when she was strong enough to sit and walk , the woman who had stayed to watch over her whispered in a distant way , well do this one more time after your moon and then you will be ready to marry , and stillbird told her she had not bled for two moons now , and she told her about the rape , in a distant voice , as if neither woman was even there , as if this were happening to someone else in another place and time , in a tale perhaps , and she was waiting to hear the end .