she noticed a stack of men’s caps on a shelf. She removed the straw bonnet and
tried a beige flat cap. “I’ll take this too.” She carried it and the trousers and shirt
to the counter.
Michelle wrapped them in newsprint, with Olivia’s old dress, and Olivia paid
the difference.
“You’ve been so kind to me. I really don’t know how to thank you.”
Michelle smiled. “Just take care of yourself. Time will come, some other
woman’s gonna need you to be kind to her.”
Out on the street Olivia was once again anonymous, but no longer took
comfort in it. How quickly she had grown accustomed to Michelle’s warmth.
How wintry the world felt without it. Like stepping away from a campfire, into
endless cold and dark.
She walked aimlessly for a long while. Her feet hurt terribly, but she didn’t feel like going back to the hotel. Then a shop selling beaded moccasins caught
her eye and she went in to try on a pair. They were soft and gentle to her throbbing feet.
“I’ll take them,” she said to the clerk, nodding at her feet. “And I’m going to
keep them on. You can wrap my shoes up.” He raised an eyebrow, but
wordlessly took her money and handed her the package.
Out on the street she was drawn toward the river, where she stood watching
the boats. There were not as many as on the day she’d arrived with Mourning on
the Windsong, but it was still an impressive show. She craned her neck, searching in vain for one of the French Voyageurs. Every other type of craft bobbed in the water and the shouts of the stevedores working on Merchants’
Wharf reached her ears. She wondered if they felt lucky to be living in this young, exciting city.
She seated herself on a large rock near the water and considered making
Detroit her home. Why not? Her farm wasn’t far way. She could let it to a tenant
farmer and use the money to start some kind of business. Plenty of women had
their own businesses, didn’t they? Look at Michelle. She remembered her first glimpse of the city as they’d rounded the last bend in the river, the sunlight glinting off tin roofs. The feeling that this was where she was supposed to be.
But that feeling was gone. She would never belong anywhere. Anyway, what did
she know about running a business?
She rose and began walking again. Before long she saw an older woman
seated on a bench in a park and sat down next to her.
“Hullo,” Olivia said. “I was wondering if you might know if there are any
teaching positions available here in Detroit.”
“Humph. Don’t no woman in her right mind want to be no school teacher in
this town.” The woman waved the question away in obvious disgust. “My
daughter was one. Lost her job last year when they closed the public schools.”
“There are no schools in a big city like Detroit?” Olivia asked.
“Oh there’s schools all right, you got the money to fork over for ’em. They’re
trying to get some kind of tax passed, but for now the great guns are saying they
only got enough to open the public schools for four months – and that’s only if
the pigeon teachers agree to work for $6 a month.”
“Oh.” Olivia thanked her and rose. Nothing in life was simple. She was back
