Clara nodded.
"Yes."
The older woman stared for a long moment.
Then looked toward the door.
"Amos has more grain than he's told you."
Clara went still.
"What?"
Hester looked uncomfortable.
She pressed her lips together.
Then said quietly, "There are sacks in the upper loft at the store."
"How many?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Why weren't they counted?"
Hester lowered her eyes.
"Amos says they're pledged against a freight debt."
Clara stared.
"Are they food grain?"
"Some flour. Some oats. A little barley."
"Why did he say the storeroom couldn't help?"
Hester rubbed her hands together.
"Because if the shipment doesn't arrive, the bank will want payment."
Clara took a slow breath.
"And those sacks are his security."
Hester nodded.
For a moment, both women were silent.
Then Clara looked toward the notebook.
"We need to speak with him."
Hester looked frightened.
"He'll be furious I told you."
Clara studied her.
The older woman had spent years supporting her husband's opinions, even when they were cruel.
Now she sat in Clara's kitchen admitting that he had concealed valuable food.
Clara softened her voice.
"Thank you for telling me."
Hester looked up.
"I wasn't sure I should."
"Why did you?"
The woman looked toward the sleeping children.
Then toward the bowl of dried apples.
"Because I watched my granddaughter eat supper here."
Her voice trembled.
"And I thought about how she might have gone hungry if you'd cared more about being insulted than helping us."
Clara was quiet.
Hester continued.
"I've spent a great deal of time deciding which people are respectable."
She looked down.
"I think I've been measuring the wrong things."
For the first time, Clara did not know what to say.
Then she reached across the table.
Placed her hand over Hester's.
And said gently, "Then we'll begin measuring them differently."
The confrontation with Amos Pike took place the next morning.
Clara did not go alone.
Hester accompanied her.
So did Martha Bell and the schoolteacher, Miss Ada Whitfield.
The four women entered the store shortly after nine.
Amos stood behind the counter sorting invoices.
He looked up.
"Hester?"
His wife removed her gloves.
"We need to talk."
Pike looked toward the others.
"About what?"
Clara stepped forward.
"The grain in your upper loft."
His expression hardened immediately.
"Who told you about that?"
Hester raised her chin.
"I did."
Amos stared at his wife.
For a moment, he seemed unable to believe it.
Then he looked toward Clara.
"Those supplies are pledged."
"We understand."
"No, you don't."
He slammed the invoice book shut.