I am Rebecca Read Free

such a sacred task was too heavy a burden for us. We’d had so little worldly experience.

Three
    The Rule
    The path to salvation is long and full of perils. Your Leader will guide your steps. It is a sin to turn away from his divinely inspired guidance.
    IT WOULD BE USELESS to say we were only thirteen and were too young to work in a worldly market. But each night, after our little sisters were asleep, Rachel and I talked.
    ‘We should tell Father we can’t do it,’ she said.
    ‘D’you want to be prayed over?’ That’s what would happen — we’d be on our knees on the wooden floor for ten minutes or half an hour depending on how serious Father thought our transgression was. The Lord had told Elder Stephen we were the best ones to do this sacred duty. To disobey him would be to disobey the Lord.
    Our state of mind wasn’t helped by our newschool being ready for us to start on Wednesday.
    Father gave us our instructions at breakfast. ‘My children, you are to walk into town. Be there by 8.30. The community bus will take you to school. You will study all morning and return home at midday and help your mother. There will be no school in the afternoons.’
    Abraham gave a small cheer. Rachel and I found it hard to be excited about anything with the threat of Saturday speeding closer. We tied on our head scarves, helped the children get ready, and set off to the bus stop. I focused my thoughts on working to accept the Lord’s plan for me and my sister.
    At lunchtime, Mother asked, ‘How did school go? Did you enjoy your day? Are the lessons from America truly godly?’
    Luckily for us, Abraham spoke first. ‘The lessons are stink. The school is stink. It is old and cold. I want a proper teacher and proper lessons.’
    Mother looked upset, so I said, ‘It will take us a little while to adjust. It is very different from our old school.’
    But, in truth, neither Rachel nor I had been able to concentrate on a single lesson. Sister Leah, our supervisor, had been short with us. Our fear of the worldly market consumed us.

    SATURDAY ARRIVED . Gideon was to pick us up at the bottom of the hill.
    ‘We could run away,’ Rachel said, only half joking.
    I gripped her hand. ‘The first time will be the worst. We’ll get used to it.’
Please Lord, let it be so
.
    Gideon laughed when he saw us. ‘Cheer up, girls! You will be fine. Climb on in. I will help you. Do not worry.’
    We were too nervous to answer him.
    At the market, he seemed to know where to go to set up our stall, and what to do when we got there. All around us, people were busy organising their own spaces. We saw vegetables, cakes, cheese, jams and honey and pickles for sale. Directly opposite us was a woman arranging jars of sweets on shelves.
    We helped Gideon set up our own stall. He had a tray with the money in it. ‘This is to get you started. You know how to give change?’
    It was a bit late to learn if we didn’t. We nodded.
    ‘Good. Here comes your first customer.’
    It was a man. Rachel handed him a dozen eggs while I took his money and gave him the change. Neither of us looked at him.
    A woman came next. ‘Organic eggs! Brilliant! A dozen, please.’
    I tried to look at her as I gave her the eggs, but one glance was enough. She was so
worldly
. It didn’t please the Lord for women to wear men’s clothing, and she had on trousers and a sort of plaid shirt. At least her face was bare of make-up.
    Beside me, Rachel whimpered. This was ghastly. I almost hoped Elder Stephen would come alongjust to see how disastrous his great idea was. But it wasn’t his idea — it was the Lord’s will. We would have to continue, we would have to endure.
    All morning, we served people with tattoos, men with long hair, women in revealing clothing. We heard swearing. We heard people blaspheming as if there was nothing wrong with taking the name of the Lord in vain. We kept our eyes lowered and we didn’t speak to the customers.
    During a lull, Gideon said,