He wanted nothing more than to go, to get to his workshop, and to do what little he could to prepare. As he made his way to the door, however, his aunt was caught up in a conversation with one of Mrs. May’s group. Oh, wasn’t the sermon so delightful? The word choice here, the passage, wasn’t it perfect? Rain was here, that was unusual, was Rain married off yet? No? What about Allie? Surely Allie had suitors.

Different preachers to appeal to different crowds, with diehard adherents attending every sermon. It didn’t matter that the ideas contradicted, that the sermon the nervous Reverend Patman gave to a small congregation of Mrs. Sims’s type was the polite kind of message that could be heard elsewhere, while the inappropriately dressed Mrs. May preached how wives had the duty of keeping their husbands’ balls drained, prostates massaged, and stomachs full.

The people who wanted to believe believed, and Mrs. Sims’s type stayed because… Rain wasn’t entirely sure. Because there was a safety in madness, maybe. Part of why he stayed, really. Or because leaving and trying to forge a life elsewhere was harder than staying and ignoring the ugliness and contradiction. Harder than lying to herself and thinking she could bring order to this chaos.

Rain walked through the door to the overcast outside. Allie joined him, her eyes widening slightly in the only communication she would give him that she didn’t agree with the sermon or the crowd.

“Hi Allie,” a guy said. He was about eighteen, his tousled blond hair was grown out, and he had a natural smile with a mouth that seemed too wide.

“Hi,” Allie said, shy. She looked down.

“Hi Rain. You look like you went to war and you fought your way through the entire enemy line.”

“Hi Lachlan. I think that might just be the politest way anyone could describe this,” Rain said.

Lachlan chuckled.

“You guys are just… hanging out here?”

“We’re waiting for a ride,” Allie said. “I think Rain would rather get a ride than walk, after fighting through that battlefield you described.”

“I can give you guys a ride,” Lachlan offered.

“No thank you,” Allie said. “You’re a dear, but I’ll just wait for my parents.”

Lachlan twisted his head around. “They’re caught in conversation with the Screeching Mimis.”

“Shh! Lachlan!” Allie shushed him. Some heads had turned.

Lachlan grinned. “I’m just saying, they’re going to be a while. Once those four get their hooks in, people can’t get away for half an hour or more, and with your parents not being regulars, there’s a lot to catch them up on.”

“Don’t underestimate my mom and dad,” Allie said. “We’re stern stock.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Lachlan said, smiling like he’d been let in on a secret. He looked at Rain. “You want a ride?”

Rain looked at Allie.