Hanna Who Fell from the Sky

by Christopher Meades

  Emily touched Hanna’s arm. The girl was fully awake now, confused but curious, completely unaware of what Hanna had planned. “What’s happening?” she asked.

  The key was still in the ignition. All Hanna had to do was turn it.

  “We’re leaving Clearhaven. We’re going to the big city.”

  “For how long?”

  “Forever.”

  “Why?”

  Hanna ran her hand through her sister’s hair. “We’re going to start a new life, away from all this.”

  Tears formed in Emily’s eyes, magnifying them, intensifying her confusion, Emily’s bewilderment. “But I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to go away.”

  “We talked about this,” Hanna said.

  “No, you talked about this. I never said I’d go with you.”

  “You have to trust me. This is for the best.”

  “No,” Emily said, more defiantly now. Perhaps more defiantly than she’d ever been with Hanna before.

  “Yes.” Hanna reached for the ignition just as Emily grasped for the car door. Hanna had to lean over and hold it shut so her sister couldn’t get out. “Emily, please.”

  “But I can’t leave my mother. I can’t leave Ahmre and Zagg and Minnet. You told me I’m the big sister, that it’s my job to look after them. Who will take care of them if I leave?”

  “Emily, please stop struggling and listen to me for a moment.”

  The girl let go of the door and looked into Hanna’s eyes.

  “I cannot marry Edwin!” Hanna said. The words burst out of her, louder and with more emotion than she’d intended. She expected Emily to soften, perhaps utter some sympathetic words. Instead, Emily shook her head forcefully.

  “You’re ungrateful. Father said so. You don’t understand. You don’t understand love and you don’t understand the Creator. You’re lucky to have a husband. No man will ever want to marry me.”

  “That’s not true. Besides, you don’t want a husband. Not like this.”

  “It is true. And you don’t know what I want,” Emily said.

  Hanna touched Emily’s shoulder. “Just think of what Father did to your back. Do you want that to happen again?”

  Emily clenched her teeth. “Father loves me. It’s your fault he hurt me. You ran off with that boy. He had to do it.”

  “That’s just not true.”

  “It is.”

  Hanna glanced up at the house again. It was only a matter of time before someone heard them. “Never mind what Father said. Listen to what I’m saying now. I’m going to tell you a story. It’s going to be really difficult to believe. I had trouble believing it at first too. But please—you have to try, okay?”

  Emily gave a faint, skeptical nod of her head.

  “I wasn’t born from my mother the way most girls are born,” Hanna said. “I fell from the sky, from some place above us. I fell from Heaven and Jotham and Kara found me in the ground and they took me home. They aren’t my real parents.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I swear to you, I’m not.”

  “Well, if you’re telling the truth, then you’re saying I’m not your real sister.”

  Hanna’s words hung empty in her mouth. She clearly hadn’t thought this through. “Not by blood. But we are sisters.”

  “No, we’re not,” Emily said. “Brother Paul says that brothers and sisters have to come from the same father.”

  “You can’t believe everything Brother Paul tells you.”

  “Yes, you can. He’s the one who speaks to the Creator. He speaks to him every day.”

  Hanna ran her fingernails through her hair. She wanted to scream. “Don’t you understand? I cannot grow old here. I cannot live in Edwin’s house with those horrible women. I’m trying to tell you that I was meant for something more than this,” Hanna said. “We have to get away from this place.”

  A light flashed inside the kitchen. Then a second one ignited in the foyer. Hanna leaned past Emily and locked her door. She turned the key and the truck roared to life. Hanna grabbed Emily’s arm, but she squirmed free and threw open the passenger’s side door before Hanna could put the vehicle in Drive. She pushed Hanna away and fell awkwardly onto the driveway. Hanna gasped. She jumped out and ran around to the side of the truck, where Emily was picking herself up from the mud. Hanna tried to help, but Emily swatted her away.

  “Father!” Emily cried. “Father! I don’t want to leave!”

