Watch How We Walk by Jennifer LoveGrove

collar of his shirt. Emily frowns. She knows that people from the Hall already think his appearance is inappropriate; their parents argue, debating whether or not they should tell him what the other brothers and sisters say about him. He might get in trouble with the elders if he doesn’t start being more careful, but he doesn’t care.
    Emily has packed her Hall purse with her Bible, the most recent issues of Awake! and The Watchtower , and some back issues, which they can place with interested people for free. The new issues are two for a dollar, which is called a contribution . She has also hidden a Trixie Belden mystery under her Bible. She stayed up late reading it under her blankets with a flashlight, and she wants to find out what happens next. Uncle Tyler won’t tell on her; he’s not like that. She pulls her coat on and hops from one foot to the other, excited but nervous at the prospect of an afternoon with her uncle. She knows that going out in service with him is not going to be like when she goes door to door with her dad, who’s always so serious, mad at her, or disappointed that she isn’t better at preaching to strangers. Lenora is way better at it; her voice never shakes and her face doesn’t turn bright red.
    But going out in service with Uncle Tyler makes her feel like she is in trouble in a different way. She knows her dad didn’t want her to go. Her parents argued about it the night before.
    â€” I don’t trust that he’ll be a good influence on the girls, or that he’ll set the proper example, Vivian.
    â€” Of course he will. Just because he’s young and likes to joke around doesn’t mean he doesn’t take the Truth seriously. They’ll be fine. It’ll be good for them to spend some more time with their uncle.
    Emily is disappointed that Lenora isn’t coming, and jealous that she can stay home whenever she wants — Emily never has any choice in what she can do — but secretly she’s glad she’ll get Uncle Tyler all to herself. He’s never in a bad mood and, more importantly, he understands her. For example, if they’re supposed to call on a house where one of her classmates lives, he’ll let her wait in the car instead, lying down in the back seat with her book, or they’ll skip that address entirely. He never tells her that she should be stronger or try harder or Witness more at school; he just lets her relax.
    Even though he seems to always be on the verge of getting in trouble, she’s missed him lately. Things are more fun when he’s around, like at the meetings when he gives her silly notes when her parents aren’t looking. Once, last year, he made her give him her Hall purse at the break. Besides her Bible, Watchtower , and songbook, she had also snuck another Trixie Belden mystery with her, and she didn’t want to get caught. Not that she would read it at the Hall; only in the car on the way there, or afterwards. She just couldn’t put it down. Sometimes, while her dad would chat with the elders after a meeting, she’d sneak out to the cold unlocked car and read her novel by the interior light, with the door ajar. But she trusted her uncle, and she handed over her Hall purse. He told her not to look in it until after the meeting, and she didn’t, but she was unable to listen to the brothers’ talks at all for that hour, since she was busy squirming in her chair, trying to guess what he put in her bag. It turned out to be a treasure map that he drew himself — a map of the car, with an arrow that pointed to the sun visor. When Emily pulled that down, she found a note that said to look under the floor mats — three of them concealed only twigs and pebbles and gum wrappers but under the fourth was a note telling her to look where “there were no mittens.” It didn’t take her long to find the bag of chips — dill pickle, her favourite — in the