When She Returned by Lucinda Berry

Author:Lucinda Berry [Berry, Lucinda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542092920
Published: 2019-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

KATE

THEN

I moaned with ecstasy as the hot water spilled over my head. I couldn’t remember the last time it’d been hot. Even the water they’d used to bathe me with after I came out of the cellar had been cold. It felt so good it didn’t matter that I wasn’t in a real tub. I sat cross-legged in a hollowed-out tin while Margo bathed me in preparation for Scott’s visit. I was glad they’d allowed her to be the one. I’d still be mortified when she moved her way down to my private areas, but it’d be less awkward and embarrassing if it was her.

Her fingers massaged my scalp as she lathered my hair with shampoo. “Fill me in on how things are going,” she said, since I hadn’t seen her since the day I left the center.

I’d been secluded at a remote cabin in the woods with another recently converted disciple, Willow. New disciples were always paired up and served as each other’s mirror while undergoing their Phase One training.

“I really miss my family, but it’s a relief not to be living with one foot in both worlds,” I said. That had been the easiest part of settling into discipleship, not having to be in conflict all the time. “How long have I been gone?” I asked. Coming out of the cellar had been almost as disorienting as going in, since they’d taken us straight to the cabin and left us without any cues to time or the outside world, just like it’d been down there.

She shook her head. “Letting go of time takes a long time,” she said, laughing as she realized her play on words.

I smiled back. It was nice to see her, even if she wouldn’t give me any hints to help ground me. Willow and I got along well enough, but she was twenty-four and had been raised to be a free spirit, since her parents were retired hippies from the sixties. The only thing we had in common was Love International, which was fine, but sometimes it was nice to talk about other things, and that was where our commonality ended. Margo was closer to my age and understood sacrifice, since she’d given up a successful law practice to join. It wasn’t the same as my family, but it was something.

“I missed you,” I said.

“I missed you too.” She squeezed my shoulders. “How are your caretakers?”

I shrugged. “They’re all right.”

The only other people at the cabin were two women whose sole purpose was to tend to our needs so we could focus solely on our spiritual growth and development. They cooked and cleaned for us, speaking to us like children while they did it. We weren’t even allowed to bathe ourselves. I didn’t like being reduced to such an infantile state and hadn’t gotten used to it. Probably wouldn’t.

Margo grabbed my hand and scrubbed underneath my fingernails, but it didn’t matter how hard she scrubbed, the dirt buried underneath them from the hours we spent scrubbing the floors on our knees was never coming out.

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