STEPHANIE passed a few anxious days waiting for the next coach to arrive from Ashapi, and the hoped-for arrival of Mark and Martha. Both Adrian and Jack did their best to reassure her—but there was of course no certainty that things had gone to plan back in Kamach. In the meantime, Adrian urged her to occupy herself as best she could while they were away at work. She offered to do some shopping for them, and also to help with the housework and cooking; and she offered to contribute a share of the expenses and the rent. The others were reluctant to accept this last, but she insisted that she and Mark had plenty of money—mostly due to the generous donation from Amelia, Rachel’s mother, back in Waknuk, as she explained to them. So in the end they accepted gratefully: as Jack explained, a Law student gets very little allowance and even Adrian, as a junior, wasn’t very well paid.

At length the day came when the coach from Rigo, passing through Ashapi, was due to arrive, and that evening Stephanie and Jack were standing anxiously at the inn, looking down the road for any sign of its approach. It was dark and raining heavily, and although they were able to take shelter from the worst of it, they were still shivering and wet through by the time they heard the welcome sound of many hooves pounding and splashing their way along the wet road.

The coach drew to a halt in front of the inn, and sure enough a small figure alighted, closely followed by someone rather larger. Martha looked around in confusion for a moment: then she espied Stephanie sheltering under the inn’s doorway, rushed up to her and clasped her in an almost suffocating hug. It was quite a while before she released her into the arms of Mark who kissed her fervently time and time again. Eventually, Stephanie was able to get her breath back and introduce Martha to Jack, explaining how he and Adrian had sheltered her.

After a brief discussion, they decided to book a room for Martha at the inn, then they would all make haste as best they could to the flat where Adrian had a hot supper waiting. Mark and Stephanie could continue to stay in Michael’s old room at the flat. As to ongoing plans—none of them felt able to decide about that for the time being. Luckily the rain was easing as they hurried back to the flat, where they were welcomed by Adrian and sat down to a convivial supper.

Mark and Martha, between them, explained how they had fared at Kamach. They had sold some of Martha’s hens to a friend of hers who was a fellow egg-rearer; but some of them had had to go to the butcher’s—which Martha was a bit upset about. Mark had, not without some misgivings, ridden back to their campsite at the shepherd’s hut, and collected most of their belongings—but left the dead horse’s tack which was too much to carry. He refused to say anything about the state of the dead horse’s remains—for which Stephanie was thankful. Once back at Kamach, the remaining horse was quite easy to dispose of: a local hunter was glad to take it on once he had assured himself of its merits. And Martha’s landlord was fairly easy about her absence: said he would charge only a portion of her rent until either she returned or he found a new tenant.

The conversation lapsed for a while: then Mark abruptly announced:

“Stephanie and I are going to get married: and I’d like that to be as soon as maybe: yes, Steph?” Stephanie nodded. “But besides,” continued Mark, “I really ought to look up my mother back at the farm, before we decide anything else. Yes she knew I was going on a long journey, she won’t be worrying about me yet—but it’s been quite a while now and since we’re back in the area… What she doesn’t know, of course, is about Stephanie and me. I really ought to present her to Mother before the wedding.”

“Why, congratulations to the two of you!” said Adrian, echoed by Jack. He continued, “Yes, introducing Stephanie to your mother would be the right and proper thing to do, Mark, certainly. Would you want to be married here, in Kentak?”

“That was our idea,” replied Stephanie. “Safer than Kamach, at any rate. No-one’s going to recognise Mother, nor me, not here. Some­thing quiet and simple, no guests. Except you, Jack and Adrian, of course. I haven’t any family apart from Mother, and Mark’s mother lives on a farm out in the wilds. The last thing I want is lots of well-meaning guests patting me on the back and asking when we’re going to start a family. That will hurt: we all know there won’t be any—”

“Steph!” hissed Mark, glancing at Adrian and Jack.

“It’s all right,” Stephanie reassured him. “They already know. All about me, that is. My history: my feet. And it’s all right with them, don’t worry, Mother. We have no secrets among ourselves.” As she said it, her mind went back to the horror at Ashapi for a second, and she anxiously glanced at Mark. Not yet, she thought—not while Mother’s present. Maybe not ever…

“Well,” said Martha. “Any wedding will be a joy to me, however simple, just so long as it involves my darling Sophie. Sorry, ‘Stephanie’. But Mark’s parents will surely have to be there, and they’ll ask about grandchildren.”

