Page 17 of A Forgery of Fate

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

I took her hand. In spite of the summer heat, her fingers were cold. I warmed them with mine. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

“Let what happen?” wobbled a small voice from behindus.

“Nomi!” I whirled to face my youngest sister, who had arrived with a festoon of bamboo firecrackers. As usual, her pigtails were braided unevenly, and her collar was loose a button that I itched to fix. “I thought you were at the shop.”

“I left work early. Thought I’d come back and read until the festival starts.” Nomi lowered the firecrackers. “But Mama’s crying by the stove. She wouldn’t say why.”

Fal and I exchanged a look. I cleared my throat. “That’s because Mama’s—”

“Don’t you lie to me,” Nomi warned, raising her voice. “Or you, Fal. We don’t lie to family.”

A rule I’d broken too many times.

My shoulders sank. “She owes Madam Yargui twenty thousand jens,” I said truthfully. “By tomorrow night, or else they’re taking Fal.”

The color drained from Nomi’s face. She hooked Fal’s arm protectively. “So we’re coming up with a plan.”

I loved how she’d included herself in thewewithout a moment’s hesitation. “Tomorrow’s the Ghost Festival,” I replied. “Maybe I’ll pick some pockets—or rob a temple. Everyone will be out praying.”

“All you’ll get is paper boats and spirit money,” retorted Falina. “Plus a thousand years of reincarnation as a centipede. You can’t steal from someone observing the Ghost Festival. It’s bad luck.”

“You could rob the governor,” suggested Nomi. “Or any of the manors on Oyang Street. They’ve got to have scrolls signed by the emperor or boxes of gold ingots lying about.”

“Then get our throats slit?” Fal said. “We have a night to plan, not a week. Besides, you forget what an awful thief Tru is. She got caught half the time just picking pockets.”

“That’s how I met Gaari,” I protested, “and how I got ajob.”

Fal ignored me. “We’d have better luck praying to the money frog. Or knocking on Governor Renhai’s door andaskinghim to help us catch Yargui.”

Nomi huffed a laugh. Everyone knew the governor was in Yargui’s pocket.

“I could light these firecrackers,” said Nomi. “I made them with charcoal and sulfur from the shop. They’ll explode bigger than usual ones to—”

“Frighten away Yargui’s men?” I finished for her, shaking my head. “They’re not evil spirits, Nomi.”

“Firecrackers can be dangerous,” insisted my sister. “They can be weapons so long as we’re clever about it.”

“I’ll paint something,” I said firmly. “I’ll get Gaari to sell it in the morning.”

“What can you paint that’ll sell for twenty thousand?” asked Nomi.

Eighteen thousand,I corrected silently. At this point, every jen mattered. “You know how Mama used to say she was the best fortune teller in Gangsun?”

My sisters nodded, uncertain where I was going with this.

“She was wrong,” I said. “I’mthe best. And I’m going to get that money.”

Fal gave me a flummoxed look. “It’s not funny to pretend. This is serious.”

“Do I look like I’m pretending? Trust me.”

I reached into my knapsack for the scholar’s hat I’d retrieved and settled it on Nomi’s head. “Gifts, from today.”

Nomi’s eyes grew misty. More than anything, she wanted to test into the National Academy, become an imperial official, and ensure our family never had to worry about money again. But the Academy rarely accepted women, not to mention a girl with Balardan blood. Besides, she was still young. It’d be years before she could earn her own scholar’s hat. “Your fisherman painting sold?”

“For two whole thousand jens,” I replied. “I was planning for a celebration tonight. I even bought chickens.”

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