Nirsch tried not to laugh as he held his beautiful wife close and stroked her hair.
“She still needs you,” he said. “You are her mother. There are things only a mother can help with. What about advice on babies? You think she’ll ask Brett about that? What happens when she and Brett have an argument? I guarantee you the first place she will go for comfort and advice is her mother.”
Michelle looked at Nirsch with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. “I guess you’re right. I went to my mother for those things. There’s no reason she won’t come to me.”
Nirsch wiped away her tears with his shirt sleeve. “That’s right, no reason at all.”
Michelle smiled and hit him in the arm.
Nirsch shrank back and rubbed his arm, feigning injury. “What was that for?”
“That’s for the stunt you pulled in your daughter’s wedding.”
“You have to admit, though, it was pretty dang funny!”
Michelle laughed. In spite of herself, she appreciated the joke. They walked back into the church arm in arm.
As they said their goodbyes to friends, Nirsch had the feeling he might never see these people again. He wasn’t saddened by it. He just accepted it. Nirsch was fighting a war for the soul of America. They were using real weapons. People had died, and more would die. He knew he had as much chance to be killed as any one of his men. If he did die, he was ready. He knew the Lord, and he had no doubt he would be welcomed into His arms. An overwhelming peace washed over Nirsch as he realized he was fulfilling the purpose God had destined for his life.
39
SENECA, OREGON
9:30 A.M., SATURDAY, JUNE 13
DMITRI URITSKI AND ADYA ALEKSEI RODE UNHURRIEDLY INTO the town of Seneca. A few people sat on porches in the shade, trying to stay cool on the hot morning. Dmitri had decided to try the catching-flies-with-honey method. He could find out what he needed without leaving mangled bodies in his wake and raising suspicions. It disappointed him that he would not be able to grow his power by playing with these people, but if everything went well, he would be able to gain plenty of strength from the family of this Nirschell. They would die slowly. He would leave them bruised, bloodied, mangled, and completely unrecognizable to this so-called great man. Nirschell would suffer for the rest of his life, knowing that his insignificant rebellion had gotten his family killed. He would give up, abandon his troops, and live the rest of his life in a state of misery. This would give Dmitri more power than he’d ever had.
He smiled. I really do love my work.
A helicopter rose into the air at the far end of the valley. Dmitri and Adya reigned in their mounts and watched the chopper fly over and past them. Dmitri knew that Levi Nirschell was inside. He could tell from the way the people in Seneca came out of their houses, stepped out of the shade, and waved with smiles and in reverence at the chopper when it passed over. He had no doubt that this was the man he was about to crush. He grinned at Adya. They turned their horses toward the far end of the valley.
Jillian and Brett awoke with morning sunlight streaming into their bedroom window. Jillian got up, opened the window, and looked outside. She breathed deeply, her eyes crinkling with pleasure as the smells of summer flooded her nostrils. “Jillian Hanson,” she said. She had been married to Brett for a total of forty-two-and-a-half hours, and she still hadn’t gotten used to her new name. She wasn’t sure if she would ever get used to the idea that everything she’d dreamed of as a little girl had come true.
From the bed, Brett groaned like a bear and stretched. “You gonna come back to bed? I’m not done with you yet, Mrs. Hanson.”
Jillian giggled, ran across the room, and jumped back into bed and the waiting arms of the man she’d loved since she was twelve years old. They’d spent almost two full days in that bed, barely coming up for air the whole time. As much as she was enjoying their newlywed time together, she was hungry. She threw the covers back, jumped up, and put on a bathrobe.
“I do like lazing around with you,” she said, “but I need to eat!”
Brett whined like a spoiled toddler. “We can eat later. I still have a lot of things I want to try. Pleeeasse come back to bed. We have our whole lives to eat.”
“After breakfast. Now get up and build a fire in the stove.”
“But I’m not finished yet. I don’t want to get up, and there is nothing you can say that will change my mind!” He folded his arms, stuck out his lower lip, and pretended to hold his breath.
