The campers’ side of the hall crackled with insurrection, and the counselors looked nervous. If they didn’t do something soon, they were going to have the very first Consecration Camp mutiny on their hands and nary a calling to show for it. The tension sliced through Gabi’s discomfort, and she realized how parched and hungry she was. She was desperate for something of substance, like some of that poached salmon, a double serving of cheesy baked casserole, and a mountain of crisp salad. The counselors were picking over a few of the platters while they discussed what to do about the standoff, but not one camper made a move toward the buffet. Gabi cataloged every food item that passed between the counselors’ lips in the event that the stalemate broke before everything got carted away. Glazed carrots, cucumber and watercress finger sandwiches, miniquiches studded with ham, cheddar, and spinach, and fudgy brownies with mint frosting were all on the safe list. She could always raid the kitchen later, or even a trash can if need be.
What Gabi really couldn’t stop staring at, though, were the brimming crystal carafes of water the lodge staff carried from counselor to counselor, filling their glasses to the top. Transparent slices of lemon and cucumber floated at the surface and slipped over the lip of the pitchers to bob in the clear goblets as the counselors drank. When was the last time she’d had a drink of water? Last night? This morning the only water she’d touched was when she’d dipped her fingertip in the ceremonial bowl during the purification circle, and then later, when she’d noticed how buoyant her anguished body felt in the salt-saturated water of the tub.
“Fuckers,” Marnie snarled as she followed Gabi’s gaze. “These guys have a real talent for torture, don’t you think? Must be a job requirement.”
Gabi balked. Her brother did not have “a talent for torture,” but Marnie didn’t know Mathew. If her experiences at Consecration Camp were all Gabi knew of counselors, she would think the same thing.
“Did you have any of the lemonade?” Gabi asked Marnie.
“No. We kind of skipped snack time.”
“Why? Didn’t you have to do the second challenge?”
“Oh, I did it all right. I snuck back into the lodge to ditch my cigarettes before they sent us off into the woods. Christina was in the dorm bathroom, and her little black box was on her bed. I peeked.”
“You saw the gun?”
Marnie scowled harder. “Damn right I did. Did you all have to do that trust-fall thing? So pathetic. No way those lightweights were going to be able to catch me. ‘Trust the hand of God,’ Beth kept saying, but I jumped right through that flimsy sheet and landed on my own two feet.” Marnie interlaced her fingers and pressed her palms away from her chest, setting off a symphony of pops and crackles. “When the counselors started pulling out the snacks after the first challenge, I grabbed the black box out of Christina’s bag and opened it in front of everybody.”
“You opened it?” Gabi gasped. “Why?”
“Because it’s a gun, Lowell, and guns are used for two things: killing or making people think they’re about to be killed. I didn’t feel like eating cookies and knocking back lemonade without knowing which of those things I was about to do. You should have seen the looks on the counselors’ faces when I grabbed that box. My group was small, like yours, so it didn’t have quite the dramatic impact I would have liked. I guess there’s a lot of wannabe Witnesses in this crowd who don’t want to cop to Insecurity.”
“So what happened after you pulled out the gun?” Gabi asked.
“I told them to get on with it. Once the gun was out in the open, snack time was pretty much over, so they kind of had to. There were two pairs in our group, so the first pair went, then me and Helen, that mousey little thing who’s always tagging after the pretty girls.”
“Which side of the gun were you on?” Gabi asked, but she was sure she already knew. No way Marnie would have consented to someone holding a gun to her head and pulling the trigger. Gabi couldn’t read exactly where Marnie stood on the subject of faith, but if her feetfirst leap from the rock was any indication, the bulk of it rested in herself.
“Beth spun the chamber, then handed Helen the gun. I guess the idea of me with a loaded weapon made them rethink the whole volunteer thing.”
“But that’s not fair!” Gabi protested. “It should have been the same for everyone.”
“I wanted it that way, actually,” Marnie admitted. “I wanted to show them that I wasn’t afraid. I put the barrel right in my mouth.”
“Marnie!” Gabi shrieked.
