Sent Rising (Dove Strong)

by Erin Lorence

  I leaned forward. “Did they find anything? Anyone?”

  “Only trouble. Guys in uniforms appeared and grabbed all three of them. They put a gag on Rebecca before she could talk them into letting her, Brooke, and Hunter go.”

  “I gave the warning...” Joshua’s voice broke. “I drummed the single buzz roll against the boulder like they said I should do if I saw anyone. But—”

  Wolfe wrapped his arm around the boy’s thin shoulders and squeezed. “Don’t beat yourself up. I’m sure your drummed warning was fine. So was your running. Good thing you’ve got fast legs and were able to get away. Did you sprint the whole eight miles back to this van?”

  Joshua leaned away and picked up a nearby drumstick. He hurled it into the darkness of the van’s front seat. “Stupid drumming. I should’ve whistled. Or shouted. It’s my fault Becca’s gone.”

  Wolfe glanced at me, and I focused on the van’s worn floor.

  No. It wasn’t Joshua’s fault. I’d made the carving. I’d put the idea about exploring that building in the others’ heads.

  Brooke’s capture. Hunter’s capture. Rebecca’s. They were my fault.

  41

  I awoke to find Jezebel’s arm flopped over my waist. The morning sun streamed in through the front windows, one of its beams illuminating Joshua. He lay in a ball next to Wolfe’s sprawled and snoring frame. A dozen bright food packages surrounded them—offerings from Jezebel to cheer up the devastated kid.

  It’d been a tough night with Joshua snuffling through most of it. We’d all taken turns trying to comfort him. My turn was the shortest. I was incompetent at doling out false hope.

  I slid out from Jezebel’s arm and dug out the Bible I needed to return. “Wake up, Wolfe.”

  The Bible thudded onto his chest. He grunted and pushed it off.

  “We need to find Rebecca. Fast. We could...uh...borrow Diamond’s motorcycle and drive to the village this morning to check.”

  “A bit desperate?” His grin vanished in a yawn. “I am, too. But no need. I found my engine’s missing piece in my grandma’s lucky casino bag, and I drove my Jeep to the village last night. I couldn’t get close though. Too many security patrols now blocking the roads.”

  “Security patrols?”

  “Yep. The government retreat has begun.”

  Stone’s remark yesterday about not letting me go since I knew about that building had convinced me that he and his brother were responsible for Rebecca’s capture there. But maybe the Benders weren’t guilty.

  “So, you think it was those security guys protecting the officials that got Rebecca? Not Christians?”

  He shrugged. “Unfortunately, the kid can’t tell by the abductors’ uniforms or facial hair which side they’re on—Christian or non-Christian. They spoke English.”

  Joshua’s back continued to rise and fall as if he were comatose.

  I rested my chin in my palm. First my family went missing. Then my friends. And now, the remaining Christians from Washington State to California honed their combat skills in the surrounding wilderness while unsuspecting government officials settled in for a fun-filled retreat.

  The retreat goers might as well ask to be taken hostage by their stupid choice of location and bad timing.

  “I’ve already hounded Grandma to call the village with an anonymous tip about a potential hostage threat.” He shook his head. “For the first time ever, she’s denying my request. She says Homeland Security would track her call, and the last thing our family needs is to be mixed up in more terrorist scandals. She threatened to sell my ride if she hears anyone in our family has called in the tip. Just so you know, ‘family’ includes you, too.”

  Bam, bam, bam.

  Jezebel and Joshua jerked upright at the violent knocking.

  Wolfe cracked open the door. “Hey, Diamond. Uh. What brings you here? To my driveway? Super early in the morning?”

  “I’m protecting the neighborhood.” Her purple eyes scanned the van’s interior, moving past me. “Jessica said the loser was back. Where is he?”

  Wolfe ran a hand through his sleep-rumpled hair. “Who? What loser in particular are you looking for?”

  I sighed. “My brother. She likes him.”

  42

  The cool morning air flowed through the Jeep’s open window and eased my throbbing headache, which had begun when Diamond knocked me to the van’s floor. My punishment for insulting her. We drove past the cow field, and I faced away from the charred remains, wincing at the acrid tang of smoke.

