"He knows. It hasn't been easy, I must say. He felt so guilty all these years, as though he'd done all kinds of horrible things. It turns out he was angry because of what had been done to him—and to you. It must be horrible for you, sweetheart. Being pregnant makes you emotional enough."
"You can say that again," Frances replied, smiling through her tears. "I've never been one to cry and now that's all I seem to do."
"That's pretty understandable," Emily said. "Just think of the shocks you've had over the last few days. And now another huge one. I mean, I'm sitting here completely stunned, so I can't imagine what you're feeling."
They were silent for a moment and then Frances remembered what she was supposed to be there to do.
"Tell me what happened with Aaron Sanderson," she urged.
Emily related the story, while Frances asked some pertinent questions. The constable assumed her professional persona again, trying to regain control of the events swirling around her.
"As he was racing out of the building, I heard him talking about the Church of Leviticus," May added. "That's when I suddenly remembered what Jacob Finch had discovered about Alain's background."
"It seems as though Carl Sanderson is connected to all of the recent events," Frances mused aloud.
She told them briefly about the murder of Paul Marot.
"I think Emily is right. Things are coming to a head, which probably has very little to do with the school and a great deal to do with whatever is going on at home or in that church. I'll call Edgar and see if he's spotted Aaron. I need to fill him in on all of this."
"Absolutely. And let's see if Lynda got anywhere with the Sandersons."
When they headed back into the main office, Lynda was sitting at May's desk, talking on the telephone.
May checked on Cate. She was still asleep, but her breathing was normal and her skin no longer flushed. Once again, May left the door just slightly ajar.
"That was Mrs. Sanderson," Lynda told them when she hung up. "She says she was calling from the church. She told me that Aaron had run home and that she took him to the church for her husband to deal with the boy. Of course she intimated that the incident must be the school's fault, but she refused to talk about it. She says at least he's safe now."
Emily grunted sceptically. "I don't know how safe Aaron is at that so-called church, but at least our duty has been done for now. Is Mrs. Sanderson on her way home to greet the other kids when they get home? I'd like to know who's where."
"That occurred to me, too. She's on her way home, so she claims," Lynda replied. "And Renae called, too. She's nearly at the school."
"Okay. One more thing." Emily's frown deepened. "Aaron claimed I injured him when I forced them off the stage and into the storage room. There were definitely marks on his wrists, but Cate said he got those from something she called 'altar rituals.' Now you understand why I'm concerned that Aaron may not be so safe in church."
Emily looked at Frances and May, who stood shoulder to shoulder, their faces reflecting the emotionally charged discoveries they had made. It was obvious that they needed to leave. They needed to see Alain.
"Well, I'd say that's enough excitement for me for one day," Emily said. "Renae and I can handle things from here, with help from Edgar. I think you and this officer have somewhere to go, don't you, May?"
For an answer, May threw her arms around Emily and they hugged deeply.
This woman taught me how to hug, Emily thought, how to love and trust a friend once more. She was the only one in the world who knew everything.
As for May, she was overwhelmed once more by Emily's empathy and perspicacity.
Frances stood slightly apart from them, but she knew that she was encircled in their love and it was enough.
Chapter 52: Skhole
Frances and May had just left the school in the police car when Renae Ogemah came racing in. As always, her hair stuck up all over her head and she was alight with energy, asking questions rapidly and excitedly.
Emily told her everything in detail, except the part about Frances.
"This just may be the opening we've been waiting for," Renae gushed, sweeping her hand to include Lynda, who still sat at May's desk.
"I agree," Emily replied, "but I just wish it hadn't been such a dramatic opening. We've got the spring concert in a few days, not to mention all the other stuff that's piling up."
Now that the edge was off her own excitement, Emily was grumpy and overwhelmed. She realized that she sounded whiny and almost said I don't have time for this. She bit her tongue.
The Sandersons had been a concern for a long time. She knew they just might be able to help them after this. But Emily was also not sure where Aaron's eruption was going to lead.
As though reading her mind, Renae outlined a plan.
"Let me speak with Cate," she said and Emily admired her train of thought.
Of course. Aaron was not the breakthrough. Cate was.
"Now that she has admitted some abuse to you," Renae continued, "even though the source is her brother rather than her father, perhaps she will tell us what's been going on. Then I'll have the authority to do something. I don't want those kids going home without protection today."
The caseworker's enthusiasm was catching and gave Emily hope.
"You're brilliant as always," she said and Renae smiled widely. "Cate's in the health room, still asleep. Do you want to speak to her alone?"
"I think it's better if you come with me," Renae said instantly. "She's obviously got a rapport with you and I haven't ever spoken to her directly."
"Lynda, are you okay with everything out here?"
"No chaos just now," she replied good-naturedly.
She was going to make an amazing principal, Emily thought for the hundredth time.
