Then it was time for the bad news. The group would be leaving for Salem to hawk their wares, so potential members would need to either join now, travel to Salem to investigate further, or wait until the commune members returned to Portland.
“There’s no hurry,” Korin assured us in his fluid voice. “We should be back in a few months.”
With those simple words, Korin had glibly added an urgency that would encourage people to join immediately or to follow the members to the next city. I recognized it because I used the same method in the store when a customer hesitated too long over buying an antique. I knew if they left without the piece, they often wouldn’t find the time to come back, even if they loved it, so I made sure they understood it would likely be gone, and though I might find something similar down the road, it wouldn’t be exactly the same. This always helped them decide one way or the other, and usually they’d buy the piece.
However, there was a huge difference between me and Korin. I had a two-week return policy in writing, whereas Korin, if Ethan was right about the group, had no such safety net for his customers.
Or did he?
I raised my hand and waited until Korin pointed at me. “What if I join and then change my mind?”
Korin smiled. “You are free to leave whenever you wish. Harmony Farms does not believe in forcing anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. Unless it’s their turn to wash dishes, of course.” Everyone laughed.
So there was at least a verbal return policy, though there was no way to determine if it was upheld in practice.
“And our assets?” asked the man in the ill-fitting suit.
“Held for several months until you make your final decision.”
“Is there any kind of initiation we have to go through?” asked one of the blue-haired teens.
“Nothing like that, though we do hold a three-day fast when new members join, a symbolic cleansing from the outside world.”
“No food for three whole days?” This came from the woman with the toddler.
“Don’t worry. That doesn’t include the children,” Korin explained. “Those under twelve don’t fast, and the twelve to fifteen age group do it for only one day. And water and juices are permitted, if you find it too difficult. But remember you are not alone. Every able member takes the journey with you. For lack of a better word, it’s quite spiritual.”
Three whole days? An occasional fast was good for the body, but three days seemed excessive. At the same time, I’d have been surprised if they didn’t require it at all because fasting was a primary tool of psychological control. I wondered if these fasts were held only when new members joined or also at the whim of the leaders—perhaps when people became too energetic or restless.
Korin went on about the fast, waxing poetic, if the faces around me were to be believed, but I tuned him out as I pondered what food I should smuggle inside my suitcase.
When Korin sat down, a few disciples arose and talked about how their lives had been without meaning or purpose before joining the commune and how they loved their lives now and had many friends. One young man said he hoped to marry another Harmony Farms resident and raise a dozen children within the loving arms of the society.
That was over the top for me, but the young mother’s round face shone with hope. When had I become such a cynic?
“I’m in,” called the boy who’d been complaining about his father. One of the other young men echoed his statement, but the others looked down at their hands and said nothing. The large woman and the old man got up and left.
After the meeting ended, there were refreshments—homemade muffins with juice. To my surprise, the young mother approached me. Up close I could see an ugly bruise on her neck peeking from underneath her sagging turtleneck, and the green of a nearly healed bruise covered one side of her face from cheek to jawbone.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” she asked, balancing her son on her hip. “Harmony Farms is going to keep us safe.” She included me in her “us,” and I knew she’d spotted the marks Inclar had left on my neck.
“So you’re joining,” I said.
She nodded. “I met them at Christmastime last year, but it took a while to get the courage to change my life, you know? A few weeks ago, I learned they were back, and I’ve been at these meetings ever since. Being with them makes me happy and gives me hope. I’m staying here tonight, and tomorrow I’ll be going to the farm. You could come too.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Really? Oh, good!” She bounced the toddler in her excitement. Beneath the bruises and the frightened expression, her fine-boned face was ripe with the beauty of youth. She probably wasn’t more than twenty, and I was sorry she felt she had no other options in her life. “I was a little nervous going alone. Well, it looks like some of those boys are going, but that’s not the same thing as a woman. You understand.”
Before I could reply, she was waving Korin over. “She wants to come with us tomorrow!”
Korin’s gaze fell on me as he approached. “Is that right?”
“You were very convincing,” I said, hoping my skepticism didn’t show.
His smile was self-deprecating. “It’s a little too smooth, I know. But it’s all true. Three years ago, I gave my life to this wonderful cause, and I’ve never regretted it a single day. Of course, you know everyone has to work hard on the farm.”
I shrugged. “I’m not afraid of work.”
“Well, we can certainly use someone to teach us about herbs. We don’t have a doctor.”
“I have a few books about herbal remedies I can bring.” I tried to sound as eager as the young mother without overdoing it.
“Wonderful,” Korin said. “We would be glad to have you. But are you sure you can leave so quickly? Won’t you need more time to take care of everything for an extended, perhaps permanent absence?”
“I don’t really have any reason to wait.” Now was when I had to be careful not to show too much eagerness. Perhaps give them a reason to believe I would be a sincere follower, and Inclar had given me that. I touched the bruises on my neck until both their eyes were drawn to them. “I’d rather not go back to—” I broke off and looked down at my hands, hoping they were buying it. In case they weren’t, I added, “I do have some money in the bank that I’d like to get out. It’s not a lot, but it’s my life savings. The bank’s open tomorrow morning, so I can get it then.”