  Wolfe slow whistled and pointed. “I’m never one to volunteer rotten news, but, uh—”

  “My place burned down. Yeah. I know.”

  “Why didn’t you say something last night?”

  “I forgot.”

  “The van is a better place to live anyway, Dove.” Jezebel—uninvited on our search for our missing friends, yet in the seat behind me anyway—patted my blonde braids. “I’ll keep you company every night, so you don’t get lonely.”

  “I don’t think Dove gets lonely much, brat. Since she rarely gets a moment alone. Speaking of too much company...” He gestured to the road behind us.

  The Jeep’s mirror showed Diamond riding behind on her motorcycle. But at least Wolfe and Jezebel’s grandma had given up chasing us. She probably stopped when she lost her shoe at the corner.

  “Grandma’s so funny.” Jezebel giggled.

  I frowned. “Not funny. Worried. That you’ll end up in another CTDC. Or lost like Wolfe.”

  At the word “lost,” Joshua buried his fingers in his hair.

  “Jez, you should’ve stayed home,” I said.

  She clapped Joshua’s back. “Don’t cry, Josh. Becca won’t stay lost. Dove found my brother, so she’ll find your sister. If she’s being held in a fanatic camp around here like Dove thinks, then we’ll have her free by lunchtime. Right, Woof?

  “Maybe give us until dinnertime, Jezzy. Locating these Christian camps in the wilderness could take a while. And if Reed’s soldiers are holding them in a tent somewhere, we might have to wait until dark to use our ninja stealth to sneak them out. Dove, you said Brooke and Hunter reported there are three main areas around here where Christians are camping. Which one do we check out first?”

  We? Nope. I was the only one in this Jeep entering Christian camps today. I pointed north anyway. “Camp Sherman.”

  I’d planned to search this site last after I’d explored the other two. I wasn’t eager to experience my brother’s anger. He’d told me to stay. But with the motorcyclist on our tail...

  Wolfe’s head bobbed. “Smart. Give Diamond what she wants fast so she’ll go away. Even though I still can’t believe...you think your brother likes her back?”

  “No.”

  “But if he doesn’t, he probably won’t stop others from using her as target practice.”

  I nodded.

  We stopped next to the weeds crushed by Jessica’s tires last night. Wolfe considered his bicep for a moment and sighed. “Right. I guess it’ll be up to me to keep Diamond safe from everyone.”

  “Wrong. You’re staying at the road with these two. Drive away if you need.”

  Jezebel put her arms around my chairback, locking them around my shoulders. “I want to go with you to see your brother. And Trinity.”

  “No way. Too dangerous.”

  She squeezed me harder. “Dove, are your people going to hurt Diamond?”

  I disentangled myself and exited into the weeds. “Maybe.”

  “But not really hurt her, right? You won’t let that happen.”

  Why was I leading Diamond into a Christian camp? I didn’t do it because I was angry at her...or because I needed revenge for a throbbing head. I wasn’t afraid of her tantrum if I didn’t obey her request. And I definitely wasn’t bringing her to Gilead for his sake.

  I focused on the hard, blue sky. Yes, Lord.

  For some reason, God approved of me guiding Diamond. If only He’d be so clear about how I could help R
ebecca, Hunter, and Brooke. And my mom and family.

  The motorcycle pulled up next to me, and I sidestepped a kidney jab. “Diamond, I don’t know what’ll happen to you—or me—past those trees.”

  She snorted. “I can handle myself. And I’m not afraid of a little pain. But you’re going to be suffering a whole lot of pain if you don’t move it.”

  ~*~

  I raised my arm at the lookout, copying my brother’s greeting from yesterday. “Um. To God’s glory?”

  The tree dweller lifted his arm. “God’s glory forever.”

  Whump. He landed on the pine needle carpet behind Diamond and followed us. Suspicious, despite my correct wordage.

  “Dove!” Gilead catapulted from the highest boulder into our path, as if he’d been keeping watch, too. “Are you that dumb? You came back and brought this Heathen with you?” His dagger-like eyes slashed across me to Diamond.