“Okay, I guess you don’t want any delicious bacon, or eggs, or hash browns, or pancakes, or gravy.”
Jillian knew that when the words bacon, eggs, and hash browns were spoken, Brett was nearly powerless to resist. When she threw pancakes and gravy into that arsenal, all his resistance melted away. There was not a man alive—at least that she knew personally—who could withstand the awesome power of crisp bacon frying on the stove.
Jillian heard a whirring noise and ran to the window. Her father’s chopper passed over, just above the trees. She’d hoped to say goodbye to her father, but she knew now that wasn’t going to happen. Jillian knew he understood, but she felt a twinge of sadness and guilt when she thought about where he was going and that he wouldn’t have his family around for comfort in the midst of the horrors of war.
After breakfast, she and Brett decided to go down to the main house and look in on her family. Jillian stepped onto the porch. It was a marvelous summer day. Bees buzzed, birds sang, and the sun shone from a cloudless blue sky. They decided to walk and take time to enjoy the day to its fullest. It didn’t seem proper to be in a hurry on such a perfect day. They meandered toward the main ranch house, holding hands and stopping occasionally to kiss and stare into each other’s eyes.
Michelle hung laundry on her clothesline and wallowed in self-pity. Levi was gone, off again to that miserable war. She hated this war. She hated President Hartley. She hated the people with power who had thrust him into office, destroying their country.
She heard Debbie’s voice behind her: “Can I give you a hand?”
“I’ve got it! Isn’t there someone else you could be bothering right now?”
Debbie opened her mouth but said nothing. Then she turned on her heels, squared her shoulders, and walked back toward the house.
Michelle instantly regretted her outburst and called after her. “Debbie, I’m sorry. Debbie?”
Debbie didn’t break stride or even turn around. Now Michelle felt guilty on top of her self-pity.
As Debbie returned to the house, Amanda came out onto the porch. Michelle heard Amanda ask for Debbie’s help with lunch. Amanda didn’t seem to be in the greatest mood either. She hadn’t seen Larry for three months. He hadn’t come back with Levi for the wedding. He was part of the group trying to set up a relay station in the Rockies. No one had heard anything from the team in five weeks.
Jake and Adam had gone up to the reservoir to fish. Michelle pictured them lying on their backs with fishing poles propped up on sticks next to them. At least the boys seemed immune to the trouble all around them. They’d decided to go fishing shortly after Levi had left. “The women in the house are all grouchy,” Michelle had heard Adam whisper to Jake. “We should probably get out of there before we get in trouble for something—or before Mom puts us to work.”
Michelle hung a pair of jeans on the line as a fresh wave of guilt washed over her. Adam and Jake were truly the biggest victims in this whole mess. They didn’t deserve to have Michelle add to their misery by being curt or ill-tempered. She decided that starting tonight, she would set aside some daily time to play games or color with the boys. Now more than ever, they needed her to be strong.
40
NIRSCHELL RANCH
12:15 P.M., SATURDAY, JUNE 13
DMITRI AND ADYA TIED THEIR HORSES IN THE TREE LINE ON the edge of a lush, green valley. It was a little after noon. It had taken nearly three hours to reach the end of the valley. They had skirted the outside and stayed in the cover to avoid
being seen. Dmitri was pretty sure that the big white house on the edge of the meadow was where the chopper had taken off from earlier that morning. They crept to the edge of the meadow, keeping in the shadows, and lay down next to a log about a hundred yards from the house.
Dmitri scanned the area with binoculars. Two women stood next to a clothesline. One of them was hanging clothes on it. The other went into the house. There didn’t seem to be any men around. Dmitri decided they would lie here for a while and see what developed before they made their move.
Two and a half hours later, Dmitri and Adya crawled across the open valley, keeping below the top of the hay that grew in the fields. At the edge of the barnyard, they ran across open ground and dove through the open door of the barn into shadows. They waited. If they were lucky, someone would come out to the barn, making their job easier. If they could isolate the two women they had seen and anyone else that was around, they could capture them all without a fight. Dmitri didn’t think it would be too difficult, even if they did fight back. These were, after all, just women.
