CHAPTER FIVE

San Francisco
April 18, 1906
Wednesday, 1:00 p.m.

The streets were crowded.

As I walked through the city, the devastation was surprising. There was even more damage here than in Chinatown. Homes sunk into the earth. Buildings tilted at strange angles. It seemed like just one breeze might topple them over.

I was shocked to see some walls completely gone, leaving interior rooms exposed. I could see straight into bedrooms. Living rooms. Kitchens. It reminded me of looking into a dollhouse, except the people inside were real.

Everyone was frantic. They called out for loved ones. Some were crying. Others shouted that the world was ending. Some dragged various belongings behind them. Someone pushed a toy wagon full of plants down the street. Another person dragged a trunk behind them.

There were many injured. Some were helping those who were down. Others laid still in the street. Some were still trapped. Just like the Wicked Witch of the East, they were buried under what was left of their homes. I looked away when I saw a wagon that was tipped over. A horse lay on its side, with bricks piled on top.

When Lee saw the dead horse, he cried.

As we walked, masses of people crowded the street, all heading in the same direction we were. “Hold on to my shirt,” I told Lee. “Don’t let go.”

I worried that the force of the crowd would separate us. It was already creating distance between us and Mr. Quan. Jade See Young stayed near the two of us.

I saw Mr. Quan turn his head back in search of us. Every now and then, we would make eye contact. I knew he was trying to keep us in his sight.

It was difficult to keep up with him. His long braid kept getting further away. Many people in the streets were much taller than me. Jade walked slowly near Lee and me. She had on traditional Chinese clothing with a beautiful silver comb tucked into her hair. I noticed Jade was having a hard time keeping up. She wore wooden shoes and hobbled with each step.

My mother had warned me not to look down on others for differences that seemed strange to me. “Women of all cultures have been doing things throughout history to make themselves more attractive,” Mother had said. “However, this is something your father and I do not want to pass on to our children.”

The crowds grew bigger until I could no longer see Mr. Quan. Jade was no longer nearby. I could barely see in front of me.

Lee tugged on my sleeve. “Lily,” Lee said. “Where is Mr. Quan?”

I swallowed. Following the yellow brick road was hard when I could barely see the streets. I didn’t want my brother to hear the panic rising up in my chest. I tried to keep my voice calm.

“Just ahead of us,” I said. “Let’s walk on the outside of this group so we can see better.”

I tried to scoot closer to the edge of the crowd, but I couldn’t move more than a couple steps.

A woman pushed in front of me. She wore many layers of clothing and dragged a tied up bundle behind her, filled with whatever valuables she wanted to save. I almost tripped on it.

“Out of my way!” the woman shouted.

I clutched my laundry basket tighter. I saw the cover of my book, with the Tin Woodman holding an ax. In the story, the Tin Woodman didn’t think he was very useful. With his ax, he chopped down trees and enemies. He ended up using his ax to help Dorothy along her journey through the Land of Oz.

I had an idea. I held my laundry basket close to my chest. Like the Tin Woodman, it would be my ax. I would chop through this crowd.

I turned to Lee. “Whatever you do,” I said, “don’t let go of my shirt.”

Using the basket to help, I pushed my way past a man wearing a black top hat. He looked surprised to see me.

I wrinkled my brow in concentration and ordered, “Out of my way!” Remarkably, the crowd let us through.

Shouting like this filled me with confidence. I could hardly speak up in school or at home, yet here I was yelling at strangers. The most amazing thing was that they were listening.

Maybe Father was right. I was beginning to bloom.

Soon, Lee and I were at the edge of the crowd. I could see better from the outskirts. I climbed on top of a pile of wood to get a better idea of our surroundings.

It was a strange sight. People were dressed in all manner of clothing. Some wore pajamas. A man had on a full suit. People dragged trunks behind them. I watched a couple load up a baby crib full of belongings.

One family had piled their things on top of a piano and pushed it in front of them. People were using whatever they could find to save their things.

Lee climbed up beside me. “Whoa, there,” he said with a western drawl. “This place looks like a train wreck.”

“You got that right, cowboy,” I said.

The city looked wrong. Things were everywhere, as if houses had just been picked up, shaken, and their contents dropped onto the streets. There was a broken plate in the road. A singular shoe by a window. An expensive-looking doll with silky yellow hair laid on the street. Her blue eyes were wide open and part of her porcelain face was smashed to pieces.

Cable cars were turned on their sides, and their twisted tracks snaked around the streets.

Not being so close to others, I thought the air would smell better. In the center of the street, I had only smelled the sweat of the people around me. Now, I could smell the smoke. I realized the air was thick with it. “Where are the fires?” I asked Lee.

A man wearing a fancy vest pulled a wagon packed with household items. He looked up at me on the wood pile. “All over the city,” he said. “The firemen have no water to stop it. All the lines are down.”

I nodded. I was surprised he was talking to me. The man seemed surprised to be talking to me too.

“Are you coming from Chinatown?” the man asked. “Your English is real good. I have never seen so many Chinese girls. There was one right behind us.”

Most white people in San Francisco rarely went to Chinatown, so they didn’t often see Chinese people.

Maybe it was that he had complimented my English, or maybe it was because of everything I had been through already this morning, but I didn’t feel embarrassed to talk to this man. “Yes,” I said. “We are joining our family at the Ferry Building.”

“Our parents are waiting for us,” Lee said.

The man nodded. “Good luck to the both of you.”

I started to walk away, then quickly turned around. “Wait! Did you say you saw another Chinese girl?”

I couldn’t believe how bold I was, making conversation with an adult.

“Yes,” the man said. “She’s walking really slow. Just a little further back.”

I knew that he was talking about Jade. She must have fallen even farther behind. We had been walking for hours now. Because of the size of the crowd, it was a slow journey.

“Watch out!” someone yelled as a bag came crashing down from the sky. When it hit the ground, tobacco pipes and books tumbled out. Lee and I jumped away just in time.

A woman poked her head out of a second-story window.

People shook their fists up at the houses. “You watch where you’re throwing!”

“Folks chucking their belongings out their windows,” the man in the fancy vest muttered. “Never thought I would see the day. Don’t they realize there are people in the streets?”

He disappeared into the crowd.

“Jade is somewhere back there,” I said to Lee.

“Lily!” Lee jumped up and down. “I think I see Mr. Quan! Let’s find him first and come back for Jade.”

Lee grabbed my shirt, and we both ran toward the front of the crowd. With my laundry basket, I pushed my way through the mass of people and made a path to Mr. Quan.

But right as I was about to reach him, there were screams from behind us, followed by the sound of people running.