Alis - By Naomi Rich Page 0,2

to the idea, her mother had said: the summer would be soon enough. Alis longed to believe that something would happen before then to save her: her parents would relent; the Minister would say that it was a mistake. But she knew it would not be so: such a decision had not been taken lightly. Her feelings counted for nothing.

Between bouts of nightmares, into which she would fall as suddenly as she might slip on wet stones, Alis struggled to see a way out. Her brother Joel might have helped her perhaps, but he had run away seven years ago—to the city, it was thought. They never spoke of him.

She remembered him—sun-browned and bright-eyed, his fair hair cropped as was the custom. Long ago he had teased her and played with her, and she had loved him. Could she, somehow, escape from Freeborne and find him again?

When Alis rose the next morning, her mind was made up: she would seek her brother. However fearful the journey, it could not be worse than marrying the Minister. She had heard that the city was a terrible place. Adults frowned when they spoke of it. The nearer Communities traded with the city dwellers but hers was too far away for direct contact—weeks and weeks away, even if she went by wagon on the main highway, which she would surely not be able to do. Well, she did not care! She would get there somehow. The decision gave her hope and calmed the terror that had engulfed her the night before. In the meantime she knew she must not give any hint of her intention. Her mother must think that she repented of her rebelliousness, or a watch would be kept on her. She might even be locked up if it was thought she meant to run away. Miserably she realized she could not even tell her closest friend. Elzbet would never deliberately betray a secret, but she would find it impossible to behave as usual and pretend that she knew nothing. She hated lying, too, and turned scarlet when questioned even if she had nothing to hide. If Alis did get away, Elzbet would surely be interrogated.

When she went down the stairs and into the kitchen, Hannah looked at her and said in a kindly tone, “Alis, I am going to tend to Master Joseph this morning, for he is near ninety and he does not manage at all now that his wife is gone. But this once, you may remain at home, for you have had a shock I know, and I am sorry for it.”

It was rare that Hannah gave her a choice: such tasks had to be done, and that was all. Alis said quietly, “He is too heavy for you to move on your own. You know the bed linens will need changing, and he must be washed, too. I will come and help you.”

Hannah smiled at her daughter and said gently, “That would be good, Alis, and what I would prefer. Thank you.”

With an effort, Alis smiled back.

So it went on. She attended prayer meetings, performed her household tasks, and helped her mother in tending the sick and frail. Only now, when she read a portion of the Book, as she was bound to do every day, she avoided the sections where the rules for living were laid down, and returned to the stories of the first days when the Maker created men and women out of the dust, and gave them the world for their dwelling place.

For three months she waited, behaving so dutifully that even her mother was fooled. It was hard, for she did not dare speak openly to anyone. Elzbet, guessing that something terrible had happened, could not understand why Alis would not confide in her, and retreated baffled and hurt. So Alis had to bear her lot alone, but at last her patience was rewarded.

Mistress Leah’s young husband had disappeared, leaving her with three small children, and her sister, Mistress Sarah, had come to Freeborne to visit her. Unlike Leah, with her lustrous, dark hair and vivid coloring, Sarah was fair-haired and pale, with huge blue eyes that seemed always on the verge of spilling tears. As the time approached for her return home, she fell ill, though the Healers could find no bodily cause for her decline. Hannah sent Alis to keep her company, and it seemed to raise her spirits a little.

Sitting wrapped in her shawl in the rocking chair by