Broken Promises

Sparrow woke up several times that night, each time thinking about the choices she had to make.

In the morning, Clara opened the bedroom door, a pair of fancy slippers dangling from her hand.

“Are you sure about this nun business?” Clara approached the bed as Sparrow pulled a sheet up around her shoulders.

“Is it a mistake to take the vow of a novice?” Sparrow asked. “Everyone encouraged me last night.”

“If you ask me, you are too young to be making such a serious commitment. My entire life changed when I was your age.” Clara sat on the bed. “I was barely sixteen when Alicia and I left Rancho Refugio.”

“But you had a family—a mama, papa, and siblings. I have no one but Mama, and she needs me here.” Sparrow eyed the pink slippers Clara had laid next to her, and it occurred to her that Clara looked very dressed up for the early morning.

“You have us. It’s not like your mama left you or lied to you.” Clara seemed to talk about a life she’d had before Monterey.

“The girls will be late for school. Let’s go,” Aunt Alicia called from the sala, where she and Josefina were finishing breakfast.

“Sparrow is going to stay behind and help me this morning,” Clara called back, watching Sparrow closely.

“But Sister Placida will expect her. What do you want her to do?” Josefina’s eyes darted between Sparrow and Clara as she stood in the doorway. “We should go to school.”

“I’ll see you later. I promise.” Sparrow didn’t know what Clara wanted her to do, but she knew she was tired of taking instructions from everybody. She reached for the pink slippers. She watched Aunt Alicia and Josefina leave, shaking their heads like two old women.

“You won’t be sorry, Sparrow. If you really want to protect the governor, trust me.” Then Clara smiled and said, “Wait here.” She swept from the room and returned moments later with a pile of pink material. “I noticed yesterday that you favor this one.”

“I do!” Sparrow stood in her underwear and slipped on the pink gown.

“Here.” Clara pulled a silver vial out of her bodice and dabbed Sparrow with perfume. “Doesn’t that smell lovely? I’m telling you, the nuns use nothing as lovely as this.”

Sparrow wrestled with the buttons on the fancy dress as Clara explained she intended to deliver personal invitations to her party to each of the captains in port. Sparrow pushed her shoulders back and her chest out as she noticed how the dress emphasized her blossoming figure. She puckered her lips and tugged at the low neckline. How quickly Clara had transformed her from an awkward schoolgirl to a young woman. A part of her wanted Papa to see her looking so grown up, but another part worried what Mama would say.

“I should tell Mama that I’m going with you.”

“For once, you can see the world you are missing. Why waste your young beauty as a novice?” Clara tied back Sparrow’s hair with ribbons and then led her out of the house to a waiting wagon.