Hope and Undead Elvis (17 page)

"We don't have much food left," said Rae. "So we have to stretch it as much as we can."

Although the refrigerator wasn't running anymore, the nuns were keeping their non-perishable food inside it to keep rodents and insects away. The top shelf held four cans of beef broth. On the middle shelf was a plastic tub a quarter-full of coarse-ground flour, a canister of salt, and a very small selection of spices. The bottom bin held two small burlap sacks of dry beans and something labeled
winter wheat
, which was unfamiliar to Hope.

Rae took the lid off a large saucepan which was full of beans soaking in water. She stirred them and checked the consistency of the legumes.

"I'm not much help in a kitchen," said Hope. "I can burn water."

"Tomorrow we'll have to fetch water," said Rae. "Those of us who are left take turns cooking and cleaning and setting up the kitchen for the next meal."

"What do you mean,
those of us who are left
?"

Rae's hands flew to her mouth as if to keep any more words from escaping. She shook her head as if to warn Hope. Instead, she arranged firewood inside the oven and used a burning candle to light a sheaf of dry grass kindling. Soon, the aroma of woodsmoke permeated the air, which Hope found unnerving given her experience with the Righteous Flame. The notion of food did much to settle her concerns as Rae set a couple of cups of beans and seasoning to heat in the pot over the flames. She helped Rae mix water, salt, and flour together to make a half dozen tortillas. It didn't seem like very much food, and Hope wondered how many nuns still lived within the convent walls.

When she and Rae brought out the food to the dining hall, Hope was astonished to see thirteen other nuns seated at the large table. Most of them ranged from slender to emaciated. Even those two larger women had the loose skin that overweight people get when they lose weight too fast. Hope set the serving bowl of beans and the stack of tortillas before Sister Agatha and then took a seat on the long bench beside Rae. It seemed like a horribly tiny amount of food for so many women. Hope could have eaten all the beans and half the tortillas herself, and yet they were going to divide it fifteen ways. No wonder they all looked so gaunt, she thought. How long before she joined them in slow starvation?

"Sisters, we have a guest. She and her unborn child will be staying with us tonight and, I hope, a long time afterward. Please do your best to make them feel welcome here." Agatha stared down the table at Hope, who felt very small under the woman's withering gaze. "Let us pray."

The sisters bowed their heads. Under the table, Rae reached out and clutched Hope's hand in her own. Hope bowed her own head, not wanting to stand out, although she had no idea how to pray or even what to say if she did.

At last, after what felt like a small eternity, Agatha raised her head and said "Amen." The other women echoed her. She used a knife to cut each tortilla into quarters. A piece of tortilla and two spoonfuls of beans went onto each woman's plate.

One of the larger sisters took a deep, shuddering breath as a plate was placed before her and said, "Sister Agatha, I shall take my sustenance from the Lord tonight. Please give my share to the guest."

Further down the table, Hope heard one of the nuns sob, the noise muffled by the sleeve of her habit.

Another nun, who looked almost as old as Sister Agatha, said she too would donate her food to Hope.

"No, please," said Hope, sensing something was wrong. "I don't want to take away food from any of you. You don't have much left and it's not fair for me to take extra."

"Nonsense," said Sister Agatha. "You have a baby on the way, child. You must be properly nourished so your baby will be healthy. The Lord will see to the sisters who have so generously shared with you."

The rest of dinner, such as it was, passed in near silence. Hope and the sisters ate slowly to make the beans last as long as possible. The two sisters who didn't eat instead passed the meal with their heads bowed in prayer. Hope wondered if they really were getting some kind of nourishment from the act.

After dinner, Rae said one of the other sisters would clean up and prepare the kitchen for the morning meal.

"What should we do, then?" asked Hope.

"Sleep, if we can."

Hope shrugged. She was tired from her exertions. She hadn't realized how much of her body's energy reserves was going toward making her baby. She felt like she could sleep fourteen hours without even trying. They returned to Rae's room. "Did you used to have a roommate?" asked Hope as the two women pushed the beds closer together so they could be near each other instead of across the room.

Rae looked down, as if studying the hem of her habit. "No, I have always been alone."

Hope reached out and raised the young nun's chin. Fear played across Rae's face. Hope caressed her new friend's cheek with tenderness. "What's going on here?" she asked, keeping her voice quiet but careful to enunciate her words so Rae could read her lips. "You all have some terrible secret. You're all terrified. What's going on?"

Rae shook her head. "I can't." Her eyes brimmed with tears and Hope could see the struggle playing out as Rae tried to keep her composure.

Hope hugged her. "Okay, I won't push it. But listen, I'm thinking that I'm not going to stay here after all. Something's not sitting right, and Agatha scares me in a way I can't quite understand. And I want you to come with me when I leave."

Rae leaned back to look into Hope's eyes. Hope wondered what she sought. "Really?"

"Yes, really. We ex-dancers need to stick together just like we did when we were in the biz."

Rae blew out the room's only candle, plunging it into darkness. Hope reached out her hand from beneath the covers and found Rae's. She placed her other hand over her belly as exhaustion overtook her and she fell into a fitful sleep.

Something awakened her in the dead of night. She didn't know what it was, but her heart was pounding in her chest and she found herself sitting upright in the bed, ready to flee. Had it been an unexpected noise? Or had someone peered in through the window or door? She held her breath, listening for any hint of what had startled her out of sleep.

Then she heard a distant crash in the forest outside, like a tree falling. Some animal squealed in the darkness outside with awful finality, like it had just become another animal's midnight snack. Rae moaned in her sleep and rolled about in her bed.

