Deceived (Free Indeed Book 2), page 22
Not that she wanted to be married off to whoever happened to be the most prominent or important man in their church. At the mercy of whatever man just so happened to receive a revelation from God that she was his chosen mate. No thank you. But at the same time, it would be nice just to be able to do something so...so not this.
Her father would tell her that was the devil talking in her ear. Don’t get entangled in the things of the world. All it does is enslave one in bondage, which was the opposite of everything they believed in.
“What’s wrong, little bug?” Allie crouched down so she would be face to face on her sister’s level.
“I can’t fall asleep without Rebecca,” Abby looked up at her older sister with big, hopeful eyes. Rebecca was her old, rag doll that she seemingly never went anywhere without, until tonight apparently.
“Do you know where you left her?”
“In the sanctuary, where we sat during services today. Father said she was becoming an idol, and that he might take her away from me. So I left her there so she could spend the rest of the day praying to not be an idol anymore.”
Despite the fact Allie knew it was probably another sin her father would just hold against her, she let out a big sigh. Everything seemed like an idol to her father. Spending too much time on anything other than one’s Bible or doing something productive for the group was considered to be wasteful. And if their father saw Abby spending too much time focusing on her doll instead of her duties around the house, well he certainly would take it away, never to be seen again. It didn’t matter that she was just five years old, she was expected not to love anything worldly. God forgive her, but things were so frustrating sometimes.
Like earlier today, their father got it stuck in his head that Allie was getting too attached to her locket. Apparently wearing it every day was an indicator that it had too much of a priority in her life, and the fact she loved it so much was a sign of vanity. At least that’s what he claimed. Most likely it was actually just his way of punishing her for not having his breakfast ready on time. The thing was, the locket was her mother’s and the only thing Allie had left of her. She wore it every day because it reminded her of her mom and how much she loved her children whose photos were inside. How could that be a sin? But sure enough, he took it away, and it didn’t sound like he was planning to give it back anytime soon, if ever. If she could help her sister’s doll not suffer the same fate as her necklace, then she’d do everything in her power to see it so.
“I’ll get Rebecca, little bug. But you need to go back to bed, ok?” She put her arm around Abby’s shoulder and nudged her toward the staircase leading back to her room, “Go get in bed, and I’ll bring her up to you in a couple of minutes.”
Satisfied that her big sister would solve her little world problems, Abby scampered out of the kitchen and upstairs to her shared bedroom. Above her, Allie heard a thump followed by a loud creak as she heard her little sister jumped back into her bed.
As obedient as her sister was taught to be, Allie knew she wouldn’t wait for her doll forever. So there was no time like the present to get it for her, the dishes could wait. Allie made her way to the long, wooden-planked hallway that connected their little house to the sanctuary next door. They lived in a house right next to the sanctuary because her father, Gideon, was the Patriarch of Free Indeed. He wasn’t the original founder of their group; that was her grandfather. But when he had passed away, he had named Gideon as God’s choice to be his successor. A role her father stepped into with rigor and zeal. Some would say too much, in fact, considering how much time he spent traveling around the country preaching God’s word while leaving his seven children behind to fend for themselves. But in all honesty, Allie and her siblings were happiest when he was away, and they didn’t have to be under the constant daily pressure of perfection, so they never minded. In fact, he had just returned earlier today from one of his many trips. He had been gone for the last five days this time. When they were younger, her brothers used to beg to go along with him. But his reply was always the same. These trips were his time to get closer to God, and he wouldn’t be able to do that with other people along. So eventually they just stopped asking.
Her footsteps echoed in the narrow space until she reached the wooden door at the other end of the dark hallway. Allie pushed the heavy door open and made her way through the center aisle past row after row of wooden pews. At the far end was the slightly raised platform with the pulpit where her father preached to the congregation, or when he was out of town, where Paul would. Behind the pulpit on the back wall of the room, their group’s life Bible verse, the motto they lived by, was splayed across the top so everyone could read it from anywhere in the room: If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. - John 8:36. That was where they had taken their name from, Free Indeed, because when you turn your life over and give it to Jesus, he is the only one who can truly set you free from the bondage of the world. And that was the whole point of their community...to live separated from the rest of the world and worldly possessions and to live their lives with God as their focus.
Allie sighed. Sometimes she would settle for just being free from overbearing and domineering men once in awhile. But those were the type of rebellious thoughts that she would be punished for if her father ever found out. So she made sure to just keep those sacrilegious ideas buried deep down and to keep her facade as a calm, perfect daughter and follower.
Sometimes she didn’t want to be the good Christian girl that everyone expected her to be; sometimes she just wanted to be like one of the girls in the romance novels she occasionally snuck into her room and secretly read at night when everyone else was asleep. Those women always seemed to be so confident and independent, always sure of what they wanted and not afraid to fight for it. Instead, all the woman in her community were all taught and bred to be perfect, little submissive beings who were always at the beck and call of the male authority figure in their life, whether that be a father or a husband. It was so frustrating. She wanted to be a kick…butt woman too. (Since the A-word was a sinful thought, she wasn’t even permitted to say in her own mind.) If she had her way, she would march up to her father and demand he give her mother’s necklace back. Unfortunately, God only knows the punishment she would get for that show of rebellion. So, of course, she never would. But it was a nice thought.
Allie made her way past the rows of seats until she finally came to where her family sat this afternoon during the assembly. Sure enough, right in the middle of the row sitting prettily upright, was the little, rag doll. Silly how much her sister loved that thing, especially since it was just another hand-me-down toy that had already seen years of use. But love it she did, so Allie would do what she could to see her sister had even this small happiness. A fond smile spread across Allie’s face as she picked up the doll and turned to leave.