“What would have been the difference, Lowell? Being shot through the temple and shot through the mouth are both pretty foolproof ways to off someone. Besides, the gun wasn’t even loaded. I’m pretty sure none of them were. I checked the one Christina left on her bed. There’s no way the counselors would have risked the backlash if somebody had died. It was all just some big fake-out to awe us with the power of faith.”
Marnie’s words should have made Gabi feel better that none of their lives had ever been truly in danger, but she was furious. It didn’t matter whether the guns had been loaded or not, because everyone believed they were. Every camper had been asked to either take a life or sacrifice their own, and for what? To terrify them into having faith?
“Don’t eat or drink anything unless you see the counselors doing it,” Gabi whispered, galvanized to share Jordan’s secret by her friend’s reckless bravery. “Most of the food is drugged.” Apart from Jordan, Marnie was the only person she’d met here whom she could trust, and she needed her to stay clearheaded. The drugs made them all susceptible to manipulation, and the counselors had shown they were more than willing to take advantage.
“I thought that was just a rumor!” Marnie said, looking with renewed interest at the grazing counselors. “Did your brother tell you that?”
“It was someone I trust. Don’t you feel different today than you felt last night after all that food?”
“Sure,” Marnie said. “Hungry. But yeah, there was some weirdness, especially during all that singing and praying with the mentors last night. Thanks for the tip, though it doesn’t look like it’s going to be an issue anytime soon.” A few of the campers were beginning to drift toward the dorms, signaling their intent to go to bed rather than accept the counselors’ olive branch. The counselors’ agitation intensified as they noticed the exodus. After a few minutes of huddling and sharp whispers, Ruth emerged and strode to the center of the room. She wore the aggrieved but gracious smile of a hostess whose guests are intent on spoiling her party.
“Hey, you guys, can you step in here a little closer? Come on, just scoot in here a bit so I don’t have to shout.”
As one reluctant, amoeboid mass, the campers inched forward. Gabi and Marnie stayed against the wall, where Jordan had joined them. Peter was near the front of the crowd, looking with wounded longing at Zach. “That’s better,” Ruth said. “You all are so shy all of a sudden! And tired, I bet. It has been quite a day, but the hard part is over. Today, you all opened your hearts to God’s protection, and that is what being a Messenger or Translator is all about!” The singsongy, sermonizing tone built in Ruth’s voice, but though the counselors nodded and clapped, none of the campers followed suit. Ruth paused, registering their resistance, and settled her hands on her hips. “This is the hour, you guys. You have triumphed, and it’s time to celebrate!”
“Amen!” the counselors shouted. “Praise him!” But their words pinged off the campers’ indifference like water off a hot griddle. Ruth looked over her shoulder at Zach and stepped back toward the counselors as he took her place. Zach began to pace the room, clapping his hands and rubbing them together.
“That’s right, Sister Ruth, it’s time to celebrate before all this good food gets cold, and we are about to give you a very good reason to do that right here, aren’t we? Can I get an amen?”
“Amen!” the counselors chorused, bouncing on their toes and grinning mysteriously at the campers.
“Because we love you guys,�
� Zach enthused in his bracing baritone, “and we honor the faith and determination you have shown today, we are about to give you all a very special gift. One that has never been offered in the history of the fellowship!” Zach was electric, his body gliding nimbly across the floor. The campers leaned toward him like iron filings toward a magnet, drawn by his charisma and the seduction of this “special gift.” Something had been taken from them today, but something big was about to be given in exchange, and they wanted it. “We all know that many of you have wanted to be Witnesses since you were kids,” Zach purred. “Maybe even Apostles. The next Burton Ames. The next Cleo Walker.”
There was no celebrity in Unitas, but Apostles Ames and Walker were universally revered. Cleo Walker died in a fire defending a village of new converts from vengeful members of another Tribe, and her exploits were legendary. No one, not even Burton Ames, had gone so far into uncontacted areas, at such risk to herself, to bring salvation to the un-Returned. A small chapel in the Arbor Vitae Temple bore her name, and more girl children had been given the name Cleo since the Apostle’s death than the census could keep track of. Ames had been on Walker’s Witness team and was her successor when she died. The fact that Zach had invoked the hallowed names of the two most celebrated Apostles in Unitas history was lost on no one. The campers surged to their feet, every eye on Zach. Even Gabi, Marnie, and Jordan had straightened away from the wall in rapt attention.
