THIRTY-NINE

Most everyone who makes it this far is offered a choice,” Brij told Gloria Shelton, safe inside the cabin. She was sitting beside the bed where Theo was under sheets, muttering as he rolled from side to side.

Gloria kept wiping Theo’s forehead with a damp cloth but turned her head toward Brij. Jordan had looked at the boy before leaving with Caitlyn. Penicillin was all Theo needed. “Most everyone?”

“If you had children, you wouldn’t be offered a chance to remain among the Clan. Living among the Clan is dangerous enough. Having a child among us would restrict our mobility. Worse, we would make decisions to protect the child that would put us in more harm. And lastly, it’s unfair to the child, who has no choice. Anyone in the Clan must be here by choice and must make the choice fully aware of the cost. Families are always sent Outside, where there would be a home waiting and support until you found work.”

“I have the choice, then. To stay among you?”

“What do you know about us?” he asked in return. “The Clan.”

Gloria chuckled. “Only the boogeyman legends. That the Clan shows up at night. Disappears at will. People only remember bits and pieces of a visit.” She spread her arms. “Like this. I’m here. But my last memory is Cumberland Gap. When I try to remember in between, it feels dark. Frightening. So I understand the boogeyman legends.”

“It wasn’t a pleasant journey,” Brij said. “I’m not at liberty to tell you more about it, except that there’s a drug involved. During the journey, the drug doesn’t allow you to move your short-term memories into long term. It protects us and keeps Bar Elohim from searching for refugees like you.” More softly, he added, “To Cumberland Gap, you’re dead. Your funeral is today. I’m told you will be well grieved.”

“That’s as much as one could hope for from this life.”

“Freedom,” Brij said. “One can hope for that. It’s why the Clan exists.”

As Gloria nodded, her eyes bright in her wrinkled face, Brij continued. “In the garden, God allowed Adam and Eve to choose. When the rich young man walked away from Christ after learning what he needed to do to reach heaven, Christ didn’t chase him to persuade him to change his mind. Any other way is the kingdom of the sword.”

“The sword?”

“Imposing beliefs by using earthly power. Like the Crusades, the Inquisition, and, in the last century, the political banding of Christians that finally resulted in Appalachia.”

Brij shook his head. “Christ’s followers begged him to overthrow Rome. Instead, he chose the kingdom of the cross. Power through powerlessness. Love and sacrifice. That’s what you’ll accept if you join us. We will not fight for Christ. But we will die for him.”

In the silence, Gloria Shelton continued to soothe Theo’s fever. She turned her hand over and gently touched her old fingers across his forehead.

“No,” she finally said. “I don’t want to join the Clan.”

Brij raised his eyebrows. “Nearly always, I know the answer before I hear it. You’ve surprised me. You already risked your life by teaching from a Bible. I expected you would stay.”

“Billy’s told me what this boy has gone through to get Outside. He watched his parents die in an execution by stoning. When he’s ready to leave, I’d like to go with him. Outside. To help him as long as I can.”

“I thought you were dead.” Caitlyn hugged Jordan. They stood several yards away from the cabin.

Feeling her arms around his back made him again conscious of how her body had changed so rapidly in the last days. He closed his eyes, washed in guilt. And relief. Mostly though, overwhelming love.

“I thought I’d be dead too,” Jordan said.

“You mean when you sent me over the cliff?” She pushed back and stared at him. He hoped her expression simply reflected a reaction to how he must have looked with the deep bruising, but he knew better.

He nodded.

“Why?”

“If we didn’t separate, the bounty hunter would have gotten us both. It wasn’t a difficult decision.” Especially, he thought, because of his guilt. And his love.

“No. I meant, why this plan? The letter. The horse. Instructions to come here. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“That was part of the conditions of help. Secrecy. It protects the Clan. In return, you will have a chance to save the Clan.”

“Save the Clan?” Each word was measured with disbelief.

“Brij will tell you.”

Caitlyn’s expression hardened. “I had a right to know. Before you abandoned me on the cliff.”

