The Women's Circle

by Karyn Sepulveda

  ‘I don’t even know how to thank you for this, Jeanette. You’ve changed my whole world.’ Anna paused for a moment, wanting to get the words right. ‘I’m not sure I deserve you, but I’m so grateful for you.’

  Jeanette squeezed her hand. ‘I know you are. And I’m so proud of you. Just promise me that once you are where you want to be, when everything else is just a distant memory, you’ll do something, even if it’s something small, to pay this forward? Help somebody else who needs it?’

  Anna thought of what Nina and she had been working on the past few weeks. Jeanette’s request would be an easy promise to keep. ‘I will.’ Brayden was waiting for Anna in the back room when she arrived at work the following morning.

  ‘Good morning,’ she said, smiling at the slight blush that still touched his cheeks whenever she said hello to him.

  ‘Hey Anna, congratulations!’ Brayden’s eyes shone and she could feel his genuine joy for her. She had texted him the night before to let him know about starting university the following year. And to tell him she’d have to finish up her job.

  ‘Thank you! And thank you also, you know, for giving me a chance here. I know I haven’t been employee of the month or whatever they say.’

  ‘You’ve been great. The best. And I’m actually pretty cut that you’re leaving.’ Brayden’s gaze dropped and a blush again flooded his cheeks.

  ‘I’m pretty cut too. I’ll miss you.’ As she said the words, Anna realised how true this was. Through the past year, Brayden had been such a peaceful simplicity in her life. He greeted her with a smile at the start of every shift. He helped her learn the ropes with his patient guidance. He always spoke to her as though her past wasn’t important, like she was great just the way she was. She would miss that. She would miss him. Brayden cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair, shifting from one foot to the other.

  ‘So anyway, I was thinking, maybe we could stay in touch? Catch up every now and then or …’ He shrugged his shoulders, looking uncertain. Anna’s gaze moved to his lips, wondering what they would feel like. She felt a warmth spread across her own cheeks.

  ‘I’d love to.’

  Brayden put his hands in his pockets and grinned. ‘Great! Okay, well, actually, I have something for you. It’s just something small. A congratulations present.’ Brayden took a small box from his pocket and gave it to her.

  ‘You seriously didn’t have to, but thank you!’ Anna grinned as she opened the box, prepared to fake enthusiasm for whatever ugly jewellery was in there. But she didn’t have to pretend to love the beautiful necklace inside. Speechless, she touched the delicate butterfly pendant with her finger.

  ‘I remember you telling me about having a butterfly necklace when you were young, so … Do you like it?’ Anna had to blink hard to keep the tears in. She’d only mentioned the necklace to Brayden once. The fact that he remembered and had thought to buy her a new one was almost unbelievable. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

  ‘I love it. Thank you,’ she said. When she pulled away, Brayden shifted on his feet, almost tripping over himself.

  He cleared his throat. ‘You’re welcome.’

  Anna carefully took the necklace from the box and held her breath when she saw the brand imprinted on the bottom of the box. Aisleen Designs. She ran her finger over the name.

  ‘Where did you buy this, Brayden?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh, actually, it’s my aunty’s company. She’s an artist but started designing necklaces and stuff like that a few years ago. I paid for it though, I didn’t gift you a freebie or anything.’

  Anna laughed with him. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. I just … I love her name. Aisleen. It’s unusual.’

  ‘Ha! You said it perfectly; most people pronounce it all wrong. Well, it’s only unusual here, in the UK and Ireland it’s a pretty standard name.’

  ‘Is your family Irish?’

  ‘No, um, we’re actually from England. But, it’s kind of a weird story with the name thing, I don’t want to bore you.’

  Anna tried not to act too eager. ‘No, it’s okay, tell me. I find it interesting.’

  Brayden grinned and leaned comfortably against his desk as he explained to Anna that every woman on his mother’s side of the family had some version of the name Aisleen in her name.

  ‘It’s either their first name or middle name. It’s some kind of homage to one of their ancestors. Some fiercely strong woman, apparently. I think the details have been lost over the years.’ Brayden chuckled.

