The First Order (The Chronicles of Sister June Book 1) by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackwych Books Ltd
Published: 2022-02-14T05:00:00+00:00

***

“This is useless,” Sister Josephine muttered as she pulled apart another semi-frozen potato, revealing the rotten core. “Our supplies have never been so depleted. At this rate, we shall need to fetch some more from one of the towns next month. I don't understand why everything's so...”

Her voice trailed off as the remains of the potato crumbled in her hands.

“It's as if some external force is working against us,” she added, seemingly talking more to herself now than to June as the pair of them worked in the kitchen. “I've never known supposedly fresh produce to resist my attempts to preserve it like this. It's almost as if we're...”

Again she hesitated for a moment, before taking another potato and getting to work. This time, after trimming one rotten side, she was at least able to get to a section that looked promising.

“One mustn't think such things,” she added with a sigh. “It does no good to think of curses or any such nonsense. There must simply be -”

Before she could finish, another loud, ominous rumbling sound filled the air, and this time the windows rattled loudly in their frames for a few seconds and the sound persisted for longer than usual.

Looking up at the ceiling, June couldn't help but listen to a distant rattling noise, and she was more worried than ever that an avalanche of snow was about to fall onto the castle and crush them all. Even as the sound faded, she felt no easing of her concerns, and after a few seconds she realized that the faintest rumble was continuing. She looked down at her feet; was she imagining things, or was the castle still shaking slightly, as if driven by some hidden force?

“Do not allow yourself to get distracted,” Josephine said firmly, glancing at her. “Idle minds are no good to man nor beast.”

“I'm sorry, Sister Josephine,” she said quickly, before looking back down at the bowl on the table, “I won't do it again. I was just -”

“Hurry!” Father Ravenscroft called out suddenly, rushing through to join them. “Outside! Quickly!”

“What's wrong?” June gasped, worried that the avalanche had come after all, that they had only seconds to race to safety.

“You'll see,” he said breathlessly, running to her and grabbing her by the arm, then leading her to the door. “You too, Sister Josephine. I want both of you to witness this miracle of the natural world.”

Sighing, Josephine followed as Father Ravenscroft pulled the door open and led them out into the snow.

“I must protest that I'm quite busy at this moment,” Josephine grumbled. “I would appreciate not being hauled away from my very important work, especially when it's something I have seen before.”

“I told you, Sister June,” Father Ravenscroft continued, forcing her to follow him far out across the plateau at the front of the castle, until they stopped and he turned her around so they could both look up the mountain. “I told you, and I was right!”

“I'm sure I don't know what you mean,” June stammered, starting to shiver in the cold air as snow fell all around.

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