Wild Woods
3
Children
Sàmhach
AS CLOSE A RELATIONSHIP as the police, sheriff’s department, and Families had in Rosebud Falls, it still wasn’t prudent to have many people knowing what they discovered. It would be hard enough to contain the story while Johnson investigated. He wasn’t as suspicious of the Savage Family per se as of their company. The evidence was that drugs and child trafficking had been going on here long before Wayne or Pàl showed up. The sheriff still had one trump card to keep the investigation under wraps. He needed to play it now while everyone was still in shock at discovering the children.
“Pàl and Wayne, you’re here with us, so there’s no way I can prevent you from knowing what we just discovered. I can’t have you investigating on your own while we’re following this shipment.”
“Just say what you want, Sheriff. You’ll find us cooperative.”
“There is a longstanding code among the Families that binds them to secrecy and allows law enforcement to withhold information from them. We haven’t invoked the code in several years but it is paramount that we keep this under sàmhach for forty-eight hours. Silence. Do not speak to other Family heads or anyone else.”
Pàl smiled sadly. “You know, that is one of the possible translations of our name. We understand.”
“I’ll take care of the workers and the EMTs,” Johnson said.
“Not to anyone, Wayne. Even Gee and Karen,” Pàl said as they watched the ambulance pull away. By this time the workers had nearly replaced the entire top layer of rock in the shipment and were already strapping down portions before covering the load with the tarp. After a short session with the sheriff, they nodded their heads and went home.
“Don’t the other Families have a right to know what we found?” Wayne asked.
“The Families seem to be all-powerful to you, don’t they?” Pàl asked his grandson. “In a way it’s true. What we say is almost law. But we hold that power in trust. It’s always a delicate balance. If the Families betray the trust of the people, they will fall. The police department, sheriff’s department, City Council, Family heads… When part of our infrastructure invokes sàmhach, we need to respond with silence.
“As long as it isn’t used to circumvent justice, I guess I’m okay with it.”
“With eleven people already knowing, the chance that we can keep our silence for forty-eight hours is slim,” Johnson said as he rejoined them. I have two deputies in unmarked cars waiting near the exit roads to follow the truck when it pulls out. They will follow wherever it leads. If what we know is discovered before the truck arrives at its destination, a phone call could abort the delivery. We need to know where those kids were going and who sent them.”
“You have our word, Sheriff,” Wayne said.
“I know. You’re Family.”
“How are they?” Johnson asked Mead at the hospital. It was nearly four in the morning and both men arrived in unmarked cars. Johnson had stopped long enough on his way from SSG to change into street clothes. From a distance they looked like any other late-night visitors to ER.
“Completely silent,” Mead said. “Adam and Julia are taking care of them but the children haven’t said a word. EMTs said they didn’t say anything all the way here. Usually, kids show excitement or fear when they are loaded into an ambulance. Nothing.”
“Then the EMTs don’t have anything they can tell. We didn’t tell them where we found the kids, so as far as they know they could have wandered in from the Wild Woods.”
“Unless Adam has gotten through to them in the past ten minutes, none of the kids have done anything but stare into space. We’re going to need help for them, Brad. The hospital’s chief physician and his nurse sister can’t disappear into isolation without raising a lot of suspicions.” They stepped off the elevator and Mead led the way to a hall with a closed door that said ‘Long-Term Care.’ Dr. Poltanys looked up when they reached the children’s room.
“I’m not sure why they aren’t completely comatose,” he said to the two officers. “Though this… waking coma isn’t much better.”
“Any analysis?”
“We drew blood as soon as they got here and sent it down to the lab with a rush on it. Then we got them into the bathtub. I just hung up with the tech. The tests all came back with sufficient RDH in the blood to render them as unconscious as Rena Lynd.”
“The first time we brought her in, she had taken a super dose but was still conscious,” Mead said.
“That’s true,” Poltanys said. “And she woke up coherent, even though disoriented. It took a month for the hallucinations to finally be purged. It surprised me that she took more so soon after her recovery.”
