Page 67 of The Sin

“Don’t look so horrified,” Mom said with another chuckle. “I’ll have your father deliver the gown to Parklands on Friday morning. If you don’t like it, you still have your own graduation gown. This is just another option.”

“Then all the work you’ve done is for nothing.”

“Darling, you know how much I love doing this,” she said, smiling at me. “It’s no work, I assure you.”

She pulled out her sketchbook, and I took that as my cue to leave. It was still early afternoon, so I cycled along the lake path. I wasn’t wearing a coat, but the bitterly cold spell had passed. If we were lucky, we’d get a few more weeks of this mild weather before winter truly dug in its claws. The sky was a glorious dusty blue and the breeze coming off the water carried only the slightest chill.

As I gazed over the lake, my lungs filled with fresh air, I couldn’t help comparing all this natural beauty to the grime and gritty cement jungle that was The Smoke.

I had always felt incredibly fortunate to be born in Capra—to be born at all, in a world after the fertility plague. Turns out, the being born part wasn’t nearly as special as I’d once believed. But growing up here in this beautiful space…the privilege wasn’t lost on me. Not at all.

But the women of Capra paid a steep price for that privilege. We’d paid with lies and suffocation, and daughters that would never truly be ours—and I wasn’t even talking about genetics.

Jenna had been right. Daughters of Capra belonged to Capra. At best, we were loaned out to our families for the first eighteen years, then we were returned to the town, to graduate, to marry, to birth the next generation of daughters and then it started all over again.

That end was in sight.

This is it, Rose had said.I can feel it.

As corny as it sounded, the truth would set us free.

It had to.

The Puritans could have their vengeful God and the Evolutionists could have their scientific theories.

This was my new belief.

The truth would set us free.

When I eventually cycled up the road to Parklands, the guard raised the barrier at my approach, but he also flagged me down.

What now?The only guard I’d had any form of pleasant engagement with was Gavin, and this young man with severely trimmed brown hair and earnest brown eyes was definitely not Gavin.

I clutched the brakes and put a foot down to steady me, and gave him an expectant look.

“Mrs. West,” he greeted formally, stepping closer to hand me a plain, white envelope. “This came for you.”

“Oh, thanks.”

I considered waiting until I was at the cabin to open it, but the only person I could think of who’d be leaving me messages at the barrier was Jessie. I’d dropped some major bombshells on her a few days ago. Now that she’d had time to process, she probably had a slew of questions. I couldn’t keep her hanging.

I tore the envelope open and extracted the folded note inside.

My dearest Georga

Okay, not Jessie then.

My gaze skimmed over the neat, handwritten words.

We are delighted at your offer to volunteer for the tea service rotation at St. Michaels. Please feel free to stop by at your earliest convenience so we can arrange a suitable calendar slot.

Sincerely yours,

Divinia.

My brow puzzled. I hadn’t volunteered for anything, obviously. Of course, my mother might have offered on my behalf, but I’d just come from her. She would have said something, surely.

The only other explanation got my heart racing. Here I was, casually reading a cryptic message from the Sisterhood—under the watchful eyes of a guard! Seriously? I sucked in a slow, calming breath as I folded the note and tucked it back inside its envelope.

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