“Most of them,” Harriet said. “You have to learn who you can trust.”
“And you trusted Mr. Sylvester?”
“Completely. Oh! Look! His wife has the cart here. Come and see what she’s brought.”
They went to a large cart where the produce was displayed in a haphazard way that Edilean didn’t think was very appealing, but Harriet didn’t seem to notice as she began to paw through the vegetables. Edilean stood back and looked at the place. It was extremely busy, with what looked to be hundreds of people rushing about. Most of the women carried big baskets like Harriet’s, and they were fighting crowds and arguing with sellers at the top of their lungs.
For all that it was exciting, there was also an air of frustration about the place, as though the men were enjoying themselves, but the women just wanted to get it all done and over with.
Behind the wagon was a young woman with a belly swollen with child and a toddler on her hip. She was gently crying into a handkerchief while three women hovered around her, looks of sympathy on their faces.
“Is that the widow?” Edilean asked Harriet.
“Yes. She’s much younger than her husband was. She certainly looks young to have seven children, doesn’t she?”
“Very young,” Edilean agreed.
“Poor thing. I wonder what she’ll do now.”
“Sell the farm, make thousands, and marry someone else,” Edilean said quickly.
“You seem sure of yourself,” Harriet said as she picked up a plum and inspected it.
“Is it good enough for our table?” There was amusement in Edilean’s voice.
“Why don’t you go look around and see what the others have to offer?” Harriet said impatiently. “But just look; don’t buy.”
As Edilean took her up on the suggestion and began to walk around, she saw what Harriet meant. Several of the carts held produce that didn’t look fit to buy. It had been thrown into the wagon, so it was bruised, which meant it would rot in a day or two.
When she got to the end of the long row, there was a woman with her back to her who looked familiar. When she turned, Edilean saw that it was Tabitha, and in spite of herself, she almost felt that she was seeing an old friend. Edilean knew so few people in America, and here was one of them.
She wasn’t sure if Tabitha saw her, but when she moved away, Edilean followed. She turned a corner, then stopped, for Tabitha had disappeared.
In the next second, Tabitha slipped out from beside a building and confronted Edilean. “What do you want?” Tabitha asked in anger. “You didn’t get enough of hurting me the last time? You came back to do more?” As she spoke, she was looking Edilean in her silk dress up and down with contempt.
“What happened to you after our confrontation?” Edilean asked, noting that Tabitha was filthy. On the ship she’d had enough pride in herself that she’d kept her hair neat and her clothes clean, but now she looked like she’d given up.
“What do you care?”
“I don’t,” Edilean said as she started to turn away.
“I could kill you for what you done to me,” Tabitha called out after her.
“Whatever do you mean?” Edilean asked, looking back at her. “You’re the thief, not me.”
“How was I to know your lover had diamonds? I thought they were just glass. They were in his pocket like so much rubbish, and when I brushed up against him, I just slipped them out. Who carries diamonds about in his pocket?”
Edilean wondered the same thing but didn’t say so. “And I took them from you and gave them back to him. Is that why you’re so angry and so...” She looked her up and down.
“Dirty?”
Edilean gave a little shrug.
“They... the people in the camp took the bracelets, then threw me out on my own because of what you did to me. They said I was worthless to not know what I’d taken—and to let a lady like you beat me in a fight. But you was fightin’ for your life. I wasn’t.”
“True,” Edilean said coolly. “But I did beat you.” She knew that, logically, she owed this woman nothing, but still, she couldn’t seem to make herself leave. “Where are you living now?”
Tabitha’s face hardened. “Anywhere I can. With whatever man will have me for the night.”