“Wha…” Sleepily, Mei cracked an eye open.
“How do you say ‘hello’?”
“What…? Whatd’ya mean…?” Mei spotted the children, who were now examining her clothes curiously. “Oh. Violet, I ain’t spoken nothin’ but English since I was their age.”
“What? You mean you don’t know a lick of Chinese?”
“I mean—” Mei noticed that one of the smaller children was toying with the holster of her Winchester. Mei quickly pulled it from their hands and sat it behind her, well out of reach. “I mean, there ain’t exactly one language, neither. My folks spoke Yue. But I had friends who spoke Xiang and Putonghua.” Mei yawned and scratched her head. “Not that I remember much.”
“But you gotta know something!” Violet pleaded. “Not even a ‘howdy’?”
Mei snorted. “That don’t exactly translate.” The taller child peered