“She didn’t take it willingly. Karen said she kept repeating that he didn’t have to give her the drug. She would have done anything he asked. I just wish we knew who he was,” Mead said.
“So, in the past few months, we’ve had five cases plus these three with a super dose of RDH. Reef is dead. Rena twice and is now in a coma. Gee and Karen were both out for a while and reported continuing hallucinations and fantasies,” Adam said.
“I hear what you’re saying. What fantasy is playing out behind their eyes, Doctor?” Johnson asked.
The children moved. Their eyes snapped to Adam before he could answer. As one, the children rolled to their knees and pulled down their pajama bottoms.
“What the hell is going on?” Mead exclaimed.
“Damned if I know. Julia, help get them dressed. I don’t want to sedate them in their condition. Let’s see if we can settle them for sleep.” The policemen stepped back by the door as Adam and Julia did their best to comfort the boy and two girls. Mead estimated their ages between five and eight.
“Go to sleep now,” Julia whispered as she tucked them in, motioning Adam away from them. The eyes of all three children closed at once.
“A trigger,” Adam said. “No one else has used my title since they arrived. I think we can safely say these kids were conditioned to respond to a d-o-c-t-o-r. And he was not a nice man.”
“Adam, someone needs to stay here with them. I’ll call for a cot and sleep here. I think we need to bring in Mother or Ellie,” Julia said.
“Not your mother,” Sheriff Johnson said immediately. “I’m sorry but this is strictly under sàmhach. We need forty-eight hours.”
“Understood, Sheriff. We can trust Ellie.”
Trailblazing
“Jonathan, is it normal to have such dense undergrowth when the canopy is so complete?” Gee asked as the three teams gathered together for lunch. Drake Oliver, Mead’s son, had joined Gee’s crew and was a great help in handling the pruning shears to cut through the thicket. Karen was on Gee’s team but Jo had joined Jessie. Surprising no one, Troy had not shown up.
“Not really,” Jonathan said. “This underbrush isn’t even common in our part of the country. It’s all hardy plants that thrive in shade—almost as if someone seeded the area.”
“How recently would that have been?” Karen asked. “Could they have put this in as a way to conceal what they were doing out here?”
“Offhand, I’d say no,” Jonathan said. “This is too dense and mature to be less than ten years old. I’d say it’s more likely to be fifty years. It could be longer. Dad says there has always been a division between the Forest and the Wild Woods, even before the fence was put up.”
“Well, that shoots down that theory then,” Karen said. “It just seems too convenient for nefarious purposes.”
“Doesn’t mean people aren’t using it to hide things,” Jessie said.
“It seems to be getting thicker,” Gee acknowledged. “We’d better get started. I think we’ll need more teams to handle the cut brush this week. And we really haven’t advanced far.” They’d started at the cabin closest to the uncharted area and moved in three directions but none of the teams had managed more than a hundred yards during the morning.
They put away their lunch remains and the teams went back to work. While Karen, Jason, Alyson, Jeanie, and Shannon were not as strong as Drake and Gee, they were still able to help with the trimming and piling of the brush between the trees they targeted for mapping. As clouds closed in during the morning, it got colder, but their work kept them warm.
By the end of the day, each team had cut another hundred yards into the Wild Woods. Jonathan blew his whistle and all three teams met back at the cabin to head out of the woods.
“I wonder if we could put a propane heater in this cabin like you have in the field office?” Gee said. “As weather gets colder, we might need to take breaks to warm up. Especially for meals and such.”
“Not a bad idea,” Jonathan agreed. “All the connections are here. I’ll talk to Dad.”
“We can probably get a bunch of kids out tomorrow to move the brush piles to the chipper,” Jeanie said. “Is it okay for them to do that without a forester to supervise?”
“They won’t be able to operate the chipper,” Jessie said. “But just getting the brush out of our cleared paths would be a great help.”
“I bet we can get more kids from school out,” Drake suggested. “Alyson and Shannon, do you think you could call the girls?”
“Drake, are you still too shy to call a girl yourself?” Shannon teased.
“No… uh… I… uh… just thought we could split it up and I’ll call the guys. You know.”
