“I am going to the shops on the quay,” Azalea said. “Tell the rickshaw boy where to go and say that I will pay him off. I will find another rickshaw when it is time for me to return.”
“Very good, Miss.”
If Ah Yok was surprised at Azalea’s independence, he was not in a position to say so.
He merely did what was asked of him and a few minutes later Azalea was trundling down the hill, and the rickshaw boy was showing how good he was by travelling as fast as his legs could carry him.
They passed the cricket ground, the impressive Hong Kong Club and went down Old Praya towards the part of the quay where the junks were moored.
Azalea had to direct the boy a little further than Ah Yok had told him to go, but finally she saw several very large junks and told him to stop.
She paid him, and ev
