"Mine... I don't remember them being bad. 'Cept they were gonna marry me off as a third or fourth wife to that nasty church elder." She shuddered a little just thinking about it. "He asked for me and I told him no straight up there in church in front of God and everybody and marched out. "
That part still made her proud and she couldn't help a tiny smile at the shock on his face that some uppity woman would dare turn him down publicly.
"Leah and John found me outside and offered for me, said they'd marry me and I wouldn't have to do my wifely duties till I was fifteen, and they'd keep me safe, even though my parents wanted to give me in marriage to the Elder." She was quiet for a moment. "We left right away to John's house and I haven't seen my mother or father since. Sometimes I see my sisters at the farmer's market, but they can't really speak to me. S'been eleven years..."
She sighed, then let it slide off her again. "But I've had a good life. Can't say as I didn't. And thank you kindly for your words. I do hope I've grown up to be a good person - though I still do tend to speak my mind more than most might consider appropriate for a church woman."
He might not look like any person she'd seen before, but he was kind and that's what mattered. "I like those ideas," she said. "I have to find me some quiet places to be or people I can be quiet around. Seems like a fine gift to find someone like that."
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That part still made her proud and she couldn't help a tiny smile at the shock on his face that some uppity woman would dare turn him down publicly.
"Leah and John found me outside and offered for me, said they'd marry me and I wouldn't have to do my wifely duties till I was fifteen, and they'd keep me safe, even though my parents wanted to give me in marriage to the Elder." She was quiet for a moment. "We left right away to John's house and I haven't seen my mother or father since. Sometimes I see my sisters at the farmer's market, but they can't really speak to me. S'been eleven years..."
She sighed, then let it slide off her again. "But I've had a good life. Can't say as I didn't. And thank you kindly for your words. I do hope I've grown up to be a good person - though I still do tend to speak my mind more than most might consider appropriate for a church woman."
He might not look like any person she'd seen before, but he was kind and that's what mattered. "I like those ideas," she said. "I have to find me some quiet places to be or people I can be quiet around. Seems like a fine gift to find someone like that."