“Yeah. We know, you goof,” Alyson laughed. “You know, one of these days we’re going to get you a girl who lasts more than one date.”
“You guys are mean,” he said. Then he laughed. “But if you find her, let me know, okay?”
“Hear anything from Wayne?” Karen asked Jo.
“Yeah. He called and begged off tonight, too. Said he’d try to be available tomorrow afternoon for a while but his grandfather needed help at the office. Something to do with funny bookkeeping,” Jo said. “I hope he’s okay. You know, his grandfather wants him to quit teaching at the end of the school year and get more involved in the company. I think Wayne would really miss teaching, though.”
“I thought sure someone would be out to check the progress today. Loren has been really interested,” Gee said. “I didn’t even see David at the office. It’s like a silence has descended over the whole town.”
“Let’s break it and call Leah and Don up for dinner. Jo, think you could get your grandmother to join us at our house?”
“Are you sure that’s not too much work, Karen?”
“It gets dark so early, we’ve got plenty of time. Let’s make it dinner at our place at seven.”
“Thanks, cousin. See you then.”
It was a simple and pleasant meal. The six had a lot to talk about, much focusing on Ben’s poor health. Once he’d declared Karen as his heir, the old man seemed to fade.
“When will you move over to the estate?” Leah asked.
“I don’t really want to think about it,” Karen said. “We’re so comfortable and I hardly know the place over there. This is our first home together.” She smiled at Gee and took his hand. “Maybe Jo should occupy it.”
“Um… no,” Jo said. “I’m still adjusting to having an apartment that’s bigger than a bedroom. Why does someone need to live there? You could sell it for a fortune.” Leah looked at her in horror and even Celia shook her head. Karen sighed.
“It’s the tree,” she finally said. “Our family, even if it doesn’t bear the ancestral name, needs to keep the tree.”
“Rather mystical,” Don said. He and Leah once thought they would eventually move into the mansion. He just assumed that when Karen took the mantle of the Family, she’d move there.
“It needs to be owned by the Family but I suppose you don’t have to live there,” Leah said.
They let the conversation hang, no one really willing to contemplate the day when Ben Roth would no longer be there. He was ninety-two years old and no one lives forever.
“Here’s something to run past you, Leah and Don,” Gee said, changing the subject. “One of my crew this week suggested that we need to expand the Forest.”
“We just did with the Wild Woods,” Leah said.
“Oh. Yes. Well, what she was talking about is that there are a lot of trees needing to be relocated. They are too close together and some are going to suffer.”
“Don’t they cut them?” Don asked.
“One of the conditions for taking over the Wild Woods was that no tree would be cut unless it was dying or in imminent danger. Collin made me put that into the contract with SSG and the foresters. We’re talking about moving some into open area adjacent to the woods. You bought some property out that way, didn’t you? Would you entertain the idea of expanding the Forest onto it?”
“You have enough votes now that you could change the agreement,” Leah said. “I respect Collin’s position, but his mental faculties aren’t all there.”
“I made an agreement with him,” Gee said. “How could I justify breaking it? Who would ever make an agreement with me again? The whole coalition would fall apart.”
Leah sighed and Don scratched his head.
“We seldom find people who are as good as their word,” Don said. “That’s why bank lending agreements are so many pages of legalese. You give us all a lot to think about. We’ll consider it when you get a plan together.”
“We aren’t talking next week,” Gee laughed. “It will take close to a year before we’ve fully assessed the land and the needs of the Wild Woods.”
Tails
“This is Johnson. Talk to me,” the sheriff barked into his phone. It was seven o’clock Saturday evening and seemed like he hadn’t slept since Election Day. Pàl and Wayne had brought in a box of shipping documents. They’d tracked thirty orders over the past ten years to the same address in Florida.
“Sheriff Reynolds down in Kissimmee,” the caller said. “I sent a man out to the address you gave us. You sure chose a good one. This area around Kissimmee has been filled in and developed over the past forty years but it was mostly swampland to start with. You’re shipping tons of rock to one of the few swamps left down here. There’s no warehouse and no business out there.”