While they watched, two small boys carrying fishing poles walked into the yard. Adrenaline surged through Dmitri’s body, sending waves of anticipation into his limbs. Children had the most power to give. Their innocence and unparalleled faith made them especially pleasurable. Their spirits were always the hardest to break. Dmitri smiled and licked his lips as he rose and stepped toward the house.
The sound of a man and women laughing floated across the breeze.
Dmitri froze in his tracks and strained his ears to listen. He tucked back into the shadows of the barn and watched a young couple, holding hands and laughing, walk onto the porch and enter the big house.
This might be a bit of a problem, throwing a man into the mix. Dmitri decided to wait and see if this new couple would stay. It would be dark in five hours. He liked to work in the dark. It was always a challenge to feel his way through his games, without the advantage of sight. Everything was shaping up nicely. This could be the greatest game he had ever experienced.
Just after 8 o’clock, with darkness approaching, Dmitri watched the young couple exit the house, again holding hands and laughing. They disappeared around the corner of the house, and their laughter grew faint. Dmitri motioned for Adya to stay in the barn and wait for him.
A flock of geese flew overhead and honked into the still air. Dmitri ran across the open ground in front of the house and melted into the aspen trees near the bottom of the creek. He followed the young couple, hanging back but keeping them in sight. He needed to kill this couple. He did not want them coming back unannounced and interrupting his upcoming games with the children and women.
Dmitri stalked them for at least a mile and a half. He figured they were far enough now from the house that the shots from his new .270 Winchester would not be heard. The couple stopped and kissed in the fading light. Hidden in the trees, Dmitri moved closer. They were only about thirty feet away.
The man touched the girl’s face. “I love you so much,” he said. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m thinking it’s almost dark, and almost bedtime. I’m also thinking it’s time to go home and pick up where we left off this morning.” The girl shoved him away, laughing. They continued to stand there talking.
Dmitri’s excitement grew as he leaned into the side of a pine tree. This was going to be heavenly. He imagined the anguish the girl would soon feel. A low chuckle escaped his lips as he cradled the rifle barrel across a low-hanging branch and spread his feet. The sun had nearly set, but there was still just enough light. Dmitri settled in behind the scope and relaxed as the crosshairs lined up on the back of the man’s head.
It would be an easy shot. If he did this right, he could shoot the man and, when the girl stood still in shocked terror, chamber another round and kill her as well. The whole sequence ought to take only two to three seconds.
Adam and Jake sat in Adam’s bedroom, reading comic books. A goose honked outside of Adam’s window. He jumped up and looked outside. Five geese were flying up the creek at treetop level, their wings set and locked, looking for a place to land. Adam grabbed Jake by the arm and dragged him down the hall to his parents’ room.
“What are you doing?” Jake said.
Adam smiled at his cousin. This was a chance he didn’t want to miss. “You wanna shoot some geese?”
“Won’t we get in trouble?”
“Not when we bring home some fresh goose for my mom. Come on, let’s go!”
They slipped out the back door of the house, Adam carrying his dad’s 12-gauge, and jogged up the creek. They could hear the geese somewhere up ahead. Adam motioned for Jake to stop and concentrated on listening. One goose honked intently. Adam’s dad had taught him that the sentinel goose would honk the most. This goose wanted to make sure the others were paying attention to him, as he was responsible for alerting all the geese to danger.
Adam and Jake slowly stalked through the trees, zeroing in on the sound of the sentinel goose.
“I don’t think it’s much farther,” Adam whispered over his shoulder. “Move slowly and keep watching ahead. If you see them, freeze.”
Crack.
The shot split the silence, sending the geese into the air a hundred yards up the canyon. Another shot echoed down the canyon. Someone up ahead screamed. Adam recognized the voice as Jillian’s.
Jake stood frozen in terror. Adam shook him violently and yelled in his face, “Go get Mom!”
Jake ran back down the canyon. Adam ran toward the screams of his sister.