Odd. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a light coming from her father’s office that was just to the left of the room. Gideon had said he would be visiting with Brother and Sister Edwards tonight, so no one should have been in his private office. Allie took a few hesitant steps closer in the direction of the room and realized she could hear voices inside as well. Concerned because whoever was speaking was sounding increasingly upset, she quietly made her way up to the edge of the door and peeked inside.
She was surprised to see it was, in fact, her father in the office, along with his assistant Paul and another man she could only see the back of. He was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room while her father sat behind his large imposing desk staring at him. However what was even more surprising and terrifying was the gun that her father held in his right hand that he calmly pointed at the head of the stranger.
“Please, please,” the man’s wobbly voice was almost shaking as much as he was.
When he spoke, Allie finally recognized who it was. That was Ken Thompson, her father’s accountant. She would see him every now and then when he would have business meetings with her father.
“I’m not trying to cheat you out of what’s yours.” The man continued, “I just thought—”
“And that’s your problem right there.” Her father cut him off with a wave of the gun. Gideon stood to his feet and marched around the desk until he stood directly in front of his accountant. Leaning forward slightly, Gideon continued, “You aren’t getting paid to think. You’re getting paid to handle the financial side of my business and to keep the money hidden from prying eyes.”
“I’m sorry.” The man was begging now. Allie could hear the desperate pleading in his voice, “I didn’t lose that much in the grand scheme of things. Just a couple hundred thousand—I can get that back in interest from the rest of the money in no time!” His quivering voice stopped speaking when a look of disgust spread across her father’s face. Both men’s eyes held for a brief moment, the stranger’s wide-eyed and terrified, and her father’s radiating sheer fury. Then with a quick flick of his wrist, her father swung the gun back to the man’s head, and he quickly pulled the trigger.
Allie watched as the stranger’s head exploded in a spray of red blood. Both of her hands quickly slapped across her mouth to keep her screams from seeping past her lips.
Terrified of what she had just witnessed, Allie watched as her father let out a huge sigh, like murdering a man in cold blood was one of the most tedious things ever. Then her father made his way back to his desk and sank into the chair, all while still staring at the body now lying haphazardly on the floor in front of him. “Would you mind taking care of this for me, Paul?”
“Of course. You know I always will.”
“You’re a good friend. A good compatriot. The Lord will bless you for your service to this community.” He finally looked away from the dead body to glance over and nod appreciatively at Paul.
“If the Lord is pleased, and you are pleased as well, then I hope you’ll give my request some more thought.”
Her father just sat there silently for a moment, pondering about what Paul was asking while absentmindedly tapping the gun softly on the wooden desk. Finally coming to a decision, he stopped and met Paul’s determined gaze. “Very well. I’ll announce your courtship to Allie in the assembly tomorrow. Two weeks should be an adequate period before the wedding date.”
Unable to stop herself this time, a gasp of surprise escaped her, just as the doll slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor with a soft thud. Allie tried to softly back away but knew they had heard the noise she’d made. Before she could even get a few steps away, her father jumped to his feet and dashed out through the office doorway to where she stood in the darkened sanctuary. Terrified, Allie froze just as Paul burst through the door shortly behind him. Allie watched as her father’s gaze passed from her to the little doll now lying at his feet. She could see his mind putting the pieces together of why she was there and what she had heard.
Gideon turned his steely eyes back to his daughter, “Paul, take care of things here. I have some family issues to deal with.” He spoke to Paul, but his gaze never wavered from Allie’s frightened face.
“Of course.” Paul quickly agreed. Goosebumps rippled across Allie’s skin as he raked his lustful gaze over her body from head to toe before he finally turned and went back into the office to take care of the dead body.
Her father stooped down and swiped the rag doll off of the floor and then briskly marched forward and forcefully grabbed Allie’s arm. He spun her around and dragged her out of the sanctuary and back down the attached hallway to their house.
As he dragged her alongside him, Allie was becoming more and more afraid. The only thing more terrifying than her father’s yelling was his silence. They passed through the door at the end of the hall and entered their family living room. His hold on her arm momentarily tightened, before he brusquely thrust her forward and she fell to her knees in the center of the room.
Allie threw out her hands to break her fall. As she struggled back into a sitting position, she turned her head back to look up at her father. So many things to say, so many things to be afraid of, but one took precedence above them all, “I can’t marry him. Please, father—he scares me the way he looks at me. I just can’t. Isn’t there some way you could just encourage him to look for someone else to marry—”
A sharp sound echoed throughout the room as her father’s hand slapped across her face. Allie gasped from the stinging pain as she brought up her left hand to cover her already red cheek.
“You dare to defy my word!” He bellowed. Gideon leaned forward until he was directly in her face and hissed, “You are my daughter and under my God-given authority. That means you will marry whoever I tell you to marry.” His withering stare caused Allie to quiver in fear. “You will court him. And you will marry him in two weeks time. Then you will be the perfect, little, submissive wife that you’ve been trained to be since birth. And you will never speak of what you saw in that room. Am I clear?”
“Y—yes,” she stammered, too afraid to say anything else when he looked at her with such rage in his face.
“Let’s just make sure of that, shall we?” The left side of his mouth rose slightly with a sinister smile as he took in her trembling form. He clenched his hand into a fist and then punched her roughly in the jaw. Allie slammed backward to the floor from the blow, and he was on her quickly landing punch after punch to her stomach and side. After what felt like forever, he finally stopped, satisfied that he had gotten his point across. Gideon once again got to his feet and stood over her battered and bruised form. He crouched down and snagged Rebecca from where he had dropped her in his attack. With a smug look, he threw it on top of Allie’s body that was curled up in pain.
“See to your sister.” He smirked, right before he turned and walked out of the room in the direction of his bedroom.
Jenesse Bates, Deceived (Free Indeed Book 2)