“Thank you, Sheriff Reynolds. We were suspicious that it was a fake bill of lading. This will help our investigation immensely.”
“You’re always welcome to come and check the location personally, Sheriff. Disney World is just six miles from our office. Bring the wife and kids for a break.”
“Thank you for the invitation. I’ll consider it. It gets cold up here in January.” Johnson disconnected and turned to his companions. “Pàl, where did you live in Florida. That’s where you were before you moved up here, right?”
“Port St. Lucie,” Pàl responded. “It’s about a hundred miles southeast of Kissimmee. I moved there soon after Wayne was born and Scotland started to make my bones ache. Not much there. Seemed like a nice quiet place to watch over my son and his family. Sorry to say, my son passed away nearly ten years ago.”
Johnson didn’t probe as to the cause of Pàl’s son’s death. “That’s where you’ve lived all your life, Wayne?”
“Close. I went to USF in Tampa for college and taught elementary school in Fort Pierce nine years. I moved up here in August.”
“And never had anything to do with the company in all that time?”
“I kept track of the business financials as a stockholder, but didn’t want to make a move until I had a hope that we could rally a takeover,” Pàl said.
“We have a truck leaving Rosebud Falls about three times a year for ten years with a bill of lading designating a non-existent address in Florida. Where does it go? My deputies tailing the load say it’s definitely headed south and doing a pretty good clip. By the time they reached Virginia they were beginning to think the guy had no bladder. He isn’t speeding enough to draw attention and makes the Port of Entry and weigh station stops. According to the deputies, that tractor of his must have a pretty powerful engine the way he’s walking up the hills.”
“Any guesses where he’s going yet?”
“Last check-in was Charleston, still headed south.”
Johnson’s phone rang again. He checked the caller ID and answered.
“Johnson. What do you have, Doctor?”
“Not much, I’m afraid. I gave Mead a report an hour ago but he wanted me to talk to you directly,” Adam said. “The children… We need someone in here who can develop a rapport with children. Julia doesn’t have children and Ellie’s are grown. My ex took my son and moved west when he was three, which tells you something about my parenting skills. We’re okay but don’t understand what’s going on. The children don’t do anything without direction.”
“You mean they ask permission for things?”
“No. It’s taken us a while to figure it out. They simply wait until told what to do. We set food trays in front of them and they did nothing. Told them they could eat now and still nothing. It wasn’t until Ellie got frustrated and just said, ‘Eat!’ that all the children immediately started eating. None of them has asked to use the toilet. Julia takes them in one at a time and tells them to go to the bathroom. They have no will. It’s like their minds are blank.”
“How about triggers? Have you found any other words they respond to like ‘doctor’?”
“No. We’re being careful with what we say. We don’t want to trip any responses without knowing what we’re doing.”
“And they won’t answer any questions?”
“None of them talk. Or they won’t talk. When they’re asked a question, they look conflicted and frightened but won’t say anything.”
“Anything else?”
“Just one thing. Apparently, rules change when the lights go out. Ellie got them all fed and to bed this evening. When she turned out the light, the two older ones got out of bed and crawled in with the little one. They’re huddled together asleep now.”
“This has to stop!” Johnson said in frustration. “How can anyone do this to a bunch of children?”
“We need help, Sheriff. We aren’t trained to handle this kind of thing.”
“As soon as I call in anyone else, we’ll have state and probably feds crawling all over. I need more time before anyone knows we have them.”
“I have an idea.”
Sheriff Johnson listened and saw the sense in the situation. He finally agreed to consider Adam’s request, though he doubted it would help.
Mead carefully put together an evidence packet that would not tip his hand. Under the temporary assumption of rendering emergency aid, police had opened the apartment of the missing Dr. Jones. After verifying the doctor was not in the apartment and appeared to have packed a bag to leave, they relocked the door and left. They were not authorized to search for anything else and nothing they discovered during this incursion was usable as evidence.
“And why do you think you need a search warrant, Mead?” Judge Warren said. “Your officers found no sign of foul play, right?”
