Chapter 2
"Come along children, it's time for supper!" Cried out June Weymouth. Out in the fields that surrounded Our Mother of Hope Orphanage a dozen little heads popped out from the wild grasses. June smiled as each of the small children all aged four to nine years old came running in from the summertime heat. "Rinse your hands in the bucket, children. Thomas! Wash those hands right now."
A small boy with sandy blonde hair drug his feet over to the water filled bucket just inside the door washed the day's grime away under the watchful eye of June. He looked up at her with wide chestnut colored eyes and held up his hands, "All crwen, Sister." Thomas said with a wide gap toothed smile, he had just begun to lose his baby teeth and did not just have the new growth of adult teeth. With a smile June looked down at his hands, "Yes they are Thomas. Good job! Now run along and go take your seat." June's smile radiated as she watched her wards gather around the white washed table in the orphanage's kitchen.
Sister June Weymouth loved the orphanage and the children under her care. It had been this same building that took her in ten years prior. Standing in the back doorway now it felt like just yesterday she had walked in here for the first time.
June Weymouth had been running throughout the entire night, only taking small breaks when she felt like she could collapse but never for longer than five minutes. It could still be after her. She did not remember what it was just that there was something following her.
The longer she ran the more she began to forget why she was even running in the first place. Facts began to become hazy in her mind. Small fragments of memory began to fall away like chips of paint on an old house. By the time the moon went down over the horizon and first streaks of yellow sunlight darted across the sky all she knew was her name.
Just as the full burst of sunlight lit the world, June reached the top of a small rise. Her legs ached and she could feel blisters beginning to form on the soles of her feet, she realized for the first time that she was barefoot. There was also a gnawing in her stomach and a scratchiness at the back of her throat. She was hungry, thirsty, in pain, and lost.
Looking down from the rise she saw a building. It was the first building she had seen all night. She tried to gauge the distance and estimated it was maybe half a mile away but she had no real way to know. If she was lucky maybe they had some food or at the very least some water to spare for her.
She began to walk towards the building, it was not a half a mile away nor was it even a mile away. From the hill that June had looked down and seen it the building was four miles away. Under normal circumstances her young legs should have gotten her there in just over an hour, however with her ever growing exhaustion it took her over two hours to reach the fence that surrounded the building.
Standing just inside the fence was a Nun, she had been watching the small disheveled figure stumbling down the dusty road for some time. The figure was too small to be an outlaw the Sister assumed but even if it was an outlaw that would not stop the Sisterhood from offering some good Christian charity.
As the figure reached the fence it became clear that her assumption was correct and it was not an outlaw but a small girl. The Nun looked around for one of her sisters and found one of them going to the well located in the courtyard. "Sister Mildred! Go fetch the Mother Superior now!" The Nun bellowed across the sparsely grassed courtyard. Sister Mildred looked in her direction and could see the shape of the child approaching and immediately dropped her bucket and ran back into the building.
As June walked up to the fence she could see what looked like a Nun standing just on the other side. She tried to yell to get the Nuns attention but her throat and mouth was so dry no words were able to come out, just a harsh wheeze. June leaned against the fence, relieved to take some of the weight off of her damaged feet. The Nun rushed up to her, "Oh child."
June felt the Nun's arms wrap around her and her own legs gave out. If the Sister had not been there to catch her June would have fallen to the ground like a sack of grain being loaded into a wagon. The last thing she saw before exhaustion fully consumed her was the large group of Nuns making their way towards her.
"Sister?" June was pulled out of her memory by the touch of Sister Nineveh. "Let us feed the Lambs of the Lord, Sister." June told Nineveh, allowing the memory to slip back to just that.
All of the children were sitting patient as little cherubs, oh how she loved the children. She walked in the kitchen and came back in with a stock pot full of vegetable soup, all of which were grown right at the orphanage by the Nuns. A scoop of the hearty soup went into each of the children's bowls as Sister Nineveh followed behind and laid a slice of fresh baked bread on top of the soup. June could see the gleam in the children's eyes as they looked at the meal.
Once each bowl was filled and topped with its piece of bread, June stood at the head of the table and spoke, "Let us bow our heads." She watched as each of the small heads bowed in grace before continuing. "Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be down, On earth as it is in Heaven, Give us this day our daily bread and forgive our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, For thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, Forever and ever. Amen." A chorus of amen rang through the kitchen as each of the children made the Sign of the Cross on themselves. "Eat now children." With permission granted there was a great clatter of spoons and bowls as the children hungrily dug into their supper. It never ceased to amaze June just how much they could eat.
Just as she was pouring herself a cool drink of water from one of the pitchers on the table, in walked Mother Superior. The small chatter that had been happening at the table from the children abruptly came to an end, most of them were scared of the Mother Superior. To them she seemed just as powerful as God himself.
They rarely saw her for she was always busy and normally only made an appearance when one of their number needed to be punished. Her cheekbones were angled high on her face which made the sharpness of her nose even more apparent. June was just as shocked as the children to see Mother Superior in the kitchen, in all her years of living here she could not think of any other time she had been in the kitchen.
Mother Superior's voice was even toned as she spoke, "I apologize for interrupting your supper, Sister June could just come with me for a moment?" June nodded to Mother Superior, "Of course Mother. Nineveh, watch the children and make sure they clean up after they finish. Children say good night to Mother Superior." A smattering of little voices all called out, "Good Night Mother Superior."
"Good night Children, May the Lord guide and protect you as you sleep."
June and Mother superior walked out of the kitchen, when they reached the small entryway June spoke. "Is everything okay Mother?" She had been around Mother Superior for the past ten years and was able to tell when something was weighing on her.
