Chapter Twenty-eight

“Damn it.” Luc bolted off the couch. He paced the length of living room, the floorboards creaking with each step. He settled in front of the fireplace.

I raised my hand to the damp stubble on his face and wiped his cheek dry. “Are you sure it was her, and not someone else?”

“They called her name and it looked just like Mom. Before that, Colonel Bradley called my name and said she had an important message for me. I have twenty-four hours to report to her.” He grabbed the picture of his mother rocking a baby Sheila and two-year-old Luc to sleep.

“They aren’t going to release her.” I hated to sound so negative about Sue’s capture, but I had to be realistic. I tried to wrap my head around the whole situation. What business did they have with Luc, other than his being a soldier when I was the one they wanted? Why weren’t they going after my parents?

Because Sue had become my parent.

My shoulders sank as I considered the possibility that Luc was withholding some of the colonel’s demand. “They called for me, didn’t they?”

He remained silent for a moment too long. “No. Colonel Bradley wants me to report to her.”

“Why?” I had my suspicions. Abi had succeeded in making me feel inadequate whenever she’d come to the house.

He bristled at the question. “I don’t know, but my plan hasn’t changed. I’m going to organize a group to fight them. And if they murder my mother…” His voice trailed off, but its coldness made me shudder.

I still felt he was hiding something from me. I took the photograph out of his hands. Sue wore a smile that reached her eyes and held an expression that exuded an inner strength. Her husband had left them for another woman a few weeks before the picture had been taken. I couldn’t stand the idea of my husband leaving for the same reason.

“Promise me that you won’t go to Colonel Bradley.” I was embarrassed to think that Luc would leave me for her, but it didn’t seem far-fetched to me that she wanted my husband. I’d seen the way she acted around him. I’d witnessed the stares when she thought no one was looking.

“No. I won’t make that promise because that’s exactly where I’m going as soon as I can round up an army. They’re going to get a taste of their own medicine.”

Noah let out a cry and I headed downstairs. Jessa handed him to me and I sat on the recliner. Like clockwork, he was ready to nurse. I hummed a lullaby to calm my nerves as my mind raced to discover what Luc wasn’t telling me.

Luc emptied the contents of my backpack onto the hideaway. The Order’s books spread out across the couch. Having no idea what he’d casually tossed aside, he started towards the secret room and I heard the clinking of cans as they dropped into the bag. Maggie came bouncing towards the couch, and I reached for the books to keep them safe. A few minutes later, Luc crouched through the secret room, lugging the backpack behind him.

“Where are you going, Uncle Luc?”

“It’s time for me to go back to work.”

Jessa looked from Luc to me, pursing her lips as her eyes became pinpoints. “There isn’t an army anymore. You’re leaving because of her, aren’t you?”

“I’m leaving because there are some horrible things going on around us and someone has to do something about it.” He loosened the straps to the backpack. “You’re going to have to step up and help your aunt.”

Her gaze ping-ponged between Luc and me before she let out a sigh. “You aren’t going to come back. They’ll kill you first.” Rosy and Maggie gasped and began to wail.

Luc and I had taken great care not to discuss what was happening in front of the children, but Jessa had caught a few glimpses of the television. Now, I was certain she’d heard more than she had led us to believe.

“I’m going to do my best to come back.” He slung the backpack over his shoulders as Rosy and Maggie each hugged a leg, insisting that he not go. “I’ll wait until after breakfast, but I have to go after that. Until then, who wants a horsey ride?”

They climbed atop him and their sobs instantly became giggles. Jessa smiled as she watched the girls topple off the bucking bronco and clamber back for more. When Noah finished eating, I handed him to Jessa. She brushed her lips against his forehead and rocked him gently as he smiled at her.

In the secret room, I stared at our wall of supplies. We’d made a dent in them, but still had enough to get by for another six weeks. Now that Luc was leaving, we could probably extend that to two months if we were conservative with our rations and I could move past my aversion to hunting and fishing.

I frowned as I looked at our choice of dry cereal or oatmeal. My taste buds wouldn’t be able to handle another six weeks of this. I measured out five servings of oatmeal and fired up the camping stove. When the oatmeal was ready, I emptied a can of peaches into the pot and dished out some of my ration for Luc.

We ate our breakfast around the oak table upstairs. Though it was still dark, the rays of light shining through the windows above the door made everything seem more hopeful than ominous. The girls balked at the oatmeal, but they smiled as they tasted the sweetness of the peaches. Happiness and laughter lifted this meal out of the abyss in which we’d grown far too familiar.

“Will you escort me out?” Luc said as I cleared the last of the bowls from the table.

It was time. Already. I wanted to cry, but strength was what I needed most. The girls couldn’t see me break down. I gave a curt nod and bundled my coat.

The frigid air seized my breath. I squinted my eyes and tried to shield them from the sun. It felt like weeks since we’d been outside, yet it was only a few days ago that Luc had shown me the well and how to retrieve water from it. I followed Luc, carefully leaping from footprint to footprint. Winded, a sigh turned to steam as snow dusted my jeans up to my thigh.

“This is crazy, Luc.” I stopped in my tracks. “At least wait until the snow melts.”

He turned to look at me. “If I don’t leave now, I never will. There are a few things I want to go over with you. Let the kids live a little. Once the weather clears, let them go outside for a little bit every day.”

“They’ll make too much noise out here. That’ll get us killed!” What the hell was the man thinking?

