I nodded. “It’s an adjustment. I remember my first few weeks out of the commune; it was pretty horrible. You’re home now, though, and that’s all that matters.”
Donald and Fiona smiled at each other. They were so sure of Eternal Light and their ability to convince everyone else that they didn’t even consider that Scarlett could’ve changed me completely.
“Okay, I think we have enough for lunch,” Donald said, raising his basket. “Let’s get these to Mildred, Bernard and Kathy and then I need to help Hank and Bill finish Hank’s veranda.
That was one thing I loved about my community; everyone worked together. If you needed something, everyone was willing to help. I liked some of the core values of Eternal Light and the way we lived but there was a dangerous side to our beliefs that had to stop. Only I knew I would never be able to convince anyone that Donald and Fiona were wrong and we shouldn’t sacrifice their daughter.
“Alright,” I said, taking Donald’s basket so he could get straight off.
“Thank you, Noah. I’ll see you all at lunch then.”
He left me with Fiona and Scarlett. “Fiona, do you think once we drop these things off I could show Scarlett the chapel?”
“What chapel?” Scarlett asked.
Thank God she hadn’t seen it yet. I didn’t think she had since they were keeping her close to the commune and the chapel was a minute’s walk into the meadow.
“I think that is a lovely idea, Noah,” she replied.
Scarlett looked hopeful, wondering if we were running now. There was no way. The meadow would maybe hide us up to our knees but we needed the cover the thick forest offered. We dropped the tomatoes for the lunchtime salad off, and I led Scarlett past the houses and hall.
“Are we doing it now?” she asked once we were safely away.
“No, I just wanted to be able to talk to you in private. We won’t get many opportunities between now and the…day.”
“Why aren’t we going now?”
“Look around, Scarlett. There’s nothing but the meadow and open fields this side.” Sure we were slightly downhill and that was why the chapel wasn’t visible from the commune but we’d have to run up hill to get away and we’d be seen immediately. “They can drive over the fields, we’ll be seen until we hit the forest at the far side and by that time they would’ve caught up. I’m just as desperate to get you away but we have to be smart about it. I promise you the way I have chosen to do this gives us the best possible chance.”
“I just want to leave.”
“I know and I do, too.”
Sighing, she folded her arms over her stomach. “Sorry. Are you really showing me this chapel then?”
“Yes, it’s where we get married. Well, not we but you know what I mean.”
She smiled as I squirmed in embarrassment. If things had been different, if Eternal Light were just a simple way of living off the land and not about living forever then maybe we could’ve been married here one day. I wished that was true. I wanted so bad for Eternal Light to be an innocent alternate to the normal way of living and for Scarlett to stay here with us. I wasn’t going to get much more time with her but I desperately wanted it.
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“How is your arm?”
Her hand immediately went to the wound. “It’s okay. Fiona gave me ginger tea.”
“It is a good natural pain-killer.”
She smiled tightly. “So she said. It just tasted gross.”
I pushed the door to the chapel open and ignored where our conversation was headed. I knew it relieved pain; I’d used it when I broke my wrist a few years back but Scarlett was used to pills and modern medicine.
“It’s nice,” she said, looking around. It was a fairly simple hexagon shaped wooden building with a steeple roof and exposed, chunky beams that had wildflowers and vines wrapped around them for a wedding. I wished there was one on before the rituals, I would’ve love for Scarlett to witness a wedding Eternal Light style.
“It’s better when it’s decorated.”
“You love it here.” It wasn’t a question, she knew I did and I wasn’t ever going to hide that from her.
“I do, I won’t lie. But I understand what they want to do is very wrong and I don’t believe, for one second, that what they think is going to happen is actually going to happen. Please don’t doubt me, Scarlett, there is nothing that will change my mind, no matter how much I love my home and my community.”
“Promise me,” she whispered.
I didn’t hesitate when I said, “I promise. I love you so much more.”
Scarlett
FIONA LED ME into the meadow, smiling warmly as if everything was completely normal. Her cult was there already, standing in a circle. They each held a white candle in a cup, even though it was daylight.