by Brenda Novak
“I said—”
“Just move.”
A confused look crossed her face, but she made room for him, and he climbed into bed with her.
“I thought you—”
“Shh.” Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he pulled her backside into the curve of his body.
“I don’t understand, Parker,” she said once she came into contact with evidence of his arousal. “You obviously want—”
“I don’t want anything,” he said. “Just go to sleep.”
“I can’t,” she replied, but he held perfectly still for several minutes, doing his best to keep her warm and secure, and she finally relaxed in his arms.
When he knew she was sleeping, Parker pressed his lips to her hair. “There’re a lot of things I’d trade to be able to have you, Hope,” he whispered.
But Dalton wasn’t one of them.
* * *
THE TELEPHONE woke Hope. She lay blinking in bed, Parker’s arm heavy across her middle. The sun had gone down, leaving them in total darkness except for the flicker of the television, which Parker had left on to mask the other noises in the motel so they could sleep. Because everything was so dark, she felt disoriented. She didn’t know if it was the middle of the night or just past dinnertime.
Checking the digital numbers on the alarm clock as she got out of bed and hurried to grab the phone, she saw that it was far later than she wanted it to be—1:15 a.m.
“Hello?”
Parker had started to stir when she did. Now he propped himself up on one elbow. “Who is it?” he asked.
Hope wasn’t sure yet. No one had responded. “Hello?” she said again.
There was a click, then a dial tone. She hung up as terrible feeling of foreboding crept over her.
“You okay?” Parker asked.
Hope didn’t know what to say. Faith was in trouble. She knew it in her heart and in her bones.
“Hope?” Parker sounded worried.
“I’m afraid,” she said, but the telephone rang again before she could say what she was afraid of, and she snatched it up. “Hello?”
“We’ve found Arvin and Faith.”
Bonner. “You have?”
“Yes, but you’d better get over here, fast.”
“Where?” she cried. “Where’s here?”
“Remember the barn?”
How could she ever forget? “Is this some kind of cruel joke?” she asked.
“It’s no joke. If you want to help Faith, you’ll get over to the barn as soon as possible.”
“But I’m probably two hours away. Can you wait there until I arrive? Make sure nothing happens to Faith?”
“No. I’ve got to go.”
He hung up, leaving Hope staring at the phone in her hand, breathing hard and fast.
“What is it?” Parker asked.
“Bonner’s found Faith.”
“Where?”
“In the barn.” Hope closed her eyes, feeling sick at the mere mention of the place where she and Bonner used to meet.
“The barn?” Parker queried. “What’s she doing in a barn?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But something isn’t right. Let’s go.”
* * *
IT WAS RAINING when they finally arrived in Superior. Tiny droplets beaded on the side windows of the truck and rolled down the glass as the wipers beat steadily across the windshield. Hope watched their methodical movement as if Faith’s life depended on every sweep, and willed the miles to pass faster.
I’m coming Faith, she thought. Hang on, I’m coming.
“Make a left two blocks down, at 200 West,” she said when the light in the center of town finally turned green.
So far, Parker had shown little regard for the speed limit. He punched the gas pedal and they rocketed through the intersection. At this point, Hope knew Parker didn’t care if they got pulled over. They’d lead the police to whatever scene was awaiting them at the barn.
But there probably wasn’t enough activity to warrant a speed trap at three-thirty in the morning. Hope saw no flashing lights coming up from behind, heard no sirens. The whole town looked dead asleep.
“Why the barn?” Parker asked as they started into the surrounding farmland. He’d asked before but she’d put him off.
“What do you mean?” she responded, hoping to avoid the issue again.
“Why would Arvin take her to a barn?”
“I’m not positive,” Hope said, “but I think it might have something to do with me.”
“How?”
“Bonner’s family lived on the farm. That was where Bonner and I used to…spend time together away from the prying eyes of the others.”
A slight pause. “Would Arvin know that?”