Hope squeezed onto the narrow twin bed beside Rae and put her arms around the other girl. The closeness would comfort her, and perhaps comfort Rae's disquieted sleep as well. Rae's breathing became regular again and Hope felt her nervous tension recede. Once again, she slept.

Morning came, and Rae woke her up as gray light streamed in through the window. The sun was hidden behind a veil of thick clouds. "Good morning," said Rae. "We've almost overslept. We should hurry or Agatha won't save any food for us." They washed their faces with water from a basin on the dresser, dressed, and hurried to the dining room.

The other nuns were already seated. Agatha glared at them as they sat at the table and bowed their heads. Hope glanced around the room and noticed the two nuns who'd passed on dinner were missing. As Agatha raised her head and started to serve up the gruel, Hope said, "I see we weren't the only ones who slept late."

Agatha gave her a stony gaze. "We are all here, child."

"But what about—"

"We. Are. All. Here." Agatha's tone turned ugly enough that Hope was taken aback.

The nun who'd been sobbing the night before pushed her plate away. "S-sister Agatha, I'll take my s-sustenance from the Lord today."

Agatha nodded. "Of course. God be praised for your devotion in His name."

Hope pushed away her own plate. "Actually, I'm not very hungry either."

Agatha stood and leaned over the edge of the table to point at her. "No. You are with child. You will eat."

"I'm feeling a little ill, Sister." Hope glared back at her. "My stomach's unsettled. Might be morning sickness. Might be intrigue."

"Pardon me?" Color rushed into Agatha's cheeks.

"What's going on here, Agatha? Where are the sisters who were here last night? Why isn't anybody saying anything?"

The remaining sisters at the table crossed themselves. One whipped a Bible out of her habit and opened it as if trying to take comfort in the words written within it.

Agatha spun on her heel and marched from the room, leaving Hope staring after her. She'd expected a confrontation. Indeed, she'd sought one. But Agatha had refused to take the bait. Hope turned to regard the other nuns. "Look, I don't know what kind of hold she's got over you, but you don't have to accept it. Things have changed."

One of the nuns stood and left the room, leaving her food untouched.

"Come on, don't be that way," Hope called after her. "Please?"

Her entreaty went ignored as more and more of the nuns left the room until only Rae and the one who'd volunteered to
take her sustenance from the Lord
remained behind. Rae looked far younger than her age the way her shoulders hunched up to her ears and her eyes were squeezed shut. The other nun looked up at Hope with bright tears in her eyes and the faintest of smiles peeking through her clouded expression. "You are a sweet girl," she said to Hope. "You will be a fine mother."

"Fine, whatever. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

The nun shook her head. "I cannot."

"Why?" Hope stamped her foot in petulance. "Is it because I'm not a nun? Or because I'm not Catholic? Or maybe I don't know the damned secret handshake?"

The nun crossed herself at Hope's profanity. "Some vows may not be broken, dear, because to do so puts one's soul in mortal jeopardy. We did not live past the end of the world simply to give up who and what we are and what we believe. We have purpose here."

"And what purpose is that?"

"Why, to serve the Lord, of course. To do His work."

"By keeping secrets while your sisters disappear around you." Hope's bitterness was making her stomach grow more acidic. She made herself eat a spoonful of gruel to try to settle her belly down.

"They are not disappearing. They are serving the Lord in the best way they can."

Hope yelled, "Where? Doing what? I hope it's gardening or hunting, because you guys are running out of food real quick. Another week and you'll be drawing straws to see who's the next one to get eaten."

Rae cringed.

The nun stepped over to Hope. Hope stiffened, half expecting an attack, but the nun only kissed her fingertips and touched them to Hope's forehead. "God bless you and keep you safe, my dear." She turned, gathering up her habit, and fled the room like she was late for an important appointment.

The nun's actions startled Hope so much that she couldn't find any words to speak. She dropped down to sit on the bench beside Rae. "Rae," she said.

Rae buried her head in her arms.

Hope gently raised the girl's head. "Rae, look at me." The young nun sniffled and looked at Hope. "You know what's going on here, don't you?"

Rae nodded.

"Will you tell me?"

Rae nodded again. She took a deep, shuddering breath, and stood. She held out a hand to Hope, and Hope took it. "Come with me."

Chapter Nineteen

Hope and the Hanging Grove

"Did you always want to be a nun?" Hope asked Rae as the younger girl led her around the outer wall of the convent.

"No." Rae's tears had dried up and by the time they stepped out into the afternoon light, she seemed composed. "I only joined last year."

"You were a dancer, weren't you?"

Rae's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"I saw your tattoo and your body as you were changing. I didn't spend all those on the stage and not learn a thing or two. How'd you end up here?"

Rae dropped her voice to a whisper, quiet enough that she herself wouldn't have been able to hear it. "I wouldn't sleep with the club owner, and he beat me up. The sisters took me in and kept me safe."

Hope shook her head. She'd known many girls who'd fallen into the same trap. She'd only avoided it because her first job had been at a club where the owner treated the girls with decency and respect, something Hope had since learned was a rare quality in strip clubs. "Good for them, and better for you," she said.

"Except…" Rae's furtive glances were even making Hope a little nervous.

"Except what?"

Rae pointed to a low stone construction. Bricks had been arranged in a circle with a timber roof over them. Hope recognized that it was an old-fashioned well, but didn't understand what Rae wanted her to see.

Then she saw it.

A mound of earth lurked beyond the well, at the edge of the woods, with only a few sparse plants taking root in the recently-disturbed soil. At one end was a simple marker: two pieces of wood nailed together in a cross. "Is that a grave?"