Sister Allison gasped, and covered her mouth with her hand, consternation glinting in her dull eyes. “I’m so sorry. Have you been waiting long?”
Sorrel shook her head. It hadn’t been so bad sitting still for once, listening to the waking town, the chirp of the birds in the trees and turning her face to the morning sun.
“I have such a headache.” A scent of citrus and thyme wafted to Sorrel as the sister brushed past, a key in hand to unlock the door. “Do you know where the spare key is kept?”
“Yes, but Brother Rick instructed me not to enter the shop.” Mostly she ignored the order, but today she’d obeyed since it suited her.
The sister appeared discomfited at the reminder. Most of the residents at the compound had heard that particular rant. “I’m sorry.” Her hand fluttered at her temple, and she pulled a face. “I have such a headache.”
“Try a drop of lavender oil on your temples,” Sorrel suggested. “I’ll start unloading the stock. Has anyone commented on the increased prices?”
The sister held the door open for her. “The man who comes twice a week to buy our stock was put out.”
Sorrel repressed the instinct to grin. She’d bet he was irked at the price rises. “Brother Rick hasn’t mentioned anything?”
“No. We haven’t sold as much, but we made more money than we normally do. I think we’ll keep the prices as is. Most of the women agree. It doesn’t make sense to sell your products at a loss.”
Sorrel’s thoughts exactly, and she didn’t understand why the women hadn’t worked this out earlier. “Everyone is late today.”
“A lot of the brothers and sisters aren’t feeling well this morning.”
Sorrel placed a box of bath salts on the counter. “Something you ate?”
“No, I think it was the celebration punch,” Sister Allison said. “It made me feel as if I could do anything. I remember laughing and enjoying myself, but I woke up with a dry mouth and this wretched headache.”
“Who made the punch?”
“Brother Rick ordered the ingredients from the kitchen and mixed it in front of us.” She rubbed her temple again. “Some of the others are feeling under the weather.”
Sorrel dawdled over the unloading and helped the sister price and shelve the items, even though she was forbidden to enter the front of the shop.
“I’ll wait outside for Brother Jake.”
“I was surprised he wasn’t here with you.”
Sorrel used the excuse they’d come up with at the start, repeating it for the sister’s benefit. “His leg still pains him. He enjoys sitting by the river while he’s resting for the walk back to the compound. I’ll go and meet him there.”
“But what about the second handcart?”
“It’s not far. I’ll wheel mine there and come back for the other.”
The sister nodded and winced. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
“Let me know tonight how you’re going with stock. I might not need to deliver more tomorrow, not with the higher prices.”
“Will do.” The sister held her head and moaned.
As Sorrel wheeled her handcart down the road, she came face-to-face with Alice Bates. The smooth purr of a vehicle and the flash of blue in her peripheral vision had Sorrel acting on instinct. “Down with condoms,” she shouted, waving her fist in Alice’s direction. “Bad, bad condoms!”
Sorrel caught Alice’s startled expression, saw the way the other woman took half a step back as Sorrel balled her hand to a fist. The truck slowed, and she saw she’d been right. It was Brother Rick. “Down with condoms,” she hollered.
“I wanted to see you,” Alice murmured. “Maybe another time.”
“Down with condoms,” Sorrel shouted, her face flushing as she drew the attention of passersby. “Please,” she lowered her voice. “I’ll explain in private. Please, I’d never hurt you. Meet me by the bench near the river. I’ll wait for as long as I can.” The blue truck was doing a U-turn. “Bad, bad condoms. Give children life.”
Sorrel’s heart sank as Alice scuttled away and everyone else gave her a wide berth. If Alice changed her mind or decided Fancy Free couldn’t market her invention, she didn’t know what she’d do.
Brother Rick pulled up beside her and the window whirred down. He had his friends with him. “Good job, Sister Bitter. You sure scared her off.”
“Go, Sister Bitter,” one of the men called from the rear seat.
