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"
Silence
!
"
Sister
Agatha
hissed
,
turning
on
her
.
"
It
is
a
matter
of
complete
indifference
to
me
which
one
of
you
was
responsible
.
You
are
all
late
,
therefore
you
must
all
be
punished
.
Six
cuts
.
"
She
pronounced
the
sentence
with
monotonous
relish
.
Terrified
,
Meggie
watched
Bob
's
steady
hands
,
saw
the
long
cane
whistle
down
almost
faster
than
her
eyes
could
follow
,
and
crack
sharply
against
the
center
of
his
palms
,
where
the
flesh
was
soft
and
tender
.
A
purple
welt
flared
up
immediately
;
the
next
cut
came
at
the
junction
of
fingers
and
palm
,
more
sensitive
still
,
and
the
final
one
across
the
tips
of
the
fingers
,
where
the
brain
has
loaded
the
skin
down
with
more
sensation
than
anywhere
else
save
the
lips
.
Sister
Agatha
's
aim
was
perfect
.
Three
more
cuts
followed
on
Bob
's
other
hand
before
she
turned
her
attention
to
Jack
,
next
in
line
.
Bob
's
face
was
pale
but
he
made
no
outcry
or
movement
,
nor
did
his
brothers
as
their
turns
came
;
even
quiet
and
tender
Stu
.
As
they
followed
the
upward
rise
of
the
cane
above
her
own
hands
Meggie
's
eyes
closed
involuntarily
,
so
she
did
not
see
the
descent
.
But
the
pain
was
like
a
vast
explosion
,
a
scorching
,
searing
invasion
of
her
flesh
right
down
to
the
bone
;
even
as
the
ache
spread
tingling
up
her
forearm
the
next
cut
came
,
and
by
the
time
it
had
reached
her
shoulder
the
final
cut
across
her
fingertips
was
screaming
along
the
same
path
,
all
the
way
through
to
her
heart
.
She
fastened
her
teeth
in
her
lower
lip
and
bit
down
on
it
,
too
ashamed
and
too
proud
to
cry
,
too
angry
and
indignant
at
the
injustice
of
it
to
dare
open
her
eyes
and
look
at
Sister
Agatha
;
the
lesson
was
sinking
in
,
even
if
the
crux
of
it
was
not
what
Sister
Agatha
intended
to
teach
.
It
was
lunchtime
before
the
last
of
the
pain
died
out
of
her
hands
.
Meggie
had
passed
the
morning
in
a
haze
of
fright
and
bewilderment
,
not
understanding
anything
that
was
said
or
done
.
Pushed
into
a
double
desk
in
the
back
row
of
the
youngest
children
's
classroom
,
she
did
not
even
notice
who
was
sharing
the
desk
until
after
a
miserable
lunch
hour
spent
huddled
behind
Bob
and
Jack
in
a
secluded
corner
of
the
playground
.
Only
Bob
's
stern
command
persuaded
her
to
eat
Fee
's
gooseberry
jam
sandwiches
.
When
the
bell
rang
for
afternoon
classes
and
Meggie
found
a
place
on
line
,
her
eyes
finally
began
to
clear
enough
to
take
in
what
was
going
on
around
her
.
The
disgrace
of
the
caning
rankled
as
sharply
as
ever
,
but
she
held
her
head
high
and
affected
not
to
notice
the
nudges
and
whispers
of
the
little
girls
near
her
.
Sister
Agatha
was
standing
in
front
with
her
cane
;
Sister
Declan
prowled
up
and
down
behind
the
lines
;
Sister
Catherine
seated
herself
at
the
piano
just
inside
the
youngest
children
's
classroom
door
and
began
to
play
"
Onward
,
Christian
Soldiers
"
with
a
heavy
emphasis
on
two-four
time
.
It
was
,
properly
speaking
,
a
Protestant
hymn
,
but
the
war
had
rendered
it
interdenominational
.
The
dear
children
marched
to
it
just
like
wee
soldiers
,
Sister
Catherine
thought
proudly
.
Of
the
three
nuns
,
Sister
Declan
was
a
replica
of
Sister
Agatha
minus
fifteen
years
of
life
,
where
Sister
Catherine
was
still
remotely
human
.
She
was
only
in
her
thirties
,
Irish
of
course
,
and
the
bloom
of
her
ardor
had
not
yet
entirely
faded
;
she
still
found
joy
in
teaching
,
still
saw
Christ
's
imperishable
Image
in
the
little
faces
turned
up
to
hers
so
adoringly
.
But
she
taught
the
oldest
children
,
whom
Sister
Agatha
deemed
beaten
enough
to
behave
in
spite
of
a
young
and
soft
supervisor
.
Sister
Agatha
herself
took
the
youngest
children
to
form
minds
and
hearts
out
of
infantile
clay
,
leaving
those
in
the
middle
grades
to
Sister
Declan
.
Safely
hidden
in
the
last
row
of
desks
,
Meggie
dared
to
glance
sideways
at
the
little
girl
sitting
next
to
her
.
A
gap-toothed
grin
met
her
frightened
gaze
,
huge
black
eyes
staring
roundly
out
of
a
dark
,
slightly
shiny
face
.
She
fascinated
Meggie
,
used
to
fairness
and
freckles
,
for
even
Frank
with
his
dark
eyes
and
hair
had
a
fair
white
skin
;
so
Meggie
ended
in
thinking
her
deskmate
the
most
beautiful
creature
she
had
ever
seen
.
