Page 30 of The Women of Wild Hill

Should a woman survive childbirth, it is her body and soul that will nourish the bairn. She will fatten it with milk she’s made. Educate it with the contents of her brain. Give it her heart and live in the knowledge that the things that matter most to her are no longer her own.

Of course, a woman need not give birth to know this love.

The Duncan girls were no less my children for having come from their mothers’ wombs.

The three worst days of my existence were the day I lost Gerald, the day of my trial, and the day I told Flora what she needed to do.

She didn’t hesitate when I showed her what it would mean for her girls.

She knew her death would be the fertile soil from which Brigid and Phoebe would rise.

We are sustenance for the generations that follow. What wouldn’t a woman do for her children to thrive? Some confuse this for weakness. We know it is the ultimate strength. Men build marble monuments to their triumphs. Women know the lives to come are our legacy.