Dmitri had made a perfect shot. The man fell to the ground instantly as the bullet mushroomed inside his head. Dmitri had expected the girl to stand still in shock, giving him another easy shot. But she had not cooperated. As soon as the bullet hit the man, she dove into the brush and began screaming. He’d fired at her and missed.
This displeased Dmitri. He’d wanted to kill her quickly and go back to begin his games with the children. Now he was angry. He wanted her to pay for interrupting his plans.
Dmitri got down on all fours and crawled deeper into the brush. He would circle around this girl and come up from behind. He would definitely take his time with her. The people in the house were not going anywhere. They had at least eight hours of darkness ahead. He had more than enough time.
Dmitri crawled slowly toward the girl, who was sobbing fifteen feet in front of him. She sat with her back against a tree. Her knees were pulled up to her chin, her face buried between them. Dmitri just watched. Her sobs and anguish pleased him greatly.
No need to rush things, he thought. As his linguist used to say, “Stop and smell the roses.”
He crawled forward, keeping the tree between him and the girl. He pulled a length of rope out of his fatigues and uncoiled it. When he reached the tree, he threw the rope around it and the girl’s neck. He grabbed the other end of the rope and pulled it tight. After quickly tying it off, he stepped out from behind the tree and looked into the girl’s eyes. Dmitri smiled through yellow teeth and dirty, cracked lips.
“Hello, my dear,” he said. “My name is Dmitri. I wish to play a game with you. Do you like to play games?”
The girl squirmed and thrashed under the rope that was cutting into her neck and disrupting her flow of oxygen.
Dmitri reached down and pulled his blade from its sheath. He placed the point against her cheek and slowly put pressure on it until it had pushed half an inch into her soft flesh. She tried to scream, but the pressure on her neck from the rope and her lack of oxygen caused her scream to come out as a low whine.
“Tsk tsk tsk,” Dmitri said, shaking his head. “This will never do. You can’t play the game properly by being so quiet.”
Dmitri cut a length of rope off the end of the one around her neck and used it to tie her arms and legs. He released the rope from her neck and kicked her in the ribs.
The girl screamed. Dmitri’s eyes rolled back in his head as he felt her power flow through him.
He grinned down at her and licked his lips. He knelt in front of her and waved the knife back and forth in front of her face. Terror filled her eyes as she watched the blade flash in the fading sunlight.
“I am here at the invitation of Mr. Levi Nirschell. He should’ve left things alone.”
The girl’s eyes opened wide. Her fear seemed to intensify at the mention of Nirschell’s name.
Dmitri slowly leaned in toward her face and laughed. She did not react to this the way he had expected. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw became taut. She looked him in the eye and laughed back.
For the first time in his adult life, Dmitri actually felt fear. The girl closed her eyes so they were only slits and pushed her face closer to his. Dmitri shrunk back, confused.
Nooooo! he screamed in his head. She is not supposed to laugh. She will ruin the whole game. She is not playing fair at all! I am not supposed to be afraid of her. She is just a child. She is supposed to be weak and frightened of my power and authority.
“GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!”
Dmitri jumped and turned in time to see flames coming out from the muzzle of a 12-gauge. He flew through the air as the full load of three-inch, nitro mag four-shot tore through his chest.
Adya crouched in the barn waiting for Dmitri to return. He was told to wait, and wait he would. He had disobeyed Dmitri once before, and the torture he had suffered was enough of a lesson that he would never disobey Dmitri again.
A boy came running down the creek and into the front door of the house. Adya couldn’t be sure, but he looked like one of the boys that had come back to the house earlier. How could he have gotten out of the house without him seeing?
A minute later, two women ran out of the house carrying shotguns. They jumped down the front steps and disappeared up the creek the way Dmitri had gone. A minute later a third woman came out of the house, hobbling on a wooden leg, holding an old, lever-action .30-.30. A moment later, an older woman emerged, holding a large automatic pistol. These two women took seats on the porch rail, where they could watch both sides of the house.
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