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