The Girl Behind the Red Rope

by Ted Dekker

  A stick cracked under my foot and I jumped, nerves on high alert. Instead of slowing down, I surged forward, suddenly desperate to reach him. I couldn’t abandon Eli, and I was certain that voice belonged to him.

  The voice became clearer as I rushed through the trees. The soft and playful melody drifted on the wind and filled the air around me. The trees suddenly ended, and I pulled up in a clearing that ran up to a small cliff. The singing came from the ravine beyond. Either Eli or a Fury that sounded like Eli, luring me into its trap.

  I hesitated only a moment, then crept up to the edge. Peered over.

  There was a small stream running through the ravine. Squatting beside the sparkling brook was Eli, fingertips dipping into the water.

  “Eli?”

  He jerked his head around, saw me, and smiled. “Hi, Grace.”

  I looked in either direction. The descent into the ravine wasn’t much, only eight or ten feet, but it was steep.

  “How did you get down there?” I asked.

  “I jumped,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Jumped? That was a long jump for a small boy.

  “You were supposed to stay in the train car,” I said, hoping he heard the edge in my voice. I wanted to be out of the clearing and back inside the safety of the train cars. “You made me a promise.”

  “I promised to stay in the train car for the night,” Eli said. “But now it’s daytime.”

  I opened my mouth to scold him but stopped. It didn’t matter right now. “We need to go back. It’s too dangerous for you to be out here alone.”

  He stood and turned around to face me, eyes bright and haunting. “What’s so dangerous?” he asked, shaking the water from his fingers.

  “How can you not know about the danger of the Fury? You’ve lived out there your whole life.”

  “Exactly,” he said. “That’s why I asked what’s so dangerous.”

  “You’re saying they aren’t real?”

  “That doesn’t mean we have to be afraid.” He looked around curiously. “Looks safe to me.”

  “It’s not,” I said. “The forest’s full of danger.”

  “But the train car’s safe?”

  “Much safer.”

  “Why?”

  He was just a curious boy who didn’t understand the world he’d stepped into, I tried to remind myself. Or a Fury trying to trick me. But looking at him, I couldn’t believe that.

  “Because it offers us protection.”

  “And you think you need protection?”

  What a childish thing to say, Bobbie’s voice whispered in my mind.

  I glanced around but didn’t see her at first.

  Careful, Grace. This boy isn’t who he seems. Foolishness will get you killed. Bobbie emerged from behind a tree several yards to my right. She was half tucked out of sight, eyes glued to the boy, communicating with me but focused on him. He doesn’t know the danger he faces.

  I turned back to the boy, who was still staring at me, waiting for me to answer. I felt vulnerable in his gaze, as though he could see through the barrier of my skin.

  “Why do you spend so much time and effort being careful?” Eli asked. “Living afraid sounds awful hard.”

  I couldn’t answer. I knew the reasons, of course: Because darkness was everywhere and always coming for us. Because we had been called to guard our hearts from sin so we could be made worthy to inherit the earth. Mostly because without protection we would be killed by the Fury.

  I knew all the reasons, but I couldn’t deny that he was right. Living a life watching for danger was hard. Almost impossible. How had he and Ben survived beyond the perimeter? If he wasn’t a Fury himself, he knew something I didn’t.

  Before I could respond, Eli walked to the cliff and scrambled up, using rocks and roots for hand- and footholds. He stood up beside me and brushed his hands on his pants. “See, simple. You can just jump down and climb up.”

  “Okay, but we need to go now,” I said, starting to turn.

  “Can you imagine what it would be like if you didn’t have to protect yourself for even one day?” he asked.

  I glanced over and saw that he was looking back at the brook in the ravine.

  He twisted around, eyes daring, smiling. “I take it back. Imagine you didn’t have to protect yourself for one hour.” He lifted his finger. “Imagine that for just that one hour there was nothing to protect yourself from. Nothing to fear. Can you even imagine it?”