“When the truth of my pregnancy came out, my father called an emergency council and I had to confess the entire affair before all the Brethren.”
“Including Arvin.”
“Yes, Arvin heard it all. Dates. Times. Places.”
“Does Bonner still live there?”
“He’s probably living in the main house with Charity. Maybe more of his wives live there, too. I’m not sure. My guess would be that his parents have moved into the smaller caretaker’s house in back.”
“A real family affair,” he said sarcastically, and Hope knew he was as tense as she was. They didn’t really know what they were getting into. Bonner could easily have set her up for an ambush.
Evidently Parker was thinking along the same lines because he asked, “How much do you trust Bonner?”
“I don’t trust anyone,” she answered simply.
He looked as though he wanted to say something, but the set of his jaw remained grim and he didn’t speak.
“Slow down,” she said. “You have to turn soon, but it’s difficult to see in the dark.”
The truck slowed and she leaned forward to spot the road sign. “This is it,” she said.
Parker took the corner going fast enough that the tires squealed. He gunned the engine again as they came out of the turn, but Hope wasn’t frightened by the speed. It gave her a measure of relief to know they were traveling as fast as possible. It wouldn’t be long now. They were less than a mile away.
“Parker?” she said when she glimpsed a light in the farmhouse, indicating that someone was up.
“What?” His eyes were watchful, his body taut with expectation.
“I don’t know how bad this is going to be.”
He didn’t take his eyes from the road. “It’ll be okay.”
She rubbed her hands together to ward off the cold that seemed to be coming from somewhere inside her. It was warm in the cab of the truck. The defroster had been on for miles to keep the windows from fogging up. “It might not be,” she said. “We’d be foolish not to realize that. And you have a little boy at home. If…if something’s up, if Bonner is actually in there with Arvin and they have a little surprise planned for us, I don’t want you to do anything stupid. Just get out right away and go for the police.”
“Don’t worry about me,” he said.
The dirt road leading to the farm came up on their right more quickly than Hope had anticipated. “Turn here,” she said, and braced herself against the dash when he hit the brakes.
They swung around the corner and began to bounce in and out of potholes, splashing mud onto the windshield as they went.
The farmhouse was a large white wooden structure built more than sixty years earlier. It sat at the end of the drive, with a sad little porch and a cherry tree in front. The barn was beyond and to the left. In the darkness, it looked larger than Hope remembered, more imposing.
A flash of lightning lit the sky, and thunder boomed and rolled in the distance. “Should we stop at the house?” Parker asked.
The rain began to fall noticeably harder. “No. I don’t want Charity to know I’m here. There’s no reason to involve her if we can help it. Bonner was very specific about Faith being in the barn.”
“It
doesn’t look like anyone’s in the barn.”
Hope could make out the barest hint of light seeping through the crack of the old double doors. “There’s someone there. I just don’t know who it is.”
Parker navigated around a couple of old cars that had probably been broken down for years, past an overturned wheelbarrow and some obsolete farm equipment. He parked next to a tractor and a van, and what was left of last year’s hay, which was stacked in bundles and covered with white plastic.
A dog, chained up in the yard, began barking wildly the moment Hope climbed out.
Parker grimaced at the noise. “If they didn’t know we were here before, they do now,” he said, and told her to wait while he grabbed a tire iron from the toolbox in the back of his truck.
Hope considered the iron and the strength of purpose revealed in his face. She didn’t want to believe a weapon would be necessary. But she wasn’t about to insist he put it down. He had the right to protect himself. They’d be stupid not to consider the possibility that things could get violent.
“Stay behind me,” he said, but Hope immediately started jogging for the barn, too anxious to play it safe. All she could see in her mind’s eye was Oscar, lying mutilated and dead on her doormat. She wasn’t going to let anything like that happen to Faith.
Parker caught up with her after only a few steps and jerked her behind him. The dog’s barking became a futile whine as he turned in circles and finally sat on the wet ground.