“Yes,” agreed Mark. “I don’t have a father any more, but I have two older sisters, both married, and Mother’s already got three grand­children, and another on the way. So we won’t tell her about Stephanie’s—problem. There’s no need for her to know. But we need to prepare a few things. She can’t be ‘Stephanie Wender’, obviously, not even in Kentak. Nor can we have the same surname, as on the false papers you still have. We’ll have to forge another set.”

“I’ve already booked myself into the inn as ‘Mrs Wender’,” said Martha. “I couldn’t really do otherwise. But I’m here quite legit­imately: I’ve got a pass from the Sheriff back at Kamach. I can show that to anyone who asks. It’s being seen with you two that’s risky.”

“All right then,” said Mark. “We’ll sort out the documents, then go and enquire at the church, and fix up the wedding. You sleep at the inn, Martha, in the meantime. Then we’ll all set out for my mother’s farm. It’s about twenty-five miles away. It’s best if you come with us, Martha, if we can manage that safely. I forgot to ask, can you ride?”

“Why, I haven’t ridden a horse since Sophie was born. John used to ride a lot, on his hunting trips, but he didn’t take me very often, and not after this baby came. I doubt if I’d be much use on one.”

“Then we’ll have to hire a carriage of some sort. Don’t worry, we’ll sort something out.”

There was a long pause. Then a thought suddenly occurred to Martha, as she surveyed the gathered company. “Are either of you two thinking of getting married? Any sweethearts?” she asked quite innocently, looking at Adrian and Jack.

“Er, no, not exactly,” said Jack, hesitantly. But Adrian took up the response.

“We’re in a sort of—partnership, already. The two of us. Not everyone approves, so keep quiet about it.”

“You mean you’re—”

“Homosexual. That’s the word. Yes we are. That doesn’t make us Deviants; plenty of the Old People were like us too, though the Church Party will deny it of course. There’s even a horrible word about our kind of people in the Bible: ‘abomination’. The same word as the Church people use for Deviants. So we have to be discreet. If we were found out, we’d probably get the same treatment as human Deviations do. In fact, an Inspector would class us as Blasphemies, if he ever knew.”

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Mark was visibly perturbed at this revelation, it was something utterly new to him. But Stephanie seemed quite relaxed, and she spoke out.

“Don’t worry about me, I know all about it. Happened quite a lot in the Fringes. Perhaps it was people like you who were caught and sent there? And don’t look so uncomfortable, Mark—nor you, Mother. These are good people, they’ve helped us tremendously, and their—difference—bestows a sort of kinship with us, doesn’t it?”

Mark had to agree. Martha hesitated for a long time, but then she too nodded her head.

With that, Jack offered to escort Martha back to the inn, and promised to call for her early the next morning. As they left the flat Martha took Jack’s arm. Evidently if she’d felt any revulsion, it was ebbing away.

Mark was still feeling bemused about Jack and Adrian’s revelation, as he followed Stephanie into their bedroom, but the thought ‘they’re different, like we’re different: just different in a ‘different’ way’ was some comfort to him. He quickly undressed, got into bed, and watched eagerly as Stephanie took off her clothes and slipped into bed beside him. For a minute or two they cuddled and caressed each other: then, just as Mark’s ardour was becoming more urgent, Stephanie gave a sigh, rolled away from him, sat up and reached for her nightgown which she pulled over herself.

“Sorry, my dear. Not in the mood tonight,” she murmured.

“Trouble, my love?”

“Now we’re definitely getting married, I’d like to leave it till then.”

“But we’ve already made love. And I’ve been looking forward all through the journey here.”

“I know. Sorry, but no. All I can say is, ‘look forward’ for a bit longer. Please bear with me.” With that Stephanie lay back in bed and said no more. She couldn’t yet bring herself to tell Mark about Ashapi. Just letting Mark see her naked—even if only for an instant—had been hard enough.

Mark sighed. He realised that he might be expecting too much of Stephanie, and the last thing he wished was to upset her. He could see that something was troubling her, but decided not to press her. He put on his own nightshirt and was soon asleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, Mark, Stephanie and Martha sat down and set to work creating a new identity tag for Stephanie, with a new surname and stating her birthplace as a tiny village about ten miles north of Mark’s farm. “That makes it plausible,” he com­mented. “I just hope no-one checks out that village: it’s difficult to get to, especially in winter. Should work.”

