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boat.”
    “Then share a few tales of adventure. I know of at least one story that would keep any audience riveted, especially a firsthand account.”
    Kate took her father’s arm. “It might be fun, Dad.”
    Joseph felt the marshal look to him for help, and for a moment he wasn’t sure what to offer. He could have found an excuse, something to keep the marshal occupied through the festival, but in the end he didn’t have to.
    “All right, I’ll do it.”
    “Excellent!” said the mayor, once again shaking the marshal’s hand. “Avery will fill you in on the details.” The mayor deftly passed off the marshal to his assistant and turned his attention to Joseph. “A moment, Joseph, if I might.”
    The mayor walked Joseph down the pier, his deputy trailing at a discreet distance.
    “I’m surprised you found the time to retrieve your father-in-law. I can only assume that means our business is well undertaken.”
    “Nearly completed, sir. I only have to confirm my suspicions, which shouldn’t take more than a day.”
    “You found the culprit so quickly?”
    Joseph nodded. “Send a man around to the bookstore on Thursday and I’ll have your answer. Send someone you trust.”
    “I’ll send Bart,” said the mayor, motioning to his deputy.
    Joseph knew the deputy was listening and was impressed that the man didn’t flinch at the mention of his name.
    “You’ve really got this figured out in a week’s time?”
    “I’m afraid you’re not as popular as you think. It was a close election.”
    “And the next one is going to be even closer, which is why I need this resolved. Perhaps you should just give me a name right now.”
    “Thursday. And, now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to attend to my newly extended family.”
    Joseph strode up the pier, leaving the mayor and his deputy to wonder how much he’d actually discovered.
    *   *   *
    Twenty minutes later, Joseph found himself floating up Yamhill Street on a small flat-bottomed skiff loaded with the marshal’s belongings. The waters had receded slightly since he’d left on his errand, although not enough to make the business district passable to anything with wheels. The boat would carry them as far as Sixth Street, where a cart would be waiting to take them the rest of the way home.
    A young Chinese man deftly maneuvered the vessel through the waterlogged streets using a long wooden pole. There were dozens of similar craft spread about the city, each under the command of a similarly skilled Celestial boatman. The local Chinese population kept mostly to itself, rarely venturing out of the Second Avenue neighborhood that had become the nation’s second-largest Chinatown. But when the streets filled with water each spring, it was Chinese boats that offered the fastest (and cheapest) transport across the city. Not surprisingly, the Rain Festival’s annual regatta had been won by a Chinese national four years running.
    The young man directed the craft around another water taxi heading in the opposite direction and then steered back into the center of the canal. Joseph scanned ahead and caught a glimpse of Kick darting across a raised scaffold stretched over the next intersection. He stopped in the center of the slender plank and waved at his father. Joseph waved back. Kick raced on, followed closely by Kate and Maddie.
    “I thought you were a bookseller,” said the marshal.
    Joseph turned to the marshal, who sat leaning against the saddle he’d refused to leave in Astoria. He hadn’t said a word since leaving the pier.
    “I am. Store’s just around the corner, in fact.” Joseph craned his neck. “I think you can see it if you look, just past the smoke shop. There’s the sign, see? ‘Booksellers and Navigation.’”
    “Navigation?”
    “Maps and such.”
    “Oh,” said the marshal. “That what the mayor was after? He lost or something?”
    Joseph smiled. “Not exactly.”
    The marshal stared at Joseph, waiting for more. Joseph considered