“Don’t you ever touch me again,” Sister Dora challenges her. “You don’t even belong here, Adelina. And neither does that juvenile demon you brought with you.”

Adelina smiles calmly. “You’re right, Sister Dora. Perhaps Marina and I don’t belong here, and perhaps we will leave this very morning. But would you please be so kind as to let go of Ella first?” Her voice, while cordial and patient, contains a hint of venom.

“How dare you!” Sister Dora scoffs. “Why, you’re no more than an orphan yourself. We took you in when no one else wanted you!”

“We’re all the same in the Lord’s eyes. Surely you acknowledge as much?”

Sister Dora moves to take another step, but Adelina again grabs her arm. The two women stare into each other’s eyes.

“I will be talking about this with Sister Lucia. You will be thrown out of here so fast you won’t have a chance to pray for forgiveness.”

“I already said I’d be leaving this morning. And I will always have the chance to pray for forgiveness.” Adelina reaches her hand out to Ella, and she takes it. Sister Dora hesitates before reluctantly letting go of Ella’s arm. “I’ll not only pray that Marina forgives me for being such a terrible guardian, but I’ll also pray that God forgives you for forgetting your purpose here.”

They continue to stare into each other’s eyes for a few more seconds before Sister Dora pivots and huffs out of the nave. Once she’s out of sight and Ella has her back to me, I float to the ground.

“Hi, Ella,” I say.

“Marina!” She lets go of Adelina’s hand, runs and hugs me. “Where were you?”

“Adelina and I had to talk alone,” I say, pulling away from her. I look up at Adelina. “We had to talk about our future.”

Adelina squints, then looks down at her dirty nightgown and becomes embarrassed. “Marina, go pack your things and put that Chest somewhere safe. We’re leaving very soon.”

When Adelina walks away, Ella grabs my hand and squeezes it. “The bad men were here last night, Marina.”

“I know, I saw him. That’s why we’re leaving.” As soon as I say it I know I will ask Adelina if we can take Ella with us.

“I saw all three of them,” Ella whispers.

I gasp. “There’s three of them?”

“They were at the window last night, looking at your bed.”

A shiver runs up my spine. I float the Chest back up into the nook and run to the sleeping quarters, dodging huddles of girls in the hallway whispering to each other about something that happened in the village.

“They were right there,” she says, pointing at the window.

“Three of them, you’re sure?”

She nods her head. “Yes, and they saw me at the window watching them. Then they ran away.”