“Do you need some place to stay tonight?” Korin asked gently.
Guilt wormed into my mind, but this was for Victoria and Marcie. “No. There’s another place I can go, but I won’t have many clothes to bring.”
“You won’t need them anyway. We have a dress code at the farm, and we make most of our own clothes.”
Now this I was interested to see. I was pretty handy with a needle myself.
I felt eyes staring at me, and I looked up to see Jake across the room practically digging a hole in my face with his eyes. I could sense the concern as if he were shouting it. I looked away before Korin noticed.
The young mother squeezed my hand. “I’m so happy you’re coming.”
I didn’t even know her name. “By the way, I’m Autumn,” I said.
She squealed. “Oh, you’ve already chosen a new name! Then I want to be Summer or maybe Spring.”
“Spring,” I said. “That’s more unusual, and it suits you.”
“Well chosen,” Korin said. “Founder Gabe will have the final say, of course, because we don’t want to have too many repeats, but I can’t imagine him refusing.”
The statement chilled me. How could this Gabe have so much power over these people? Neither Spring nor Korin seemed to think that odd.
“I can’t wait to see him,” Spring said a little breathlessly.
Korin laughed, an infectious, booming sound. “You won’t have to. He’ll be here tomorrow before we leave. He’s coming in with the new supplies and to oversee the move to Salem while I take you and the others back to the farm.”
“Will he speak to us tomorrow before we leave?” Spring asked. To me, she added, “He’s incredible. I had the privilege of hearing him speak last December.”
“We do hope to have him speak. Just make sure you’re here a little before we leave at two.” Korin smiled at us and drifted away.
I was glad he left because I was burning with questions. I’d just connected something Spring had said earlier about being around the Harmony group at Christmastime. Had she known Victoria Fullmer? Victoria had first met the commune members at Willamette University in Salem, but she’d come home to Portland before she left with them, so it was possible she’d missed her final exams to follow the commune members. She might have run into Spring at some of the meetings.
“I had a friend once,” I began, “who was attending these meetings. Victoria. I wonder if you might have—”
“Brenda!” a voice roared.
My gaze shot to the doorway, where a short, husky man stood with his fists clenched at his sides, his face red with fury. “You come over here this instant,” he commanded.
Spring had given a little gasp, and now she moaned. “Jimmy. He found me.”
The room was utterly still. I didn’t have time to look around to see what everyone else might be doing because I was too busy being horrified that Spring had taken two steps forward.
“No!” I grabbed her wrist.
She looked at me. “I’ll come back later, or in a few months if I can’t get away now.”
“You don’t have to go with him. We’re not going to let him hurt you. None of us. You just have to say no.”
“Oh.” It was a tiny sound coming with a puff of air from her small mouth.
Jimmy hadn’t held still. He was striding toward us purposefully, like a man filled with righteous indignation. He moved fast, too fast. My thoughts couldn’t catch up. In a moment, he’d grab Spring and leave. I did the only thing I could do.
I stepped in front of her.
“Out of my way!” he growled.
“She’s not going with you. Leave, or we’ll call the police.”
“She’s my wife!” This he yelled in my face. He wasn’t much taller than I was, but decidedly stockier and insane with rage. I wished I’d thought to grab Spring and run out a back door, but here we were.
“These crazies have no right messing with my family! They’re coming with me now. Brenda, let’s go!” A stream of curses followed.
He made to go around me, but I put out an arm. “You don’t have to go anywhere,” I told Spring. “He doesn’t own you.”
Spring made a frightened noise in her throat, but she didn’t obey his command.
He brought up a fist, hurling it at me. Pain exploded in my cheek, and I was knocked sideways to the ground. Spring screamed. I curled, arms going up to protect my head as I wondered what would come next. Nothing did. I risked a peek to see that Jake had knocked Jimmy to the floor. From where Jake had been across the room, he must have started moving the second the man came through the door.
Jake leapt on top of Jimmy and was poised for another strike when Korin’s voice thundered, “That’s enough!”
Jake’s jaw worked with anger, and I knew that if he hadn’t been playing a role for Korin, he’d probably have given Spring’s husband the thorough thrashing he deserved. With effort, he lowered his hand and climbed to his feet, his eyes still wary. I’d known Jake was strong, but I hadn’t suspected he could fell a husky man like that with one blow.
Male disciples now flanked Korin, and their combined bulk made a solid wall between Spring and Jimmy. Someone helped me to my feet, and I stood a little unsteadily next to Spring. Her son had buried his face in her shoulder, whimpering softly.
“You will leave now,” Korin told the man firmly.
“She’s my wife!” Jimmy insisted. “You can’t hold her against her will.”
Korin turned to Spring. “Do you want to go with this man?”
For the long space of several heartbeats, Spring didn’t speak while Jimmy glared at her, a cruel confidence seeping into his expression. I felt heartsick at what I knew would happen. I reached out to her, squeezing her arm in encouragement.