"Seriously, the kids are still packed in the gym with the rehearsals and it's started to rain again, so no outdoor recess to worry about this afternoon. Then not much time to dismissal after that. Go ahead, really, this is important."
Renae and Emily went quietly into the health room and shut the door behind them. Cate was awake and sitting up now.
For the third time that day, Emily handed someone a bottle of water.
The child drank it gratefully. Her face was shuttered: shoulders hunched, eyes lowered, the reticent little girl once again.
Emily decided to be completely honest.
"Cate, you know that I've been worried about your family for a long time," she said slowly. "Ms. Ogemah has been too. We've worked mostly with Meghan because she doesn't speak at school, but as you know, Ms. Ogemah has been to your house and she wasn't really there just because of your sister."
Cate looked up now. Her blue eyes were troubled, slightly filled with tears. She struggled to compose herself. She squeezed the bottle of water.
There were still spots of paint on her arms and legs. Dots of color marred the white blouse, its material thin and porous from many wash cycles. Her reddish blond hair was limp and wispy around her thin face.
Emily rushed on, eyes locked onto the girl's like hands under her arms, holding her aloft. Stay with me, Cate, she thought.
"After today, I am even more worried. Aaron seems to have had a breakdown. And from what you told me, I think he's been abusing you for a while and it's getting worse. Does he hurt Meghan too?"
Cate stared for a few tense moments. Emily could see the control breaking down. The walls holding back whatever secrets were now collapsing inside her, but she was not sure she could trust these two people enough to make that leap through.
Where would she go? What would life be like if she jumped over the barrier? As they watched, her face crumpled and she made the decision. There really was no choice. She couldn't go back now.
Everything tumbled out in all directions, disjointed, in pieces. It was a stream of consciousness, almost as if they were not there to witness, even though Emily grasped her hand and the girl held tight to the lifeline.
Once t
he stream began, it turned into a deluge, an unstoppable flow of violations, abuses and injuries. Cate didn't cry, but her voice was filled with tears, with hurt, with the sound of a child whose height of safety was that the beatings were not so bad today.
With Renae's gentle prompts and her subtle questions, Catherine Sanderson told it all. She spoke of horrors that would be beyond belief if they had not gushed from a pale, emaciated girl. From a place deep inside her, where a tragedy had been buried for so very long.
She told them of a self-righteous, ignorant parent who raised Aaron to believe that he was the Anointed One. He could have whatever he desired. He had grown into a boy who was greedy, vengeful and malicious.
When the puzzle began to take shape, when they put the pieces in the right order and saw the whole, a dreadful, violent and tragic story emerged. They never quite remembered the exact words the girl used, translating some of them into adult reality, but both Renae and Emily retained the exact imprint of the child's anguish.
My father is the pastor of our church, but my brother is the Anointed One. He is named after Moses's brother and everyone in the church expects him to lead us to salvation. He has been taught this since he was born.
We perform the rituals every day. We have an altar in our house, just in case we are not able to go to the church because it's far away. We follow the rules and we make the offerings. Sometimes it's a lamb and sometimes it's a goat. We eat the rest of the animal once we have made the sacrifice and offered the blood.
My father has very high standards and he makes sure we atone when we are bad.
My mother is a believer. She was raised by a preacher too. She told us we are lucky our father is so nice to us. She says that she was made to scrub the floor with a toothbrush when she went wrong. She has scars from where her father put her hand on the stove to teach her about the fires of hell.
She said that I will learn to repent some day, just the way she did. She didn't believe me when I told her about my brother. She told the preacher and he made me kneel in the corner and get drenched in the blood of the lamb.
I was about eight when he first came into my room. He is only eighteen months older than I am, but he already knew what to do. He told me that if I didn't do what he wanted, he would make up stories about me to the preacher and I would have to atone. He was right, because my mother never did believe me.
Now that he is older, though, I can see that he wants to do these things with Jennifer. I can't let him do this to her. He makes me…he sticks his penis in me and in my mouth and he just…well, you know. All kinds of sex things.
My mother says that the time is coming soon when Aaron will have to change the world. She says that the pastor who taught them everything was weak and was eventually destroyed by the outside world.
But my mother says Aaron is strong and has been taught well. My brother will prevail and smite the forces of evil. The offspring of Molech are trying to get back together and they are going to resurrect the devil. My parents said the evil people have helpers, who look ordinary, but who are really from other planets or from hell. They want to destroy the Leviticans because we live by the rule and they don't.
Once Aaron said that Ms. Ogemah was interplanetary and that you, Mrs. Taylor, he said you were misguided. He said that he could change you if he had the chance, but that he didn't have the time. Because the world is coming to an end if he doesn't act soon.
Ever since my mother and father started preaching about the end, my brother has been worse. He has been hurting all of us, humiliating us, making us say things and kneel in the corner or get on all fours and act like dogs.