  I tried, but I couldn’t. And I couldn’t because the very idea of living without fear was like trying to live without truth. Fear was a constant friend that protected me, so why would I try to imagine living without it?

  “Then you could be like this beautiful brook, flowing without a care,” Eli said, motioning to the water. “Wouldn’t that be something? Try it, just for a few seconds, right now.”

  I followed his eyes and for the first time wondered what living in such freedom would be like. For a moment, I could actually imagine not having any fear at all. It would be like heaven on earth.

  Careful, Grace, Bobbie’s familiar voice whispered. Don’t let him trick you into trouble. I could see her in my peripheral vision, hidden in the shadow of a tree. Her words snuffed out my calm.

  Eli glanced in her direction, but when I followed his eyes, she was gone. Had he seen her? Impossible. Only I saw her. Hadn’t that been proven?

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” he said, digging into his pocket. “Look what I found.” He held out his palm. Perched in the center of his hand was a small golden stone, catching the light of the sun and shining as bright as the blue wonder in his eyes. “It was hidden in the muddy water. Ben and I used to search for buried treasure. Usually in the darkest places. Isn’t it amazing?”

  My heart ached at his mention of my father. I blinked. Did Eli know Ben was gone? No, he couldn’t. I should tell him, but I didn’t know how to say it.

  The boy was turning the stone in his palm, smiling at its beauty. But the moment he looked up at me again, his face fell. Tears welled in his eyes.

  He knew, I thought. It was as though he’d read my mind the way Bobbie did. We stood there for a moment, heartache filling the space between us.

  But looking into his eyes, I saw more. I saw a certainty and peace that defied his sorrow. That calm seemed to reach out to me and hold me. For several long beats my fear fell away and I just stood there, strangely comforted.

  “He knows now,” Eli said.

  I blinked. “Knows what?” I asked, assuming the he Eli was referring to was my father.

  “Everything.” He stepped up to me and held out the golden stone. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, dropping the stone into my hand. And then, with a nod, “I’ll stay in the train car if you want.”

  I wanted to say something but found no words. What had just happened?

  “I would like that,” I finally said. “I just want you to be safe.”

  “Protected,” he said. “So that evil doesn’t get me.”

  “Yes, protected.” Although my concern felt less acute now. Even a bit silly.

  But then my sanity returned and I chided myself for letting my guard down. Imagined sentiments were one thing, but this was reality, where danger hid in every dark corner.

  Without a word, Eli walked past me, headed back in the direction of the train tracks. And then he was running and I was hurrying to catch him. The backpack bounced on my back, slowing me, and part of me wished I didn’t have it so I could run past him. It was all a game to him. Another part of me wanted to call out and tell him to slow down, but my more cautious side knew how far sound could travel in these mountains.

  We reached the train car winded, I just a few steps behind him.

  Eli stepped up onto the thick wooden beam that lined the rusted tracks and spun around to face me. “I beat you.”

  “You got a head start!”

  He laughed. I started to join him but stopped myself. Had I lost my mind? The thought filled me with a moment�
��s dread. Hadn’t Bobbie warned me of just this?

  But I still couldn’t fear Eli. My father had insisted I keep him safe. I could do that and keep myself safe as well. But to do that, I had to get back before anyone knew I’d gone.

  I shrugged the backpack off my shoulders and handed it to him. “Here’s some things to keep you comfortable through the night.”

  Eli stepped off the track, sat on the wooden rail, and opened the pack.

  “It’s not much, just the basics,” I said, watching him comb through the bag. “Food, water, a blanket. And a flashlight in case you need it. Promise me you’ll be here when I come back. I just need a little more time to figure out what to do. I’m so sorry about all this, but they’re looking for you, you understand? It’s safer here for now than anywhere I can think of. Right?”

  Eli looked up at me. “Right. But don’t worry about me. I’m okay.”

  I stared at him, no longer able to hold back my curiosity. “Are you Ben’s son?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he replied without a beat. “He adopted me.”

