We reached Akay Niris Bay just as the market was opening for the morning. Merchants were setting out their wares, farmers hawked vegetables and fruits from their wagons as they pulled them through the groggy streets. Citizens threw off sleep like blankets in the summer.

“What is the plan, Betty?” Isobeau whispered to me, “if we stay bunched up against the wall like this, it is going to look suspicious.”

I nodded, “do we have any money? Maybe we can spread out and...