Free Califia's Daughters by Leigh Richards Page A

abruptly. Kirsten glanced at her with only a trace of amusement, but Judith stared, openmouthed.
    â€œMy God, Dian, you’re blushing!”
    Flustered, Dian stood up and went back to the window. The road was nearly empty now, and none of the strangers was in sight. She turned back to the room.
    â€œYes, well. Maybe we should say thanks but no thanks—his presence is already disruptive. The whole damned village is going to be at each other’s throats over him inside of a week.”
    â€œWe’ll handle it,” Judith said. “Personally, I think we’d be fools to pass their offer up. You have to admit, Di, that to have a friendly village next door would help defenses tremendously. It would give us a chance to expand out of the Valley without stretching ourselves—we’ve talked often enough about our overcrowding, and this way we could easily send six or eight of our families down there without leaving them or us too weak.”
    â€œGet rid of some of our troublemakers,” Dian grunted.
    â€œNot fair to use them as a dumping ground.”
    â€œWe don’t have anyone that bad. I just mean . . . there are those who might do better elsewhere.”
    â€œYou’re talking about Laine,” Judith said bluntly.
    â€œLaine needs more authority than I can give her,” Dian said, trying to be fair. “She needs to stretch herself. Being in charge of the yearly trips to Meijing isn’t enough.” Not enough for Dian’s taste, certainly—Laine was a constant thorn in her flesh, and she’d be happy to have the woman gone for months, not just weeks.
    Judith heard the faint praise, but let it go without comment: Dian’s woman, Dian’s problem. She went on with her list of arguments. “A nearby village would also bring in a whole new set of genes. You know how Ling worries about the long-term results of intermarriage. We’d gain a lot, having them here, and as far as I can see without having to give up too much. And a one-to-three survival ratio—wow. If it’s genetic instead of environmental, that would make another reason they would want to get clear of ‘Queen Bess’s’ reach.”
    â€œAll of which is assuming that Miriam is in fact telling the truth. And that there aren’t any hidden traps. And, Jude, you know that’s one hell of a big assumption.”
    â€œSo what do we do?”
    â€œBamboo shoots under the fingernails, burning coals . . .”
    â€œDi! Be serious.”
    â€œThe other option is for me to go look. See firsthand how they live, what their problems are, what they aren’t telling us.”
    â€œWhat, three hundred miles? Dangerous miles? You can’t do that.”
    â€œSure I can. It’d be great.”
    She had intended to be flippant, but her sister knew her too well and heard the yearning. Heard, too, how thoroughly Dian had thought about it.
    â€œKirsten, tell her she’s crazy.”
    But Kirsten just let her hands fall idle, and after a minute she said, “Judith is right. We need these people. But Dian, you, too, are right. We must know what we are getting into before we allow these people to move onto our doorstep. Can you assure me that your women can handle the Valley security without you?”
    Dian grimaced. “Considering the crap job I’ve been doing lately, it might be better without me. Laine and Jeri between them would tighten up discipline nicely.”
    â€œI don’t agree that you have been doing a crap job, but I trust your judgment. However, we should also ask, couldn’t Laine do the job of looking at the Oregon community as well as you could?”
    The siren call of freedom wailed a protest in Dian’s ear—why the hell should Laine get to go?—but she did her best to give an honest answer. “One woman by herself couldn’t do it. Even two would be risky, so we’d have to send three or four, or else one