A Song for Issy Bradley Read Online Free Page A

and then she raised it high. Sister Campbell stopped reading.
    “Yes, Sister Bradley?”
    “You know I wasn’t raised in the Church, so it’s possible I don’t know …”
    Sister Campbell nodded her agreement that Mum likely didn’t know.
    “… but, I think that might be an old quotation,” Mum continued, her hand partially raised in a way that simultaneously protected her head. “The word ‘diabolical’ seems a bit … much.”
    Sister Campbell flicked to the front of the book. “It was published in 1992. Not particularly old, I’d say.”
    Mum’s hand was still shielding her head; she looked like she was expecting Sister Campbell to belt her, but she carried on.
    “I do think twenty years is quite a long—”
    “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; we know that from the scriptures, Sister Bradley, don’t we? Let’s have an object lesson.”
    Sister Campbell likes object lessons. Once, she brought a dartboard to church and everyone had to take aim at a target she had Blu-tacked to the board. At the end of the lesson she peeled the paper target away from the board and on its underside was a picture of Jesus’s face, smiling out through the perforations
—“This
is what you do to Jesus
every time
you sin,” she said.
    Last night she reached into her homemade scripture case to pull out a stick of Wrigley’s Doublemint gum.
    “Who would like this?”
    No one said anything. Everyone suspected a trick.
    “You would, wouldn’t you, Zipporah?”
    Zippy shook her head but then thought better of it and nodded. Sister Campbell stripped away the foil wrapping, put the gum in her own mouth, and chewed loudly.
    “Mmm. Delicious.” She reached into her mouth and pulled out the chewed gum. “There you are, Zipporah,” she said. “Come on up and get it; it’s all yours.”
    Zippy gave a surprised laugh and a couple of other people joined in.
    “It’s no laughing matter. These are the fruits of sexual immorality.” Sister Campbell held the gum out and shook her hand for emphasis. “Who wants dirty, chewed gum?”
    The laughter stopped. Mum whispered something to Dad, who shook his head. Mum poked him, and when he ignored her, she stood up. Zippy assumed she was headed for the bathroom, but she stepped forward and joined Sister Campbell. They stood side by side, Mum nervously fingering her wedding ring as Sister Campbell’s face set into an expression hard enough to chop wood.
    Mum’s voice trembled and the air in the room was suddenly thinned by held breath. “I don’t mean to cause contention, but …”She grabbed the sticky ball from Sister Campbell’s fingers and put it into her mouth.
    Everyone breathed out at once.
    “Yum,” Mum said, her jaw working determinedly. She looked like a contestant from
I’m a Celebrity
, munching on a kangaroo testicle. “Repentance is delicious. Forgiveness tastes wonderful, too. You’d never know anyone had eaten this before. It’s still lovely and minty.”
    Sister Campbell’s cheeks went red and she held out her hand, but Mum ignored her and carried on chomping.
    Finally, she removed the gum from her mouth and placed it on Sister Campbell’s upturned palm. Then she sat back down beside Dad.
    Sister Campbell held her hand out. “Would anyone else like a chew?”
    Poor Sister Valentine was in agony. She looked from Sister Campbell to Mum and back again, uncertain as to whether it was best to emphasize the cleansing power of repentance or the diabolical nature of sin.
    A horrible tickle of laughter began to scramble up Zippy’s windpipe. She tried to swallow it and ended up coughing. The cough took her by surprise and caught in her throat. She tried another swallow, which led to another cough, and her eyes began to stream. Adam patted her back, but the surprise of his touch through the fabric of her T-shirt made things worse.
    “Go and get a drink of water,” Sister Campbell said.
    Zippy left the chapel. She coughed and giggled all the