Lena Jones 02 - Desert Wives

maybe?”
    Good lord, what had she been reading? Old Nancy Drew mysteries? I tried to keep my voice steady but I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. “There are no ‘passing tramps’ out here, Rebecca. We’re miles from civilization.”
    “Maybe the whole thing was one of those hunting accidents.”
    I hated to say what I was about to say, but it was necessary. Teenagers, untried by life’s tragedies, overestimated their powers of deduction, so I pointed out the obvious. “It would be pretty hard to have a hunting accident where Prophet Solomon was standing. He was in a clear spot, not surrounded by brush. And remember, Rebecca, he was shot by his own gun. What kind of hunting accident could that be?”
    She bit her lip. “He dropped his gun, maybe, and it went off?”
    “And maybe space aliens will beam Purity up to Alpha Centauri during Prayer Time tonight, but I don’t think so.” I reached out my hand and stroked her hair. “I don’t want you to be frightened, but I want you to be careful. Don’t take any walks alone, promise?”
    “I promise.”
    I didn’t believe her for a minute.
    The next morning I woke up depressed, but I couldn’t remember my dreams, which I counted as a blessing. I could say this for a bad childhood; it certainly put the sorrows of the present into perspective.
    After grabbing a quick breakfast of Special K, I wandered over to Davis Royal’s house. The front door was open and I almost entered, but I heard several male voices, so I paused on the porch to listen. “Our lost bird has flown home!” Jacob Waldman said.
    “I’m very happy for you, Brother Jacob,” Davis said. “It is always…”
    “Yes, Purity is Rebecca’s true home.” Abel Corbett’s voice, sounding determined. “But I’m here, Brother Davis, to work out the arrangements that fell through when my daughter ran off.”
    “What arrangements?” Davis sounded cool.
    “You know what arrangements. In return for offering Rebecca’s hand in marriage, I was to receive two of Earl Graff’s daughters. Just because Prophet Solomon died before the marriage actually took place isn’t my fault. I’ve brought Rebecca back and she’s still available, so the Circle of Elders should fulfill their contract by giving me my two brides.”
    It was all I could do to keep from entering the house and slapping him, but I managed to stay put.
    Davis snorted. “Brother Abel, you’ve been gone for a while so you don’t know about some of the changes I’ve initiated. We are not going to have any more forced marriages, especially not of children.”
    Abel’s voice became stiff. “My mother was only twelve when she married.”
    “An earlier time. I think the counter-offer the Circle made you is eminently fair, and I advise you to act upon it.”
    What counter-offer? I strained to listen.
    “I’m a young man in my prime, Brother Davis, and I don’t see why I should accept a couple of hand-me-downs.”
    “Hand-me-downs?” There was no disguising the anger in Davis’s voice. “I don’t think I care to hear two perfectly respectable women described in that manner. You were raised in Purity, and you know that we take care of our widows by finding them new husbands. Frankly, I see absolutely nothing wrong with your marrying Sister Jean and Sister Ermaline. Granted, Sister Ermaline is no longer of child-bearing age, but Sister Jean is still in her prime. Now that my father is dead, they’re both destitute and need a husband’s protection.”
    Abel’s voice trembled with rage. “All those years I lived with Rebecca’s mother I remained monogamous, so now I have to make up for lost time. I need younger wives or I won’t be able to get enough children. I don’t want to be stuck in Mid-Heaven, little more than a servant to the rest of you!”
    Shades of Noah Heaton.
    Davis didn’t budge. “My mind’s made up, Brother Abel. Before I consider your request for a younger woman, you must marry the two women I’ve chosen. Prove your worthiness for younger brides by having children with Sister Jean, and then we’ll revisit this conversation. Now, good day to you!”
    Jacob Waldman’s voice again. “You see, Abel? That’s what you get for defying God’s Law! Instead of being fruitful and multiplying the earth, you gave yourself over to the selfishness of monogamy. Now you’re reaping the harsh justice you deserve.”
    Selfishness of monogamy? What a topsy-turvy world these men lived in. If it