  Chills ran up Anna’s arms uncontrollably as she gripped the bench. She’s real. And she beat them. The fact was in Anna’s mind without her consciously thinking it.

  ‘What is it?’ Brayden asked, watching Anna carefully.

  What could Anna say to him? Hey, I think I may have been seeing your ancestor in my dreams; we’re connected through a magic crystal. Anna burst out laughing at the thought.

  ‘I don’t get it, what’s funny?’

  Anna managed to control herself. ‘Nothing, sorry. It’s just a fascinating story and I don’t know … I feel really happy.’

  Brayden beamed at her and Anna thanked him again as she put on her butterfly necklace, a deep sense of hope filling every inch of her.

  Anna was running late for the Women’s Circle that evening. Talia had stopped by her work to say hi just as Anna was finishing her shift, so Anna had sat with her for a while. She didn’t miss living at the boarding house, but she did miss Talia’s gentle presence. Before she left for the circle, they’d arranged to meet for a coffee and walk in a few weeks.

  ‘I’m really happy for you, you know, the way you’re getting everything together. It makes me want to maybe do a course or something as well. Get a better job.’ Talia had put her hands in her pockets and looked down, embarrassed by her admission of hope. Anna had given her a big hug and promised to help her look for the right course. She was sure Jeanette would also jump in on this opportunity to broaden Talia’s horizons.

  By the time Anna made it to the circle, she had to slip in quietly through the door, as Nina was already leading everyone into the meditation. Anna crept over to the spare cushion where she usually sat, smiling at the peaceful energy in the room. She’d never seen what the group of women looked like while they meditated. They looked serene, Anna decided. Nina opened her eyes, continuing to speak in her slow, soothing voice as she winked at Anna. Anna smiled and then crossed her legs, settling into the comfort of the familiar cushion. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  For the first time, Anna found it difficult to lose herself in the meditation. Her mind continued to wander, excited by all that was happening in her life. She’d received her list of required textbooks from the university and she and Jeanette had made a date to go book shopping the following day and have a coffee afterwards. It wasn’t the only date she’d be having tomorrow. At lunchtime that day Brayden had asked her, his eyes on his feet the entire time, if she’d like to have dinner together on Saturday night. Anna had told him she thought she was too old for him, but he’d insisted that four years wasn’t much of an age gap. Then he’d gone on to explain that it was ethically fine for them to date, since they would no longer be working together. He was blushing more fiercely than Anna had witnessed. When he’d finally looked up and met her gaze Anna had found herself accepting the invitation, already planning what she would wear.

  And then there had been the letter she’d received from Mads. Mads was almost finished her rehab and had written to thank Anna again. This time, a proper thankyou. She said she was grateful for her life and that she wouldn’t be ruining this second or third chance at it. Anna had written straight back and told her about the Women’s Circle meetings, telling her she’d bring her along to see what she thought. As Nina’s voice drifted back into her mind above the music, Anna realised she hadn’t stopped thinking the whole time.

  ‘Taking one last deep breath, and let’s slowly open our eyes to the room.’ A
nna blinked and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dim candlelight. She shared a smile with the woman next to her, who looked like she’d just woken from a long nap.

  Nina clasped her hands together. ‘Before we leave today, I have some exciting news to share. Next year, I will be starting a new project. As well as our weekly Women’s Circles, I will also be offering support to any woman who would like to start a passion project. A mentorship of sorts. You’ll have the opportunity to share your idea with me, I’ll help you to build it and prepare, and then I’ll be there with you as you embark on the journey, holding up your energy. As you can tell, I’m very excited about it and I’d like to thank Anna,’ Nina held out her arm to gesture to Anna and Anna felt all eyes on her, ‘for inspiring the idea. She is my first mentee and I’m sure she will happily tell you all about her project once it begins.’

  Anna looked around the group, nodding. ‘Yep, it’s exciting and I’ll tell you all about it once it’s up and running, which might be a while still,’ she said. The room was filled with animated murmurings, and the woman next to her patted Anna’s shoulder and whispered some encouragement.

  ‘All right, ladies, there’s definitely magical times ahead for us all, I can feel it.’ Nina beamed. She raised her arms then lowered them in prayer position in front of her chest. ‘Until we meet again, I send you out with love.’