“Lily, if you don’t let them outside, you’re all going to drive each other nuts.” I shrugged my shoulders, which seemed to satisfy him. “Don’t use the gun to hunt. I want you to save every bullet in case you need it for protection. Jessa’s a great shot with the bow and arrow. She’ll teach you how to work it. She’s also a helluva fisherman. Don’t be afraid to let her take that role. Don’t let your stubbornness make life hell for all of you.”

I grimaced at the thought of Jessa becoming our provider. She was more likely to run away the first opportunity she had. I rolled my eyes as Luc continued his words of wisdom.

“Maintain your water supply and stick to your rations. If you run out of food, Edgar will help you.”

Luc was crazy if he thought I’d go to Edgar for anything. “Please tell me he doesn’t know we’re here.”

“I haven’t seen him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know. Guy probably heard you drive in. And if he’s been watching TV, he knows the Greenies are looking for us. He’ll make his way down here at some point to investigate.”

“I’ll have a bullet waiting for him if he sets foot on private property.” I know we both had a shared hatred of the Greenies, but I didn’t trust him and didn’t like the idea of him knowing we were here.

“What if you need that bullet to protect the kids? Is your grudge worth them getting killed?” He watched me deflate. “You have to think before you pull the trigger, Lily. Be smart about everything.”

Did he think I was born yesterday? A howl of wind raced through the trees. I hugged the hood of my coat closer to me. “I’ve survived these people for the past fifteen years.”

“You’ve hid from them, but now they know for certain you’re alive.  I want to know that you guys are going to be okay. You have to be smart. I don’t want to come back to bury any of you.” He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a peck on the forehead. “I’m sorry that I’ve been giving you the silent treatment.”

“I kind of deserved it.” I shifted onto my toes and craned my neck to kiss him. My heart was tearing into pieces as he held me tightly against him.

This could be it. I’d sent him off to the Middle East numerous times, worried that he might not return to us, but it was never like I felt right now. Everything was conspiring against Luc. The weather was treacherous at best. He had to worry about anyone he approached. There were no guarantees of friends, especially when their duplicity could be rewarded with their family’s salvation. He had to hope that everyone was as good-natured as he was. Quite frankly, Luc was a dead man walking.

Every memory of him rushed through my head, and a great sorrow overtook me. I’d already lost one love because of this damned cult. I wanted to beg, say anything to make him stay, but he wouldn’t budge. An hour ago, I was thinking of murdering the man in order to keep him quiet, and now? Now, I was sobbing because he was leaving. I didn’t deserve a man as good as Luc. I needed to trust him. He was only trying to do right by us and by our nation.

“I know you won’t stay, but I have a few things I want to ask of you.” I wiped the snot off my face. “Please don’t tell anyone where we are. Say we went back to Indiana or Florida. Just keep our location a secret.” Luc nodded. “You’ve got to come back to us. You’re too trusting of people, and that will get you killed. If you feel something is off - please, shoot first then steal their guns and bullets.” I thought about telling him to be smart, but decided against it. I didn’t want this moment to be tainted by anger.

Luc lifted my chin and kissed me once more. “I will come back for all of you. You just have to survive until that happens. I love you, Lily.”

“I love you, too.” He pulled out of our embrace and turned around. Was that a tear I saw glistening on his cheek? My lips started to quiver as he took the first step away from me. “Be careful, Luc.”

He looked back with that cocky smile I first fell in love with, and in with a terrible Austrian accent, he said, “I’ll be back.”

I stayed on the side of the mountain until the sound of soft crunches became nothing and my only companion was the wind. I walked back to the cottage. It looked like it had been untouched for years. Except for the footprints in the snow.

A shudder ran through me.

The prints had to be erased, but how? I removed the set of keys from my pocket to unlock the garage. Surely something would be in there. A flat board would do the trick, but the only ones present were currently covering the windows. I searched for a hammer and found it. Chances were no one would pay much attention to the back of the house. It was rugged terrain.

Are you trying to make it easy for them to kill you? No. They would look for the easiest entrance. I only needed a small part, just enough to smooth our tracks. I could easily saw the top off the board and re-hang the larger portion. It might tip someone off, but there’d be enough of a warning to tip us off, too.

Satisfied that our tracks were hidden, I carried the sawn-off board inside. Jessa met me at the door, arms folded and a scowl on her face. I brushed past her to the pantry and set the plywood at its bottom.

“What were you doing out there?” she demanded as she came around the cabinets.

“I was covering your uncle’s tracks. They’re a dead giveaway that we’re here.”

“So he really left?” She blocked my path as I attempted to go around her.

Confrontation was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to concentrate on keeping us safe, and maintaining my composure. “Yes, he left.”

She stared at me, seeming to size me up. God, her eyes were the same as Luc’s, a gray that on some days could make me feel like I was at home, but on others reminded me of surgical steel. “You should have stopped him.”

“I tried. He wouldn’t have it. He’s in soldier mode and the only way we would have stopped him is to put a bullet in him.” I squared my shoulders, and looked up at her, wondering when, precisely, she had gotten so tall. She easily stood four or five inches taller than me and probably outweighed me by twenty pounds.

“If anything happens to him, I’ll make you pay,” she said with a huff. Her heel clicked on the floor, and she spun around.

Her threat was meaningless. If something happened to Luc, I’d never forgive myself.