The murmur of voices came from inside the barn. But the sound shifted on the wind, rising and falling, so she couldn’t catch enough of it to make out any words.
Parker insisted she stay behind him while he peeked through the crack in the doors.
“Can you see anything?” she asked.
He shook his head. “We’re going to have to go in blind.”
Holding the tire iron ready, he threw open the door. The heavy wooden panel slammed against the outside wall, sounding like a shotgun blast, and the five men inside looked startled.
Hope immediately recognized her father, her uncle Rulon, and Bonner’s father, Elton Thatcher. She also noticed another man, a friend of the family. The leader of the church, R.J. Grissom, was there, too. They were clustered in a corner, sheltering something or someone behind them: Faith.
“Oh, my God.” Hope shoved past her father and the others to find her sister lying on the ground in a pile of straw. “Faith? Are you okay?”
“Hope?” Faith’s voice was weak, and she was shivering, despite several coats piled underneath and on top of her. The only light was from a fluorescent bulb hanging from one of the rafters near the door, but Hope could see that Faith was hurt. She had a black eye, a swollen lip and God knew what else.
“What happened?” Hope asked, kneeling at her side.
“Arvin. He…he beat me and—” she licked her fat upper lip “—tried to rape me right here…where he said you gave yourself to Bonner. But—” Hope thought she detected a slight smile on her sister’s face “—he couldn’t get hard enough. It…it made him so angry.” She tried to laugh.
“What are you doing here? How did you find us?” her father demanded.
Hope didn’t bother to answer him. “Where’s Arvin?”
“He left,” someone else supplied.
“Where’d he go?” she asked, appealing to the others. “Where’s Arvin?”
“We don’t know,” her father said. He had a stern set to his mouth and his eyes were unfathomable, but she could tell he was agitated.
“Bonner’s looking for him,” Bonner’s father, Elton, piped up. “He called me as soon as Arvin showed up here.”
“This would never have happened if you’d done the right thing,” R.J. put in behind her.
She was busy checking Faith’s injuries. “And you think the right thing was to marry Arvin?” she challenged.
A quick glance told her a muscle twitched in her father’s cheek. “I’d told him he could have you when you were old enough.”
“Have me? We’re not living in biblical times.” Faith moaned when Hope’s fingers brushed a particularly sensitive spot. “That wasn’t your decision to make,” Hope added.
“God hasn’t changed,” R.J. said. “It was His decision.”
Hope thought Faith’s injuries would heal, but she wasn’t sure what damage Arvin might have caused the baby. “Listen to you!” she said to the men gathered behind her. “And you think it’s my fault we’re here right now?”
No one answered.
“How did Arvin get away?” she asked, taking Faith’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “We’re going to get you out of here,” she murmured to her sister.
“Bonner heard the ruckus in here. As soon as he came to investigate, Arvin got in his car and drove away,” Rulon volunteered.
Parker had dropped the tire iron and was kneeling across from her. “Has anyone called an ambulance?”
R.J. nudged her father out of the way so he could step closer. “I don’t know who you are,” he said, eyeing Parker with significant distrust, “but this has nothing to do with outsiders. It’s our problem, and we’ll take care of it. We don’t need any help from you or Hope or anyone else.”
“You mean you don’t need any trouble,” Hope said, wondering how she and Parker were going to manage moving Faith without hurting her further.
“Arvin’s going to pay for this,” Parker said. “He’s not getting away with it.”
“He’ll pay,” R.J. agreed, “but he’ll pay our way. We’ll cut him off from all church support and leave him to flounder on his own for a while. That will teach him to cross us.”
Hope nudged Parker to gain his attention. “We’ll have to carry her out.”
“No problem.” Parker slipped an arm beneath Faith, but Rulon put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t,” he said. “You might not care about this church, Hope, but we do. Faith’s just a little beat-up. She’ll heal. And running away like that…she was asking for it.”
