Alis - By Naomi Rich Page 0,3

the hearth, Sarah looked anxiously at Alis out of swimming eyes. “How I wish that I might stay longer. It does me so much good to be here, and you have been a kind companion to me, Alis. But it is of no use to wish, for here is a letter from my husband in which he urges me to return. And it was sent more than two weeks ago.”

“Can you not remain a little longer, and write to tell him that you will do so?” Alis asked.

Sarah clutched her hands together and swallowed convulsively. “Oh, no. I could not do that. He would be . . . he wishes me to come home. He says so quite plainly.”

“Shall you not be glad to be at home again?” Alis asked curiously.

“Oh, yes indeed. It is only that . . . that I was ill before I came and . . . I do not feel quite well again. Of course, it is nothing, I know. But I . . . miss my sister so much, and now I must part with you, too.”

Alis clasped her hands in her lap to conceal their sudden trembling. Very carefully she said, “It is a pity that I cannot accompany you, Mistress Sarah. I should so like to see Two Rivers; I have never visited another Community.”

Sarah stared at her, a faint red mounting in her pale cheeks.

“But, oh, it would be wonderful if you could. Do you think your parents would permit it?”

“They might think that I imposed on you, Mistress Sarah. They would not wish me to do that.”

Watching Sarah ponder this, Alis bit her lip, dreading to see her give up in despair.

“If I were to invite you—”

Too quickly Alis said, “That would be a kindness indeed, Mistress Sarah. You are very good.”

But Sarah’s face had fallen. “No, that will not do, for I must write first to my husband, and there is not time.”

Alis’s dismay must have shown in her face, for Sarah said unhappily, “There, now I have disappointed you. But I do not see how it can be managed. Oh dear, how difficult everything is.”

The tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Unable to comfort Sarah, Alis went home in low spirits. She did not see how she was ever to get away from Freeborne. She could not simply leave—she had never been farther than her uncle’s farm. If she merely set out on the road, she would be pursued and brought back again.

But Leah knew how to manage the matter. She sent for the Healers, and by the next day Sarah was provided with a letter stating that it would be well for Mistress Sarah’s health if she had Alis as her companion on the journey home. Hannah gave her consent and after hearing Alis’s account, said to her, “Do you truly wish to stay awhile with Mistress Sarah, Alis? You will have to curb your tongue and do as you are bid without contention there, for you will find Two Rivers a very different place from Freeborne.”

Alis concealed her eagerness as best she could. “I should like to go, Mother, if you will permit it. It is a chance that may not come again before I am married, and then, most likely, such an absence will not be possible.”

Hannah gave her daughter a searching look and Alis met her gaze steadily. At length her mother said, “Well, you are a good girl and shall have your wish. You will find it a stern place, but that is to be welcomed, for it will make you grateful that your home is here in Freeborne. I will write a letter also.”

And so it was arranged.

2

The wagon that took Alis and Sarah southward was a lumbering thing and not the most comfortable for a two-week journey, but Alis did not care. As it rocked past the outlying farm-houses and toward the Two Rivers Community, her heart beat faster. Here she was, many miles away from Minister Galin, many miles nearer the city. Perhaps the Maker was on her side after all.

They were entering a cobbled square surrounded by stone houses. At its center was a high wooden platform and surmounting it, a tall post. Alis wondered what it was but Sarah had sunk into silence as they neared their destination, huddling against the cushions as if she would disappear into them. It was useless to question her.

The wagon swayed to a halt outside the prayer house—a larger building than the