"My office June, we can talk there."
Hurriedly they walked up the staircase to the second floor. At the top of the stairs there were two directions to go. If you turned right the hallway was filled with doors the whole length, each of them housing four Nuns each. If you turned left you would be met with only a single door that opened up to Mother Superior's apartment and office.
Her accommodation was sparse, she had little need for frivolity or luxury. She knew of others in position who had ornate offices, She did not believe that was necessary for the work they performed. They dressed their space with the newest gadgets and linens. In her opinion they did not do this for God but for themselves. It was selfish, used to show off the office, the power they had not and not His power. So for that reason her office had simple curtains, no rug, and the same simple wooden furniture as every other room in the convent. June had always admired Mother Superior.
As they walked into the office June was surprised to see a Priest sitting on one of the wooden chairs. It was an uncommon sight to see a Priest in the convent on any day but one of the holy feasts, and even on those occasions they tended not to linger let alone sit in Mother Superior's office. It was Mother Superior who spoke first, "Father D'Angelo, this is Sister June. She is the one we were discussing earlier." Discussing? Why would they be discussing her?
Thought June, let alone a Priest that she had no recollection of having met. She looked hard at his face trying to see if any feature stood out to her of a possible prior meeting. His skin was a deep olive brown, slightly lined with age so she placed him somewhere in his late thirties. His vestments were clean and pressed and the crucifix that hung around his neck was gold and studded with rubies. While she could not place him anywhere in her memories she could tell from first glance that he was clearly a Priest of great importance to the Church.
"Sister June, a pleasure to meet you. I am Father D'Angelo." He spoke in an accent that June had never heard before.
"Father D'Angelo, I am pleased to meet you as well." June said with courtesy even though she was still very confused. It was Mother Superior who spoke next as she made her way to her chair on the opposite side of the desk. "June, Father D'Angelo has come from the Diocese of Chicago." June was taken even further aback, she had never met this Priest nor had she ever been further than Kansas City. June had a million thoughts going through her mind, why would a Priest from a different state come looking for her. She was no one, just a Sister who helped run a small orphanage at a small convent in a small town in Kansas.
A silence fell over the barren office and there were several pregnant moments before anyone spoke. It was June. "Why have you traveled so far for me, Father? I have never done any business in Chicago nor know of anyone from there."
It was Mother Superior who answered, much to June's surprise. "He has come for you Sister. You will be leaving with the Father in the morning to go to Chicago."
A dozen different words began to spur from her mouth all at once. "But! How! Why! Have I done something wrong, Mother Superior? What about the children?!"
"Sister June, this is out of my hands. This was a decision made at a much higher authority than myself. There is no way around this as much as I wish there was. You will leave at first light tomorrow and go with Father D'Angelo, it is the will of God."
June stood there staring at the two higher members of the clergy, her eyes bouncing back and forth between them. Mother Superior with her high cheekbones and familiar face, the woman who took in a small girl when she had no one else in the world and Father D'Angelo, a stranger from a place that felt as far away as the moon.
Her knees felt weak and a pit was forming in her stomach. In the ten years that June had lived at the convent very little changed, some of her Sisters would come and go as the will of God ebbed and flowed but for the most part life was the same as it had always been.
A look of sympathy danced across Father D'Angelo's face as he spoke for the first time in a while. "Sister June, I apologise for all of this happening so suddenly. I can understand how this must not be easy."
Anger swelled up inside of June, she had never been an angry person, she could not even remember the last time that she had an outburst of any kind. The anger she felt inside suddenly boiled to the top and spilled out of her. "Not easy? Not EASY?! I am suddenly being torn away from the life that I have grown here with my Sisters and the children under my care and you say it's not easy? You come in here, a stranger, and suddenly I am to be whisked away because you say so?! Who are you to decide? What authority do you have to come from states away and decide when and where I go? Mother Superior, how do we even know that this man is a Priest and not some puppet of the Devil?" With that last sentence she pointed an accusatory finger at Father D'Angelo.
"SISTER JUNE! You will stop this foolishness at once! Have you lost your senses child!? Do you not believe that I would only allow this to happen with cause, as if I would just allow you to be taken away from this holy Convent by some stranger to the Church?" Mother Superior's tone was one mixed with sadness and hostility. June was taken aback, it had been years since she had felt scolded by the Mother Superior. She continued on staring directly at June, "Father D'Angelo was sent here for You, that is a fact. Father D'Angelo was given his instructions as I was given my instructions from Father D'Angelo. I do not have to agree with them or understand their purpose but I will obey. So you will obey and you will be leaving with the Father in the morning. It is not a matter that is up for discussion or interpretation. Have I made myself clear, Sister June?"
"Yes, Mother Superior." June looked down at the wooden planked floor, abashed by her behavior and the scolding she had just taken.
"Very well, Child. Go now and pack. The Father and I have other matters to discuss."
June knew that this was Mother Superior's way of letting her know this conversation was over and for her to leave the room, however part of her still wanted to fight this matter. She knew it was not always the place of humanity to know why but she still wanted the answer. At the same time however she had taken vows of obedience, With a slight bow of the head she said, "Father. Mother Superior. May God bless you." She turned and walked out of the room and down the hallway to the room she shared with her Sister. Luckily for her the room was empty. She went and sat on the side of her bed and reached in her pocket and pulled out her rosary, clutching it tightly between her fingers and bowed her head. She wanted to pray for guidance, for some form of understanding but all she could do was cry. The tears dripped from her eyes down onto the crucifix.