Another Eden Read Online Free PDF Page B

trembling. Then she pulled her gently to her feet. "Come, we must tell Par en, and then we'll tell the police."
    "The police! No!"
    "But they'll
help
you, Tasha." She read fear in the dark gypsy eyes. "Don't be afraid, I promise you it'll be all right. Do you trust me?"
    "Yes, yes, you I trust, but—"
    "Then come. We'll talk to the police together. They'll find this man, and then you'll be safe." She held out her hand. After a tense moment, Tasha took it, and the two women climbed the stairs together.

Chapter Four

    "Do you want some tea, Lauren? I can ring for it. Or a drink?"
    "No, that's all right, don't make them do it twice."
    "Well, why don't you just
stay
for tea, then?"
    Lauren made a face which would have been indecipherable to anyone else, but Sara read it perfectly. It said: Not if Ben's coming, thanks all the same. "No, but I will stay long enough to meet this Mr. McKie. He sounds interesting. So, you were saying. You called the police—?"
    "We called the police, and they came and took all the information, and then they went home with Tasha to look around and make sure she was all right. I feel so awful, Lauren, so completely helpless. I gave her some money, I don't even know why—it was all I could think of She wouldn't take it at first, until I made her."
    "Maybe she'll find another place to live."
    "Maybe. But if this man is really following her, what good will it do?" Lauren shook her head in sympathy. "Have you talked to her since then?"
    "No. It happened on Friday. I Called Paren yesterday and again this morning, and he said Jonathan had stopped by her place twice to check on her."
    "Who's Jonathan?"
    "One of the residents—he lives at the settlement house while he goes to school to study social work."
    "Is this girl really a gypsy? What's her last name?"
    "Eminescu. Her mother was a gypsy; she says her father was a count." When Lauren looked skeptical, Sara smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Did she come here all alone?"
    "Yes, about two years ago. She started out selling fish from a cart on Delaney Street."
    "Good God."
    "Now she works in a sewing factory. She does exquisite work—you should see her clothes. She makes them all herself, from scraps her employer lets her take home. She's a fashion plate!"
    Restless, she got up from her chair and went to the parlor window. The May sky was cloudless, perfect. A house sparrow with a straw in its beak flew into the maple tree in a blur of gray and chestnut. Thirty-second Street was a quiet, clean, orderly bastion of respectability and wealth—and a world away from the teeming tenements of Fourth Avenue. What was Tasha doing fight now? Sitting alone in her miserable little room, listening for a sound outside her locked door?
    "It doesn't do any good to fret about this, Sara."
    "No, I know. It's just that she's so helpless. She distrusts the police—and what can they do for her anyway?"
    "I'm sure she'll be all right. This man probably just wants to scare her."
    "I wish you could meet her. You'd like her independence. And she's so striking—not really beautiful, but once you see her you don't forget her."
    "Come over here," Lauren said, patting the sofa. "Let's talk about
me
for a change."
    Sara smiled, recognizing her friend's attempt to cheer her up for what it was, and went to sit beside her. "Yes, I do want to hear all about
you
. How is your painting class going?"
    "Boring, boring."
    "Really? But I thought you were in love with Mr.—Watson?"
    "Whitson, and he turns out to be rather a limp rag."
    "Oh, too bad."
    "So I've decided to go to Paris."
    Sara laughed—and broke off when Lauren didn't join in. "What? Are you serious?"
    "Deadly."
    She sat back weakly. "When?"
    "In a few weeks. Well, you needn't look like that! After all, you were ready to abandon me for the whole summer while you go off to Newport." It was absurd to feel this bereft—and this stupid urge to burst into tears. "You're absolutely right. But Paris is so far away!"
    "But do you