Free Alis by Naomi Rich Page A

considered.”
    The old man was clearly angry now. “But I was not there. There is much I might have said.”
    For a moment Robert looked at the Minister out of his cold eyes. His dry voice scratched the stillness of the room. “It would have made no difference.”
     
     
    They had gone and there was time to digest defeat. Elizabeth looked grimly at her husband. “We must get Samuel away in the morning, and then we must make plans to be gone ourselves, Jacob. I doubt we shall be safe here much longer. And if our power is gone, we can do no good.”
    The old man said pleadingly, “Let us not despair yet, Elizabeth. Surely there are some of the Elders who may be swayed?”
    She took her husband’s hand in hers. “Dear Jacob, if there are others who think as we do, their voices have not prevailed. No doubt, means have been found to persuade or silence them. And think of this: we have one grandson—all that is left to us of our dear daughter. How long do you think it will be before they move against him if we resist? And that is supposing he does not himself provoke them. They will want little enough excuse, and they watch for the chance, I am sure.”
    Alis jumped. This was what Lilith had said.
    The Minister was nodding. “You are right, Elizabeth. I am foolish. And it is not only Luke.” He was smiling but his lips trembled. “You yourself are likely enough to provoke them, my dear wife, as fearless for good as you are. And it would be death to me to see you hurt.”
    He turned his head away to hide the tears that rolled down his old cheeks. Alis thought with loathing of Robert and Thomas.
     
     
    The next morning at sunrise, Luke brought Samuel’s oldest horse into the square. He and Elizabeth had gone the previous afternoon to fetch a few belongings from the farm that was already occupied by new tenants.
    “They were ashamed,” Elizabeth said with satisfaction. But it was all the satisfaction there was. Of the young woman Samuel called his wife, and to whom he had given the name Iri, there had been no sign since the day they had come to take him from the farm. She was said to be half-witted and almost without speech. She had appeared one year on the edge of the settlement and he had taken her in. She was with child now, though not yet near her time.
    A small crowd had gathered. The Elders were there, of course, one or two looking uneasy. Alis had expected some kind of formal casting-out but there was none. In silence the people watched as Samuel mounted his horse, wincing as the movement pulled at the newly formed scars on his back. Then he was moving out of the square, the old horse plodding gently across the cobbles, disappearing between the houses and out toward the open farmland beyond.
    “Where will he go?” Alis asked when they had gone indoors again.
    Elizabeth shook her head. “I do not know. There are farms and villages that do not belong to the Communities of the Book where he might find refuge. But he bears the signs of his punishment and will meet with mistrust. Besides, they have broken him. How can he be a man among men again? If he had the woman to care for, it might be something, although she would be a burden, too, but no one knows where she has gone. And now, Alis, my dear”—she smiled sadly—“you must go home, I think, despite the fever. We shall have to leave here soon.”
    Alis could not speak for a few seconds. The moment she had dreaded for so long had come. “Must I go straightaway? I . . .” She could not stop her voice from breaking a little. “I shall be very sad to go.”
    “There is a wagon going north in five days’ time. And you will be glad to see your parents, will you not? I hope you will find them well. I wish I might keep you here until we had word that the sickness was over, but that cannot be.” She got up slowly, wincing at the stiffness of her back. Her face was lined and weary.
    Alis looked at Luke, who had not spoken a word since Samuel’s departure. He