God's Country

Part Ninety

'And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.'

Isaiah 54:13

Samantha Fitzgerald was dressed and ready to leave. She had no idea where. Her parents had stood her in the hall, with her headphones on and her blinding mantle down, so she could not hear or see. Her brother and sister had been sent upstairs whilst she was prepared, and she wondered at first if she had done something wrong but she was sure she had been good. So, she stood still and waited, like a good maiden, listening to her lessons. She had nothing to fear if she yearned for God's love.

"She will be trained as a nurse." Mr Fitzgerald was saying in the lounge. "She only has to serve ten years, and she will still be young enough to marry dear...the Pastor says that we will have no problem finding a husband for her. She will be serving God too, earning his love...it is even better than a guardianship."

"She is so young though, and she has worked so hard..." Mrs Fitzgerald replied, tears already streaming down her face.

"Enough...I will be the master in my own house, and Samantha is already registered as a novice. She has been asked...chosen...to serve God, and it is our duty to permit it. And twenty five thousand pounds...it is a small fortune..."

'Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all his benefits.'

Psalms 103:2

"It is a bargain, of course." Harry told Brogan, as he undressed and slipped into bed beside her. "We get a nurse for ten years at the very least, for less than the cost of a year's salary at the moment...truly inspired, don't you agree?" Brogan could not reply to him as she was still muzzled, and hidden away in her special sleeping gown, like a present for him to partially unwrap. He stroked her back affectionately as he spoke. "Most of our good, loyal supporters are so eager for us to take their daughters that we are exceeding our initial estimates. It will still be slow, of course, there is a limit to how many girls we can recruit from any source, and a limit to how many we can train at any one time, but it is working unbelievably well. It is almost a shame that Olivia is bound to attract suitors; I could have shown an example. But the honour...coupled with the financial incentive, of course...is proving most attractive."

She could not decide if he was evil or insane. Not that it really mattered, as the people had voted for him and his friends in their millions. She heard all of his plans in great detail, and no one seemed to be able to stop him. No more than she could stop him undoing her sleeping gown and forcing himself inside her.

"And there are a lot of single nurses and doctors to scoop up for free. It's amazing how many of their families will accept a nice fat fee to allow them to continue with their vocations, you know. Social change has to have some victims, but these girls...rather like you, Brogan dear...will learn to love their new lives in time. It is just a question of re-educating them. But you were a volunteer of course, eager to earn God's love."

'Let brotherly love continue.'

Hebrews 13:1

Sister Caris was shown to the cubicle between afternoon prayers and dinner. She was muzzled and mittened, and the duty sister put her blinding mantle down as they left the refectory, but she removed it once she had Caris sitting down. The sister quickly removed the mitten on her right hand as well and indicated the pen and paper in front of her on a sort of shelf. She was facing a glass screen, sitting in a small room, like a broom cupboard, and her brother was sitting on the other side. He smiled, as the duty sister left, closing the door behind her, leaving them alone.

"Good evening...Sister Caris." He said quietly, still smiling at her. "I understand about your vow of silence...if only you had taken one years ago. It would have made home a lot quieter, I think, don't you? But we don't have long, sister dear. It seems I am your legal guardian, and responsible for you, as you are deemed unemployed...currently. As I understand it, you are here on temporary novice terms, and I can either take you home or sign your life away. As a nun, you cannot own anything so your share of our inheritance comes to me...or I have to look after you myself in this brave new world of ours." He paused as Susie reached out for the pen and started to write. When she had finished, she held the paper up against the glass and he broke into a smile.