“No,” Spring said at last. “I don’t want to ever see him again.” My breath whooshed out in relief, and I wasn’t the only one.
“Would you like me to call the police?” This question Korin directed to both of us.
I glanced at Spring, whose head gave a tiny jerk to indicate no. “I guess not,” I said reluctantly. My cheek was already swelling, and when I touched it gingerly, I could feel my skin slick with blood.
“You need to leave now,” Korin said to Jimmy.
The man’s upper lip curled. “This isn’t over!”
Korin folded his arms. “Yes, it is.”
“I’ll come after you!” Jimmy yelled. “I’ll get the boy!” With another snarl, he was seen to the door by two of the larger male followers.
I put an arm around Spring. “Good for you.”
“What if he really does get little Jim?” She was shaking now and clinging to her son as tightly as he was clinging to her.
“He won’t.” Korin put a hand on her shoulder. “He’ll never find either of you.”
Spring smiled tentatively, the tension running out of her body. “Thank you so much,” she whispered.
But Korin’s promise seemed ominous to me. How could he promise such a thing unless he did have a way of making people disappear?
Jake had wedged his way between the bodies to get to me. “Are you okay?” he whispered in my ear.
I nodded. “I think it’s time to go.”
“I’ll take you.”
I didn’t protest because at that moment I wanted nothing more than to be with Jake. I would explain to Ethan later why I hadn’t called him to pick me up. As for fixing my car, well, it looked as though I wasn’t going to need it for a while. Besides, I could always call a mechanic.
Korin’s thoughtful gaze had settled on us, though I didn’t think he’d overheard our conversation.
“I’ll meet you outside,” I said in an undertone, smiling at Jake as though thanking a total stranger for his help.
“I’m on the bike.” This a little apologetically.
“That’s okay.” In fact, it was perfect. I could hold onto him and pretend my cheek didn’t feel like raw hamburger.
While I bade farewell to Spring, Jake went outside to wait for me. I glanced at Korin to see if he noticed me leaving, but he was caught up talking to a group of young men. I went outside and climbed on the back of Jake’s bike, resting my good right cheek on his back. He was wearing his leather jacket, and I breathed in the smell of leather. Neither of us spoke.
We went straight to my apartment, and I didn’t notice or care if Shannon and his partner or whoever was still watching. Jake washed his hands in my bathroom and then doctored my cheek with comfrey salve.
“You need to learn to duck.” His finger rose slightly, rubbing over the preexisting scar under my left eye, one I’d gained in the Hawthorne Bridge bombing. His touch felt good, even though it brought back terrible memories.
“I’ve decided to take up martial arts again,” I said.
“Good.”
After his doctoring, I sipped herbal tea on the couch, wrapped in Summer’s afghan, her comforting imprints washing over me.
“You can’t join them,” Jake said. “Look at you.”
“This has nothing to do with Harmony Farms. That girl’s husband is nuts, that’s what.”
He snorted. “They’re all nuts!”
I laughed. “That’s what everyone said about Winter, and half your clients are considered crazy as well.”
His face relaxed, and despite himself, he grinned. “Okay, okay. We’re all nuts. But don’t you think this is a little beyond crazy?”
“I feel I owe it to those wo
men. I can’t explain it exactly, but it’s like I’m finally coming to terms with this ability or whatever it is. Maybe I’m not supposed to help people only by sitting in my store reading imprints. Maybe it’s time I did more.”
The doorbell prevented me from having to explain further. Jake strode toward the door with the gait of a young man looking for a fight. He hadn’t liked what I’d said, and I bet he was actually hoping Inclar was outside the door so he could direct his anger elsewhere.
The back of the couch was to the door, so I had to turn to see him open it to Detective Shannon Martin. I groaned and held the afghan up over my cheek. “What are you doing here?”
He crossed the room in four large strides. “Got a call from the suits outside. Said it looked like you’d been attacked again.” He stared pointedly at the afghan.
I dropped the pretense and the afghan. “It’s nothing. I stepped into the middle of a domestic dispute, that’s all. Wrong place at the wrong time.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure this has nothing to do with Danny Foster?”
“Huh? No. Of course it doesn’t.”
“I was with her,” Jake said. “She’s telling the truth.”
Shannon’s eyes dug into him. “You sure you didn’t do this?”
“Oh, yes, I have the habit of hitting my best friends.” Jake held up a fist. “Do you have a problem with me? Maybe we should take care of that right now!”
“I could always arrest you.”
I stood and faced them, hands on my hips. “Get out of here, both of you!”
“I’m not leaving,” Jake said stubbornly. He turned to Shannon. “But don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” It wasn’t really in Jake’s character to be rude, but Shannon seemed to bring it out in him, much as he brought out the sarcasm in me.
Shannon stood his ground.
I threw up my hands. “Fine. You two do what you want. I’m going to bed.” I looked at Jake. “If my sister calls, not a word of this to her. Got it?” It’d be just like Tawnia to come running over here and spend the rest of the night trying to talk me out of my plan. “I’ll tell her myself later.”
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