Being Magdalene by Fleur Beale Page B

businesses efficiently among worldly people.’ He paused, letting the people absorb the impact of his words. Some of the men sitting in front of us glanced at one another.
    Abraham was sitting forward, one clenched fist on the back of the seat in front of him. He looked as if he was waiting for something.
    He was right. There was more to come. Elder Stephen stared out at us with his sorrowful eyes. ‘My people, the Lord has spoken to me. It is His will that any man may undertake an appropriate course of study if its sole purpose is to enhance his business.’
    Abraham still didn’t relax. What was he waiting for? Why wasn’t he jumping out of his seat with excitement?
    ‘My people, your Elders are very mindful that with our bountiful families there is need for us to take advantage of specific aspects of worldly education.’ He closed his eyes for a moment, held the pulpit, and rocked back and forth on his feet.
    I thought he wanted us to imagine the Lord was speaking to him as we watched. I heard my brother hiss, ‘Just get on with it, will you!’
    Mother gave him a sharp look. He didn’t notice.
    Elder Stephen opened his eyes. ‘The Lord has directed me to inform you that the soul of any man who undertakes such education with a pure heart will not be in danger. Your Elders have prayed and it has come to us that any married man may undertake worldly study to help his business.’
    Abraham slumped back in his seat. His lips formedwords. I was sure they were You old devil .
    As we walked to the dining room for lunch, Zillah asked, ‘He’ll leave now, won’t he? He’ll be so angry and he’ll leave today.’
    All I could say was, ‘He’ll tell us. He won’t just vanish without telling us.’
    Such small comfort.

Eleven
    ABRAHAM DIDN’T SEEM ANGRY; he looked determined, and I thought he’d made up his mind. He beckoned me over.
    ‘Do you want me to get you a cup of tea, Abraham?’ I wanted him to say yes, I wanted to push away the moment he’d tell me he was disappearing from my life.
    ‘No, sis. Listen, I want you to give a message to somebody.’ He grinned at me. ‘You know — one of those special messages.’
    It took a moment for me to understand what he was asking. ‘You want me to talk to a girl? One of those messages?’
    ‘You got it, kid.’ His eyes gleamed and he laughed softly. ‘It’s the answer, the perfect answer.’
    ‘Yes, but who? Who is there to marry?’If he wanted me to give a message to Jewel, I wouldn’t do it, not even for him. He didn’t have permission to court her.
    ‘Talitha, of course. Tell her I send her my good wishes. My very good wishes.’
    I gaped at him. ‘But …’
    ‘Just do it, kid! I know she’s older than me. Who cares? She’s got more sense than those school kids I’m not allowed to marry.’ He gave me a slight shove.
    ‘Wait! I need to think.’ I held up my hand to shush him. ‘You can’t marry her without telling her how —’ I glanced around, knowing I must speak with care — ‘without letting her know how much you value the Rule. And what will you do? Marry her and leave her behind while you go to Auckland to study — for a whole year? Abraham, you need to think about this.’
    He shook his head. ‘No, I don’t. I was going to leave the Faith tonight. Don’t stress, I’d have told you guys first. But this is a chance. My only chance.’ He stopped for a moment. ‘But okay, you’ve got a point. Or two. Yes, you’d better tell her how much I value the Rule.’ At least he didn’t call it the stupid Rule this time. He grinned. ‘And tell her she can come to Auckland with me. If she wants to. Go on, or I’ll rock up and ask her myself.’
    That would create such a scandal, and probably give the Elders good reason to throw Abraham out this very day. I set out to find Talitha.
    It was easy enough to get her by herself because she always moved from group to group. For the first time, I realised she must be lonely — she was older