  QUARRENDON VILLAGE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE ENGLAND 1770

  From her cell, Aisleen could barely hear the distant sound of chanting. It had not stopped all afternoon. The protests had transformed into a unified, constant chant that grew louder: ‘Free her, free her …’ She couldn’t understand how the Enforcers had failed in stopping the crowd so long after her trial. Aisleen was scared to imagine what was happening outside, scared to hope. Were the Enforcers finally being overturned?

  But as darkness fell, so too did silence, and Aisleen was left alone in her cell with her thoughts.

  A severe pang of hunger roused Aisleen from her light sleep. She stood slowly, wincing at the stiffness in her body and the deep, burning throb of the wounds across her stomach. How much time had passed? During her last imprisonment, she had marked the days by counting her daily meal and ration of water, along with the nightly visits. So far she had received neither. She knew that the sun had risen at least twice since she’d been in here. Perhaps they were not bothering to feed or water her this time, since she was to be put to death. Or maybe …

  Aisleen allowed her thoughts to travel to the fantasy that had been replaying over and again in her mind: the people of the village had gathered weapons, along with their courage, and stormed the Enforcers, killing them and taking back control of the village. She had heard what sounded like fighting, she was sure of it. But her fantasy always halted there, because she couldn’t explain why she was still in her cell. Aisleen knew she had to accept death as her likely fate. She closed her eyes and searched her memory for that first gathering of the women sitting around the crystal. Aisleen had known in her heart that some kind of change would come. Sitting in a cell again was not the change she had expected, but neither had she imagined so many people shouting for her freedom. Weeks ago, she could not have imagined anybody in this village having the courage to disagree openly with the Enforcers and yet …

  ‘Woman, stand up.’ The door to her cell scraped open and an Enforcer she didn’t recognise entered, holding a plate of stale bread and a mug of water. He placed them on the floor and stood in front of Aisleen. She was the same height as him and looked him in the eye. Was that fear she saw?

  ‘Eyes to the ground,’ he commanded, but there was a tremor in his voice. Aisleen took her time to lower her gaze. ‘It has been decided that your punishment is to be lowered from death to a week’s imprisonment. You will be released in four days.’ With that, he left, slamming the cell door behind him. Despite her ravenous hunger and desperate thirst, Aisleen remained standing, too confused to feel relief. What did this mean? The Enforcers were obviously still in power, but they had changed her sentence. There was no precedent to this and Aisleen couldn’t make sense of it. She dropped to the ground and gulped the mug of water, before shovelling the dry bread into her mouth as she mulled over all possibilities.

  Trudging home, her bare feet dragging along the dirt track, scraping on the larger rocks, Aisleen felt unsure of everything. The rest of her sentence had felt like months, left alone with her thoughts. She had received only two further rations of food and water in the remaining days, delivered by the same Enforcer. She had heard nothing from outside. No further protesting, but none of the usual activity either. She remembered during her last imprisonment being able to hear the Enforcers in their adjoining quarters of an evening. Aisleen could not figure out what was going on. She’d been released from her cell early that morning, just as the night sky was lightening, and so had walked through an empty town that gave no clues as to what had followed the protests on the day of her sentencing. Aisleen looked up when the dirt track changed to grass, relishing the coolness of the earth comforting her raw feet. As she hobbled towards the house, she noticed Joseph sitting on the front steps of their home clutching one of his farm tools, head lolling to the side as he slept. He woke up with a start as she neared, jumping to his feet and holding out the tool for only a second.

  ‘Aisleen!’ he cried, dropping the tool and running to her. He gently pulled her to him, as though worried she might break. As his strong arms wrapped around her, Aisleen felt safe for the first time since she’d been dragged away. She rested her head on his shoulder and breathed in the scent of fresh grass and sweat from his neck. Aisleen’s body melted into his. Joseph kept his arms around her but pulled back to study her face. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘I’m alive,’ Aisleen replied after a moment. Joseph stroked her face with his finger and she felt the tiniest of flutters in her stomach. She looked at his lips and felt a longing to kiss them.

