The Sisterhood: Season Four: The Sisterhood (Seasons), #4

By Tali Inlow

CONTINUE THE JOURNEY WITH SEASON FOUR

 

Autumn Parish never wanted to be a hero. But as she treks across the desolate Midwest years after the collapse of society, a hero is exactly what she's become: a SHEPHERD, weaving magic from words and guiding people between this life and the next.

 

Summer Norwood rules a wild outpost on the outskirts of what used to be Phoenix, but her grasp on power is fragile. As the SHERIFF, she has a massive target on her back. With evil brewing, she vows not to go down without a fight.

 

In their childhoods, both were students at the Whitmore School for Girls in Appalachia, an elite and intensely secretive SCHOOL where young women were taught how to conquer the world. Those who attended became part of the Sisterhood, a network spanning the globe, their influence and power unparalleled.

 

Desire drew Autumn and Summer together from different worlds, taking them from enemies to lovers at Whitmore. But betrayal ultimately tore them apart. Twenty-five years later, when Autumn receives a magical summons drawing her west, she never expected to be reunited with the woman who betrayed her all those years before. But when Autumn realizes that other members of their Sisterhood are in danger, she may have to put their past where it belongs, teaming up with Summer to save them all.

 

***The Sisterhood is a serialized speculative fiction adventure. Start with SEASON ONE to discover kick-ass heroines surviving at the end of the world and bonds of friendship and love built to overcome any obstacle. For fans of The 100, Into the Badlands, or Mad Max: Fury Road.*** 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Two Is Enough Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Mar 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393531104

Tali Inlow

Tali Inlow is an up-and-coming author of queer speculative fiction. 

Book preview

THE JOURNEY OF THE SISTERHOOD

THIS IS A SERIALIZED saga—if you haven’t read previous episodes yet, go back and start at the beginning!

And once you get to the end of this book, check the links there to continue the journey.

EPISODE TEN

The Shepherd

AUTUMN AND SEPTEMBER get several hours of walking behind them before they stop for a bite to eat. When they do, Autumn’s masochistic side makes itself known.

Tell me about the not-so-terrible place you left behind, she says. Family, friends, safety...?

Yes, well.

September lowers herself somewhat gracefully to the ground and begins to rub with one hand at her sore calves. The other hand holds the choice piece of jerky that Autumn had offered to her.

It was home. A little piece of Virginian farmland. My pops and his brother built it up, made it into a compound that could house and protect a good number of people. Family, mostly, is what they intended it for. But so many of our family didn’t even make it past those first few weeks... I was too young to remember, the girl offers with a shrug, but I’ve heard plenty of stories.

Autumn nods. She lived through such stories herself, and so she can imagine what might’ve kept September’s family apart back then. What might’ve taken them, and earlier than they would have otherwise been taken.

Anyway, they turned it into a trading post. A waypoint for travelers, a temporary home for most and a permanent one for some. I grew up there, so it always seemed normal, you know? All these strangers becoming family. It was just how things were done—how my dad and his brother wanted things to be. Wasn’t what their dad—my grandpops—would’ve wanted, or so they tell me. But I think that’s part of why they did it anyway.

Another nod from Autumn, because she knows what expectations like that can be, how toxic and dangerous and inescapable. Something about those wealthy Virginian socialites, something about that echelon, that era...

Seems like a good place.

Yeah, and I had no damn idea exactly how good it was, did I? September acknowledges, almost as if chastising herself. Not until I was out here. She waves her hand, the gesture encompassing the world at large. "Believe me when I say that I do not relish the idea of having to tell my dad that he was right."

Right about what?

About how lousy the world is. How desolate. Dangerous. How lonely... September’s eyes flash upward, catching Autumn’s gaze for a moment before looking away again. A bit of silence, and then, He never wanted me to leave. In fact, he... Well, he didn’t know I was leaving until I was already gone.

As September says this last bit, she lifts her chin defiantly, as if to say, It couldn’t have been any other way. As if to ask, Do you understand?

I know, comes Autumn’s silent reply. Of course I do.

She simply dips her head, tilting it to the side. The movement is slow, restrained. When she speaks, her voice is quiet.

I’ve never been one for goodbyes, myself.

September’s eyes well up with tears, and Autumn looks down at her bladder of water, to give the young woman a moment of privacy. After a few seconds she stands, and September follows suit.

And besides, September picks up again, my uncle helped get me on my way. So it’s not like Pops was caught totally unawares.

They head out once their packs are on their backs again, and Autumn continues her masochistic streak with another question.

"This pops of yours, she asks, a young, handsome face already materializing in her mind’s eyes. A memory from long ago, distant but sharp. Painfully in-focus after all this time. He’s... she stumbles a bit on the words, and September glances her way, curious. He’s a decent father, yeah?"

Definitely, September affirms. He’s a great dad. I was really lucky, I think. I never knew my mom’s side of the family, but Pops told me enough to understand that she never had it easy. The only good thing about her bailing on us, I guess—I got to be raised by the Archer family instead of the Norwoods.

Hearing the name Archer is like a kick to Autumn’s front teeth. It rattles her just as much as the first glimpse of September’s eyes had, or the mention of September’s mother’s first name, when she’d pointed out the silliness in the commonality between the two women—Summer. Summer and Autumn. What a pair. What a joke.

The name Norwood rattles Autumn, too, of course. But she’s always held a particular grudge against the other surname. Archer. The one who ruined everything and didn’t even know it.

Well. She assumes he didn’t know. What would be the point in hating him even more? If he knew what he’d done, if he knew what he’d ruined... Would that have changed anything, anything at all? Unlikely, and so she had pushed him to the side as best she could. But the name, his goddamn preppy as hell name, it had been burned into her brain a long time ago.

Autumn clears her throat. Two old Virginian families, to be sure, she says, her steps not slowing even as this statement seems to throw a hitch in September’s step.

What, you spend much time in Virginia?

She’s walked herself right into that question. But she can walk herself right back out of it just as easily.

I used to do business out that way, she offers. Before.

And Before is enough of an explanation to sober the mood right up.

September catches back up with Autumn’s strides after a few steps. The land around them feels more alive than it has in days—greener, more wholesome and fresh. Autumn dares to enjoy it, this feeling—the feeling of home approaching.

From next to Autumn, September takes a deep breath and exhales before saying, It wasn’t the sort of place where I was going to be happy. Not in the long run.

Autumn chews