CHAPTER 1
The young woman sat silently at her perch in the large tree. She looked from between the branches as the rest of the tribe went about their day. She wished, not for the first time, to be anywhere but here. She knew that shortly her mother would send her sister to find her, but until then she had a few precious moments to herself.
At 21, Miranda was in her prime. She knew she had so much more to offer the world than just being a breeder for her tribe. As far as her mother and everyone else was concerned, all she had to offer was her uterus and her cooking skills. All women of the tribe were groomed to be nothing more than wives and mothers. They were not expected, nor were they permitted, to do anything else.
They were supposed to be quiet and demure, raise their children, and keep house for their husbands. The men on the other hand, got to see the world outside the confines of the settlement. They got to hunt, and scour the swamp for the defiled. They were allowed a say in how things were run. Women got to do as they were told, and stay safe at home.
Miranda was the oldest daughter of Jeremiah and Beatrice Lafayette. Jeremiah was the chieftain of their settlement, so Miranda was sought after by every man in their small tribe, and the closest settlements. She had managed to avoid being betrothed to any of them by sheer determination and obstinacy so far. She knew that soon her parents were going to take the choice out of her hands though. Her father was becoming increasingly more forceful in his ploys to get her to accept some man or other.
She was becoming desperate in her wish to be away from them, and out from under the thumb of their traditions. She remembered the stories that were told by Margaret, the tribe's historian, about how women used to live before the defiled came. Women were equal to men, they held jobs outside of the home, and they had power. Women weren't subservient to men and bred to the point of exhaustion. They were valued for their intelligence as well as their ability to be a good wife. According to Margaret and the rest of the tribe's elders though, this fact, and the pride of the world that existed before, is what led to the defiled almost eliminating life from the face of the earth.
The defiled had been a part of life for as long as Miranda had been alive. It had been close to 150 years since the last city had fallen to their unending siege against humanity. Their tribe, and the few villages around them, had managed to survive by hiding in the swamps of what used to be Louisiana, in the world before. They had turned their backs on the unclean ways of the world, and because of that, they had been spared. Though, Miranda often wondered if this existence was even worth it. She felt so stifled, and wanted so much more than this.
She was just as capable as the men, and more so than some. Her father had indulged her as a child, and allowed her to train with her brother, Giroux, and the other boys their age. They were taught to track, shoot a bow, to kill the defiled, and to survive on their own in the swamp. She was made to stop when she became a woman, but her brother had helped her to keep up with her skill. She took every opportunity that presented itself to keep herself sharp.
Miranda lifted her long dark hair off of her neck to try and catch a breeze to cool her sweat soaked skin. Most days she hated the dresses they were made to wear, but on days like this, she was glad for the light cotton and how breathable it was. The sleeveless knee-length dress clung to her tan body, and outlined her generous curves almost scandalously. She was leaning back against the trunk of the tree, gazing at the sky, when she heard a very unwelcome voice down below her.
"Miranda!" Her younger sister, Hannah, stood at the base of the tree glaring up at her. "Mama asked you to start the wash almost an hour ago! What are you doing up there?"
"I'm coming, Hannah," she said as she shifted off of the branch she was on, and began to climb down. She was careful not to catch her skirt on any branches on the way down. The last thing she needed to hear was another lecture from Mama about modesty and decorum. "Proper ladies don't behave in such a shameful manner," is what she would probably say if she saw her now.
Hannah was standing there with her hands on her hips when Miranda reached the ground. Her younger sister was slightly shorter than her, but she had the same dark hair and eyes as their mother, just like Miranda. At 18, Hannah's curves weren't quite as pronounced as hers, but Miranda often thought she would be the loveliest of her sisters in a few years.
"Please explain to me, again, why you feel the need to run off any chance you get, and leave me to deal with Mama?" Hannah complained with a disgruntled look on her face.
"I just need time to myself now and again, Hannah. I'm sorry," Miranda explained.
"Well, you can tell that to Mama when she asks where you were, and why you weren't helping to get everything ready for tomorrow," Hannah said with a scowl.