  The porch lit up and Jotham rushed out the door in his nightshirt with Belinda at his side. His face was red, his breathing short and Hanna feared he would lose control, that her father would finally strike Hanna for this—the betrayal of all betrayals.

  Belinda grabbed his arm before he could do anything. She whispered in Jotham’s ear. Belinda pointed to Emily, still reaching toward him, and Jotham’s gaze shifted from Emily to Hanna. He caught his breath and steadied himself, the redness slowly fading from his cheeks. Hanna had expected him to shake with rage, to be overcome and infuriated. Instead, he stood as tall as his back brace would allow. His voice was surprisingly restrained and self-assured.

  “Emily,” he said, “if you don’t want to leave, then no one will force you to go.”

  Hanna stepped back and Emily lurched up the front steps, past Jotham and into the house, crying hysterically the whole way. Above, faces hovered in the window again. Tears welled behind Hanna’s eyes and this time, instead of holding them in, she let them flow. Hanna fell to her knees. The hard gravel cracked her bruised knees.

  Jotham whispered in Belinda’s ear and she went back inside. Once more, it was just the two of them.

  “She’ll never leave,” Jotham said. “Your sisters won’t leave. Your mother won’t leave.”

  Hanna wiped away her tears. “That’s because you won’t let them.”

  “No. It’s because I protect them. It’s because I’m their one safeguard against the rest of the world and, as much of a monster as you might think I am, I am the father. I am their father. And I am the only father you will ever know.”

  Jotham crossed his arms and lifted his proud chin, the conceit coating him like a glaze. There was nothing Hanna could say to contradict him, nothing Jotham would listen to, no words he was willing to hear. She would have better luck reasoning with a yellow-eyed wolf than this hulking beast of a man.

  From inside, Emily’s cries rang out in the night. She was still sobbing, wailing unintelligible words. Jotham looked back. Of all things, a smile parted his lips. He rubbed his arms. “It’s a chilly night,” he said. “Make sure you cover up. The journey to the city is a long one. You wouldn’t want to catch a cold.”

  Jotham shut the door behind him, leaving Hanna alone on her knees, the truck rumbling behind her. She put her face in her hands. Hanna thought of Daniel and how he’d left without her. She still couldn’t believe she’d never gotten to say goodbye, that she would never see his face again, that he didn’t care enough to see hers. Deep inside, though she didn’t want to admit it, Hanna was furious at Daniel for leaving. But she was doubly angry at herself; angry for believing she’d found someone decent and genuine in a world filled with deceit; angry for trusting her emotions to a boy she’d just met, for opening up her heart to be hurt.

  She pictured herself arriving in the city all alone and not knowing where to go or whom to talk to. Where would she live? How would she survive all alone? What if life in the city was just like Clearhaven, an identical play with different actors performing the parts? Hanna envisioned Emily wearing the white wedding gown in her place, Paedyn and Fiona carrying her sister’s crippled body into that small room in the back of Edwin’s house, Edwin’s wanton eyes wide and willing, and Emily too confused, her brain too awash with Brother Paul’s falsehoods to know to fight back.

  Hanna climbed to her feet
. She brushed herself off and walked around to the front of the truck. As she sat down in the driver’s seat, she looked off into the woodlands. The night was still, the wolves satiated. Tears still streamed down her face. Her blood pulsed in her wrists. She felt a sharp ache in her knees where she’d just scraped them. At that very moment in the city, thousands of yellow lights peppered the lake’s soft waves. Young people swayed, spellbound by the melodies of a woman standing onstage, singing of redemption as though this was her last night on Earth. Somewhere lovers embraced. Tender, devoted fathers tucked their daughters into bed. Somewhere, Daniel was starting a new life. Without her.

  Hanna closed her eyes. She steadied her resolve. Then she wrapped her fingers around the keys and turned the engine off.

