understand.
‘Oh.’ I look at the twins.
‘We were praying for . . .’ She nods at Alex.
‘But why didn’t anyone come? We had to unload the boat by ourselves. And why has no one harvested the crops? Where’s Mr Bevins?’
‘Because we’ve been praying for your mission. Every day.’ When she sees Jonathan she raises her eyebrows. ‘Especially him . You know how he takes things to heart. We’re very close now, Rebekah. There have been signs, movements, the end is in sight.’
‘Go on then, off you go. Upstairs,’ Father says. ‘Everything’s OK.’
He goes over to Jonathan and touches him on the shoulder.
‘But . . . what about Mr Bevins? What about supper?’ I ask.
‘He’s deep in prayer. You’ll see him in the morning. And you don’t need any supper after that journey! Best to let your stomach settle!’ Father says.
Mary pours us each a glass of water. ‘Take this in case you get thirsty in the night.’
They seem desperate to be rid of us.
‘But the twins . . . need changing.’
‘You can do that, can’t you?’ She sounds really irritated. ‘Just put the dirty clothes in the corner. I’ll deal with them in the morning.’ She comes over to me and smooths Peter’s hair with the flat of her palm. ‘They’re fine,’ she says, ‘just a bit dirty.’
I look at her face. Something odd has happened to the person inside her body and, although she sounds like Mary and looks like Mary, she is not being herself.
It’s hard to walk upstairs carrying Peter and a lamp and a glass of water. Halfway up I spill most of it down the stairs.
There are two small attic rooms at the top of the house, where the servants used to sleep. I sleep in one and the twins in the other. More often than not they will wake up in the night and get into bed with me.
‘I can’t believe she’d lock them down there,’ I mutter to Alex. She helps me undress them and put them in clean clothes. ‘Something weird has happened while we’ve been gone.’
‘Well, duh ,’ she says, like I’m stupid.
I cringe. I don’t want her to judge me. ‘It’s not usually like this, honestly .’
But she just tuts like she doesn’t believe me.
Once we have the twins changed and tucked up under the blankets as best we can, we leave the door open between the rooms and go into my bedroom, which is cold and dingy in the weak lamplight. From the window I can just see the church if I stand on tiptoe. There are lights and people now. I can hear voices outside and see the floating orange glow of lanterns. They must have come down from the Devil’s Seat to pray in the church. I wonder what revelations Bevins has had now. I don’t know what time it is, but my stomach is grumbling. I suppose if I go to sleep now, the morning will come quicker.
Alex lies down in my bed and burrows beneath the blankets with all her clothes on. I blow out the lantern and get under the covers. Her arm presses against mine and there’s a warmth that spreads between us that makes me suddenly awake. I don’t know why, but there’s this electric tingle, like an energy between us. I can feel it all through my body. I wonder if she can feel it too.
‘In the morning,’ she says, ‘we’re going to find that satellite phone.’
‘OK.’ Although I don’t know how. Mr Bevins keeps his cabin locked, and if anyone saw us we’d be in trouble. She’ll learn soon enough that it’s hard to do anything here without being seen. And anyway, I don’t want her to leave. Maybe in the morning she’ll change her mind. I want her to stay here and love this place as much as I do. She just needs to meet Mr Bevins, then she’ll see. The wind has dropped and the rain stilled to a constant flat drip. I close my eyes and make a short silent petition to God that, whatever has happened, He will look kindly on me and take me to be with Mother in heaven, and in the meanwhile help me to be a good example to those who are not yet saved, in Jesus’s name. Amen. But
‘Oh.’ I look at the twins.
‘We were praying for . . .’ She nods at Alex.
‘But why didn’t anyone come? We had to unload the boat by ourselves. And why has no one harvested the crops? Where’s Mr Bevins?’
‘Because we’ve been praying for your mission. Every day.’ When she sees Jonathan she raises her eyebrows. ‘Especially him . You know how he takes things to heart. We’re very close now, Rebekah. There have been signs, movements, the end is in sight.’
‘Go on then, off you go. Upstairs,’ Father says. ‘Everything’s OK.’
He goes over to Jonathan and touches him on the shoulder.
‘But . . . what about Mr Bevins? What about supper?’ I ask.
‘He’s deep in prayer. You’ll see him in the morning. And you don’t need any supper after that journey! Best to let your stomach settle!’ Father says.
Mary pours us each a glass of water. ‘Take this in case you get thirsty in the night.’
They seem desperate to be rid of us.
‘But the twins . . . need changing.’
‘You can do that, can’t you?’ She sounds really irritated. ‘Just put the dirty clothes in the corner. I’ll deal with them in the morning.’ She comes over to me and smooths Peter’s hair with the flat of her palm. ‘They’re fine,’ she says, ‘just a bit dirty.’
I look at her face. Something odd has happened to the person inside her body and, although she sounds like Mary and looks like Mary, she is not being herself.
It’s hard to walk upstairs carrying Peter and a lamp and a glass of water. Halfway up I spill most of it down the stairs.
There are two small attic rooms at the top of the house, where the servants used to sleep. I sleep in one and the twins in the other. More often than not they will wake up in the night and get into bed with me.
‘I can’t believe she’d lock them down there,’ I mutter to Alex. She helps me undress them and put them in clean clothes. ‘Something weird has happened while we’ve been gone.’
‘Well, duh ,’ she says, like I’m stupid.
I cringe. I don’t want her to judge me. ‘It’s not usually like this, honestly .’
But she just tuts like she doesn’t believe me.
Once we have the twins changed and tucked up under the blankets as best we can, we leave the door open between the rooms and go into my bedroom, which is cold and dingy in the weak lamplight. From the window I can just see the church if I stand on tiptoe. There are lights and people now. I can hear voices outside and see the floating orange glow of lanterns. They must have come down from the Devil’s Seat to pray in the church. I wonder what revelations Bevins has had now. I don’t know what time it is, but my stomach is grumbling. I suppose if I go to sleep now, the morning will come quicker.
Alex lies down in my bed and burrows beneath the blankets with all her clothes on. I blow out the lantern and get under the covers. Her arm presses against mine and there’s a warmth that spreads between us that makes me suddenly awake. I don’t know why, but there’s this electric tingle, like an energy between us. I can feel it all through my body. I wonder if she can feel it too.
‘In the morning,’ she says, ‘we’re going to find that satellite phone.’
‘OK.’ Although I don’t know how. Mr Bevins keeps his cabin locked, and if anyone saw us we’d be in trouble. She’ll learn soon enough that it’s hard to do anything here without being seen. And anyway, I don’t want her to leave. Maybe in the morning she’ll change her mind. I want her to stay here and love this place as much as I do. She just needs to meet Mr Bevins, then she’ll see. The wind has dropped and the rain stilled to a constant flat drip. I close my eyes and make a short silent petition to God that, whatever has happened, He will look kindly on me and take me to be with Mother in heaven, and in the meanwhile help me to be a good example to those who are not yet saved, in Jesus’s name. Amen. But
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