  ‘You are the bravest person I’ve ever known,’ Joseph said softly, his breath warm and sweet on her face. He kissed her forehead then hugged her to his chest again. But she pulled away, desperate now to understand how she had been freed.

  ‘I’ll get you some food and water first,’ Joseph said, ‘Then I’ll tell you everything.’

  Joseph heated water for Aisleen and helped her to wash the filth from her body, careful of her angry lash wounds. After a week in the putrid cell, Aisleen felt blessed the wounds weren’t infected. He sat her down in the kitchen and served her eggs, bread and cup after cup of sweet tea. Aisleen felt her strength returning as she listened to Joseph’s wild account of what had followed her sentencing.

  ‘When you were taken away, the Enforcers came out in full force. It’s been so long since we’ve seen them together as one group, do you realise that? Since that first year, we’ve only seen them in small groups, three or four at the most.’

  It was true. When the Enforcers took over, attacking first the council then villagers with such unexpected and swift violence, the shock and brutality of the attacks made it easy to believe there’d been hundreds of them. But that couldn’t be the case.

  ‘There are only sixteen of them. Sixteen men. That’s it. That’s who we’ve been cowering to.’ Joseph shook his head with disgust. ‘Seeing them all together like that, something overtook me. Overtook the whole crowd. When the Enforcers hit us, we hit back. When they brought out their swords we gathered what weapons we could. We fought back, Aisleen. I wish you could have seen it.’

  ‘You overthrew them?’

  ‘No. Not technically anyway. It was a long fight and there were deaths.’

  Aisleen closed her eyes as Joseph recounted the battle that had lasted for days, taking place first in the main street of town and then scattering throughout the village as the Enforcers scrambled to hold their ground.

  As two Enforcers grabbed Joseph, he swung his fists wildly, some punches connecting, others flailing in the air. The thought of Aisleen’s bloodied body being dragged from the platform, barely
conscious, fuelled his strength. One of the Enforcers fell to the ground, another tried to tackle Joseph, but he sidestepped and shoved the man as hard as he could, falling with him. Joseph barely had time to gather himself before the Enforcers were up again, trying to overpower him. As he dodged their grasp, Joseph looked around at the crowd. He could see one Enforcer lying lifeless on the ground, but also several villagers. Edmund was shouting commands, telling his men to kill everyone they could catch. Then Edmund stormed away from the fighting and disappeared into the Enforcers’ quarters. Joseph had the fleeting hope that perhaps he was preparing to surrender. But he returned only a moment later with an armful of swords.

  Joseph knew he and the villagers didn’t stand a chance. ‘Run, everyone run. Gather whatever you can use to fight and take out any Enforcer you encounter.’ Joseph’s voice carried through the crowd, but he saw hesitation in many faces. Then the woman he’d helped the other week, Maeve, cleared her throat and shouted in a clear voice.

  ‘The time has come to take back our village!’ she roared. ‘Run, collect weapons and fight. Don’t stop fighting!’ The sound of a woman shouting was so foreign, it seemed to have a far stronger effect on the crowd of villagers. In seconds they had dispersed, several with Enforcers trailing close behind them. Edmund was shouting his own words of command. Joseph used every ounce of strength he had to run from the town, through the woodlands, arriving home so out of breath, he worried he would pass out. But then he imagined Aisleen lying in a cell, sentenced to death. He would not let her die. He moved through his property, scouring his farming tools for something useful. He settled on a pickaxe and machete. Then he sat on the stairs and waited.

  ‘Everybody seemed to have a similar plan: go home, find weapons and wait. By nightfall, I had just one visit from a pair of Enforcers. I killed them both.’ Aisleen watched Joseph’s face as he spoke. She didn’t ask him to describe how he’d managed it, sensing the horror still in his voice. ‘The next day, there was no further sign of them, so I ventured into town. There were eleven of them left, all waiting with their swords, ready for me.’ Aisleen reached out and stroked his cheek. He touched her hand absent-mindedly as he continued. ‘But I wasn’t the only one. A whole group of villagers were hidden on the outskirts and when they saw me arrive, came out of hiding too. There were twelve of us.’