“It was to save you.” Jordan kept his eyes on hers, but it took effort.

“I’m here, safe, and even now you won’t tell me why.” She backed away from him. He was losing her again.

It was a chasm. His love for her on one side. His duty and honor to the Clan on the other. And a horrible darkness lay between.

“Everything I’ve done since you were little was to find a way for you to live normally, to get Outside. Where you will be free to make your own choices. Of faith or love. Tomorrow, you will be Outside. I’ve made arrangements, and there will be money waiting for you. A doctor. Surgery. A new identity.”

“Are you going Outside too?” For a moment, she was a faltering child again, terrified of losing her Papa.

He wished he could rush forward, pull her close and protect her. Tell her that he wouldn’t leave her this time.

“I can’t.” He struggled for a way to say it that wouldn’t endanger her further. “They want what I know too badly. If we are together, we will always be hunted.”

“What do they want?” Her face had instantly transformed, from lost child to resolute adult.

Jordan still could not find the strength to tell her.

“Mason was going to cut me open. He has a silver canister. What does he want?”

She raised her voice. “What does he want?”

Jordan shook his head, barely able to look her in the eyes.

She took a half step back. “What does Mason want from me?”

Jordan knew he was losing her but still could not answer. Because if he did, he’d lose her anyway.

She waited. As the silence lengthened, he knew their chasm was becoming unbridgeable.

Brij appeared on the porch of the cabin, and Jordan knew he’d lost. There was no time left and nothing he could say.

Caitlyn walked away.

Carney stood next to Pierce, maybe twenty feet away from Mason, but far enough that the dispersion pattern of shot would make it impossible to miss his target. He was close enough that the pellets would tear holes through Mason’s body.

Mason slowly stood, blinking against the sunlight. “We’ve got them, Carney. This is the entrance to the mines. The powder here shows up in ultraviolet light. We wait for someone else to go in, then follow the tracks. I’ve got the ultraviolet light in my backpack. And paint with the same kind of chemical for marking the turns in the mine. We won’t get lost.”

“No.” Shotgun held motionless, Carney used his head to motion for Pierce to get Mason’s backpack. “Duct tape. He’s always got a roll or two on him.”

Carney stared at Mason while Pierce pulled out the contents. Flashlight. The silver canister. A small spray can. Flares. And a roll of duct tape.

“Don’t do this,” Mason said. “We’re on the same side. If not, Bar Elohim will have you in a factory by tonight.”

Carney ignored Lee again. “We’ll need to tape his hands behind his back. I’d rather he walked, but if he doesn’t, tape his ankles and we’ll carry him.”

“Where to?”

Carney saw no point in answering Mason. His plan was to move the bounty hunter at least a mile away, then he and Pierce would come back. Go inside the mines and alert the Clan that this entrance had been found. As in all other times of discovery, the Clan would use explosives to obliterate it and make it impossible to find a way inside. The mountain was honeycombed with entrances. The Clan would shift to a new one.

“Where’s the girl?” Carney asked. “Inside already?”

“Doesn’t matter to you.” Mason knelt and reached for his shotgun.

“You touch that…I’ll let Pierce finish his job on you. No bluff.”

Mason ignored him, wrapping his fingers around the stock of his shotgun.

“Guess it’ll be me then.” Carney pulled the trigger without hesitation. Instead of a roar and recoil, he heard a futile click. Mason rose from his knees, swinging the barrel of his own shotgun toward Carney.

Carney pulled frantically, again and again. Nothing but ineffective clicking.

“What a shame,” Mason said. “Almost like someone got into your office and filed away the firing pins.”

Mason stepped closer. “Now that you have that duct tape out, Agent, go ahead and follow the sheriff’s plan. His hands, behind his back, like he said. Then lie on the ground so I can do the same to you. Unfortunately, you’re worth more to me alive than dead right now, but shooting you is easier than fighting you. Not nearly as good as cutting you up like you deserve.”