneak off the boat. Leo assigns her to the task of scrubbing the deck using two holystones, a small one called a prayerbook and a bigger one called the Bible. Celia is surprised when she observes the “head”: rudimentary toilet facilities aboard ship. As she scrubs the deck, she observes Jonathan and considers trying to talk to him. However, when Jonathan gets in a fight with Leo, Leo stabs him in the back with a knife. Horrified, Celia tries to hide her reaction. The captain tells Leo to deal with the situation, so Leo simply has the dying man thrown overboard.

Celia has nightmares about what happened to Jonathan. One night, Owen wakes her up to alert her that a storm is coming. He wants to hide Celia in the hold where she will be safe. However, Celia believes that it is a matter of survival to blend in, so she accompanies him above deck. In the storm, Calum slips overboard and hangs precariously on the side of this ship. Celia throws him a rope and helps him back on deck. The next day, land is spotted.

The crew looks forward to shore leave in San Francisco, especially the area known as the Barbary Coast. Leo takes Celia to the cargo hold and shuts her in; both she and Owen are being prevented from escaping. However, Calum brings them a meal and says loudly that Leo will be on watch. Silently, he gestures toward a smaller hatch, and Celia believes that he is trying to tell them it will be unlocked. She and Owen decide to wait until the crew is gone before effecting their escape.

Celia and Owen will have to jump over the side of the ship and swim through the bay to reach shore. Celia senses that there is something Owen isn’t telling her about the supposed exchange he was supposed to make with her. They wait until Leo seems to be drunk and sleeping before they make their move.

Celia and Owen rearrange the crates so that they can reach the second hatch. Then they remove their outer clothing, which Owen stuffs into a bag he ties to his back. Seeing his bare chest, Celia is reminded of her night with Stephen. Owen lifts Celia onto his shoulders, and she pushes open the hatch. The deck seems empty, so she climbs out only to see Leo returning from the head. She pulls Owen onto deck. Leo grabs Celia, and her wig comes off. When Owen intercedes, Leo attacks him. Celia grabs the holystones and hits Leo on the head, knocking him unconscious. Owen and Celia jump overboard.