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But she wasn’t free The dreaet rid of her collar Not yet She put it back in her bag and resolved to forget about it At least this ti it away

The 5:00 arabbed the blankets off the floor, made her bed and pulled on the thick white terry cloth bathrobe she’d been given her second day here Even in a house of all wo to the bathroo only underwear and a T-shirt She had to be covered up, neck to toe, every day, at all times

In the bathroom at the end of the hall, Elle took a quick shower, pulled her hair back in a tight knot and dressed in the black tights, long black skirt and white blouse that had become her uniform here at the abbey No one would have mistaken her for a nun, but no one fronized her now in such conservative clothing

Alone in the kitchen, Elle had her usual breakfast of coffee, eggs, fruit and toast Only on Sundaymore exotic than the breakfast basics While the sisters were at Lauds, Elle headed to the laundry room where she would spend the next five hours until lunchtime

Her life at the abbey had been difficult at first She argued with the more irascible nuns, she’d been uncere one tooand she’d been kicked out of the library for rearranging all the books Who on earth had decided to put the books in order by title? No one who’d ever worked in a real library or a bookstore would arrange books in such an ass-backay She’d worked in a bookstore for years and had even fucked a librarian She kne books worked But the sisters had their own idea of order and didn’t appreciate any attempts at improvement

That left her alone in the laundry room all day She washed sheets She dried sheets She folded sheets The next day she did it again She washed habits She ironed habits She folded habits The next day she did it again Hardly slave labor, but it certainly didn’t excite her Then again, no one came to a convent for excitement She’d come to the convent for the opposite of excitement, and the opposite of excitement was exactly what she’d found here She had safety She had peace and quiet And she hadn’t seen Søren and Kingsley in , put her dishes in the sink and left the kitchen Once in the laundry roo All she wanted was to go back to bed and sleep until the second co to do with Jesus’s return and everything to do with having another orgasm

She hopped onto the tile counter by the sink and looked out the hile she drank her coffee She could see the road from the , see the front lawn of the abbey and could see the wrought-iron fence that surrounded the convent’s acreage--one hundred twenty in total, give or take a few square feet All of it froe of the farthest field was fenced in in one way or another The side and back gardens were fenced in by iron The fields of farmland and well-manicured forest were fenced in hite wood And the entire abbey was fenced in by the rules Rule nurounds without permission Elle didn’t have permission to leave, so here she stayed

Since she couldn’t leave and didn’t want to, she stared out at the road and watched the occasional car pass on its way to or fro by like every other car she’d seen since co abbey driveway Slowly it crept toward the convent before coentle stop

As if on cue, a dozen sisters in their black-and-white habits streamed from the front doors toward the car Elle had never seen the sisters leave the abbey They did, of course Sometimes they had doctors’ appointments or dentists’ appointments or Mother Prioress would visit with someone important in the city anted to buy their land or sell the, never seen it happen

The car doors opened and a er’s They looked aboutBut then the wo woold highlights that res Her hair fell in waves down her back She had flowers in her hair--white flowers And the long dress she as simple and white The man pulled a sirl’s hand in hers, but only for a moment

Now the sisters surrounded the trio and quickly pried the young woman from her parents Yes, of course, they had to be her parents and this girl was entering the order It didn’t seeirl barely looked twenty-one And what a beautya tiny thing who couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds

"Don’t do it, sweetheart," Elle whispered "Get back in the car and drive"

As if the girl could hear her, she glanced up at theand squinted Elle froze Did the girl see her? Probably What did it irl raised her hand and waved at her Elle didn’t knohat to do so she waved back Mother Prioress turned and glanced up at the , but Elle had already ducked away froht She panted in nervousness and didn’t knohy Nothing but a girl, a beautiful young girl who’d waved at her Nothing to panic about