  The other tree-dweller nodded and headed back to his post. Gilead grabbed my wrist and jerked me behind his body. “I’ll deal with you in a minute, sister. But you, Heathen, go home.”

  I shifted to see around his flexed triceps.

  Diamond advanced and poked his chest. “Don’t act like you own this land, radical. You and your deluded terrorist buddies are the ones trespassing and are going to clear off.”

  He froze for a millisecond and then knocked her hand away. In a whirlwind of movement, she jumped, propelling her compact frame into the air. Her right foot kicked at his chest.

  Gilead caught her bare knee between both hands and twisted. Diamond landed on her hip in the dirt.

  “I don’t fight girls. And I told you to leave.”

  She scrambled to her feet with a smirk. “Make me. Make me, without weapons or bees or fire.”

  No one paid attention to me, and my time was limited. Stay or search?

  I backed around the boulders then dashed toward the sea of tents. I passed a couple campfires issuing lazy trickles of smoke, but no one tended these. No one threw knives or spears. A sleepy peacefulness pervaded the camp.

  My heart sped up. Rebecca...Hunter...Brooke...were they here? And what about the Benders? The dirt held hundreds of footprints, all made by humans. At least no sign of cat feet.

  An aroma of mildew hooked my nostrils. I halted and threw back the tent flap speckled with brown and black rot.

  “Chaff, wake up. Rebecca’s been taken. And Brooke and—”

  “Shh.” Chaff waved me silent. “You’re being rude, Dove, interrupting us.”

  I swiped a hand over my eyes. Was this real? Did yesterday’s empty tent now burst with strangers on bent knees whose lips moved in prayer? I eased further inside and pressed against the rough cloth. My palm traced the twelve-inch high, green letters next to me. A painted message.

  Pray!–Dove

  Smaller words formed more thoughts on the shelter’s canvas walls.

  Time not spent talking with God is wasted time—Ben

  Hate makes Satan happy—Gracie

  Sword fighting is stupid—Chaff

  The author of this last one threw up his bony hands. “Oh fine, fine. What do you want?”

  “Dove Strong. Shalom.” A familiar member of the mole family waved. “We are praying instead of being fools like the others. Are you joining us?”

  I swallowed until I found my voice. “Uh. No. Sorry. I’m looking for some old friends.” I turned back to Chaff. “Have you seen Josh’s sister? Or Brooke and Hunter? They got snatched while breaking into that building I told you about.”

  “See what happened? Exploring there wasn’t safe, like I said. And no, I haven’t seen or heard about them being in this camp. But Ben over there is a leader of security. He’d know.”

  Ben, a red-headed guy with a redder complexion, shook his head at my description before reclosing his sunburnt eyelids. No trespassers. No prisoners brought in. He was positive.

  Chaff bowed his long neck again. One eye cracked open. “You probably won’t find them because they’re holed up in that building. That’s what I’d guess.”

  “No.” But I bit my lip. I’d chased away that shadowy suspicion all morning...that my friends were captive inside the one place I couldn’t easily go. Hearing him say it out loud made the suspicion solidify to fact. I eased toward the tent opening.

  “Hey, Dove. Do you have any more words for us?” Both of Chaff’s eyes opened.

  “Huh?”

  “You screamed at everyone yesterday to pray—I didn’t hear, but a lot of the believers did, and a few have been trickling in ever since to do it. So apparently, something worth saying came out of your mouth.”

  “Oh.” My gaze dropped, but I could feel the others watching me. How could I encourage them when discouragement crowded my brain? My three friends might be holed up in the gloomy cement fortress where I’d accidentally sent them with my drawing. A place possibly guarded by Christians or nonbelievers—or both—and at least one gun owner.

  I looked up. “Be...strong. Keep, you know, praying.”

  My body shuddered with a sudden, excited chill. I untensed, smiled at the spotty ceiling, and let the words from God flow through me to His people.

  “What you prayer warriors are doing on your knees is way more crucial than what any other believer does out there. So don’t give up. Ask for truth to be revealed and for love for the lost. For the truly lost—the ones who don’t know Jesus yet. God loves lost people.”

