I am Rebecca

I am Rebecca Read Free Page B

Book: I am Rebecca Read Free
Author: Fleur Beale
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relieve you of that duty. Your place will be taken by Brother Ira. We have prayed and it has come to us that commercial experience in the market will be useful to him in his work in the business centre.’
    Rachel and I were horrified. We’d known Ira all our lives and we knew well he wasn’t the godly man he pretended to be. ‘It’s lucky we understand what to do now,’ my sister said. ‘Ira wouldn’t have been the slightest bit helpful.’
    I shuddered. ‘No. He would’ve reported everything to Elder Stephen — all our smiles, everythingwe said to pass the time of day with the customers.’
    ‘He won’t help us on Saturday,’ Rachel said.
    She was right. From the moment he picked us up, he set out to make our day difficult. Instead of stopping the truck where we were waiting, he drove on past us to pull up just before the intersection a hundred metres away. When we got in beside him, we politely wished him good morning. He didn’t reply but took off with a jerk before Rachel could shut the door.
    He didn’t help us set up the stall, and he didn’t stay around to look after us. If it hadn’t been for Mrs Lipscombe in the sweet stall, we’d have had an impossible time of it. The Elders wouldn’t have liked us accepting help from a worldly woman but, like Ira, the Elders weren’t there.
    Ira came back in time only to watch us pack up the truck.
    None of us said a word on the drive home. Rachel and I wouldn’t speak to him, and we wouldn’t speak to each other in front of him.
    But then, when we were five minutes from home, he broke the silence. ‘If you two little bitches know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouths shut about today.’
    Nobody in the Children of the Faith used such words. Rachel’s fingers tightened on mine.
    But he had more to say. ‘You know what’s going to happen if you tell? Nobody’s going to believe you. You’re just girls — Pilgrim brats too. They’llbelieve me every time. So suck it up, sisters.’
    We stayed silent, too shocked to speak. We didn’t even say goodbye when he stopped at our corner to let us out.
    We walked slowly, trying to work out what to do. ‘We must tell Father,’ Rachel whispered.
    Yes, but how to do it without breaking the Rule was the problem.
    ‘We must tell him now. As soon as we get in the house. Rebecca, we
have
to.’
    ‘I know. But you know the problem as well as I do.’ There was no time for more talk, not with Magdalene and the boys erupting from the house and clamouring for news.
    Abraham took the basket from us, his eyes bright as he whispered, ‘What did you see? Quick!’
    Always, we kept a lookout for sights we knew would intrigue them. Last week a man had led an alpaca right through the market. This week? We hadn’t given a thought to what we would tell them.
    ‘Something bad happened. We have to speak to Father,’ I said.
    Magdalene clutched our hands. ‘Will you die?’
    Rachel gathered her up in a hug. ‘No. We haven’t been bad. We’ll tell you later.’
    ‘All of us?’ Luke asked. ‘Abraham and me too?’
    ‘Of course,’ Rachel said. ‘Don’t upset Mother. Just tell her we had to speak to Father.’
    We hurried to the door of his study, waiting until he gave us permission to go in.
    ‘There is a reason for disturbing me?’ he asked at last. ‘Did something happen today? Have you broken the Rule?’
    We edged closer together, standing with our joined hands hidden in the folds of our skirts. ‘There is a reason,’ Rachel said. ‘We have upheld the Rule. We have not broken it.’
    My turn. This was a risk, but one that had to be taken. ‘Father, we need your permission to speak about what happened. It involves another person.’
    The Rule was clear: a man’s behaviour was a matter between himself and his conscience. That particular rule divided the members of our Fellowship into those who carried tales and those who did not. Ira was a telltale; we were not.
    Father’s frown deepened. ‘If this

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