  “You’re not a Fury?”

  His brow arched. “Do I act like a Fury?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You should. They’re everywhere.”

  “But are you one?”

  “No.”

  That’s what a Fury would say. Bobbie again, whispering in my ear.

  But for now I wanted to believe Eli, so I did. “Okay. Just one more night, I promise.”

  “And then what?” he asked.

  “And then I’ll find someplace safer for you inside the perimeter.”

  “One more night, then.” He stood, hefted the backpack over one shoulder, and gave me a nod. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter

  Twenty-Five

  ROSE STOOD AT HER KITCHEN SINK. THE HOUSE WAS silent, her children asleep, her husband quietly tucked away in his office. She’d cleaned the kitchen twice with hope that the activity would distract her mind from the trial at hand, but nothing seemed to help. The kitchen was dark, with only a faint light streaming in from the hallway. She stared out the window above the sink, looking at the darkness that blanketed Haven Valley.

  Sylous had given her five days to kill the intruders. But the boy was now missing. The thought made her cringe.

  The guardians had spent the entire day searching and had come up with nothing. Every home and structure in the community had been overturned and shaken out. Not a trace of the missing boy anywhere. He’d either vanished into thin air or escaped into the forest. Either way, she’d failed Sylous.

  Rose had gone over yesterday’s events a hundred times. She’d left her children with her husband, gone to the medical clinic to deal with the old man, and come home to find the boy missing. Neither her husband nor the children had seen or heard a thing.

  The boy had obviously left through the basement window, but how could he have managed without help? Yet there was no sign of a break-in. The key to the basement was in its place, the door to the basement locked, the windows and screens all intact. But she refused to believe he’d escaped on his own. He was too naïve a boy to attempt, much less pull off, an escape.

  Then again, Sylous said he was a Fury. She shivered.

  Even so, he was no longer within the perimeter, surely. Maybe Sylous would leave well enough alone. Maybe her nerves were more about having been violated in her own home, the sanctuary under her most rigid control.

  She dropped her eyes to the sink, closed them and exhaled. Beyond the perimeter, the boy didn’t present an immediate threat to Haven Valley. Sylous would know what to do.

  The room’s atmosphere shifted, and it caught Rose so off guard that she gasped. She spun around and saw him standing there in her kitchen. Green eyes and white suit, his face clear even in the darkened room.

  “Sylous,” she whispered.

  He was in her home, without warning, in the place where her children slept. They always met in the church. Yet here he was, standing before her, cold and consuming. Her stomach turned.

  “The boy must be found,” Sylous said, taking a step toward her.

  She placed both palms on either side of the sink behind her, feeling his seduction pull at her mind.

  “We’ve searched everywhere,” Rose said, keeping her voice just above a whisper.

  “Search further, search again.” His voice was low and deep, the anger in his tone barely contained. “Haven Valley will suffer if he isn’t found in time.”

  Three days. Less now. There had to be another way!

  “The old man’s dead,” Rose said. “The boy’s not inside the perimeter.”

  Sylous glared at her, eyes sharp and accusing. “I don’t think you appreciate what we’re dealing with here.”

  “Surely there’s a way you can kill him beyond . . .”

  Sylous closed the distance between them in one movement, one hand on her chest, pinning her against the sink. He gripped her neck from behind and held her face close to his own. She could smell his sweat, feel his breath.

  “Haven’t I made it clear that I have no control over the Fury except to protect you from them?”

  “Then protect us from him!” she cried, aware that she’d crossed a line.

  “I am,” he thundered, and she winced, hoping no one had heard. “I am protecting Haven Valley from the boy through you! Are you no longer my worthy servant?”

  Rose couldn’t answer. Fear had closed her throat and stolen her words. Sylous’s anger seemed to be reaching into her chest and squeezing her heart.

  He eased his grip on her neck and spoke in a soft voice. “This Fury comes as a boy feigning innocence and wonder to compromise your holiness. You must know by now that even my survival depends on your holiness.”

