The Community by Heidi Visser

Author:Heidi Visser [Heidi Visser]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cayelle Publishing LLC
Published: 2022-01-13T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

The sound of feet running along wooden floors woke Nora. She kept her eyes closed, aware of the sweet scent of cedar that pervaded the small, charming cabin. She barely remembered walking in last night and falling into a heap of blankets.

She sat up, waving blearily at Sarah, who beamed in response. “Thanks for putting me up,” Nora said, looking around at the simple furnishings. She hated being an imposition. “Do you know how long I’ll live with you?” Nora asked.

Sarah paused, her hand stopped mid-air from cooking a massive pot of oatmeal, two children already tugging at her dress to be picked up. “As far as I know, this is your permanent home,” she said, waving them away with loving smiles.

Nora was stunned. “No,” she insisted, “Only until Nate gets here.”

Sarah stifled a smile, then shook her head. “Even if he does, men don’t live with women, Nora,” Sarah said, still half-smiling.

Nora was silent, processing this; Sarah continued making breakfast, eventually giving in and settling one child on her hip, placating the other with a bit of jam on toast, and bandaging up a third who came in, wailing and fussing about splinters from the firewood.

“So, you live alone?” Nora frowned, trying to sort out the Fringe and its rules.

“Yup.” Sarah was now mopping up a glob of spilled oatmeal.

“And the men live alone.”

“Of course,” Sarah said, chuckling, as if the very idea that they would live with the women and children was downright preposterous.

“And you … raise children?”

“I raise the future of this village,” Sarah corrected her, her voice filled with pride. Nora looked at her, puzzled. It was an odd phrase, and one she suspected used as a bit of propaganda to sell the whole idea. Nora was training to be a lawyer. She could spot a well-argued lie from a mile away. Say it enough times to enough people and everyone begins to believe it.

“The men?”

“They hunt and run the shops in town,” Sarah finished, before adding, “And I guess some women help with the businesses, but those are only the women who can’t have children.” She gave a good-natured grimace, then peeled off the child from her hip and started pouring out boiling water into ceramic mugs.

That. That was the moment Nora knew something was very, very wrong.

Sure enough, Nora’s suspicions were confirmed when, a moment later Sarah said, “But that doesn’t happen very often.”

“Why not?”

“It just doesn’t. Women who can’t have children are usually sent away so we don’t hear about them.”

Nora frowned, not understanding that answer. “Away? To where?”

But Sarah wasn’t listening, instead telling her oldest kids they needed to tidy the upstairs bunk room, where all the children except for the baby slept.

“Sarah?” Nora repeated, more frenetic. “Where are the motherless women sent?”

Sarah was watching the children trudge unwillingly up the stairs. “I don’t know,” she admitted, finally looking back at Nora. Her open face and reluctant reply told Nora that Sarah was telling the truth.

Sarah kissed the top of her baby’s head, rocking back and forth, nodding at three young girls who passed by the open window.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.