“Who here has that dream?” Zach shouted above the overlapping amens and hallelujahs now rising from both sides of the room. “Who here has ever dreamed of being a Witness—of serving God in the most blessed way possible?” Every counselor raised their hand, and slowly the campers joined in. Because they were in the back, no one could see that Gabi did not raise hers, nor did Jordan or Marnie. Gabi didn’t want to arouse suspicion about her motives for wanting something so beyond her. She also didn’t want to be made fun of for even thinking she had a chance. That was probably why Jordan kept his hand down too. Marnie’s reason went without saying. Witnesses had ruined her life.
“Right!” Zach bellowed, “That’s what I thought. We’ve got dreamers in here, dreaming big dreams! Well, we’ve seen what you all can do, and we want to show you that we believe in you!”
The campers jostled each other, pressing eagerly toward Zach. Ruth joined him in the center of the crowd, holding a microphone. Speculation on what “the gift” was going to be had raised the volume in the lodge to a roar, which the counselors made no effort to subdue. They’d finally reeled the campers back in, and they didn’t want to lose ground.
“Yes, we all believe in you!” Ruth shouted into the microphone as praise music pounded from the speakers mounted in each corner of the room. It was the popular band By His Hands singing their latest hit, “New Eden.”
“From separation into unity,” the song blared, “we have come. Oh, we have come. He commands the earth to bring us back to him, oh, oh back to him.” The music had a powerful bass, and everyone clapped along.
“Which is why,” Ruth said, “we, the counselors, are going to make a covenant with everyone here.” Someone turned the music down, and the teens quieted at Ruth’s hushed, conspiratorial tone. “What I am about to say can never leave this room. We place this trust in you and know you will honor that trust.”
Ruth has them right where she wants them, Gabi thought, envisioning a snake rearing back to strike. Not that Gabi was immune to Ruth’s spell. Whatever gift was about to be bestowed would be offered to her as well, and it was big. Her injured hands itched for it.
“We have decided to waive recruitment invitations for anyone here who wants to take the Witness exams,” Ruth declared. “You’ll have only ten days to prepare if you choose to sit in time for summer assignments, but you can defer a year if you like. Your spot will be held.” The campers gaped in shock. “That’s right, everybody here will be given a chance to test for a Witness position, pending consecration!”
There was a beat of silence as electric guitars reverberated through the hall and the news sank in, followed by disbelieving shrieks and ecstatic cries. For the first time ever, it would not only be the highflyers who got to test for the chance to be the next Burton Ames or Cleo Walker. This year, they were all chosen ones. Gabi, Jordan, and Marnie stared at each other as pandemonium reigned, each engaged in their own struggle between disbelief and hope. Ruth’s announcement changed everything.
Marnie’s expression was thoughtful. Calculating. For his part, Jordan simply looked at Gabi and nodded. This was an opportunity none of them could afford to waste. Whether a recruit passed or not, the status of having endured the examination would be an honor they could carry with them throughout their lives. They would be given noncompetitive status for college, vocational schools, and work assignments. No one outside of camp would know about the special dispensation. For most of them, the worst day of their lives had just become the best. In the end, all but three of the newly anointed campers ate, danced, and flirted with brazen confidence until drugged food and exhaustion drove them to their beds.
GABI’S EYES were gritty and blurred when she forced them open on Consecration Day. She was nowhere near rested, but her bladder ached from the liters of water she’d chugged before leaving the party with Marnie and Jordan. As she rose from her bunk, she grabbed her toiletry kit and headed for the bathroom, eager to get a hot shower before the other girls woke up. Shivering as she hung her oversized T-shirt, underwear, and towel on a hook beside the stall, Gabi turned on the water and waited until billows of steam moistened her face before stepping in. It would be her last hot shower for… well, maybe forever as far as she knew.
