Today's prompt in beat. Look for it in some form in the excerpt from Faerie Lights.
Mother Superior’s voice was strong, reminding her of angel barring Adam and Eve from paradise. She would have made an excellent avenging angel with a strident certainty filling each word.
“Your sister was not buried on sacred ground.”
“Why the hell not? She was as good a Christian as you are. I suspect better.”
“Now Simon, calm down. Don’t go forgetting where you’re at.”
She recognized Angus’ voice and the fact he was trying to placate her uncle. Obviously, she wasn’t the only one in the family who had difficulty holding their words.
“Sir, remember we had no way of knowing where a scared, dirty, beaten woman came from. She collapsed on our doorstep similar to a stray mongrel ready to whelp.”
“I thank you not to refer to my sister as a dog.”
Meara wished she could see the tableau on the other side of the door. It was more emotion than she’d ever witnessed from Mother Superior.
“I will speak plainly. We tended to your sister. Brought your niece into the world and cared for her these last sixteen years, which you owe us for. A hearty contribution to the convent would be in order. If we knew she was a Druidic get, we would not have raised her.”
The indrawn breath had to be her uncle or possibly Angus, maybe both. The sisters would have let her die because her father was a Druid. She wasn’t even sure what a Druid was, maybe Sister Gabriella knew.
“I’ll be back in two weeks, I expect my niece to be ready to leave. No doubt, you’ll be anxious to get her off your hands.”
The words signaled the end of the conversation, which sent her rushing down the hallway. There had to be something she could busy herself with to appear as if she hadn’t been eavesdropping.
“Your sister was not buried on sacred ground.”
“Why the hell not? She was as good a Christian as you are. I suspect better.”
“Now Simon, calm down. Don’t go forgetting where you’re at.”
She recognized Angus’ voice and the fact he was trying to placate her uncle. Obviously, she wasn’t the only one in the family who had difficulty holding their words.
“Sir, remember we had no way of knowing where a scared, dirty, beaten woman came from. She collapsed on our doorstep similar to a stray mongrel ready to whelp.”
“I thank you not to refer to my sister as a dog.”
Meara wished she could see the tableau on the other side of the door. It was more emotion than she’d ever witnessed from Mother Superior.
“I will speak plainly. We tended to your sister. Brought your niece into the world and cared for her these last sixteen years, which you owe us for. A hearty contribution to the convent would be in order. If we knew she was a Druidic get, we would not have raised her.”
The indrawn breath had to be her uncle or possibly Angus, maybe both. The sisters would have let her die because her father was a Druid. She wasn’t even sure what a Druid was, maybe Sister Gabriella knew.
“I’ll be back in two weeks, I expect my niece to be ready to leave. No doubt, you’ll be anxious to get her off your hands.”
The words signaled the end of the conversation, which sent her rushing down the hallway. There had to be something she could busy herself with to appear as if she hadn’t been eavesdropping.
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