The Monster's Daughter by Michelle Pretorius Page B

away from you.”
    Poena and Grietjie stared at Tessa as if she was something dirty. They know I’m not like them, Tessa thought. The idea that they could hate her that much just because she didn’t look like them seemed so unfair. She turned and ran from them before they could say anything else, tears of hurt and anger blurring her vision. She wished the leopard would come back and eat Poena and Grietjie and their
pa
for dinner. The world away from Andrew and Sarah suddenly felt cold and hostile, full of people who hated for stupid reasons.
    Tessa stumbled a few times as she descended the narrow path into the valley, her shoes scuffing against the rocks, but she barely noticed. In the distance she could see the house, a white dot in a blanket of green. As she drew closer, she saw Andrew in the doorway, talking to a short man in black clothes. A warning flashed in Andrew’s eyes as Tessa approached. The man turned around and looked straight at her, a snarl deforming his lips. He had a big head and his nose wasa different color than the rest of his face, as if it belonged to someone else.
    â€œTheresa.” Andrew put himself between her and the man. “Where were you?” He picked her up, carrying her on his hip back into the house.
    â€œI saw a leopard,
Pa
,” Tessa’s excitement burst. “It was so big.” She held her hand above her chest, fingers brought together, pointing up, the way Sarah had taught her.
    â€œMr. Morgan.” The man’s voice sounded like thunder rolling over the mountains. “This is a serious matter.”
    â€œ
Dominee
, I can assure you that nothing immoral happens in this house.”
    â€œWitnesses have come forward.”
    â€œWitnesses? Trespassers with designs on my land, you mean. You can tell them all that I will never sell.” Andrew’s expression was stern, but Tessa felt the quivering in his body. She had only seen him that mad once before, when baboons had destroyed his vegetable patch. They had spent a whole afternoon after that stringing cans together to make noise and scare the mischief-makers off.
    â€œCutting yourself off from the church and hiding in your house won’t protect you from your sins, Mr. Morgan,” said the man in black. “God sees all. Your type will never be welcome among good people.”
    Andrew’s grip on Tessa grew uncomfortably tight. “Get off my property, sir.”
    â€œThis is not done.” The man’s face turned red. He raised a shaky finger in the air. “There will be consequences to your debauchery. And the child—”
    â€œGo now,
Dominee
, or I will help you do so with my rifle.” Andrew’s narrow face was white, his teeth exposed beneath his trimmed mustache.
    â€œIt is against God’s law, Mr. Morgan, fornicating outside your kind,” the man yelled as Andrew closed the door. “It is unnatural. We cannot allow this to go on in our midst.”
    Tessa wriggled loose from Andrew’s grip. Fear had written itself on Sarah’s face as she stepped out of the dark bedroom. She took Tessa from Andrew and hugged her close, her tears wetting Tessa’s cheeks.
    â€œWe were worried sick, Theresa,” Andrew said, the anger still in his voice. “Don’t ever go off like that again. These people—”
    â€œHe’ll be back,” Sarah interrupted. She looked pleadingly at Andrew. “He’ll bring others with him.”
    Andrew nodded. He sank down on a chair, his head in his hands.
    â€œI’ll leave. They’ll stop if I’m not here.”
    â€œNo.” Andrew grabbed Sarah’s hand. “This is our land, our home. They can’t force us off.”
    â€œDon’t go,
Ma
.” Tessa started crying, feeling as if someone had inexplicably blown a candle out in her life without asking and she was sitting alone in the dark. “Don’t leave me.”
    â€œIt’s all right,