“Asking for it?” Hope echoed, incredulous. “You’re as crazy as Arvin is.” She pulled the hair away from Faith’s cheek to reveal a nasty bruise. “You call that a little beat-up? Who knows what else Arvin’s done to her. He might have kicked her, hurt the baby. You heard her say he tried to rape her.”
“She’s his wife,” R.J. said. “You can’t rape your own wife.”
“That’s bullshit,” Parker said.
“Jed—” Hope’s eyes were riveted on her father, who was hovering over them “—she could lose the baby. I know she doesn’t mean that much to you. I know none of us do. But you don’t want a baby’s blood on your hands, do you?”
He straightened as though she’d just insulted him. “You’re wrong,” he said, but Faith moaned at that moment and tried to get up on her own.
Hope turned her attention to her sister. “Relax,” she whispered.
“Help me,” Faith murmured. “The baby…”
Hope fought the anger that threatened to consume her. She had to remain cool and calm. She had to think. “I’m here now, Faith,” she said, taking her hand. “And I’m so sorry, honey. Arvin will never hurt you again. I promise. It’s over. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Faith started to cry, and Hope felt as though someone was tearing her heart right out of her chest. How could she have let this happen? “My baby,” Faith sobbed. “I think he hurt my baby…” Suddenly she stiffened and groaned and grabbed her middle.
“What is it?” Hope said, but she didn’t need to ask. Faith was obviously in labor. “How long as this been going on?” she asked the men as Faith’s face contorted with pain.
They glanced uncomfortably at each other. “We…we don’t know,” Elton finally conceded. “We found her like this after Bonner called. She was having pains then, too, but…but we gave her a blessing.”
“That’s it? You didn’t get one of the midwives to help her?”
“We can’t let word of this get o
ut,” R.J. said. “It could damage the church. Besides, she doesn’t need a midwife. In the old days, women had babies by themselves all the time. This is God’s punishment for rebelling against Him. This is the natural consequence of sin. We first learn of it in the Bible, with Eve. Right, Jed? She’s no better than Eve.”
Her father didn’t answer, and for the first time, he didn’t look so sure of himself.
“It’s a perfectly natural phenomenon,” Rulon chimed in, lending his support to R.J. as usual. But his expression was grave, and Hope could tell he was worried, too. “She’ll have the baby in a while. Then everything will be fine.”
Hope found their ignorance so appalling she couldn’t even respond to it, especially while Faith was suffering. But Parker responded. She saw his hands curl into fists as he gazed up at them, heard the scorn in his voice. “If you think God is behind this, you don’t know anything about God,” he said. “And if she or the baby dies, you’re all going to jail.”
“We didn’t hurt her!” Bonner’s father cried.
“You didn’t help her, either,” Parker replied.
Another pain racked Faith and Hope helped her breathe through it. When it was over, Faith lay back, limp, obviously exhausted, and Hope wished for the inside of a hospital room as she’d never wished for anything else. She’d delivered a few babies in her tenure at Valley View, but she’d had the support of other nurses, an emergency doctor downstairs, all the emergency equipment she could need, an ample supply of blood and a sterile environment. Here she had nothing, only a dirty stall and a few coats.
She thought of the farmhouse and the beds that would be available there. “Where’s Charity? Why isn’t she here?”
“Bonner packed her and the kids up and took them to Marianne’s the moment he figured there might be trouble,” her father said.
“But I’m sure the house is unlocked,” Hope said. “No one ever locks any doors here, right?” Unless things had changed, the members of the Everlasting Apostolic Church didn’t have anything worth stealing. “Maybe we can move her into the—”
Faith’s gut-wrenching cry interrupted her. “No,” she said. “It’s too late. It’s coming. The baby’s coming.”
“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it,” Parker said, his expression intense. “Do you want me to take her out of here? Find a phone and call an ambulance?”