She bolted upright and sputtered to regain her breath. As she drew in long, ragged mouthfuls of air, the situation became clear. The attack had been only a dream. She sat in the dark and calmed herself. She knew of no reason that she should feel agitated. The last three years had been peaceful and productive. Sister Joan had traveled to several villages and had found no news of Sister Naomi. That was taken as a good sign since word of capture or murder, they knew, traveled quickly.

But as the hour of Shereen’s departure drew near, something made Mother Susana anxious.

Recently, while taking her morning walks, she had felt her mother’s presence close. Then Zahra’s. As if they had something they needed to communicate. As if they had a warning.

Mother Susana breathed deeply and settled into the darkness. She held Communion with the air around her and its soundlessness. Her body dissolved and she drifted into the future like a boat slipped from its moorings. She watched the time unfold and people play their parts. She saw Shereen going forward into the world, as intended. Then the time beyond that began to blur. And she could not decipher beyond that part of her vision. Something within it remained ambiguous and confusing. Something about the future of The Way. And the path yet to come.

Why could she not see it more clearly?

“Mother?” someone spoke in the dark. It was Sister Joan. She had risen when she heard Susana’s quickened breath. The two women sat and joined their intuitions. Their minds raced forward, propelled by their connection. But, hours later, after traveling forward and back, neither knew how to interpret the strange wonders they had seen.

Dressed in their finest robes, the Sisters gathered in the garden. The time had come for Shereen’s last supper.

The women sat down to form a plum-colored circle around the trunk of the great sycamore. Anna and Tabitha entered the chamber carrying a warm loaf of bread, a plate of wheat grains, and a jug of wine. They laid these offerings before Mother Susana and placed small cups in front of the others.

Following a long period of silent reflection, Mother Susana took the bread and lifted it above her head. “Let us give thanks to the earth and to the Mother of All for her generosity and sacrifice.”

The Sisters in the circle nodded and whispered, “We give thanks.”

“Let us also give thanks to those whose hands tilled the soil, planted the seeds, tended the plants, harvested and ground the grain, stoked the fire, kneaded the dough, and baked the loaf.”

The women whispered, “Yes, yes, we give our thanks.”