“Out with it!” Angus said loudly, making the men on the far side of the cave jump. Even Naps stirred in his sleep.
“Miss Edilean’s uncle died,” Tam said.
“Did he?” Angus said and couldn’t help a bit of a smile. It was one less person who was after him.
“And he left all his property to Miss Edilean.”
“Good,” Angus said, looking from one to the other of them, but they were silent. “You want to buy the place from her, don’t you?”
“For a peppercorn a year,” Malcolm said quickly.
“I think she’d agree to that.”
“She don’t need the money,” Shamus said, “not with all those slave girls of hers.”
“Slaves?” Angus said. “I can’t imagine that Edilean would own a slave.”
“That’s not what he meant,” Malcolm said, glaring at Shamus to keep his mouth shut. “Miss Edilean has... Well, it’s...” He looked at Tam for help.
“She started a business in Boston called ‘Bound Girl.’ ”
Angus looked at him in astonishment. “Are you saying that she opened a... a house of... ?”
“Did this new country put your mind in the gutter?” Malcolm snapped. “Miss Edilean is a lady. Mind what you say about her, boy!”
“Or you’ll turn me over your knee?” Angus asked, smiling at the familiarity of it all.
Tam leaned forward. “She sells the best and the most vegetables and fruit in Boston. She has a company that she owns and runs with the help of women who used to be indentured servants.”
“I like her handbill,” Shamus said, grinning.
“What’s he talking about?” Angus asked.
“Well,” Tam said slowly, “Miss Edilean does have a rather, uh, enticing sign for her business.”
“A girl,” Shamus said, “big and healthy, with her sleeves rolled up. Good muscles on her, and she’s got—” He made a gesture to show a large bosom. “Damn handsome woman!”
They all looked at Shamus for a moment, then turned back to Angus. “Is this true? Edilean runs a business?”
“From what we were told, she has over a hundred employees, all women, and she owns half a dozen farms,” Malcolm said. “How long has it been since you’ve seen her?”
“Four years, three months, and twen
ty-two days,” Angus said quickly, then looked embarrassed. “I think. It’s just a guess.”
“You always were good at guessing,” Malcolm said but lowered his head to hide his smile.
“So Edilean started a business,” Angus said in wonder. “And it’s doing well?”
“Very well,” Malcolm said. “She earns a lot of money, and she’s used it to set up a couple of houses for women without husbands, widows and such. She helps a lot of women.”
“There were nine bound women on the ship when we came over,” Angus said, staring at the fire, remembering. “But Edilean didn’t like them. She hired one of them to do some sewing for her, but I could tell that she had no intention of keeping her on after the voyage. Funny how you think you know someone but don’t. I can’t imagine Edilean running a business and certainly not hiring women like them.”
When his head came up, he was smiling. “She got into a fight—a bloody fistfight—with one of the prisoners named Tabitha. Edilean—”
“Big girl? Pretty?” Tam asked.
“Yes,” Angus said. “You didn’t meet her, did you?”