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As Robin scattered seeds in their furrow, bent double and moving slowly, she watched Will Edensor out of the corner of her eye. This was the first chance she’d had of getting close to him, barring the night-time conversation between him and Lin he didn’t know she’d overheard. Young though he was, his hair was already receding, heightening a look of fragility and illness. By speeding up her sowing, she managed, apparently naturally, to reach a spot beside Will as he worked an adjacent furrow with Qing.
‘She’s yours, isn’t she?’ she said to Will, smiling. ‘She looks like you.’
He threw Robin an irritated glance and muttered,
‘There’s no “mine”. That’s materialist possession.’
‘Oh, sorry, of course,’ said Robin.
‘You should’ve internalised that by now,’ said Will sententiously. ‘That’s kind of basic.’
‘Sorry,’ said Robin again. ‘I keep getting into trouble accidentally.’
‘There’s no “in trouble”,’ said Will, in the same critical tone. ‘Spiritual demarcation is strengthening.’
‘What’s spiritual demarcation?’ said Robin.
‘The Answer, chapter fourteen, paragraph nine,’ said Will. ‘That’s kind of basic, too.’
He wasn’t bothering to keep his voice down. Robin could tell the other gardeners were listening. One young woman in glasses, who had long, dirty hair and a prominent mole on her chin, was wearing a faint smile.
‘If you don’t understand why spiritual demarcation’s occurred,’ Will said, unasked, ‘you need to chant or medit—Qing, don’t do that,’ he said, because the little girl was now digging her wooden spade where he’d just patted down the earth over the seeds. ‘Come and get more seeds,’ said Will, standing up and leading Qing, hand in hand, towards the box where the packets were sitting.
Robin kept working, wondering at the difference in Will when church elders were present, when he looked hangdog and defeated, and Will here among the farmhands, where he seemed self-assured and dogmatic. She was also quietly reflecting on the young man’s hypocrisy. Robin had seen clear signs that Will and Lin were trying to sustain a parental relationship with Qing in defiance of the church’s teaching, and the conversation she’d overheard him having with Lin in the woods had proven he was trying to help her avoid spirit bonding with some other man. Robin wondered whether Will was oblivious to the fact that he was transgressing against the precepts of the UHC, or whether the lecturing tone was for the benefit of their listeners.
Almost as though the girl in glasses had read Robin’s mind, she said with a strong Norfolk accent,
‘You won’t win agin Will on church doctrine. ’E knows it insoid out.’
‘I wasn’t trying to win anything,’ said Robin mildly.
Will returned, Qing in tow. Determined to keep him talking, Robin said,
‘This is a wonderful place for kids to grow up, isn’t it?’
Will merely grunted.
‘They’ll know the right way from the start – unlike me.’
Will glanced at Robin again, then said,
‘It’s never too late. The Golden Prophet was seventy-two when she found The Way.’
‘I know,’ said Robin, ‘that sort of gives me comfort. I’ll get it if I keep working—’
‘It isn’t working, it’s freeing yourself to discover,’ Will corrected her. ‘The Answer, chapter three, paragraph six.’
Robin was starting to understand why Will’s brother James found him infuriating.
‘Well, that’s what I’m trying—’
‘You shouldn’t be trying. It’s a process of allowing.’
‘I know, that’s what I’m saying,’ said Robin, as each of them scattered seeds and patted down the earth, Qing now poking idly at a weed. ‘Your little – I mean, that little girl – is her name Qing?’
‘Yes,’ said Will.
‘She won’t make my mistakes, because she’ll be taught to open herself up properly, won’t she?’
