Free Promise: The Scarred Girl by Maya Shepherd

holds out her hand, as if the dog could grasp it back. Hilariously, the dog jumps up and wags his tail, happy to be alone with her again. Laughing, Nea takes his paw and gently shakes it with her hand. “We made it!”

Six
    A fter the joy of deceiving Urelitas is gone, she wonders what she should do now. It is already dark and the Carris have retired to their homes. The noises in the barn are getting quieter and she does not know where she should go. Before the noises quiet down completely, she decides to go look in the barn rather quickly to see if anyone is inside.
    When she opens the big red barn door, it creaks loudly. In the barn are stacks of hay bales in linen bags and somewhere around 200 sheep and goats herded closely together. But the strangest thing is that dangling from the ceiling is an electric light bulb, illuminating the barn. She has not seen electric light in six years. It is like some kind of miracle.
    Nea was firmly convinced that she would only find such a thing in Promise, but seeing one with the Carris in a barn is crazy. Mesmerized, she stares at the lamp. After a few seconds, she realizes she has been caught. She looks down and sees the two smiling faces of the female shepherds she met with earlier in the day.
    A few hours before, they seemed distant and standoffish, but now they give her a loving, albeit slightly skeptical, smile. Nea thinks they look similar to each other.
    “Do you have no power in the south?”
    Nea shakes her head, “Not in the stables,” she is quick to add, to make the women not suspicious.
    “We only have power in the stales because they are the most important thing for us. It would be insane to illuminate the stables with candles, with all the hay and straw.”
    Nea thinks this is absolutely crazy.
    “You need to set up a camp for the night and something to eat, right?” The other woman asks.
    Nea confirms her question with a nod.
    “We would be happy to help. You can stay in the barn with us tonight if you want. You can bring your dog inside as well.”
    “You sleep in the barn?”
    “Not every night, but tonight we are guarding the animals, because tomorrow we will accompany you to Fortania. We miss our animals already.”
    Nea gives them a sympathetic smile. “I would not go anywhere without my dog,” she says. At first she says this to pretend to understand, but once it is uttered, she feels that it is true. She would miss the dog, even though it has only been with her for two days.
    “But it would nice to go to Fortania again. We often went with our parents for shopping before the plague hit. At that time, the city was of course different. There was always something special for us in the big city with all the great shops that did not exist in the villages.” So they were sisters.
    Nea sees the glow in their eyes as they tell her about their past. Nea recognizes that the twins were normal girls once, with ordinary pastimes and a penchant for fashion. If they did not wear the red robes, Nea would have never guessed them for being Carris members.
    When all the animals are fed, they spread out their sleeping bags. One of the Carris women gives Nea’s companion some dry food to eat. The dog does not look too enthusiastic about the food, but he still cleans his bowl. Even dry food is better than no food.
    For the people, there are cold preserves. Nea has the choice between a vegetable stew and a meatloaf with rice. Nea chooses the vegetable stew. The twins remind Nea again that they are Carris and as such must thank Ereb for their food and health before they take the first bite. Good thing they started before Nea, because it would never have occurred to her to thank Ereb.
    The food tastes almost as bad as the dog’s food, but at least it makes the unpleasant growl in her belly go away.
    The icy wind whips Nea’s hair all through the air, while the rain beat her mercilessly in the face. Why did Miro send her to fetch water now? Could this not have waited until