Nothing could happen to her only friend. The skies opened up, as if in agreement, throwing rain down to splatter against the windshield. She clicked on the wipers, and their rhythmic swishing sound upped her concern. The window fogged, and she pressed the Defrost button.
Trixie had to survive.
* * *
That quickly, Pippa was seventeen again and being fitted for an all-white gown in Isaac’s office. He sat by a wide window showing a mountain, his fingers steepled beneath his chin, his gaze hot on her.
She tried not to look at him as the two women inserted pins in various places.
“You look beautiful, Mary,” Isaac said, his voice deep.
She tried not to shiver. Every time he looked at her like that, her stomach cramped. Her friend Trixie had already purified with Isaac, and she’d cried hard when telling Pippa all about it, saying it hurt. Bad. Those were their names now. Trixie and Pippa. Oh, they couldn’t share those names with anybody else, and they might not be able to use them for a long time, but those were their names. That mattered. Choosing your own name.
One of the ladies finished the hem and stood, turning toward Isaac. “Prophet? I think we’re finished for now.” She was new to the family, and her name was some kind of plant. Pippa hadn’t paid attention.
“Thank you, Fern,” he murmured. “You and River can take the dress now so it’s ready for tomorrow. I expect it to be perfect.”
Pippa held absolutely still as they carefully removed the dress, leaving her in only a light white slip with no socks. They carried the dress out of the room as if it was made of gold.
“Come sit with me,” Isaac ordered.
Her knees trembling, she walked toward the other chair by the window, looking around for a blanket. There wasn’t one, of course. She crossed her arms over her breasts and sat, making sure the slip covered her thighs.
He looked her over. “You get lovelier every day. Are you looking forward to your birthday tomorrow?”
There was a correct answer for that. “Yes,” she whispered, wanting to run.
“Numbers are important. Your turning eighteen on the seventh is very crucial to the way we live. Those numbers equal twenty-five, which is when you’ll truly reach your destiny. It’s a sign from God.” Isaac leaned forward.
She tried not to shrink back. She tried really hard. His reliance on numbers didn’t make any sense. Seven and eighteen and twenty-five? It was all just numbers. “Why don’t you give anybody else names from the Bible?”
He set his hand on her knee. “Those names are for you and me only. We’re special.”
She tried to swallow, but her knee burned. Her being special had spared her the things that had happened to Trixie. So far. Tomorrow there would be a huge ceremony with the whole family, and then Isaac was taking her somewhere for a week. He hadn’t told her where.
The idea made her want to throw up.
“Besides our holy union, your birthday starts the clock for seven years. Seven crucial years for the outside world to get its act together. To remake the family structure and find God.” He squeezed her knee and released her. “I can only hope our leaders make good choices.”
“Or what?” The closer she came to being forced to bond with him, the more she questioned everything he said. Often not out loud, though.
“Then we shall be the warriors for the Lord and teach them a lesson,” Isaac said smoothly. “These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.”
“Revelation 11:16,” Pippa murmured. That was one of the passages Isaac made her read. The women in the family read the Bible almost every day. “I don’t understand.”
“There’s a place that holds all the power in this country. If the world doesn’t return to a state of proper peace, we will be God’s vengeance. He will tell me what to do,” Isaac said.
Why did he always talk in circles? What did any of that even mean? Pippa looked toward the door.
“You’ll want to go prepare for tomorrow.” He pinched her thigh, and she jumped. “If you’re not smiling tomorrow, Mary, I will be greatly disappointed.”
She nodded and stood, her head down as she walked as slowly as she could for the door. Managing to keep her hands from clenching into fists until she’d shut the door behind her was the hardest thing she’d ever done.
Trixie and their friend Tamarack were waiting, their faces pale. “You okay?” Trixie whispered.
Tears filled her eyes, and she shook her head.
“You will be.” Trixie grasped her hand and pulled her away from the door. “I found a way out, and my friend will be waiting for us. The guy I met on outreach a month ago. Tonight. Meet me in the garden with the two lemon trees at midnight. Trust me. I’ll get to the storage room first.”