For once Brother Rick radiated approval, and yet his encouraging nod filled her with distaste because she and Jake had used dreaded condoms yesterday and the sky hadn’t fallen. People should have the power to choose when or if to have children. A radical idea, to be sure, but one that’d grown in her mind since Brother Rick had taken over running the cult.
“Where is Brother Jake? Is he well this morning?”
“His leg was hurting him, but he seems over the worst of his stomach upset. I left him sitting in the sun and resting.” She bit the inside of her lip, battling the impulse to fill the silence with more words. Less was better.
To her relief, Brother Rick nodded and drove away. She relaxed a fraction, but conscious he’d still see her through his rear-vision mirror she shouted, “Down with condoms.”
“Who is that lady?” a child piped up in a squeaky voice.
“A weird cult lady.” The mother hustled her kid past, treating Sorrel like a virulent tropical disease. “You keep away from anyone wearing robes.”
Sorrel winced at the verbal strike. She wasn’t accepted by the other members of Children of Nature and people on the outside thought she was weird—a curiosity to poke fun at. She glanced left and right to check the traffic and pushed her handcart across the road. Jake wasn’t waiting on the usual bench. She left the handcart, tucked out of sight behind a bush and went to retrieve the second one.
On her return she found Jake sitting on the bench, waiting for her. She’d hoped Alice would be there too. She wasn’t.
“I thought you’d be pleased to see me,” he said.
“I saw Alice Bates as I was coming out of the shop. I shouted anti-condom slogans at her.”
Jake let out a bark of laughter. “Why?”
“Because Brother Rick was driving past at the time.”
“Brother Rick is in town?”
“Yes, or at least he was. I didn’t ask him his destination.” She pulled a face. “He wouldn’t tell me anyway.”
“Which direction did he go? How long ago?”
“He drove out of town, so I presume he’s going to Auckland. Not long ago, maybe half an hour.”
Jake pulled out a phone and pressed a button. “He’s left the compound and is heading out of town. Half an hour ago. Yeah. Okay.” Jake tucked the phone away out of sight. “Come on. I need to get back so I can nosy around.”
They set a fast pace on the return journey to the compound, traveling in single file. Sorrel studied Jake’s back. He seemed all business today, impersonal with his mind on other things.
Her mood took a downturn as her mind shifted to Alice. Her stunned expression on hearing the anti-condom shrieks had branded Sorrel’s guilty mind. Alice probably considered her a nutcase, and who wanted to work with a mentally unbalanced woman?
“I’m going to try to find my mother’s books today,” she announced.
Jake came to an abrupt halt and she almost ran her handcart into his backside. “Stay away from Brother Rick’s private rooms and office.”
“But—”
“You told me the women cleaned everything out for him. They’ve probably been moved.” Jake started moving again and she hurried to catch up. “It’s not safe. He has spies everywhere. What happens if you get caught? What are you going to tell him when he starts asking questions?”
“I’m not leaving without my mother’s stuff.”
Jake merely increased his pace, not limping until they were within sight of the compound gates. He slowed a fraction, his gait becoming heavy and uneven.
Puffing
from the rapid ascent of the slope leading to the compound, she pushed her handcart a little harder to reach his side. The two men on the gates shuffled to push them open. Their pale faces and shambling gaits put Sorrel in mind of the zombies in the movie posters she’d seen in town. “Have you noticed a lot of the people who took part in the gathering aren’t feeling well today? The sister who opened up the store blamed the celebration punch.”
“It was spiked.”
“But Brother Rick mixed it in front of everyone. It’s become part of the ritual. They would’ve noticed if he’d put something weird into the punch.”
“Maybe.” Jake didn’t sound convinced.
The compound appeared deserted, apart from a group of children playing a game of tag across the other side, nearer to the children’s quarters.
