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Granny and the five other elders stared up at me over their coffee mugs. All of the elders were graying women with more wrinkles than I could count. They were the eldest in the community – women who had lived a lifetime in Hanna. There was Ruth, Trixie, Mable, Eileen, and Sarah. And of course, Granny, who led the elders and was the most outspoken of the six. Together, these women decided our laws and voted on whether a newcomer could stay and join our community. Rarely was a woman in need turned away.
From the awkward silence in the room, I got the sudden feeling I’d interrupted something important, so I grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and began to back my way out of the kitchen.
“I’m just heading to bed,” I said with a slight wave of my hand. “Nice to see you all.”
“Wait.” Granny’s commanding voice rang through the silent kitchen, bringing my escape to an automatic halt.
I leaned against the doorframe, waiting for her to continue. If I avoided her eyes, maybe I could hide this guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“Where have you been?”
“At Kate’s house,” I answered a little too quickly.
I heard Granny take a sip of her coffee and set the mug down.
“That’s funny. Kate was just here.”
My stomach dropped to the floor. Kate had told me she was heading home. I’d made her promise not to tell anyone about Gabe or what we’d done today. She wouldn’t betray me.
“Well, I was hiking and I swung by her place, but she wasn’t there. So I decided to come home,” I said, trying to back pedal my story.
“Sit down, Lizzy.”
Granny pulled out an empty chair from the kitchen table, the legs squeaking against the old wooden floor. I sat delicately on the edge of the chair, gluing my eyes to Granny’s green coffee mug on the table. This wasn’t good. Granny had never asked me to join any of the meetings with the elders. She knew something was up.
“Kate shared an interesting story with us.”
Granny picked up the mug and lifted it to her mouth, drawing my eyes to her face. Her lips were set in a hard line. A cold anger burned in her eyes, the kind I’d never seen before. I quickly averted my eyes.
Sarah shifted in her seat next to me. She cleared her throat and leaned toward me.
“Do you know what Kate told us?” she asked in her squeaky voice.
I shook my head. It was better to learn what they knew than to spill my guts.
“Kate told us that you’re keeping a pet in the woods,” Granny barked.
My stomach sunk even lower, if that was at all possible. Kate had broken her promise. She’d turned me in. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to forgive her.
“A dangerous pet,” Sarah added. She placed a hand on my back. “Come on, Lizzy. We need you to be honest.”
I sighed and shook my head. Even if they already knew, I couldn’t tell them about Gabe. It would be like I’d turned him in myself.
“So, it’s true?” Granny slammed her mug back to the table, a splash of coffee flying onto the kitchen table. “You’ve got a demon out there? How could you do this to your family?”
Tears began to spill from my eyes. I wasn’t sure if they were from frustration or fear, but I knew it was over. There was no way Granny would let me go in the fall. Thanks to Kate, I was finished.
“Please,” I said, looking up and searching each of their faces. “Please, I don’t know why I did it. Don’t take away my college slot. I’ll do anything. I’m so sorry.”
The elders exchanged glances while I mopped the tears from my face with one of the leftover thanksgiving napkins Granny had piled on the table. The rest of them didn’t seem as angry as Granny. Maybe I still had a chance.
“We’ve decided to give you a pardon,” Sarah squeaked.
The other elders nodded in unison.
I looked up at Granny. “Really?”
“If you do one thing,” she replied with a firm nod of her head.