  Chaff’s slow clap echoed as I exited the tent.

  I didn’t spy Gilead or anyone else threatening on my way out of camp. I didn’t even remember Trinity until I reached the Jeep. I hadn’t remembered Diamond either.

  Her motorcycle was gone, and no crimson stained the pavement. It seemed that Gilead had let her walk away. Maybe he did have less hate for Wolfe’s neighbor. Or maybe he truly wouldn’t fight a girl, as he claimed.

  “Bummer.” Josh quit craning for a glimpse of his sister and fell back against his seat.

  I climbed in. “Don’t worry, Josh. I think I know where they are.”

  Jezebel bounced. “She did it. She found them. Which camp, Dove?”

  “Oh, they’re not at any camp, I don’t think. Or at any place we can get to right now, but we’re not supposed to worry about it today. Trust me. Wolfe, the next camp we’re heading for is northwest. Drive...please.” I leaned forward in my seat, impatient to be at the next campsite.

  In my dream, I’d visited three places in the tree-filled wilderness before I’d flown to the rectangular shelter with square windows. Three Christian camps.

  43

  I opened my eyes and blinked the dizziness away. I lulled against the hot, cracked seatback next to Wolfe. Shadows stretched across the empty pavement as the blurry sun poised behind the wall of pines lining the road.

  I ran my fingers over my scalp. No lumps. No blood. How long had I been unconscious?

  Wolfe beamed at me. The memory of worry marks was still etched between his eyebrows. “So, Dove? How did it go in that last camp?”

  “It depends. How did I get back here?”

  “A snarling female built like a refrigerator carried you from those woods and dumped you on this seat. She wasn’t much of a talker.”

  “Oh.” I nodded, beginning to remember. I’d picked up a barrel of unloaded guns and lobbed it into a blazing campfire. Then someone had yelled, “Traitor! Guards, stop her. Alert the Commander...it’s the dove!” Then...I couldn’t remember anything more.

  I sucked in my breath. Alert the Commander? If the Benders stayed at that camp, I’d been close to being captured by them again. I owed the Christian, whoever she was and for whatever reason she did it, for carrying me out before Stone or Reed or...

  I shut my eyes again. “My visit was a success, Wolfe. I made it out. I did what I needed to do.”

  “You located Rebecca, Hunter, and Brooke?”

  “Of course not. They weren’t at that third camp, just like they weren’t at the second. Although, I poked around an
d asked some kids just in case. No one is gagged or tied up, and no tents are off limits.”

  “So…not successful.”

  I glared. “Successful.”

  I’d marched through the smoke and faced another horde of shooters, slingers, grapplers, and throwers, and I’d...well...encouraged them to stop wasting time. I’d also located the prayer warriors in a tent among tree roots and anthills and spent some time on my knees. Then I’d found those guns...

  Wolfe handed me a lemonade can. “Well, I guess compared with your second camp visit today, you could call this third one a success. At least you didn’t have to crawl into a gap under another rock ledge and hide for hours until the people you riled gave up on hunting you.”

  I pressed the can to my forehead. “It was a decent crawl space.”

  But the waiting would have been easier if I hadn’t had to spend those hours staring at a palm-sized bobcat print next to my nose while I was facedown in the dirt...dreading that its owner might return and sniff me out.

  A shiver ran down my spine. I glanced over my shoulder for yellow eyes and unsheathed claws, but Darcy wasn’t there. Only Jezebel and Josh, asleep in the backseat.

  Yet Darcy lurked. Somewhere close by. I shuddered again.

  “Wolfe. I’m done. Finished with the camps. Let’s go home.”

  ~*~

  “What a boring day.” Jezebel kicked the van’s wall to emphasize each word. “Boring. Boring. Boring. I didn’t find Rebecca or Brooke. I was stuck in the boring backseat all day. I didn’t even get to stick bandages on Diamond because she didn’t bleed. And now no TV ’cause Grandma’s mad and won’t let me watch. What a rotten, boring day.”

  Wolfe flung open the van door, and brightness flooded the mess inside. “Dove, you’ve got to come in and see something on TV!”