She wiped at the sweat coalescing on her forehead, sitting off-kilter on the stump outside of the barn. The summer heat was unbearable for a young woman who’d only just recently left the comforts of city living, and the stink of warm hay and manure assaulted her nostrils.
Some of her sisters, she was told, had learned to ignore the stench. The homespun sundress she wore clung insistently to her body at her chest and thighs, bringing her in mind of the now-missing sensation of underwear. They were some of the many things she’d had to leave behind since coming out here.
Boots shuffled through the straw in the building behind her. Zephyr was coming.
“Rachel?” His voice was soft but still sent an unseasonal chill down her spine. “Your sisters tell me that you were late for your chores this morning. That they had to collect the eggs and clean the sheds without you.”
He was not an imposing man. He was effeminate, thin, and even at his full height, he stood only a head taller than Rachel herself. His age was uncertain – even unshaven, his face was bare, and his long hair was unmarked by grey. At the same time, those hairless cheeks were gaunt, and his chest sallow behind his thin shirt. And his eyes… he had a stare that never seemed to stop, and even with the tiniest of glances he could see clear through any man or woman to the helpless, needy being within.
The leader of the Children fixed those eyes upon her, and the weight of his disapproval pressed Rachel firmly into her seat.
“I…” she tried, “I’m not used to getting up so early. If my sisters had just woken me up-“
He shushed her with a wave of his hand. “Abby and Lyric were doing as I had told them. Each one is responsible for her part. Now, I understand that when you lived in the city you might have slept late into the day, but not here. Here you will awaken like the others when the cock sounds. Isn’t that fair?”
Rachel nodded, her face downcast, a mask of penitence. But the twitching of her lip betrayed her.
“You’re laughing.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just… does anyone say ‘cock’ and not mean…”
He sighed. “It does sound pretentious, doesn’t it?”
“A little.”
“Fine. ‘When the rooster crows’, then.”
“Yes, Zephyr. And I promise I will be up and working tomorrow. You have my word.” She rose to her feet, but found herself stopped by Zephyr’s hand on her shoulder. He stood impassively, saying nothing. A lump like a fist swelled in her throat.
“Zephyr? Is there something else?”
He nodded. “There is a price to be paid. Do you remember Kevin’s?”
Rachel frantically searched her memory. Shortly after arriving at Home, she’d overheard Abby’s oldest son complaining that this wasn’t his house, that Zephyr wasn’t his father. Zephyr had been patient and welcoming at first, but when the sixteen-year-old insisted that he wanted his ‘real’ home, Zephyr had taken off Kevin’s trousers and…
Her eyes widened. “No.”
Zephyr nodded, his eyes never leaving hers.
“But I’m a grown woman!”
“You are all Children to me. It is no different for you than it was for young Kevin.” He released her shoulder and lifted the stump with both hands, hauling it inside the barn. “Come here, this will be better in the shade, don’t you think?”
He dropped the stump with a bang that lifted the straw. Fine particles showered back down to the floor. Rachel watched in shock, her feet as heavy and immobile as the wooden block in front of Zephyr.
“I… I can’t.”
“You can and you will, child. Take off your dress.”
The dress was uncomfortable. It was rough and ill-fitting, and plastered against every curve of her body. But it was the only layer of protection that she had, and it suddenly became very precious to her. She clutched the straps at her shoulders, tears welling in her eyes.
But Zephyr was unfazed. “This is beneath you, Rachel. You will not convince me that you are an adult by throwing a tantrum.”
She could refuse, she told herself. She could turn away from him, from the family, from Home. But afterward – where would she go? She’d been aimless in the city, drifting from club to club through the nights looking for somewhere she could belong. And she felt she did belong here, she just hadn’t adjusted yet.
And she never would, if she left.
But if she didn’t leave…
With trembling fingers, she slid the straps of her dress over her shoulders. Without looking up, she could feel Zephyr’s eyes on her, tracing over the swells of her body as she stripped free of the rotten dress. She dropped it at her feet, standing naked in front of him. He’d seen her this way before, of course – all members of the family slept in their natural states, Zephyr included – but there was no comfort or community in this. Even in the summer heat, she shivered.
Zephyr nonchalantly picked up her discarded clothing and hung it from a nail on the wall.
“You should take better care of these,” he grumbled.
She nodded miserably.
He resumed his seat and beckoned her towards him. She shuffled to his side, nervously pushing her long hair out of her face, with each step growing more acutely aware of the feel of the warm air on her full breasts, her plump bottom.
Like Kevin before her, she found herself lowered into his lap. He fidgeted in his seat, trying to accommodate her wide hips across his thin knees. A tight bulge pressed against her stomach. A sick notion formed in her head, and Rachel tried to shake it out. Zephyr was a man, yes, but not like those other men…
The slap across her bottom caught her off-guard, and she yelped reflexively more out of shock than pain. The sound was raised to the high-beamed ceilings, ringing throughout the barn like the amplifiers from the discotheques that Rachel had used to frequent. He sat for a moment as the echo traveled through the space, whether surprised or enjoying the effect, she couldn’t tell. But the respite was short-lived.