“Judge, the disappearance of Dr. Jones coincides with the discovery of Cabin Four in the Wild Woods, the cabin labeled as having been the lab. Everything was cleaned out of the cabin. Reese Ecklund at LaRue Labs has investigated Dr. Jones’ work area and determined there is reason to believe some of his research is also missing. Of course, it is their right to search any company property but Dr. Jones’s apartment is not company property. Since the doctor’s work at LaRue was tied to the distillation of the chemical components of Rose Hickory nuts, we believe there could be a connection between him and the unauthorized laboratory in the woods. We wish to investigate this connection and search for any notes and materials that could be considered property of LaRue Labs.”
“Well done, Mead. I’ve had a bad feeling about this from the time we found he was missing. You put together an adequate evidence packet for a warrant.” The judge signed the search warrant. “Are you planning to execute this tonight?”
“No, sir. As much as I hate calling an officer to assist on Sunday morning, I think it’s preferable to late Saturday night. You know how Saturdays are, even here in Rosebud Falls.”
“Mead, is there something else I should be aware of?”
“Nothing I can tell the court, your honor.”
“What?”
“Sàmhach.”
“That word hasn’t been used in Rosebud Falls in ten or twelve years.”
“Not since the investigation of the kidnapping of Collin Meagher’s great-niece.”
Judge Warren stared at Mead as if willing him to give details. Mead knew, however, that having invoked the silence, he could not be pressured by any Family member to reveal the subject. Even though the judge had a level of civil authority, he was still Family. Finally, Warren handed the warrant to Mead.
“Thank you, Your Honor.”
“Sheriff, we lost him.”
“Oh, Christ,” Johnson moaned into the phone. “You’re sure?”
“I don’t see how he can keep driving like this. He must be downing energy drinks one after another. God knows, I’ve had a few. He surprised us in Atlanta when he switched from the direct route south on I-75 to I-85 southwest. We’ve been rotating tail and lead for twenty-four hours. Bruce headed down to LaGrange to get some sleep while I dragged behind. He passed the truck about twenty-five miles southwest of the metroplex. When I pulled off at LaGrange, Bruce was still waiting for him to show up. He had to have turned off in that region.”
“Well, that ends that,” the Sheriff sighed. “Get some sleep and head home. We’re going to end up with feds whether we want them or not. You guys did the best you could. At least we know now the shipment wasn’t headed to Florida.”
Call for a Champion
“Gee, this is Sheriff Johnson. I hope this isn’t too early.”
“Not at all, Sheriff. We’re almost ready to leave for the woods. I have a weekend crew.”
“About that,” Johnson said. “I need your help. Urgently.” Gee came instantly alert, setting down his coffee cup.
“How can I help?”
“We have rescued three children. They are unstable and we can’t get through to them.”
“And you think I can?”
“These kids are part of your mission, Gee. They’re why you said you wanted to open the woods.”
“I need to cancel my crew. I’ll tell Karen and call Jonathan and Jessie. If there are children from the woods, that’s my highest priority.”
“Listen, Gee. Before you start calling people, you need to understand; no one knows about this. Tell Karen you have been summoned by the police on a matter of sàmhach. It is critical that you do not tell anyone about the children or precisely where you are going. A deputy will be by in thirty minutes to pick you up.”
“But I have to tell Karen. She’s my…”
“No, Gee. She’s Family. If she’s unfamiliar with the term, have her call Mead Oliver.”
“Uh… how do you spell that?”
“I know I’ve seen the word. It’s in my great-grandmother’s notes. Or perhaps her father’s,” Karen said as she searched through her desk. “It had to do with an attempted murder back in the forties. There is so much history in this room. Here it is.” She pulled out a journal and began to thumb through its pages. “Sometime just before the seven heroes went to war.” Gee stood by. Karen hadn’t challenged him about not telling her where he’d been called to. She wanted to know the meaning of the word and would prefer not to call Mead for a definition of something a Family head should know.
“He didn’t give me a definition. Just said you’d know.”
