Read Online Sarah: Women of Genesis: 1 (Women of Genesis (Forge)) by Orson Scott Card - Free Book Online

a silly child who doesn’t understand a thing that’s happening, when it seems to me I’m the only one who even notices the world around me; they just stay indoors and take care of their babies. Those that have babies, because you’d fit right in here in Sodom, so many women are barren, only nobody ever mentions it, even though it’s as obvious as can be, not a baby in the house, and these women aren’t even ashamed of it, can you imagine? Not that there’s any shame, but you know what I mean.
     
    How many times can barrenness be mentioned in one letter?
     
Lot says you shouldn’t come to Sodom after all even though I think you would get along just fine here, it’s Abram who’d get in trouble, he can’t ever seem to keep from pointing out sins even though everybody knows about them anyway so why point them out? Lot is finally getting used to city life though I think. He doesn’t make trouble by accusing people, he just gets along with everybody. They all like him. I think I got the better bargain in husbands, thank you very much. I am the most sought-after woman in Sodom already, can you imagine? I call on a dozen women a day, and they’re all at home! How can they bear it? What is a city for, if not to go out and see the faces of a hundred people every day? Visit me visit me visit me, the messenger gets here from your camp in only two days, so why has it been years and you never found your way here? Is Abram so poor at navigating by the stars? Lot knows the name of every star. Visit me!
     
    Sarai picked up the tiles, dumped them back into the bag, and crumbled them. There was nothing in that letter that she would want to read again. She loved her sister, but when she imagined spending hours in her company, it made her too tired and sad.
     
    She waited outside the tent door for another half hour, spinning and spinning, while the life of the camp went on around her. Now and then someone would approach Abram’s tent, wanting to speak to him, but Sarai, keeping watch just across the way, would hold up a hand and smile. Some would smile, nod, and go away. Most came to her and told her what they wanted.
     
    At first it was only in an emergency that they would tell her their business, so she could decide whether to interrupt her husband. Sometimes, though, she simply decided what to do, knowing that her decision was exactly what Abram would have done. Only rarely had he contradicted her later, and then only because he knew of circumstances she didn’t know—and he made it a point to explain this, so that she would not lose authority. Now Abram was able to spend many hours undisturbed in his tent, while Sarai’s tent gradually became the center of the camp. She enjoyed this, partly because it was a kingly role, to govern and judge, so she felt she was living out the role she was born for. But mostly she was glad that she could free Abram to do the work he cared most about—to study and copy out the holy writing, to pray, to listen to the voice of God in his heart.
     
    She had spun a sheepsworth of wool, it seemed to her, and dealt with a dozen minor questions, by the time Abram emerged. His face had that curious shine to it—not light, really, but it seemed like light from his eyes, drawing her like a moth to the fire.
     
    “What does the Lord say?” asked Sarai.
     
    “Years ago,” said Abram, “the Lord told me to get out of my father’s house and go to Canaan. He said he would make a great nation out of me, and make my children a blessing to the world.”
     
    After Qira’s letter, these words stung doubly. “You’re getting a slow start,” said Sarai.
     
    He waved off her words, a little annoyed with her for hearing only the implicit reference to her barrenness. She couldn’t help it—he never complained about it and someone had to.
     
    “I’m explaining to you why I’ve refused to go far from Canaan,” he said. “Why I don’t go dwell in a city, why even when I have to range far