The Letting Read Online Free Page A

Margaret,” I snap, realizing how bossy I must sound. “Whatever you came for, I can tell you’re beside yourself with excitement. Just tell us.” I am careful to say “us,” not to tip my hand.
    “I have wonderful news.” Margaret has a huge plastic smile growing wider on her face.
    Outside, the world is quiet except for the cicadas. Their cries grow louder and louder until the sound has morphed into a cyclone inside my brain. I wish I could rip open the top of my head and force them out. I am heady, and dizzy. I reach my hand out to steady myself, but I grab only air. Behind me, I hear Gretchen’s shallow, hurried breathing.
    “What is it?” I ask, breathless.
    I pray Margaret is moving on to another camp. I know they must exist out here, somewhere. The woods are too vast for it to be only us. Or maybe she’s been given a higher rank, or a bigger command. Maybe she’s moving on to headquarters in the New World. If that’s the case then maybe…just maybe…maybe someone has noticed me? Maybe someone will leave me in charge of the camp? Margaret interrupts my thoughts when she wheels around on her ballet flats, facing me directly. Her hands fly up, unable to contain her mirth.
    “You have been summoned to the next Letting!”

Chapter Two
    The room goes black.
    The next thing I know I am being roused, my head in Gretchen’s lap. She is trying to get me to drink a glass of water.
    “You need to hydrate,” she tells me.
    I look into her eyes, but there is no fear there, no worry. This relaxes me a bit.
    “To have a successful Letting, your veins must be plump.” Her hands busily stroke my hair and hold the glass. She looks at me then away, over and over as she speaks. “At least four quarts of water tonight and tomorrow eight quarts minimum. You’ll have to pee like the devil,” she smiles, “but it will make the draw easier.”
    I reach for the water, but instead of taking the glass, I grab Gretchen’s arm. My action surprises her, and for just a moment, I see a spark of something deep inside those blue eyes. Then as quickly as it appears, it fades again.
    “You need water,” she repeats, calmly.
    “No.” I shake my head. “I need to know what’s going on.”
    She nods delicately, and I catch the smallest tear escape the corner of her eye, betraying her carefully controlled emotions. So she is scared, after all.
    Unlike me, the Lettings terrify Gretchen. The Gretchen she was showing me a moment ago, the efficient, soft, yet confident Gretchen. This is the girl she shows our campers—this is the front she wears. She is always warm and caring to the girls, but she’s somewhat standoffish. She never bonds with any of them. I’m sure she’s concerned she’ll betray her fears and terrify them.
    I let go of my grasp on her arm and sit up, next to her. I take her hand in mine. “You don’t have to be afraid,” I whisper.
    “I’m not.” She is clearly trying to be brave. This time her lie is so transparent even she doesn’t believe it.
    “This is what we do,” I assure Gretchen, trying to allay her concerns. She nods again. “This is what I do.” Saying these words calms me as well. This is what I do. I am a Leader. After the Harvester has brought the ripe girls to me, I prepare them, and I lead the girls to the Letting.
    But why have I been summoned? I blossomed early and haven’t been ripe for nearly six years. In those early days, when I was ripe and they first checked my blood there was something they didn’t like. Something didn’t fit. But they kept me on at camp because I always looked so much older than the others, and I was a natural Leader. I needed to pay my debt to society in some way. So that someway was to stay here. In my early days, I was a Leader-in-Training, but as I’ve grown and the older Leaders have moved on to the New World, I have become Head Leader of our camp. No one has brought more girls to the Lettings and subsequently, the New World, than me. And there is