I am Rebecca Read Online Free Page B

the night — that in the morning we’d be dead and gone. In the end, we had to promise to stay with her until she slept. Rachel fetched the basket of mending and we worked as we sang her to sleep.
    Eventually her eyes closed. Rachel crammed the shirt she’d finished into the basket. ‘Esther was right. They should have explained everything to her when Miriam was cast out. She wouldn’t be such a mess now if they had.’
    ‘Will you tell your children? If somebody’s expelled?’ I whispered, conscious of the two Elders in the room down the hallway. ‘Will you say they’re dead and not speak of them again?’
    ‘I’ll tell them the truth,’ she hissed back. ‘Especially if the poor things get poisonous Ira for a father!’
    We stared at each other, shocked by her outburst — and then we collapsed in a heap of giggles.
    Luke was in bed by the time we tiptoed from our room, but he had his door open and was on the lookout for us. ‘The Elders sent Abraham to Elder Stephen with a note. He’s not back yet.’
    All of us knew what that meant. It was Elder Stephen who took upon himself the burden of owning the Fellowship’s only telephone. He did it to spare us from having contact with the evil of the world.
    Why did they want the phone? Maybe it wasn’t about the Ira business after all. I went cold. Had word come about Miriam or Daniel? Esther, even. Was one of them really dead?
    We learnt nothing more that night. We didn’t sleep well.
    The next day was Sunday.
    Father didn’t speak to us at breakfast, but then he seldom did, and we didn’t dare ask what his thoughts were on the Ira matter. Mother was her usual calm self as she organised us all. ‘Rebecca, Rachel — it is our turn to take afternoon tea. Make a batch of biscuits and two trays of scones. Abraham, you are in charge of the children. You may take them outside but make sure they do not get dirty.’
    If Ira had told his story, Elder Stephen would preach about the importance of keeping the Rule in every particular. Rachel and I would have to be present for the sermon and we would feel the weight of our leader’s disappointment in our very souls, even though we had no reason to do so.
    Mother scolded me for over-mixing the scones. The biscuits Rachel made were too soft and the batter ran all over the oven tray.

Six
    The Rule
    The Leader will expel any member who sins seriously against the Rule. Such a person will be dead to the Children of the Faith, and will not be spoken of again.
    ‘ BROTHERS AND SISTERS ,’ Elder Stephen said, his sorrowful voice reaching deep into every heart, ‘it grieves me to have to remind you all that the Rule must be obeyed. It is there for the guidance of each one of us.’
    Beside me, Rachel was gulping for air. I grabbed for her hand and wished we could sit with the children between us. But the custom of the Children of the Faith was that families always sat in order of age. Father sat next to the outside aisle with Mother beside him, then me, Rachel, Abraham, Luke and Magdalene with nobody on her other side to comfort her. Zillah alone would be spared fromwhat was to come, as she was in the nursery being cared for with the other under-fives.
    Rachel swayed and leaned against me, although it might have been me leaning against her. I felt faint and ill.
    Apart from Elder Stephen’s voice, the room was deeply silent, as if people knew something bad was coming. There was no escape for Rachel and me from those quietly spoken words.
    ‘The participation of the Children of the Faith in the Saturday markets is for the sole purpose of putting in front of the world an example of godly living. The experiment has been a success — until now. Worldly people have watched, and they have been impressed enough to ask to learn more. We have received several enquiries.’
    I closed my eyes and wished I could faint. Were we to be expelled? It would destroy Magdalene. Who would help Mother?
    Elder Stephen held out his arms and spoke