"Let's go. I really am sorry, sweetie. I know tomorrow is important to you. I just needed to get away for a little while. Let's get back to work. Tomorrow is going to be everything you ever dreamed it would be," Miranda said as they started back to their parents' house.
"Do you really think so?" Asked Hannah
"I know so," smiled Miranda.
They reached the house, and heard their mother inside belting out orders to the rest of their sisters. Everyone was in a rush to get things ready for Hannah's coming out party tomorrow. It was the custom for girls of the tribe to have a party on their 18th birthday, when they would be allowed to start courting. Before that they were never to spend time with the opposite sex outside of their parents' sight. Even after they came out, girls were not permitted to be with a man without a chaperone. Ladies were never alone with a man until their wedding night. It was unheard of in the settlement. "The height of unseemly behavior," as Mama often said. Girls who broke this rule found themselves married off to the man they were alone with, or sent to relatives in the surrounding settlements to find a husband.
Hannah had turned 18 that morning, and the whole settlement was abuzz. The chieftain's daughter would have a very large gathering in her honor. Families from the surrounding settlements were already arriving, and most of them brought along sons that had yet to find wives. It was a chance for all of the unmarried young women to meet new men, and hopefully attract the attention of one.
Miranda just couldn't wait for it to be over. She knew that several of the families were bringing men her father intended to parade her in front of. He was getting very irritated with his headstrong daughter's refusal to choose a husband. It wasn't from lack of suitors, that much was certain. She couldn't walk five paces around here without having her parents wave some interested young man under her nose. She just wasn't interested. She wanted more out of life than anyone around here was willing to give her.
As she got back to work doing the wash, and hanging it to dry, she thought about Hannah's excitement. Hannah couldn't wait for tomorrow. She had been looking forward to this day from the time she understood what it meant. Miranda just couldn't understand it. She had dreaded her coming-out. She hadn't wanted to start courting. She had begged her father not to make her go through with it. Hannah on the other hand, was the perfect lady. She was always dignified and courteous. She was proper to a fault. She wanted the life they were expected to have in a way Miranda had never understood.
As different as they were though, Miranda and Hannah had always been extremely close. Out of all her sisters, Hannah was her favorite. They were the closest in age, and they were more like friends than sisters. Sarah, Josephine, and Maria were good girls too, but they had never been as close to her as Hannah. So, as much as she didn't understand her sister's excitement, she wanted to do everything she could to make her day as special as possible tomorrow.
The rest of the day passed in an activity filled blur. Their mother had them all working on some job or another until well past sundown. Sarah, Josephine, and Maria were busy finishing Hannah's dress, while Miranda and Hannah were busy working in the kitchen with their mother, or decorating the house and yard. It seemed their mother had an endless list of last minute things they could do.
By the time Miranda and Hannah made it to their room that night, they were exhausted. Miranda changed into her night clothes, and then helped Hannah start putting her hair into curlers for the next day. Hannah would be allowed to wear her hair up for the first time tomorrow, and she was so excited.
She looked at Miranda through the mirror with an expectant expression, "Do you think I'm going to do well tomorrow?" She asked.
"What do you mean? Of course you're going to do well! You've been preparing for this day your whole life."
"You know what I mean, Randa" she said with an exasperated tone. "Do you think any of the men are going to like me?"
"Sweetheart, how could they not?" Miranda said leaning over and pressing her cheek to her sister's and meeting her eyes in the mirror. "You're beautiful, and sweet, and you will make some lucky man the best wife he could ask for." As she finished speaking, she went back to curling Hannah's hair. "Besides, if you don't do well, then we can be old spinsters together," she said with a mischievous sparkle in her eye.
Hannah made an outraged noise and swatted half-heartedly at Miranda. She started to giggle, but then gave her sister a serious look through the mirror, "I don't understand why you want to be alone, Randa. You're beautiful, and you could have your pick of any man you wanted. Why don't you at least try to find someone?"
Miranda went back to working on Hannah's hair with a thoughtful expression. She didn't really know how she could make Hannah understand how she felt. They had had this conversation so many times before, and it always ended with neither of them really understanding the other's point of view.