  His assertion confused her. He depended on them? She’d always seen it the other way around.

  “It goes both ways, like any relationship,” he said, calming. “The bride’s holiness is the air I breathe. By following the law of God, you’ve established a well of righteousness in this valley that is deep and rich. Its aroma rises to please the divine. But if that purity is compromised in this last hour, the world falls to the Fury. Trust me when I tell you, my love, that as long as the boy lives, the final remnant of God’s bride are in grave danger. The demon must be killed.”

  Sylous reached up and gently stroked Rose’s left cheek, his fingers running down the length of her chin and neckline. “If you fail God the whole world will be lost.”

  Rose wanted to cry there in his arms. Wanted to beg for his forgiveness as the warmth of his touch flowed through her blood. She would rather die than lose the thing she craved most. Sylous’s communion. His loyalty. His love.

  “Find him,” Sylous whispered.

  Rose swallowed and nodded. “I will find him.”

  “Gather the faithful. Press them. Search beyond the perimeter. Find him.”

  “I will.”

  “And?” Sylous said.

  Rose inhaled his scent and let the fear of losing him sink deep into her bones. She would use it as her fuel.

  “And I will kill him.”

  AN EMERGENCY MEETING HAD BEEN CALLED AT dawn. Every member of Haven Valley occupied the creaking pews as bodies shifted nervously. Word of the missing boy was well known. Every home had been thoroughly searched the day before. The fear was palpable, and for good reason.

  Evil threatened to crush Haven Valley. And yet no one suspected that I was complicit.

  The rash that had taken to Evelyn’s body had spread to others. They were already calling it an outbreak. Colin and Rebecca had red blotches on their faces—the only members of the council thus far. But at least a dozen others were absently scratching at their arms and sides. Still, with the boy at large, the rash was of little concern. In fact, the boy’s disappearance was the cause of the rash, many were saying.

  I sat in the pew, mind numbed by the madness of the role I’d played in the great reckoning facing us all. Eli was alive because o
f me. Haven Valley was under terrible threat because of me. I was a bundle of nerves, avoiding eye contact with anyone, thankful I was still expected to keep to myself in penance. Not even Alice approached me, despite news of her pregnancy. She likely hated me for endangering her unborn child.

  If they only knew! Dear God, help me. Like the crest of a wave torn by a gale-force wind, my emotions were frayed and divided. What was I doing? Doubt raged through me.

  But I was also still caught up in my interaction with Eli. Imagine living without fear for an hour. Then you could be like the brook. Wouldn’t that be something?

  His way of being was peculiar, innocent, and terrifying. I felt the desire to both run to him and run away. I couldn’t decide what would be better.

  I knew where Bobbie stood on the matter—we’d talked all the way home yesterday. I should run, naturally. I should leave the boy alone and let him find his own way. And I should avoid Rose because she would see the guilt in my eyes. Bow out and don’t say a word to anyone about anything, Bobbie had instructed. If they are meant to find the boy, they will. If not, the boy will find a way to survive.

  Besides, what if the boy really was a wolf in sheep’s clothing? I couldn’t see it because I was already under his spell, Bobbie had suggested, which is why I should just take a deep breath and stay away.

  And my promise to my father?

  “What if Ben wasn’t your father?” Bobbie said. “What if that was another Fury looking like your father?”

  “That’s possible?”

  “I keep telling you, there are many different kinds of Fury. They can present as almost anything. Your only job now is to protect the unborn child in your womb. Please tell me nothing is as important.”

  I hesitated. “You’re right.”

  “So you’ll stay away?”

  Another pause. “For now.”

  She frowned. “I can only help you if you let me.”

  I was lost in those thoughts when Andrew walked into the Chapel and headed to the pew where I sat with my mother and Jamie. The same unpleasant feeling that always bloomed in my chest opened as he approached. In the chaos of everything, I hadn’t thought of my baby’s father at all.