The End Has Come

Rumors had gotten out, Enid was sure, especially if Aren hadn’t been seen around town in some time. The anonymous tip about the pregnancy might have come from anywhere.

“Can you tell me the father’s name, so I can speak to him?”

“Don’t drag him into this; tell me you won’t drag him into this. It’s just me. Just take me away and be done with it.” Aren stopped, her eyes closed, her face pinched. “What are you going to do to me?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

She was done with crying. Her face was locked with anger, resignation. “You’ll take me to the center of town and rip the baby out, cut its throat, leave us both to bleed to death as a warning. That’s it, isn’t it? Just tell me that’s what you’re going to do and get it over with —”

Goodness, the stories people told. “No, we’re not going to do that. We don’t rip babies from mother’s wombs — not unless we need to save the mother’s life, or the baby’s. There’s surgery for that. Your baby will be born; you have my promise.”

Quiet tears slipped down the girl’s cheeks. Enid watched for a moment, this time not using the silence to pressure Aren but trying to decide what to say.

“You thought that was what would happen if you were caught, and you still cut out your implant to have a baby? You must have known you’d be caught.”

“I don’t remember anymore what I was thinking.”

“Let’s get you back to the kitchen for a drink of water, hmm?”

By the time they got back to the common room, Aren had stopped crying, and she even stood a little straighter. At least until Frain looked at her, then at Enid.

“What did you tell her? What did she say to you?”

“Felice, I think Aren needs a glass of water, or maybe some tea. Frain, will you come speak with me?”

The man stomped out of the room ahead of her.

“What happened?” Enid said simply.

“The implant. It must have failed.”

“Do you think she, or someone, might have cut it out? Did you ever notice her wearing a bandage on her arm?”

He did not seem at all surprised at this suggestion. “I never did. I never noticed.” He was going to plead ignorance. That was fine. “Does the local committee know you’re here?” he said, turning the questioning on her.

“Not yet,” she said lightly. “They will.”

“What are you going to do? What will happen to Aren?”

Putting the blame on Aren, because he knew the whole household was under investigation. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“I’m going to protest to the committee, about you questioning Aren alone. You shouldn’t have done that, it’s too hard on her —” He was furious that he didn’t know what Aren had said. That he couldn’t make their stories match up.

“Submit your protest,” Enid said. “That’s fine.”

* * *

She spoke to every one of them alone. Half of them said the exact same thing, in exactly the same way.

“The implant failed. It must have failed.”

“Aren’s got that boy of hers. He’s the father.”

“It was an accident.”

“An accident.” Felice breathed this line, her head bowed and hands clasped together.

So that was the story they’d agreed upon. The story Frain had told them to tell.

One of the young men — baffled, he didn’t seem to understand what was happening — was the one to slip. “She brought this down on us, why do the rest of us have to put up with the mess when it’s all her?”

Enid narrowed her gaze. “So you know she cut out her implant?”

He wouldn’t say another word after that. He bit his lips and puffed out his cheeks, but wouldn’t speak, as if someone held a knife to his throat and told him not to.

Enid wasn’t above pressing hard at the young one, Susan, until the girl snapped.

“Did you ever notice Aren with a bandage on her arm?”

Susan’s face turned red. “It’s not my fault, it’s not! It’s just that Frain said if we got a banner next season I could have it, not Aren, and she was jealous! That’s what it was; she did this to punish us!”

Banners were supposed to make things better. Give people something to work for, make them prove they could support a child, earn a child. It wasn’t supposed to be something to fight over, to cheat over.

But people did cheat.

“Susan — did you send the anonymous report about Aren?”

Susan’s eyes turned round and shocked. “No, of course not, I wouldn’t do such a thing! Tell Frain I’d never do such a thing!”

“Thank you, Susan, for your honesty,” Enid said, and Susan burst into tears.

What a stinking mess this was turning in to. To think, she could have retired after the murder investigation and avoided all this.

She needed to talk to more people.

By the time they returned to the common room, Felice had gotten tea out for everyone. She politely offered a cup to Enid, who accepted, much to everyone’s dismay. Enid stayed for a good twenty minutes, sipping, watching them watch her, making small talk.

“Thank you very much for all of your time and patience,” she said eventually. “I’ll be at the committee house in town if any of you would like to speak with me further. I’ll deliver my decision in a day or two, so I won’t keep you waiting. Your community thanks you.”

* * *