Jake stowed the handcarts while Sorrel entered her workshop. She came to an abrupt halt, gaze darting left and right. The faint scent of freshly mown grass and manure made her nostrils flare. The hairs at the back of her neck stood to attention. Nothing seemed disturbed. She let her breath ease out and cautiously sniffed again, trying to distinguish the alien scents. Frowning, she took two steps and inhaled again. The odor was weak, but the clump of mud and sprigs of cut grass on her normally clean floor confirmed her fears. Someone had entered her workshop while they’d been away.
Jake padded up behind her. “What is it?”
“I think someone has searched my workshop.”
Jake scanned the shelves and work surfaces. He checked the area where they placed their pallet at night. “Nothing appears disturbed.”
She pointed at the pieces of grass on the floor. “I wonder what they wanted. There’s nothing here to alarm the most fervent Children of Nature follower.”
“Maybe someone was checking sleeping arrangements.”
“I pack away my pallet every morning.”
“I know. Will you be okay on your own?”
“Of course I will.” She waved him away, fixing a wide smile on her lips, even though the fit felt downright uncomfortable.
“I’ll be back in time to take you to lunch.”
She managed to widen her smile and nod, but the second he left, her grin dropped away. She ambled through her workshop, picking up jars and bottles that sat off-center. A foreign whiff of smoke snagged her attention, but it was fleeting and she lost it once she neared her washing-up area.
The visitor had done more than sneak through her domain. They’d touched her things.
The morning passed, and Sorrel attempted to ignore the sense of violation and mixed a batch of fresh face packs along with a skin scrub. These products would provide an excuse for her to walk down to the shop tomorrow morning.
This thought brought a twinge of despondency. In the short time Jake had been here she’d grown to admire him and enjoy his company. Even if she hadn’t scared Alice Bates away with her antics this morning, she’d still need to find her mother’s books.
She had to face the truth. If Alice turned down her product, she’d still have to act. Brother Rick was making things increasingly uncomfortable for her at the compound. She’d turn twenty-five soon. The idea of being forced to accept one or more of the men…
Sorrel dried the last bowl and stowed it away. She removed her apron, hanging it on the peg behind the door. The time for action was now.
Chapter Nine
Jake arrived back at Sorrel’s workshop half an hour before the lunch bell. She wasn’t there. The counters were scrubbed clean and the usual aroma of flowers and herbs filled the room.
Childish laughter carried across the compound, drawing a grin. Jake backed out of the workshop and pulled the door shut.
A purple balloon drifted into the air and the children cheered. Another one flew after it, this one a bright green.
“Look at the balloon,” one of the boys shouted.
Jake froze, dread balling in his chest as he watched an inflated condom sail through the air. It floated toward the dining room where everyone was congregating for lunch, dipping abruptly and dive bombing a group of sisters. A second condom soared on the same trajectory, striking a brother on the back.
“Fuck,” Jake said in vast understatement. Hell, he must’ve dropped the rest of the box the previous evening while he was running across the compound.
Pandemonium broke out, hands flashing in distress, the shriek of voices filling the air, and when a third condom sailed over the roof of the dining room, the brothers in the group burst into action, sprinting around the corner of the building to discover the source of the balloons. He was too far away to hear the exact words, but this had all the makings of a cluster fuck.
The group of children sprang apart at the men’s shouts. A boy held another inflated condom, releasing it at the man’s shout. This one sported red and white stripes, and the condom sped through the air in a manic arc as the air in it bled free.
At the men’s shouts, the children formed a straight line. As Jake neared he could hear the men demanding answers.
“We found them,” one of the bigger boys said. His right foot drew a line across the grass.
“Where?”
“Over there on the grass.” The boy indicated the direction. “We’re sorry.”
Jake joined group of men, wincing at each haranguing comment they unleashed on the children.
“Are there more?” another brother demanded.
The children handed over what was left of the box.
“Go to lunch,” the brother snapped. “In an orderly fashion. We’ll deal with you later.”
