Page 40 of Anathema

“He’s evil, I’m telling you,” she whispered. “Life isn’t going to be grand, if you marry him.”

I didn’t want to imagine life with him. “They beat her to death. What could she have possibly done wrong to deserve that?”

“She lacked a cock. That’s enough for them. But, regardless, this isn’t your fault. Clearly, the man had ill intentions for the girl.”

I knew that, but still, the guilt persisted.

“Lolla!” Agatha called from the other room, and the older woman dusted her hand across her apron and exited through the swinging door.

The moment she was gone, Aleysia gave a sly glance over her shoulder and stepped closer.

“I have to tell you something,” she spoke even lower than before.

“What is it?”

Curling her lip between her teeth, she nibbled as she always did when she was nervous about something. “Promise you won’t tell.”

“I promise.”

“I’ve not had menses in two months.”

Frowning, I stared back at her. “Two months?”

She gave a solemn nod, chopping away at my share of the potatoes. “When it didn’t come last month, I had to cut my finger and bleed into the menstrual cloth, just so Agatha wouldn’t get suspicious. It still hasn’t come.”

“Is it …” I didn’t want to say what I already suspected, and thankfully, she didn’t bother to play ignorant that time.

She nodded, and tears formed in her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Have you told him?”

“Yes.”

I inwardly groaned. “Why would you do that?”

“Because it’s his baby, and I don’t want to be tasked to figure this out alone.”

“If they find out, Aleysia …”

“I know. It’s a sin.”

Worse than murder in the eyes of some.

“What are you thinking?”

She didn’t answer, instead wiping tears from her eyes.

“You can’t have this child here. Even if they don’t send you to the woods, it will be shunned. Rejected. Agatha certainly won’t care for it.”

“She won’t. But you would, wouldn’t you, Maeve?”

I considered her question for a moment–caring for a child that the whole parish despised as much as they did me. “Of course I would. But a baby would fare better with its mother.”

“It would. But I have no intentions of having this baby. The Crone Witch has been said to terminate unwanted pregnancy. She has herbs. Potent herbs.” Had it only been a few days ago that she’d chided me for talking to the woman?

“And you intend to go to her?”

“Yes. I think so. I think it’s for the best.”

---