  30

  The walls were white. The desk was too. Even Brother Paul’s chair was made of white leather. Each time he shifted to the side, the chair groaned and creaked, as though it was bearing his weight for the first time. Behind him the afternoon sun was blazing through the wide bay window, yesterday’s rain clouds having abandoned the sky, the sunlight reflecting off the pomade lines in Brother Paul’s hair with a silvery glow. Brother Paul pushed a pair of reading glasses along the bridge of his nose. He leaned forward, an earnest look in his eyes.

  Hanna had been here just over a week ago for an awkward and particularly in-depth discussion on her impending wifely duties. That was supposed to be their only one-on-one conversation. What Hanna was doing in Brother Paul’s office today, she didn’t know. All she knew was that Brother Paul’s eyes were burrowing into her, waiting for Hanna to talk.

  Hanna fidgeted in her seat. “Why am I here?”

  “Well, for spiritual guidance, of course.” Brother Paul clasped his hands in a steeple. In this light, he looked very much like Paul the Second, only grayer, the circles under his eyes wider, more adept at concealing his emotions. “I understand you’re having doubts about your upcoming union,” he said.

  “I never said that.”

  “Regardless, it’s clear. The decisions you’ve made this past week aren’t those of a young woman at peace with the Creator’s plan. Just days before your wedding, you were found traveling to the city with the Rossiter boy. You do not strike me as...” He paused, searching for the right words. “Particularly grateful. It’s a good match, you and Edwin. He’s a good man, a kind man, a leader in our community. I know firsthand how happy his home is. You will be happy there.” Brother Paul leaned back and his chair gasped for air. “You don’t look convinced.”

  “It’s not that I’m ungrateful.”

  “Then what is it? It must be something.”

  Hanna ran her hands along her arms, unsure whether she should speak her mind. “My mother told me you lived somewhere else before you came to Clearhaven.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “And you were called here by the Creator.”

  Brother Paul nodded. “That is also correct.”

  “What if I’m just like you? What if I belong somewhere else, some place other than Clearhaven? What if I’m being called away?”

  “Has the Creator spoken to you? Did he call on you to leave?”

  Hanna hesitated. Her eyes shifted upward.

  “In times like these, we must put our faith in the one who made us,” he said. “You must trust that the Creator’s spoken to your father. You must believe in his plan.”

  Hanna glanced at the telephone on the white desk. She kept hoping for someone to knock at the door or the telephone to ring, only no interruption was coming. No savior was coming to intervene. Brother Paul stood up from his leather throne. He walked around the desk and sat down beside Hanna, dwarfing the second guest chair. He lifted one lanky leg on top of the other and put his hand on his ankle for support. Brother Paul was wearing black trousers and a white shirt with a small blue insignia on the breast pocket. Away from the window’s silky glow, he looked nothing like the otherworldly figure who stood before the congregation in church.

  “No one ever leaves,” he said.

  Hanna sat up in her seat. “I’m sorry?”

  “The boys leave. At least, we choose which boys leave. The girls stay. That’s the way it is and the way it’s always going to be. Your father won’t allow you to leave. I won’t allow you.”

  “I’m not leaving. I promised Jotham that I would marry Edwin.”

  Brother Paul’s earnest expression vanished. His steely gaze locked Hanna in place. “Whatever promises you made your father, I want you to understand something. And it’s best you listen to me because I’m only going to say it today and then never again. No. One. Leaves. Ask Jessamina if you don’t believe me.”

  “Did Jessamina try to leave?”

  Brother Paul shook his head. “She’s smarter than that.”

  “Was it her mother, then?”

  Brother Paul’s gaze drifted along the wall, away from Hanna. Very slowly, he dragged a single finger across his throat.

  “You’re trying to frighten me,” Hanna said.

  “You should be afraid,” Brother Paul said. “Have you wondered why I haven’t mentioned Daniel by name today? Did it occur to you why he wasn’t beaten within an inch of his life? Why he wasn’t locked away for the damage he inflicted on your family’s honor the other night? It’s because he’s Francis’s son and that’s the only reason why. I can only thank the Creator that Francis has agreed to keep the news of your misadventures from Edwin.” Brother Paul looked her in the eye. “I’ve known you since your father could hold you in a single hand, young lady. I know you better than you know yourself.”

