Three Converts

Part 35

There was a struggle. That's how I got the bruise on my cheek and goose egg on my head, but the details are fuzzy. What I was certain of, was that I was back at the commune. In a cell I never knew existed. Misty was my cellmate.

We shivered next to each other in the dark. She wept, "I was free, I was gone." She clutched her burns, and I didn't know what would happen to us, but I had a bad feeling the burn was nothing compared to what the council had in store for us.

Misty inhaled through her nose. The inhale was jagged, but a brave voice came out. "Rocco will come for us. I know he will." This didn't seem like the right moment to point out it was Rocco's family that betrayed us. Well, betrayed me. It was clear by the way Misty's mother-in-law fell to Brother Harold's feet, wailing, that she never intended for her to be taken.

"Why did they do it, Misty?"

"Who knows. Money, I suppose."

I couldn't imagine the council had a lot of money to offer, but I'd been wrong about many, many things. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

She knocked her head against the clay wall. "It's nobody's fault but theirs."

"Why did they even take you? They can't exile you and then force you back. It doesn't make sense."

Misty was quiet for a very long time. I waited patiently. I had all the time in the world. "Welllll..." and I couldn't be certain, but I thought maybe I heard a trace of my friend in her tone. A trace of mischief. A smile. It nearly made me grin. But not quite. "I didn't exactly go quietly into the night."

"Misty! What did you do?!"

I saw the whites of her eyes brighten in the blackness. "I may have snuck back one night once my burns healed a bit. I stole Brother Augustus' robe. And put it in the latrine. Then used the latrine. Then formed his stupid golden belt into a... vulgar form on his front step."

A dark, vengeful laugh I'd never heard before burst from my throat. It was enough to tick off the guard above us. He roared for us to shut up, but really what could he do about it? I laughed louder. Misty joined me and we laughed until I cramped up and had to pull it together. Maybe we really were losing it in this dungeon. Even once we quieted down, occasionally one of us would giggle, setting the other off.

"I know Rocco comes across a little bull-headed, but he'll be here," she told me. I nodded. I wanted to say Griffin would be too, but did I know that? I thought back to the many times he'd rescued me. Surely there was a limit to how much inconvenience he would go to. I didn't say anything. I only wondered if my family knew I was here. I doubted it. By the time we'd reached the commune, Misty and I were unconscious. I guessed it was night and the council quietly slipped us into this hole. Diety forbid the commune members know how they really distributed justice.

The worst part of being in this underground chamber was not knowing day from night. It shouldn't matter, but somehow it did. It mattered very much to me. Time was more important than I'd ever thought. I didn't know if I loved it or hated it, but either way I wanted to know about it. How much time had passed, how much time we had left, what time it was currently, how much time time time.

We passed time as best we could. We resurrected our old handshake from when we were kids, we tried to stump each other with spelling words and math problems. Misty told me stories about the customers at the Squeaky Wheel until it made her cry. Every now and then a hunk of bread and moldy cheese landed on the floor. We tried to maintain our pride by not jumping on it immediately, but sauntering over slowly. That was getting harder to do even though the bread was getting harder and the cheese moldier. We were sleeping more and more, which I knew wasn't good.

One day, we lay, not awake, but not asleep when a familiar voice sneered, "How are you doing down there ladies?" Franklin. His voice sickened me, but it was something different. A change from ever other moment, an offering of frisson that made me want to answer. Misty beat me to it.

"We're fantastic. Thriving in fact, you sonofa-"

"Glad to hear it. There's a special treat in today's bread." The loaf thunked on the floor. "No cheese today. Sorry."

"He doesn't sound sorry," Misty growled. She picked up the bread and went to bite into it, but I smacked it out of her hand and into the wall.

"Don't eat it! What if it's poisoned?" I whispered.

"It's not poisoned," Franklin sang down. So,they could hear everything we said down here. Good to know. "Go ahead. Take abite." I picked the loaf up. It was soft and fresh today. It reminded me ofHerb and his kindness when I was stuck in the pillory. I swallowed the lump inmy throat. I turned the loaf over, holding it close to my face to better see.Shoved into the bottom, flush with the loaf, a mangled eye stared up at me. Idropped the bread. Misty threw up. Franklin laughed an evil laugh. "I've got aneye on you!"