What things does he make us say? Things like: You are my God, I will obey you. I will lay down my life for you. Stuff like that, as if we are worshipping him.
The only one who doesn't do what he asks is Meghan. She never says anything. She just stares at him. She is the only one who can make him back down.
My mother never hurts us. She doesn't believe me about Aaron. None of the other kids have ever told on him. She thinks he is the Anointed One. He would never do anything against the rules, she says.
My father doesn't really hurt us either. Just that he makes us do all those rituals and sit in church for hours, even when we are hungry or tired, even on a school night.
I am the one who is hurt by Aaron, but he might start hurting Jennifer soon. I can tell. I make sure she stays in the bed with the twins so she's not there when he comes into our room.
That's why I had to tell. When you caught him today, Mrs. Taylor, I knew that God was telling me to follow your rules this time. I want to be my sister's buddy. I can't let her get bullied by him.
When she was finished, Emily sat next to her, holding her, squeezing back the tears, trying to be the strong adult for her. Dear god, she was equating bullying with sexual abuse, the poor thing. She was just a little girl.
Renae was quiet for a while when the words finally stopped. She let the other woman hold Cate and listened as the child sobbed.
Then she gently told her what they must do. They would do it together, she reassured her. Renae would take care of the other children too.
"You can't go back into that house, Cate. Not until Aaron has been removed. I won't let him hurt you any more."
"Are you sure you can stop him from hurting Jen?"
"I am absolutely sure of it. I have a really nice lady who will take you to her house for tonight, okay? And then we'll go step by step through everything that has to be done. You are very brave to tell us all of this, Cate. Now we'll need to go through some processes that will seem intrusive to you. Do you know what I mean by that?"
Cate shook her head. "Not really."
"We'll have to take you to a doctor, who will look at you to make sure you are telling the truth."
"You don't believe me?" She jerked out of Emily's arms.
"Of course we believe you." Renae put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "But we are going to get evidence that will make even your mother believe you. See what I mean now?"
"Yes. Okay." Cate straightened her shoulders. She looked more confident than her principal had ever seen her.
Emily was so awed by the girl's courage that she could weep.
"We called Chief Brennan too, Cate," Emily told her. "He went out looking for Aaron, but your mother took him to the church. In the meantime, you will be safe and because Aaron will not be at home, your sisters and brothers will be safe, okay?"
Cate nodded with even more self-assurance this time. The circle of adults that surrounded her was reassuring. At last she had done something about this horrible life that she had had to endure and she saw that her siblings would be better off too.
"Do any of the other kids know about what Aaron has done to you?" Renae asked.
"Yes. All of the girls have seen him. Our rooms are all on the same floor and he is always up there, picking at me. And Jennifer has seen him in my bed."
"That's good. That will help to convince your mother. Do you think they will tell me about what he has done to them too?"
"I don't know. They might not. They're just little and they're scared."
"All right, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, I want you to promise me that you will think about just you for a change, okay? It's important that you stay safe and strong, so we can help all the kids. Understand, Cate?"
Renae was kind, but she was also tough. She purposely gave some of her strength to the girl through her determined words.
"I understand, Ms. Ogemah. I feel better already and I just want him to get some help. He's sick."
They were both astonished at her insight.
"I agree with you, Cate," Renae said, "but we're going to focus on safety right now. Later we'll concentrate on getting everyone the help that they need, including Aaron."
Emily could not resist asking one question. "The former pastor who was weak. Do you know his name, Cate?"
"No," she said. "We never met him. He
died in a fire a long time ago."
Chapter 53: Brynstan
The reverend lay lengthwise across the steps below the altar, his hair plastered with sweat, his hands outstretched before him in supplication.
In the first pew, a man sat with his hands tied behind him, a wide silver tape across his mouth. He whined and struggled, but did not sound afraid. He sounded angry.
Above them both, the boy began to lecture, the words echoing and reverberating from the walls of the empty church, despite the fact that his voice was quiet and calm. He was quoting, misquoting, reciting.
"I am the Anointed One in whom the Lord has placed His Command. Through me you must do all His Commandments. And if you shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that you will not do all the Lord's Commandments, but break the covenant, I will set my face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies.
"And if your people will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish them seven times more for their sins. I will send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children."
Suddenly he turned his face toward the man in the pew, his eyes bulging with fury, his face puffed and red.
"Shut up!" he screamed and the sound sliced the air, bounced against the walls.
The man flinched and went still.
The reverend lifted up his head, but did not speak.
The boy waved the rifle over his head. His voice calm once more, he began to intone the bastardized passage.
"And I will bring a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of the covenant."
His tone changed, now louder and menacing, cold with hatred.
"And when you are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you. And you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you."
By now the boy was dancing with the lust of the kill. His laughter was high-pitched, maniacal. He pranced down the steps and pointed the rifle in the face of the man.
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