Doctor?”
“I just told you so.”
“Then I need to get out of this room. I’m going crazy shut up in here.”
“If the weather’s favorable, I don’t see what it would hurt. But you’ll have a struggle up and down the stairs.”
“I can do it,” Nathan said.
Brice smiled and touched the boy’s shoulder. “I’m sure you can. Take care, Bates.”
“You’ll be back?” The boy’s voice sounded worried as he shot another look over at the elder.
Brice tightened his grip until he felt the outline of the boy’s shoulder bone under his hand. “Sure, in a few days.”
Elder Caleb followed Brice outside. Just before Brice started to mount his horse, the elder spoke. “You say that Sister Gabrielle’s father from the world has come to you with a message. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“And that is why you wish to talk to the sister?”
“It is.”
“Very well, Dr. Scott. You tell this man to come to me, and I will arrange for him to see Sister Gabrielle if I judge that he means her no harm. You think we fear to give our young people any freedom, but we do not keep any of our sisters or brethren captive here. If one of them decides to leave us, we let them go, although it is with sadness and much trepidation and concern for their eternal soul.”
Brice looked around at the elder who, in spite of declaring that he’d left the world behind, was nevertheless wise in the ways of the world. He’d easily outfoxed Brice. Now Brice could do nothing but say, “I’ll tell him when next I see him.”
As Brice rode out of the community, he couldn’t keep his eyes from going to the building he knew served as the schoolhouse. Just briefly he caught sight of a face in one of the windows. It was the young sister. He was sure, not because he’d seen her well enough to recognize her, but because of the way she’d jumped back away from his eyes. She was afraid to let him see her, and yet he had the feeling she’d been watching for him.
As he snapped his reins to urge his horse to pick up the pace, Brice felt surer of himself than he had for days. He’d find a way to reach her and convince her she didn’t belong here. The elder may have closed off one way of him talking to her, but there would be other ways. He just had to find them. The young sister wanted him to. He knew that to be true. He didn’t know how he knew it, but he did.
Gabrielle turned from the window back to her classroom. The little girls were all reciting their lessons, and she was glad for the confusion of ten different lessons being spoken aloud at once. It gave her time to calm the blood thumping through her veins.
She had determined in her mind not to let the doctor bother her again, and then there she had been at the window watching for him. She seemed to sense his very nearness and to be pulled toward him as a moth to a flame. Even when he was not near in actual physical presence, his face and being often intruded into her thoughts and dreams.
Gabrielle had asked the Eternal Father to free her from this sin, but though she prayed earnestly and long, the feeling had stayed with her when she rose up off her knees. She couldn’t shut thoughts of the doctor away from her. At times she felt as if her insides were dividing into two people—the person she knew who looked straight down the pathway of her life with the Believers and the other she did not know who was pulling her feet to the side to peek out the window at the doctor. She had no reason to seek him out with her eyes. He had no part in her life. Yet the sight of him made the color rise in her cheeks and stole her breath.
She turned her mind away from her wayward thoughts and concentrated on little Sister Anna’s recitation. She was doing the times table and hesitated only on six times seven. Gabrielle would commend her later for her effort.
Working with the schoolgirls helped ease Gabrielle’s troubled spirit. But that comfort would soon be gone, for the school season ended in a
“I just told you so.”
“Then I need to get out of this room. I’m going crazy shut up in here.”
“If the weather’s favorable, I don’t see what it would hurt. But you’ll have a struggle up and down the stairs.”
“I can do it,” Nathan said.
Brice smiled and touched the boy’s shoulder. “I’m sure you can. Take care, Bates.”
“You’ll be back?” The boy’s voice sounded worried as he shot another look over at the elder.
Brice tightened his grip until he felt the outline of the boy’s shoulder bone under his hand. “Sure, in a few days.”
Elder Caleb followed Brice outside. Just before Brice started to mount his horse, the elder spoke. “You say that Sister Gabrielle’s father from the world has come to you with a message. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“And that is why you wish to talk to the sister?”
“It is.”
“Very well, Dr. Scott. You tell this man to come to me, and I will arrange for him to see Sister Gabrielle if I judge that he means her no harm. You think we fear to give our young people any freedom, but we do not keep any of our sisters or brethren captive here. If one of them decides to leave us, we let them go, although it is with sadness and much trepidation and concern for their eternal soul.”
Brice looked around at the elder who, in spite of declaring that he’d left the world behind, was nevertheless wise in the ways of the world. He’d easily outfoxed Brice. Now Brice could do nothing but say, “I’ll tell him when next I see him.”
As Brice rode out of the community, he couldn’t keep his eyes from going to the building he knew served as the schoolhouse. Just briefly he caught sight of a face in one of the windows. It was the young sister. He was sure, not because he’d seen her well enough to recognize her, but because of the way she’d jumped back away from his eyes. She was afraid to let him see her, and yet he had the feeling she’d been watching for him.
As he snapped his reins to urge his horse to pick up the pace, Brice felt surer of himself than he had for days. He’d find a way to reach her and convince her she didn’t belong here. The elder may have closed off one way of him talking to her, but there would be other ways. He just had to find them. The young sister wanted him to. He knew that to be true. He didn’t know how he knew it, but he did.
Gabrielle turned from the window back to her classroom. The little girls were all reciting their lessons, and she was glad for the confusion of ten different lessons being spoken aloud at once. It gave her time to calm the blood thumping through her veins.
She had determined in her mind not to let the doctor bother her again, and then there she had been at the window watching for him. She seemed to sense his very nearness and to be pulled toward him as a moth to a flame. Even when he was not near in actual physical presence, his face and being often intruded into her thoughts and dreams.
Gabrielle had asked the Eternal Father to free her from this sin, but though she prayed earnestly and long, the feeling had stayed with her when she rose up off her knees. She couldn’t shut thoughts of the doctor away from her. At times she felt as if her insides were dividing into two people—the person she knew who looked straight down the pathway of her life with the Believers and the other she did not know who was pulling her feet to the side to peek out the window at the doctor. She had no reason to seek him out with her eyes. He had no part in her life. Yet the sight of him made the color rise in her cheeks and stole her breath.
She turned her mind away from her wayward thoughts and concentrated on little Sister Anna’s recitation. She was doing the times table and hesitated only on six times seven. Gabrielle would commend her later for her effort.
Working with the schoolgirls helped ease Gabrielle’s troubled spirit. But that comfort would soon be gone, for the school season ended in a
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