Free Sisters of Heart and Snow by Margaret Dilloway

on Susannah. “Hey, if it works for them, who are we to judge? It might be acceptable in her culture. It works for the man, it works for the woman.”
    Susannah stared at me. “There are some things that aren’t right no matter what the culture. What about all the brides who don’t get a good man? They’re stuck here, without anything. Maybe even abused. It’s basically slavery.”
    Images of my mother and father flashed across my mind, and my body went cold, my hands numb. No, I wasn’t going to think about that. I turned away from Susannah without another word.
    I take a breath and scan the sewing room closet. Maybe I’ll find some swords stashed away next. Mom might have been a ninja, for all I know.
    I hear another car pass outside. I push the box aside without looking at the rest of the items, and throw the quilts back to where they were. This is what Mom meant for me to find. For when she forgot. Is there a code in here, too?
    For all I know, the book isn’t a story at all, but a long letter to her daughters. I gingerly turn the pages again.
    Drew shifts away from under the book, pushing it into my lap. She gets up and dusts off her backside. “I don’t know what it’s about, Rachel. Mom never said. One day, she told me to come in here and get something for her and I happened to see it. She said,
Oh that’s just an old book from Japan. I might use the woman in a quilt
.” Drew shrugs. “I didn’t think any more about it.”
    â€œBut look.” I point to our names. “She wants us to read this.”
    Drew stares at our mother’s handwriting, her eyes turning liquid. “How?”
    I close the book, put it in the box of treasures. I’m taking the whole box. It belongs to me and Drew. I would have gotten it before if I’d known. “We’ll get it translated. There’s got to be a starving student who needs cash.”
    At the word “starving,” Drew’s stomach growls and Drew coughs, covering it up. “Yeah. I’m sure there is. Ready to get out of here?”
    I narrow my eyes theatrically at my sister, my patented Rachel evil eye.
Stop staring at me like a vampire, Rachel! You stared at me first, Drew!
She rewards me with a flash of a grin and I know she’s remembering the same thing. “Want to come over and have something to eat?” I ask.

M IYANOKOSHI
    S HINANO P ROVINCE
    H ONSHU, J APAN
    Spring 1160
    T omoe peered down from the top of the swaying pine tree. She stretched her fingers toward the violet and pink sunset. Almost close enough to touch. This was higher up than she’d ever been. Small branches ripped off and fell away to where she couldn’t see them.
    She’d won again. Pride and guilt mixed in her. Now her brother was relegated to picking weeds in the garden for losing, and Yoshinaka would join him. And now both of them would hate her even more.
    Below her, Yoshinaka shouted. “It’s not fair! She’s lighter. She can go faster.” He shook the trunk.
    Tomoe yelped, hanging on. “Stop, Yoshi.”
    They made their way back down the tree to where Kaneto waited. “Yoshinaka, if you know Tomoe is quicker, then you’d better think of what else you can do to win.”
    â€œWhat do you want me to do?” Yoshinaka brushed pine needles off his robes, his face red. “Pull her off and throw her to the ground?”
    â€œThat’s what I’d do.” Kanehira stood in the kitchen garden, his arms full of thorny weeds, and a snarl on his face. “Father, it is a dishonor to our family. Having a girl fight with us. Why don’t you just have me and Yoshi put on geisha clothes and become entertainers?”
    â€œYou’re just mad because you always lose.” Tomoe couldn’t help smirking at her brother, as he had done so many times to her. He threw down the weeds and clenched his fists. “Loser.” She turned