Stone, Katherine Read Online Free

being traded. Fortunes were being made.
    The kaleidoscope stopped spinning when they reached the city
center, as if it was important that she see clearly the girls who strolled
beneath the skyscrapers. Only slightly older than she, they wore stylish silk
suits, and their shining black hair was shoulder-length, and their strides were
purposeful yet buoyant, confident—and steady.
    I will become one of them, she vowed. One day I, too, will be able
to dance on the land with my head held high.
    ***
    "This is Queen's Road West." The truck driver broke the
silence that had traveled with them since Aberdeen. "Do you know where
your aunt's shop is?"
    "Not exactly, but I'll recognize it when I see it." With
that, because they were stopped in traffic and he looked skeptical again, she
thanked him, opened the door and landed on the pavement with a jolt.
    Tranquil Sea knew how she'd recognize the dress shop. The
pearl-and-sequin designs created by her mother and grandmother would be on
display. A wave of sadness swept through her as she remembered the patience
with which they'd taught her their craft, and their smiles as they'd sewed.
    If only she could undo everything by undreaming her dishonorable
dreams....
    Closing her eyes, she felt the sway of her body, moving as if at
sea, and let herself imagine that when she opened them she'd have awakened from
this nightmare. She'd be on the deck of Pearl Moon, and her mother would
be calling her to come and begin the day's work. She'd scamper inside without a
glance toward shore—and with a vow to never again dream of the world beyond the
dragons.
    But her opened eyes saw the new world, not the lost one. Yet, as
she wandered from fabric shop to fabric shop, squinting against the brightness
of the silk and satin bolts, she was reminded of sunrise in Aberdeen, the
glitter of sunlight on sea.
    The shops were so small their colorful wares overflowed to the
street like exuberant rainbows, the best offerings at the very front. It was in
such a place Tranquil Sea found her own designs. Her vision blurred by tears,
she staggered past her own designs to the creations made by her loved ones,
displayed farther back.
    ***
    When Tranquil Sea told the truck driver she was going to Queen's
Road West to find her aunt, it was the first lie she'd ever uttered.
    Her words were more prophecy than falsehood, however, for Vivian
Jong, the proprietress of the dress shop, became her family.
    Vivian was a sprightly sixty-five, widowed for forty years,
childless, wealthy, joyfully independent and eccentrically liberated. Hers was
one of the most successful dress shops in Hong Kong, and in a city well-known
for its sweatshops, her seamstresses enjoyed a pleasant working environment and
excellent wages.
    Vivian's belief in fairness in the workplace was just the
beginning of her revolutionary ideas. A woman could be every bit as successful
as a man, she asserted. Even a Chinese woman, and even in British-ruled Hong
Kong. Despite the constraints placed on Chinese women by centuries of
tradition, the laissez-faire capitalism that flourished in the Fragrant Harbour
was blind to both sex and race.
    A Chinese woman could establish her own house of fashion. She'd
need to be very smart, of course, and diligent, and committed to her dream. And
because Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony, she'd need a proper
Englishwoman's name.
    Tranquil Sea became Juliana Kwan. The grateful orphan of the sea
also became the keeper of Vivian Jong's daring dream. Juliana wanted to pursue
the dream right away, to achieve it in all its splendor while Vivian was alive.
    "No, Juliana," Vivian said in Cantonese to the girl
who'd only just begun learning English. "It will be many years before
you're ready. You must be patient. But it will happen. You'll make it
happen. Your gift cannot be denied. One day Pearl Moon will be the most desired
label in the world."
    "Pearl Moon?" Juliana echoed, frowning, torn between the
woman she loved on land and those