Martha took a hand at the actual forging of the tag, saying she had had quite a lot of practice back when Sophie was a child. In the end, after several failed attempts which they had to throw out, they managed to achieve a passable forgery.

Then Stephanie and Mark took themselves to a nearby church, as recommended by Jack and Adrian who had given them directions. They were disappointed to find it unlocked but deserted, with no indication as to how the priest might be contacted.

“Tomorrow’s Sunday. Let’s come back tomorrow and take part in the service: then we can catch hold of the priest as we come out,” suggested Mark. “We ought to spend today looking for smart clothes, anyway.”

Stephanie had never been to church: when she was a child it would have been too risky for her parents to take her, and they were not churchgoers in any case. She was a bit nervous about this but Mark reassured her. It seemed the best course to take.

So it was the following morning that the young couple presented themselves at the church door and took their places among the small congregation. Several other worshippers glanced at the strangers curiously: one elderly lady sitting next to them gave them an enquiring look, so they explained, plausibly, that they were on a short visit to Kentak. Mark whispered to Stephanie that she didn’t have to do anything: just kneel when the others knelt, sing when they sang, and pray when they prayed. She didn’t need to go up to the priest to take the sacrament, although Mark would.

After the service they asked to have a private word with the priest, and he readily agreed, and took them into the sacristy. They explained their purpose in a few words.

The priest was a small elderly man with thin grey hair, a wrinkled face with bushy eyebrows and a short grey beard. But there was a twinkle in his eyes as he looked the young couple up and down, and he smiled.

“So you want to tie the knot, do you, my children? And you want it to happen right here, in my church? How did you come to choose this one, if I may ask?”

“Oh, we like it here in Kentak, and we’re staying with friends here—until the wedding,” replied Mark.

“I trust that you have not anticipated the sacred bonds of matrimony, whilst you have been staying here?”

“Oh no,” said Stephanie. “We’ve been very good.” Well, she thought, that was in part true!

“I noticed that you didn’t take communion, Stephanie,” continued the priest. “Please allow me to enquire of your heart: just a few words. Have you been Confirmed?”

“No, I’m afraid not. Neither of my parents went to church much.” Which was also true.

“Where are your parents now, Stephanie?”

They had rehearsed carefully for this. “Both my parents are dead,” she said, calmly. “Since I was a child. I was looked after by my guardian, an old friend of my father, who also happens to be Mark’s uncle. That’s how Mark and I came to meet.”

“But you are both of age, I trust?” Both Mark and Sophie nodded. The priest looked over Stephanie a bit curiously, but if he doubted them, he said nothing. Instead he asked:

“And both of you are absolutely sure of one another? That your love will endure? Remember that marriage is a sacred commitment for life: it is not to be entered upon lightly. You are both still quite young. Search your hearts and imagine what your feelings will be to one another, years hence. I assume you have known each other since childhood, but that is no guarantee of a smooth path through adulthood.”

“Oh no,” said Mark, “we only met for the first time a few months ago. In fact I never really knew I had an uncle until recently.”

They watched the priest’s expression carefully, but they had the feeling he had been won over. “Hmmm…” he said, with a wink, “this is somewhat unusual, but I think I can see the way forward. Come and see me in the Presbytery tomorrow, and we’ll talk about arrangements.” He wrote out the address for them.

With that, he bid them farewell. Back at the flat, Adrian and Jack congratulated them, while Martha was overcome by the thought of her little Sophie about to become a married woman, and shed not a few tears over it.

“We knew it would work out all right,” said Adrian. “We know that old priest—and what’s more, he knows about us—Jack and me—and he’s fully understanding. Just imagine if you’d tried to get married in Waknuk church, or any other church out in the backwoods! Our priest knows that, too: he knows that’s why you came to him. He’ll be thinking it’s maybe an elopement, but he’s understanding about that too.”

A thought occurred to Stephanie, just then. “About—the two of you. Does Michael know?”

“We think he guessed—and he’s well educated so he understands it better,” said Adrian. “We never spoke about our relationship. Times have been dangerous—but maybe enlightenment is on the way…”

The next day Stephanie and Mark returned to the priest, and it was all arranged: the wedding was fixed for three weeks hence. They agreed that it would be a very small ceremony, with only a few guests present, and no white wedding dress or other special preparations. All that remained, therefore, was to collect the smart clothes they had ordered, and go to see Mark’s mother and see how she reacted to their announcement.