Free Assignment to Sin by Stormy Knight Page B

statue, she made it quite clear that
she wasn’t about to shake my hand. She motioned for me to come in and have a
seat at the kitchen table.
    “My
name is Prudence.”
    I
stifled a laugh because I felt the name definitely fit her personality. I moved
past Miss Prudence and took a seat at the kitchen table. I was uncertain where
to even start, but my host took care of that for me.
    “Before
you are granted access to our youth and the other residents of our community, I
want to make sure that you understand a few things.”
    Oh
boy, here it comes. Prudence’ speech was beginning to sound like one of my
parent’s lectures that they liked to give when I had broken the rules. “Okay,
I’m all ears,” I said.
    “We
strive very hard to maintain a simple life here in the community. Our children
are sheltered from the evils of the world. It’s the outside influence and the
work of the devil latching onto the minds of our younger generation that is
causing them to go into the world. We don’t want to lose any more of our
children. This concern is the only reason our elders have agreed to allow your
university access to our community.”
    This
certainly wasn’t what I signed up for. “Yes ma’am. I understand your concern
and I’ve already been given instructions on how to conduct myself while I’m
here.”
    She
didn’t seem to have much certainty in her eyes. “Just so you know, your conduct
will be closely scrutinized while you’re here,” Prudence threatened. “Your
observation and interviews will not interfere with the scheduling of any of the
community’s daily activities. Also, your interaction with any of the males will
be closely supervised.”
    I
was taking notes and looked up sharply when she added that last part. “So, let
me make sure I have this correct. Do I need to ask someone’s permission before
speaking to or interviewing any of the males?”
    Prudence
thought for a moment. “Yes, I think if you want to speak to one of the males
above reckoning age, which we consider to be 18 or older, you will need to get
permission from my husband, Levi, before doing so.”
    “Okay,
I can handle that,” I replied. I wondered to myself if the professor even knew
about all of this red tape that I would have to go through to do this research.
Of course, I was the first female to work this assignment so maybe they didn’t
have all of these rules for the male students. They probably weren’t allowed to
speak to the females without permission.
    I
was ready to get away from her and get started with my work. “If there’s no
further instruction that I need to be made aware of I will go ahead and get to
work, if you’ll point me in the right direction.”
    “My
19-year-old daughter Leah is working on her chores outside in the barn,”
Prudence advised. “You may join her there.”
    “Thank
you. I’ll go see if I can find her. I look forward to speaking with you again,”
I lied.
    ~~~~~
    The
barn was huge. I found Leah milking the cow.
    “Hello
there,” I called out.
    Startled,
Leah jumped, squirting a little milk outside of the bucket. “I’m sorry. I
didn’t realize I would have company this morning.” Leah wiped her hands on her
apron and stood up from her milking stool. Like her mother, she was dressed in
a long-sleeved, drab brown, floor length dress, with only a beige apron
covering it.
    She
used the back of her hand to push her hair off of her for head. Her hair
must’ve been waist-length because she had it gathered in a huge knot at the
nape of her neck. She had such a pretty face. For some reason, I felt a pang to
of sadness when our eyes met.
    “No,
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean startle you,” I told her. I walked towards her with a
quick pace, offering my hand.
    “I
don’t know if your parents told you that I was coming or not, but my name is Lorin,
and I’m going to be spending some time with you this summer for a university
research project,” I started. Leah shook my hand.
    From
the