* * *
Rowan was tired but also too excited to sleep at the moment. She looked around the hut, at the sparse furnishings, at the elaborate bed. She went to it and touched the soft quilt that covered it, looking at each of the squares sewn together with various colors of thick thread, words, messages of love really, written throughout. She’d never seen anything like it at the colony and certainly hadn’t expected to find something like this among the people from outside of the colony.
She pulled the quilt aside and sat down on the bed. It was softer than the one she slept on but when she picked up a pillow and smelled Silas’ scent on it, she quickly put it back and stood, thinking of what would happen in that bed in the coming days, weeks, months. She was here for a purpose, for a single purpose: to be bred. Once she had done her duty, she would be separated from her children and eventually returned to the colony to be bred again. And again. Her future was grim but there was one thing that gave her hope. She wouldn’t know until she had a look around though if her plan would work.
The room was cold and she shivered. She looked around to find the fireplace stacked with wood alongside it. On the hearth stood matches and she began to stack the wood to make a fire. It only took her a few minutes before the blaze lit up the room, warming her, and she stood back to have a better look around. In the sitting room were an old and mismatched sofa and chair and a small dining table with two chairs stood along the far wall. A door led to another room, which she opened and looked into, but in the dark, all she could make out was that it was used as a storage space. A messy one at that. She had just switched on the single dim light bulb to have a look inside it when the door opened and Charlie stepped inside.
“Rowan, your dinner is here,” he said, then turned to the girl that walked in behind him. “Don’t be afraid of her. She won’t hurt you, Kara.”
The girl’s eyebrows went up and she shook her head at Charlie. “I’m not afraid of her, Charlie. Does mom know you’re here?”
Charlie cleared his throat and averted his gaze. For such a young boy, he had quite some character.
Kara shook her head and turned to Rowan, who realized she couldn’t be more than eighteen or so, younger than herself by a few years. “I’m called Kara,” she said to Rowan. “That one’s my kid brother.” Although she said it with a disapproving look in Charlie’s direction, Rowan could see the love between the two.
“I’m called Rowan,” Rowan said.
“Nice to meet you,” Kara said. “Silas really should do something with this place,” she continued, looking around as she set the tray of food down on the table. “But you know men.”
Rowan stared at the girl, not expecting someone so casual, so friendly.
“Well, enjoy your food. Send the little guy if you need anything else,” Kara said.
“Thank you.”
Once she was gone, Rowan looked at the plate of food, which contained flat bread rolled up with some sort of spread and vegetables inside. It smelled good and she picked it up, taking a bite. Then another. It was probably one of the most delicious things she had ever eaten and it was gone within moments. She drank down the glass of water and picked up the single pepper that had fallen out of the wrap and stuck it into her mouth before returning to the storage area.
Inside was larger than she had at first thought. She set the lamp down and lifted off the blanket that covered what appeared to be furniture, sneezing at the dust she disturbed. She picked up the first chair and set it aside. Flowery fabric covered the seat and the back, and the frame itself had at some point been painted white. She sat down on it to try it out. It was comfortable and pretty—not like the drab, worn furniture he had in the living room.
She continued, finding another chair and a dresser painted in a worn baby blue. Just beyond that stood two rails that, if she didn’t know any better, would say were the sides of a baby’s crib.
“What are you doing?”
Rowan jumped, clutching her heart when she found Silas standing in the narrow doorway to the room.
“I was… I… you scared me.”
She saw him scan the things she had moved, his eyes coming to rest on that crib for a moment before returning to her.
“I was just looking around,” she offered.
“This room is off limits,” he said, stepping into the small space and throwing the large blanket back over top of the furnishings. “Come inside.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Rowan defended when he wouldn’t quite meet her gaze.
“Did you eat?” he asked.
“Yes, Kara brought some food. Thank you.”