Chapter 10

Alice was surprised at how much food a garden actually gave you.

In a sense, it shouldn't be surprising. As a city girl, she had no information on which to base guesses. Thus, any answer whatsoever would not be what she expected, and she should have expected that.

She sat up on her knees, wiping her sweaty brow. That had made no sense. The sun was getting to her.

Alice was wearing a hat, at least. A nice big floppy hat, light and comfortable. Tom had woven it for her, from various plants. His failures at this project, done in the evenings around the fire while they rested from the day's work, had been many. The man had kept trying, laughing off the horrible tangles of long grasses. It still wasn't the height of fashion, but she loved it anyway.

In that way, it mirrored her feelings for Tom.

It was love. She knew that. Had to be. That he was the only man around wasn't really a factor, nor was his incredible ability in bed, or that his mature body was just getting more muscular, toned, with every working day.

No. It was love, and she was happy.

Maybe it was the pregnancy speaking. That was supposed to play with a woman's emotions, wasn't it? The unborn baby having its way with the mother's hormones. Alice put a hand on her bare belly. She was happy about that, too. Her child. THEIR child. Sometime after the new year, before the green of spring came. Both she and Krissy would bring life into this world. She wondered who'd be first.

"You done already?"

Zak's question brought her back. The boy was all energy. She looked over at the brown skinned lad, kneeling among the green tomato plants. He, too, was changing. Zak was still thin, but scrawniness had become wiry muscle. A boy, but working on becoming a man. If genetically he favored his father, Alice was beginning to see why Krissy's mom had strayed.

"Almost," she told him, looking down at the cucumber plants before her. "At least for today."

"Same here. Looks like tomorrow there will be more."

That was one of the things Alice had been pleasantly surprised to discover. Vegetables did not all ripen at once. They came in waves, not just some varieties being ready before others, but even among the same plants. Tomatoes just kept coming, more green ones hidden in there after you pulled off the red ripe ones. Corn, too. They had been able to pull ears off to eat long before most were ready. Almost as if all this had been designed with humans in mind.

Who was to say it hadn't?

Pushing up a prickly leaf, Alice reached in for the long cucumber revealed on the ground. Cucumbers had been one of the unpleasant surprises. They had thorns. The first time she had reached for one, she had let out a curse. Really? Thorns? The supermarket ones never had those. They came off easily enough, one firm brush of the hand, but picking them was annoying. The plants, too, were harder to deal with. For awhile she had donned gloves, but now she was used to it. Her hands were tough, and she knew how to grab the troublesome vegetable. Alice thought she remembered something about them, in fact, lacking any real nutritional value, so wondered why they were bothering. They did TASTE good, though, especially with a bit of salt on them, and pickles were good.

Enough reason, then, for them to exist.

Six large woven baskets lay on the grass, filled with the day's groceries. Alice wasn't sure if Krissy would be happy to see so much, or pissed at the work now ahead of her, canning and storing it for the winter. She was already bitching about running low on the glass Bell jars, the first batch of pears from the orchard filling surprisingly many. Tom was in town buying more, and sugar. Sugar was one of the things they as yet could not make.

That was a problem for another day. Alice lay down in the tall grass, tired muscles loosening. Zak lay down beside her, their shoulders touching. He let out a groan.

"Can't we go get the goats, let them carry this stuff back?"

"Wimp."

"I'm tired."

"Like I said."

"You have the baby to help you carry things."

"I honestly don't think he's helping too much at this point."

Zak reached his hand over, placing it on her belly. Alice laughed.

"Can't feel him yet. Still too small."

His hand patted what he sometimes called the baby house, before retreating back to his side. Alice put her own hand where his had been. She wanted to feel it. Feel the little guy kick. Zak shifted, turning onto his side, facing her. Surprised, she did the same. His face looked ... worried.

"What is it?" Alice touched his hand. The boy took a deep breath.

"Alice ... I ... I need to ask you something."