Gabi and Marnie had picked over the events of the day until the first of the weary partiers began filtering back into the dorm around 2:00 a.m. The two girls and Jordan had made a pact before heading to their respective dorms. They would all sit for this year’s exams, and they would pass, whatever it took. The counselors’ offer was too good to be true, and none of them wanted to defer and risk the decision being reversed by the council in the year to come.
Gabi was amazed by Marnie’s rapid turnabout regarding becoming a Witness. She was determined to make a team, but not just any team. She wanted to be sent to work in Willow, her old branch, and when she got there, she was going to go AWOL and continue her parents’ work. Gabi had no doubt in Marnie’s ability to do anything she set her mind to, but the thought of being separated from her was becoming harder with each passing moment.
Jordan was committed to their oath as well, though he wasn’t optimistic about his chances. His sister had studied for the exam from the time she was twelve, and even with four years of preparation, she’d barely passed. With the exception of those who received callings early, as Mathew had, no one was ever simply given a chance to take the test. It would have made a mockery of the sanctity of Witnessing, and been unnecessarily harsh for the ill-prepared. But like Gabi, Jordan wasn’t about to let the odds keep him from trying.
“My sister left all of her books and stuff when she took off for her first mission,” he’d told them. “It’s all still there, I think, in boxes in my parents’ basement.” Jordan’s voice flattened. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about the physical part, though. Ten days isn’t enough time to make much difference. The only exercise I’ve ever had is doing chores. I just wish there was some way to prepare without getting my parents’ hopes up. Even if I could keep it from them, they’re going to know I’m sitting for the exam when the shuttle comes to take me to the testing center.”
Jordan wasn’t the only one anxious to keep his exam a secret, but Gabi’s motives had more to do with protecting herself than Sam or Mathew. If Sam would freak out about something like her skipping her meds and doing a few sit-ups, he’d have a full-on seizure if Gabi told him about becoming a Witness. The fact she’d been given an actual shot at it would terrify him, not to mention break the Consecration Camp pact of silence. Most likely Sam would forbid her from taking the exam
altogether. Nor could she risk confiding in Mathew. He was just as protective of her as Sam. Encouraging her to get healthy was one thing, but Mathew would want no part in helping Gabi put herself in danger. Still, as long as he didn’t suspect Gabi’s true motive, Mathew would continue to help her build her strength and endurance. The dilemma of how to get herself to the testing center without Mathew or Sam knowing about it was yet another obstacle, but given everything she’d heard about the exam itself, that was the least of her worries.
Though the other girls were wearing their white purity shifts from the day before, freshly laundered gowns had been laid at the foot of Gabi’s and Marnie’s bunks that morning. The splotches of blood left over from their ordeal in the tub room would have made poor accessories for a couple of purified girls about to receive their calling. Marnie was already dressed and applying the finishing touches to her heavily made-up eyes. Her hair was molded into a severe bob with thick bangs brushing her eyebrows, a cut normally obscured by her customary style of gelled spikes. She looked like a picture of Cleopatra from their Ancient Cultures textbook. With her dramatic onyx eyeliner, Marnie was Cleopatra’s spitting image if you took away the piercings, heavy musculature, and nicotine breath. She caught Gabi’s eye in the mirror and winked.
“Come on, girls,” Christina trilled, her long braid unwoven so that it rippled over her back and shoulders like a live thing. “The hour is upon us!” Squeals issued from the bathroom as girls streamed out, faces iridescent with gloss and eye shadow.
“Showtime,” Marnie said as she stood and shoved her makeup back into the duffel on her bed. Marnie was already packed, clothes for changing into after the ceremony in a pile beside her bag. After the post-Consecration buffet, the campers would all be shuttled back to their respective branches, which, for those like Jordan, meant days of bus travel. As she followed Marnie into the main hall where the boys were lined up in matching white pajamas with their male counselors, Gabi caught sight of Jordan. Stripped of his protective layers and hood, his skin looked powdery and vulnerable as a newborn’s. Despite the absence of his customary swaddling, Jordan’s height and bulk were still considerable. If he was strong, rather than soft as a plush toy, he could have been a Minder. At the very least, he could have easily fought off the bullies he feared.
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