Xander's voice, which had been droning on, interrupted my thoughts as I continued to use the stick to sketch in the dirt. ". . . butterscotch clouds, and butterscotch flowers, and butterscotch houses, and butterscotch furniture . . ."
Suddenly we heard what sounded like a soft childish giggle and swiveled our heads back and upward and caught sight of a blonde head leaning quickly away from the window, likely a council member's kid. I looked back at Xander who had a confused look on his face and suddenly we heard a woman's voice calling, "Who's out there?" and the window above came slamming down.
Xander and I stared at each other for a second with wide eyes and then we jumped up and ran.
**********
The large wooden Temple was already crowded just like we had known it would be. As workers, Xander and I had to sit in the back, and we grumbled about the bad luck of getting caught outside the lodge. Now we wouldn't have the close-up view of the princess before we made our way to the over-stuffed building. In order to see the platform at the front where the council sat and Hector preached from, we’d have to crane our necks.
For the most part, the worker groups stood together in Temple: the crop and water keepers, the animal tenders, and the watchers (those who looked after our security) on the left side, and the teachers, weavers, sewers, and builders on the right side. Between our groups, we kept our four-hundred-acre community fed, safe, outfitted, educated, and sheltered.
Hector had named it Acadia, which meant "Place of Plenty." And it was true, because we had everything we needed, well, other than Coca-Cola. But I supposed that wasn't technically a need, and it wasn't like I could talk about that anyway.
My mom smiled at me when she saw me enter the Temple and waved me over. I nodded at Xander as he went over to where his family stood a little bit to the right of mine. My dad pulled me in front of him and put his arms around my shoulders so his hands were clasped in front of my chest and we took up as little room as possible. I inhaled the smell of soap coming from my dad's skin and leaned back into him, feeling safe. I glanced next to us at my mom, who stood with my sister, Maya, in the same position. Maya had been born with a leg that didn't work quite right, and so even though she was a member of our family and would naturally help with the duties surrounding the watering of the land and making sure our people always had a supply of clean drinking water, because of her birth defect, she couldn't do physical labor. Instead, she helped the women who sewed the clothing and the bedding and, well, I wasn't quite sure what else needed to be sewed. I guessed if I looked around, there were plenty of things, but I didn't give all that a whole lot of thought. Maya was a year older than me, but she was a whole lot smaller and mentally younger because of something called Down syndrome. My parents told me it meant Maya had been born with an extra chromosome. I looked down at her and she grinned up at me, wrinkling her nose. I grinned back down at her and grabbed her hand in mine and squeezed it three times, and her grin grew larger as she squeezed my hand back three times, too.
A couple months back, after she yelled after me as I was leaving the house, "I love you, Calder!" in front of all my friends, and they started laughing, I had walked back to her and told her I was too old for that, and so was she as a matter of fact. I had told her to give it a rest. She had looked crushed and I immediately felt guilty, so later I'd told her we could still say it, it just needed to be more covert. From then on, we'd squeeze the other's hand three times to mean, "I love you." It was our own secret code.
The thing about Maya was it was like that extra chromosome was filled to bursting with love. So filled up, it was constantly leaking out of her in some shouty way, and she just couldn't keep it inside her. It had to come out in some way, shape or form. But I guessed when you love someone, you put up with all their faults, even the especially loud ones.
A hush fell over the crowd as the doors right behind us swung open, and Hector Bias started walking purposefully down the center aisle with the council behind him. Hector was a tall, strong-looking man who held himself like the leader he was. He had a head of golden hair that he wore long and sometimes put in a ponytail at the back of his neck. His eyes were a bright, crystal blue that seemed to be able to see straight through you. The few times he had spoken directly to me, I had had to force myself to hold eye contact with him. Something about those eyes made you feel unworthy—like you weren't good enough to look too long at something so beautiful.
The doors behind him swung shut and I frowned in disappointment. Would we not meet his new wife today?
I looked forward as Hector took his place behind the podium at the front as the council, all four of them, took their seats behind him. He looked around at us with an expression on his face that made me stand up taller in pride. I felt my dad behind me do the same. One day, I was going to sit up on that podium behind Hector and take the place of one of the council members. I felt purpose flowing through me.
Hector raised his arms, as if in slow motion, and his voice boomed, "Behold the blessed one. My bride and your mother. Eden!"
Two of the council members stood and walked back up the long center aisle and each opened one of the large wooden doors, stepping to the side as they held them wide open. The crowd seemed to hush even more as we turned in unison, and a feeling I couldn't explain swept through me—something that felt like a mixture of fear and happiness.
Everything was utterly still.
Suddenly, a breeze blew in, bringing with it swirling dried leaves that danced down the aisle and came to rest on the floor. At the same time, the wind chimes that hung in front of the Temple started tinkling as if, until that very moment, the entire world had been holding its breath. I craned my neck to see what everyone was looking at and that's when I saw her—a little girl, even smaller than Maya, walking slowly down the aisle, a look of terror on her face. My eyes widened as I took her in. She was wearing a white, lace dress—like a tiny bride—and her pale blonde hair fell over her shoulders and down her back. And her face . . . I felt my heart lurch in my chest at the beauty of that small face. Her lips were full and pink, and I could see they were quivering slightly as her eyes darted around. Suddenly, they fell on me and my breath hitched as our gazes met and held, her blinking and me staring. I couldn't see the color of her eyes from where I was standing, but something in them held me captive. And then she looked away and the spell was broken. I let out a big exhale of breath as she moved farther down the aisle, and I could only see her small back.