  Brother Paul leaned in so closely Hanna could see the pores in his skin. His breath enveloped her. Chills rippled down her spine.

  Brother Paul’s eyes sharpened.

  “No one ever leaves.”

  31

  On the day of her wedding, Hanna awoke with Ahmre in her arms. Emily had refused to stay in the children’s bedroom, sleeping instead with her mother, Katherine, down the hall. Despite Hanna’s best efforts, Emily still hadn’t spoken to her.

  Hanna was waiting in line outside the upstairs bathroom when Jessamina walked past her with baby Sayler in one arm and a clean diaper in the other. Hanna grabbed her elbow. “I need to talk to you.”

  Jessamina wrenched her elbow away, startled. “We have nothing to talk about.”

  “I have money. I can give it to you,” Hanna whispered.

  Jessamina looked over her shoulder. Her eyes drew close. “How much money?”

  * * *

  Jessamina sat down on her bed, her baby in the bassinet, twenty of Hanna’s dollar bills clasped tightly in her hand. “What?” she asked.

  “No,” Hanna said. “That’s not part of the deal. You have to be nice to me. Or at least pretend to be nice to me.”

  Jessamina softened her expression. “What?”

  “I spoke to Brother Paul yesterday,” Hanna said.

  “Did he tell you all about your wedding night duties? Because, believe me, he can describe the tubes inside your body all he wants, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t help when you’re on your back.”

  “No. I mean, yes, he told me about that last week. This time he mentioned something about your mother.”

  Jessamina sat up straight. “You can have your money back,” she said flatly.

  “I don’t want the money. It’s yours. You can keep it.”

  Jessamina crossed her legs. She rubbed her hands together. “I don’t want to talk about my mother.”

  “Please,” Hanna said. As the word left her mouth, she couldn’t believe her tone. She was almost begging, and begging Jessamina, the one person least likely to be moved by such a performance.

  In the corner, baby Sayler kicked his chubby legs. He giggled and spit up a bit and Jessam
ina reached over to wipe his mouth. “You don’t want to know,” she said.

  “I do,” Hanna said and sat on the opposite side of the bed. “After today, you’ll never have to speak to me again.”

  “It’s not that,” Jessamina said.

  “Then what is it?”

  “They killed her.”

  Hanna’s breath stuck in her throat. “I’m sorry?”

  “You heard me. They killed her.”

  “But I thought she got sick from bacteria in the well water.”

  Jessamina shook her head slowly. Her baby started to fuss and she sang a quiet, wordless tune in his ear until he stopped.

  “It wasn’t a stroke and there was no contaminated well water,” she said. “I mean, there was. The Sopertons’ daughter died after drinking it. So did that boy from school. But my mother never drank from the well. Here’s what happened, and I swear—if you tell another living soul, it will be the end of you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. Of course.”

  Jessamina’s features softened further and suddenly she looked so young, not a mother’s age like Belinda or Katherine or Kara but a girl much like Hanna, just a few years removed from childhood.

  “My mother’s name was Maran. You might have known her from church. She was beautiful and smart and she was the only person in my whole house who was ever kind to me. One of my sister-mothers slapped me across the face on a daily basis. My brothers were equally cruel. The oldest, Derius, forced me to sleep next to him. When night came, he made me do things no young girl should ever do. It would have been a complete house of horrors if not for my mother. When she found out what Derius was doing, she never let me out of her sight. She held me at night and she sang to me and she cared for me.

  “About a year and a half ago, my mother met a man at the marketplace. I only know this secondhand, so I don’t know his name or which family he came from. But my sisters told me my mother fell in love with this man who wasn’t her husband. My father discovered their affair and he beat my mother senseless. He blackened her eyes and broke her nose and then locked her in the cowshed for three full days. When I tried to sneak her water, he beat me too.