Odette glanced to the right. Two men were standing in front of a baker’s shop only a few feet away. One held a long loaf of bread under his arm. The other bent toward him, as if imparting a secret, with a leering grin on his whiskery face. She itched to slap that grin right off him.
The other man grunted and nodded.
“We should go over and give her a greeting, eh?” He laughed, an ugly sound.
“Agnes is protective of that one. She might not let you—”
“Aw, Agnes likes me. She lets me have any girl I want.”
Odette’s stomach turned as the blood drained from her face. She glared at the two men, but they did not even see her as they moved away from the front of the bakery and down the street.
Odette grabbed Anna’s arm. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Anna was just turning away from the flower seller with her bunch of flowers.
Odette stepped aside, out of the street, pulling Anna with her. “There were two men over by the bakery, and one of them said something that makes me think Kathryn went back to The Red House.”
“Oh no, I cannot believe that. It might not be Kathryn. It couldn’t be. She is with her brothers at the farm.”
“I have a strange feeling it is her. I have to find out.”
“How will you do that? You cannot!” Anna put her flowers in her basket and grasped Odette’s arm. “What are you thinking?”
Odette knew she probably shouldn’t tell Anna, since she might try to stop her. “I cannot let Kathryn be molested by that disgusting man. I will simply go to The Red House and see if she is there.”
“They will not let you in that place.”
They would if she wanted to work there.
Odette stood in front of The Red House with Anna still holding on to her arm.
“Odette, what are you going to do?”
She turned to her friend and looked her in the eye. “Nothing bad will happen. I only want to find out if Kathryn is here.” She thrust her basket into Anna’s hand. “I will be back in a few minutes.”
She turned away from Anna’s distraught expression and strode toward the front door of The Red House.
The guard at the door trained his eyes on her as she approached. He uncrossed his arms and turned his body to face her. “What do you want?”
“I want to talk to Agnes.”
“Why? What about?” He narrowed his eyes. Otherwise he didn’t even move, as though she were no threat at all.
“She will want to talk to me.”
“Go away. This is not the kind of place for a maiden like you.”
“How do you know what kind of maiden I am?” She felt a bit queasy in her stomach at what she was implying. She clenched her jaw and said firmly, “I want to talk to Agnes.”
He leaned toward her menacingly. “Why?”
“I want to work for her.”
He leaned back with a lift of his brows. “You do?”
“Yes.”
“Very well.” He opened the door and preceded her into the house.
When they walked in, everyone in the room turned to look at her. One woman, wearing clothing that covered more of her skin than the rest of them, turned and put her hands on her hips. “Who is this you have, Conrad?”
“She wants to talk to you, Agnes.”
The woman looked at Odette from head to toe. “What do you want?”
Odette walked toward her. “I was thinking of working for you. I had heard that my friend Kathryn was working here, and if she is here, then I want to work here too.”
Agnes crossed her arms over her chest, continuing to eye Odette.
“Is she here?”
“Why would that matter to you?”
“Because I want to be where my friend is.”
“So you want to work for me.” Agnes gave a smirk. “Have you ever done this kind of work before?”
One of the women staring at her from several feet away snickered. The bodice of her dress was indecently low, and Odette averted her eyes. The young woman beside her laughed even louder. Two men sitting at a table grinned at her as they looked up from their game.
Odette lifted her chin, hoping they couldn’t see her blush in the dimly lit room. “There is a first time for everything. I am desperate for work, and this is what I want to do, if Kathryn is here. She said I could make a lot of money in a short time.”
Agnes stared at her as a slow smile spread across her face. “Then go get ready for work. Conrad will show you to your room.”
“I want to talk to Kathryn first.”