A pair of novices pulling neeps from the garden spotted him first, whispered together, and then ran off, probably to fetch the abbess.
A moment later, a rosy-cheeked, matronly nun greeted him from across the close.
“Brother, welcome!”
Behind her scurried the two novices, and the laborers stopped their work to watch.Life in a nunnery was dull.A stranger was cause for excitement.
The abbess clasped her hands before her.“What brings ye to our fair convent, Brother…”
“Adam, Reverend Mother.”
“Adam,” she repeated.
Behind her, the novices giggled into their hands.
“Sisters!”the abbess hissed.Then she addressed him.“Forgive their rudeness, Brother.We get few visitors.”
The abbess shooed the novices along and ushered him into the refectory.There, two more nuns brought him oatcakes and ale.
Neither of them were Eve.
“What brings ye to our fair convent?”the abbess asked.
“I’m searchin’ for an acquaintance o’ mine.”
“An acquaintance?”
“A nun.”
“Ah.And her name?”
He wished the abbess could simply line up all the nuns in the convent and let him take a good look at them.He had no idea what name Eve was using now.
“I’m not certain,” he admitted.“She may have changed her name.”
More nuns entered the refectory.Giving him sidelong glances, they busied themselves in close proximity, as interested in them as they were in him.They carried empty trays back and forth.Wiped imaginary dirt from the tops of the tables.Rearranged the rushes on the floor.Some brushed so close behind him, he could feel the breeze of their passing.
He studied them carefully.None of them were Eve.
“Oh aye,” the abbess said.“Oftentimes a lass will change her name when she enters a holy order.What was her name before?”
“Eve,” he said.“Sister Eve.”
He might as well have uttered a foul oath.
All the nuns in the refectory gasped and began whispering furiously among themselves.
He frowned.
The abbess’s eyes went wide.“Sister Eve?”Then she scowled at the melee around them.“Sisters!Silence!”
They knew something about Eve.What it was, he wasn’t sure.
When it quieted, he asked, “Is she here?”
“We did have a Sister Eve here,” the abbess said carefully.
He supposed there could be more than one Sister Eve.“What did she look like?”