"Sure."

Alice hoped he wasn't going to ask to kiss her, or some such. That ... wasn't allowed. She had asked. Personally, she would have liked spending time with the boy that way. She liked him. Tom got to be with two girls, so why shouldn't she be with two boys?

Wisdom thought otherwise.

Zak let out a sigh.

"I've been talking to someone. A girl."

"Zak. Zak, Zak, Zak, Zak, Zak."

Krissy sat at the table, head in her hands. The baskets of produce were on the cabin floor behind her, ignored for now. Alice, sitting next to her, put her hand on her arm. Her other hand went to Zak, sitting across from his sister. She squeezed both her friend's arms.

"Just hear him out."

"Oh, I'll hear. Then he'll hear from me."

Zak let out another sigh, leaning forward, elbows on the table. His face was serious.

"I met her a few weeks ago. Bumped into her accidentally."

"You left Eden."

"Of course I left Eden. What the fuck did you think I was doing on those walks? This place isn't THAT big!" His voice was angry. Alice met Krissy's eyes. Never before had her brother spoken like this. Alice squeezed her arm again.

"We never SAID he couldn't walk past the border."

Krissy took a deep breath, reluctantly nodding.

"I know. I know." Her eyes went back to Zak. "Go on. You bumped into her..."

"And she ran away, of course. At first. But she was back the next week, and we talked. She..." Alice saw his entire body change. Saw his feelings for this girl reflected in his eyes, his stance. Whatever they decided, that had to be a factor. "Her name is Lilith. She's about my age, beautiful. Smart. Her parents died in a car crash over the winter, and she's living with a religious nut grandfather she really doesn't like that much. He doesn't do anything to her, but she has to do all the cooking and cleaning."

Krissy nodded, knowingly.

"Been there."

"I know. Last week, we ... kissed. She kissed me. And, this week, we kissed forever it seemed like."

Alice sighed. He had found someone. That could solve that problem. Unfortunately, as sometimes happened, it created a whole set of new ones.

"Does she know about us?" she asked. Zak looked a little uncomfortable.

"She knows I'm from this area, and I said I lived with my family. That's about it."

There was probably more, she suspected, although there was not much more to know. Zak was not one to lie, conceal. If he'd been talking to her for weeks, details would have come out. He looked between them.

"I didn't tell her about The Lady. I didn't say that. But the adults she knows think this place is evil. Think there's something wrong about it, preach about it in church. So, they know SOMETHING is here, just not Her."

"Figures," Krissy scoffed. "Evil thinks that good is actually evil."

"I know," he said. "Lilith said they preach that evil is hidden in beauty, so everything beautiful is suspect."

"Bullshit."

"I know."

"So," Amy asked, "what is it you want us to do? You told us now for a reason."

"I want ... Lilith to be my wife."

The three crossed the field, now empty of tents, towards the tunnel of trees.

Alice held the two freshly killed rabbits, limp forms gripped by the scruff of their necks. Dealing with dead creatures had become, not easy, but just the way of the world. Death was life, life was death. The one needed the other. Zak walked beside her, the coal from the cabin hearth held with metal tongs, slingshot in his free hand. That they had come across these two long eared creatures, Zak's sling finding its mark with both, told Alice they were on the right track. A sacrifice was needed, and had been provided. That the remaining goats on the other side of the stream were safe, including the two new kids, was a relief. She wasn't sure, yet, that this strange girl would be an even trade.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Krissy asked. She walked on the other side of her brother, looking nervous. "I mean, we've never gone up there without Tom."

"It'll be OK," Alice said, hoping she sounded confident. "We don't know when he'll be back, and we have to know this. Why have a God, if not to ask guidance of?"

"She's given us so much already, though..."

"We're not asking for a favor."

"We're not?" Zak looked at Alice, surprised. She shook her head.

"No. We're asking her what we should do, to stay in her grace. If she says you're never to see this girl again ... that's what you do. Understand?"