Once the children were out of earshot, the men burst into speech.
“Where did they come from?”
“Condoms! Sacrilege.”
“We will get to the bottom of this. Someone brought them onto the compound.”
Yep, a real cluster fuck.
Jake looked around for Sorrel and couldn’t see her. He wandered after the rest of the adults and joined the end of the line waiting for food. Sorrel arrived almost ten minutes later, and he’d already started eating his meal.
“Where have you been?”
On hearing his snarl, the excited conversation at the table faded. Everyone turned to stare at Sorrel.
Her chin shot up, and she glared back at him. “I have been collecting some cuttings from my herb garden.”
“Get some food.” He bit off the words, the curt tone rattling his conscience free. Damn, his behavior made him no better than Brother Rick.
She turned and stomped away, joining the end of the line.
“I don’t know why you bother with her,” one of the brothers commented.
Another nodded. “She’s peculiar. Brother Rick lets her stay because she makes so much money for us. It helps pay for the items we can’t grow or produce ourselves.”
Like party pills.
“Her mother was the same. Had strange ideas. She wanted to change the ways things were done.”
“What sort of ideas?” Jake asked.
The brother gestured with his fork. “She thought women should have a say in running the place.” He speared his fork into a pile of salad leaves. “Women are the weaker sex. They have no experience in leadership.”
Jake nodded in agreement. Let the man spout any dribble he wanted. The truth was the brother was wrong. His friends were both married to strong women. While Nikolai and Louie might posture and pretend they were protecting their wives, Jake knew better. Both men respected their wives and treated them as equal partners. Nah, this was crap—men wanting to subjugate their women and keep them barefoot and pregnant. Sandaled and pregnant in this case.
Sorrel returned with a meal and took the seat beside him. Once she was settled, Jake ran his hand across her thigh and squeezed it. He had some heavy duty apologizing in his future.
Sorrel understood why Jake had spoken to her so sternly. Her absence had worried him, and he’d reacted in a typical masculine manner, lashing out with words.
Her mother had explai
ned it to her shortly before she’d died. It was the way of men. Their tongues waggled before their brains engaged.
She started on her meal, eating too fast, but wary of Brother Rick appearing without warning and enforcing the one meal a day edict. With half her mind on the conversation around her, she pondered her next action.
The faint tick of a clock—tick, tick, tick—reverberated through her mind. Yes, the next time Brother Rick left the compound she’d break into each of his rooms—his quarters and his office to search through his possessions.
She couldn’t see any alternative.
“—three of them floated across the compound.”
The disbelief in the words grabbed Sorrel’s attention.
“Condoms. It’s shocking. What is the world is coming to?” one of the sisters cried.
“Condoms?” Sorrel asked.
“The children found a box of condoms on the compound lawn.” Jake’s tone carried the perfect nuance of disapproval. “They thought they were balloons.”
“Oh dear.”
“I don’t understand,” one of the brothers said. “How did they get onto the compound?”
“Simple.” Brother Rick spoke from behind them. “Sister Bitter, I wish to speak with you in my office.”
The hall burst into a babble of speculation, white noise that didn’t come close to drowning the spurt of unease rippling through Sorrel.
“Me?” She hesitated, half standing.
Jake stood. “I’ll come with you.”
“Just Sister Bitter,” Brother Rick snapped before he strode from the dining hall.
Her hand jerked as she set down her glass of water. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Despite popular opinion, condoms were not the invention of the devil.
She followed Brother Rick from the dining hall and dawdled to the room he used as an office. At the door, she paused to suck in a huge draft of air to steady her nerves. She took another breath for good luck and lifted her hand to knock. Jake appeared and pointed to indicate he’d be around the corner should she need him.
“Come in.”
She entered the office to find Brother Rick plus his three closest friends. The three sat behind the large oak desk with Brother Rick. There was no chair for her. Obviously she was meant to stand in front of them like a naughty child.
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