THE THREE LIVES OF CHRISTINA THE ASTONISHING (#38)

As Told by the Holy Woman in Her Own Words
A Hundred or So Years after the End of the World

“Are you planning to fly away?”
“Not right now.” I was too exhausted to think of escaping. I also thought I heard Giver whispering I should stay here in the Duke’s compound.
“Then let’s see to you.” The woman unlocked the shackles on my hands and feet. She helped me climb up the porch stairs into the old house. “We’ll sit you in the parlor,” she said, a word I had never heard before as she guided me into a front room decorated in an extravagant antique style. There were carved wooden chairs covered with soft fabric. Vases full of flowers sat on polished tables. Brown-toned portraits in wooden frames hung on walls covered with faded designs. All the furnishings were clean but shabby from age and long use. She sat me down on a threadbare padded sofa and came back in a few minutes carrying a tray with a pot of tea and two dainty painted cups. She poured a steaming cup and watched me drink it. When I finished, she asked, “Do you know where you are?”
“The castle of Sequoia?”
“The castle is the big building you passed. This is the Lady House. I am Belinda, the duke’s wife. You’ll be staying here under my supervision.” She smiled and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “I hope we can be friends.”
I stared at her and felt my heart open gratefully. How could such a terror have a wife like this?
“Do you think you will like living in this gingerbread fantasia?”
I nodded even though I had no idea why she called her house that.
“Good.” Belinda stood up. “You look as if you are feeling better. Now let’s find you something suitable to wear.”
I followed her gratefully down a narrow hall thinking: No one, even my mother, ever tended me this way.

(to be continued tomorrow)