Free Vanquished by Katie Clark

from?”
    “A dig about a hundred miles north of here. I haven’t gone through them yet, though, so you’ll have to weed out what stays and what goes.”
    Mrs. Baily nods. “No problem.”
    We don’t have the supplies to print books anymore, so we rely on old books from the Early Days that people dig up. Some books aren’t allowed to stay, though. Books that deal with touchy subjects like politics, religion, and rebellion are burned.
    I’ve never actually seen books right off a dig, and I’m intrigued. “Can I look at them?” I ask Mrs. Baily.
    She smiles like she understands my fascination and nods. “You can look, but don’t touch. They haven’t been cleaned or sorted yet.”
    Some of the books have dull, single-colored hard covers, but others have bright, flashy covers, and I wonder how they printed pictures like that right on a book.
    Mrs. Baily sorts through them while I browse.
    One book is different than the others. It looks soft, like leather. I reach my hand out to touch it. It’s covered in dust, and I can’t read the title so I brush my hand over it.
    Holy Bible.
    Mrs. Baily gasps and snatches it away. She holds it to her chest, her eyes wide with terror.
    I pull back, surprised at her odd behavior.
    “This one’s got to be burned,” she says. “You shouldn’t look at it, and don’t mention it!”
    I frown, my face contorting in confusion. “I understand,” I finally mutter. But I can’t make sense of her reaction. I don’t even know those words. Holy Bible. Why would they make her so afraid?
    Her behavior gives me the creeps, and I want to get out of there. We pay for the books and head outside.
    “Did you see that?” I ask.
    “Hmm?” Jamie says.
    Obviously, she hadn’t. I shake my head, glad to put it behind me. “Do you want to smell Mr. Dillard’s new soap?”
    She frowns like she doesn’t know what I’m talking about, but then her face clears. “Oh, right. Sure. Let’s go.”
    A small bell tied to the door of Mr. Dillard’s shop jingles when the door opens. The tinkling sound makes me happy, lessening the bad feeling I got from the bookstore.
    “Good afternoon, girls,” Mr. Dillard says. “How are you today?”
    The apothecary sells herbs, candles, soaps, and cleaners. Everything he makes comes from things grown in the ground. He looks like he’s about a hundred, with wrinkles on his forehead, cheeks, neck, arms, and even his hands, but Mom says he’s only in his sixties.
    “We heard you had some new flower soaps.”
    He grins, and I notice he doesn’t have any teeth. “It’s called perfumed soap. It used to be common in the Early Days, but it’s not so common these days.”
    He pulls something off the shelf and gives it to us to smell. The scent of fresh lilacs meets my nose.
    “What do you think?” he asks.
    “I like it,” I say. I hand him the rest of my allowance. “How much is it? Does this cover it?”
    He smiles and nods. “This will be fine.”
    Jamie smiles tightly and thrusts the soap back at me. Her face looks a little green.
    We hurry outside and I grab her arm. “Are you sick or something? What’s wrong, Jamie? You haven’t been acting right all day, and I need to know you’re OK.”
    She glances around and starts walking again.
    “Jamie!” I say, hurrying to catch up.
    “I really think you shouldn’t meet that guy alone."
    This again? “What are you talking about?”
    “Don’t meet any guy alone, not even Keegan.”
    “Jamie, you’re not making any sense!”
    She stops now and looks around one last time. She leans close to me and I see the tears in her eyes. “Being alone with a guy is bad, Hana. I don’t know what to do.”
    My stomach drops to my knees and I hold my breath as she says her next words.
    “I think I’m pregnant.”
     
     
     
     

14
     
    Pregnant? I can’t imagine my best friend being pregnant. We’re still in school! We haven’t taken our Tests yet, let alone finished our college training.
    Then another