Dead Man's Gold and Other Stories by Paul Yee Page B

over a waterfall.”
    Yuen said nothing as he fingered the gold in the bag.
    What an idiot I’ve been, he thought. If I had followed him, I would be a rich man, too! He wanted to pound his head hard against a tree. If he could have just half of Fong’s gold, he could buy ten new paddy fields, rent them out, and build a spacious mansion for his family.
    Fong added, “Bandits jumped my claim and tried to rob me, but I fought back with my rifle. Bears prowling for food wrecked my camp and sent me running up a tree. And like everyone else, I got sick and couldn’t find a doctor. Sometimes I thought I would never see China again, or you, my friend.”
    Yuen nodded. “You are a lucky man. What next?”
    Fong grinned. “I’m going home!”
    When Yuen saw the gleaming white teeth in his friend’s mouth, fury exploded inside him like overheated gunpowder. He slammed his shovel into Fong’s head. His childhood friend fell to the ground, dead.
    Yuen dropped the shovel and staggered back. What had he done?
    But then China swirled through his mind. He imagined his scrawny ragged parents kneeling in the market square, weakly begging for food. Fong’s family would be healthy, crowded around a table crammed with fish and chicken, vegetables and eggs. They even had enough to feed the stray dogs of the village.
    In the woods, Yuen removed his friend’s clothing and boots, buried them, and left the body for hungry wolves. No one would ever trace Fong’s last steps. In a frontier so vast and deep, who would notice that one Chinese miner had gone missing?
    In the port city, Yuen visited steam baths and scrubbed himself with stiff brushes. At the tailor, he ordered new suits and shirts. When his ship set sail for China, he felt as fresh and clean as a newborn babe, and he vowed never to return. In bustling Hong Kong, he bought extravagant gifts before heading home.
    At Big Field village, the neighbors attended Yuen’s banquet. Enviously, they watched him present a watch chain to his father, earrings to his mother, and necklaces to his sisters, all fashioned from pure gold. Plans for a new house were announced and everyone congratulated the successful miner.
    When Fong’s mother came up, Yuen saw that her hair had whitened, and her back was bowed over.
    â€œDo you have news of my son?” she asked.
    Yuen pressed two gold coins into her hand and turned away, but she cried out, “You two vowed to get rich side by side, or to return home in disgrace together! What happened? Tell me!”
    She thrust forth her wrinkled face, but he could not bear to look her in the eyes
.
Panicked, he pushed her aside and hurried off.
    Then, within a week of Yuen’s return, his mother donned her new earrings and went to wash in the creek. Days later, an ear infection rendered her deaf. The watch chain hung from the father’s vest during his walk over the dikes. He fell and became paralyzed. At her home, Yuen’s older sister was dangling her necklace at her child when he suddenly tipped onto the stone floor. After that, the child never spoke or cried again.
    The villagers averted their eyes and whispered about cursed gold. When they persisted in asking about Fong, Yuen replied, “Gold Mountain is wild and dangerous. Animals might have devoured him, the river could have carried him off, or an avalanche may have suffocated him.”
    â€œAlas, Heaven can be cruel,” cried the villagers. “Hopefully, his body has been properly buried. Without a safe home so far away, his soul will never rest.”
    Yuen swallowed hard and tears slipped from his eyes.
    Then his younger sister rushed in and flung her necklace at him. Weeping, she shouted, “This carries nothing but bad luck!”
    After that, Yuen announced he would return to Gold Mountain to search for his friend.
    During the ocean voyage, he braced himself on the tilting deck as waves battered the sailing ship. If