“Here it is. ‘Police did not inform the Family heads that they were investigating a murder attempt on the youngest Cavanaugh son. When Leo Cavanaugh wanted to call a meeting of the Families, Police Chief Arlan Graves simply invoked sàmhach. We hadn’t used that word since the early twenties. Sàmhach means ‘silence.’ Our forefathers realized there would be times when a Family fell under investigation. In fairness to the community, Families had to be kept silent and out of communication with others and even within the Family itself. Sàmhach means complete silence. To preserve our heritage and position, it must be honored.’ I see,” she said.
“I’m sorry…” Gee started.
“Look at the time!” Karen interrupted. “I’d better get to the woods so we can get organized. I love you, Darling.” She kissed him intently and looked into his eyes. “What you have to do, do well.” She stomped into her boots and left. Five minutes later a deputy was at Gee’s door.
“I need books,” Gee said after unsuccessfully encouraging the children to talk. “Is there anything in the hospital?”
“We have a small library and there is a children’s section. I’ll go get a few.”
“Thank you, Ellie. I don’t know what else to do.”
“They completely ignore Julia and me but their eyes track you no matter where you move. It’s the same with Adam or Mead. They track a male. But they don’t seem frightened of you. They try not to show it but I can see the fear in their eyes when Adam is around.”
“Look at the bunny, Littlest,” Gee said as he read to the children. They sat where he’d placed them on the floor next to him. Ellie had brought a beanbag chair from the children’s wing and Gee was comfortable as he read book after book. Unlike his times in the library, instead of starting with picture books for the youngest and progressing to older children, he found himself working down to more and more basic books as Ellie brought them to him, searching for the level the children could understand. “Do you want to touch the bunny’s soft fur? Pat the bunny, Littlest.”
The smallest of the children snapped her eyes to Gee and he nodded. She reached out her hand and touched the bit of fur pasted in the book.
“Brother? Wouldn’t you like to pat the bunny? Go ahead. Pat the bunny.”
Looking toward Gee for confirmation, the little boy—about six, Gee guessed—reached out a tentative hand to touch the fur. He looked at the tiniest of the children. Gee guessed she might be five. They had a hint of a smile. In the absence of other names, Gee called the children Littlest, Brother, and Sister. He had no idea if they were related. He turned to Sister—maybe eight. She reminded him of Sally Ann Metzger.
“Sister, isn’t it nice how Brother and Littlest are patting the bunny? Can you pat the bunny?” The girl did not respond to the question. She simply looked at Gee. “Go ahead. Pat the bunny, Sister.” Immediately the girl reached out her hand touch the bunny. He watched as her fingers intertwined with the other children on the tiny bit of fur.
“It’s nap time, Gee,” Ellie whispered. “You need a break.”
“Okay, children,” Gee said. “Our friend Ellie says it’s nap time. Everyone up and go use the toilet. Sister, help Littlest up on the seat.” The children finished taking turns on the toilet and after being prompted, washed their hands.
“Time to hop in bed now,” Gee said. The children looked quickly at each other and the boy climbed onto a bed. Sister lifted Littlest up to the same bed and climbed in next to her.
“They all got in the same bed,” Ellie whispered. “They each have their own.”
“Let them,” Gee said. “Let them rest where they are comfortable.” He turned to the children and touched each of their heads softly. “Sleep now and I’ll come back to read some more in a little bit.” Gee knew they had to be pretending sleep as they all closed their eyes at once, but perhaps they would fall asleep before long. Ellie pulled the shades and turned out the light. She stepped outside the room with Gee.
“That was amazing,” she said. “You’ve been reading to them for three hours.”
“They’re babies,” Gee whispered. “Just babies.”
“But they smiled,” Ellie said, softly laying her hand on Gee’s shoulder. “For you. When they touched the fur, they smiled.”
“Who could have done this to them? Who could do this?” Gee sagged against a wall.
“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Ellie encouraged him, kneading the shoulder she still grasped. “Go get a cup of coffee. Adam is in the cafeteria. He’ll talk to you.”
“They’ve all three been abused,” Adam reported to the two policemen and Gee in the cafeteria. “In ways that would put a man in prison for life.”
“Life?” Gee asked.
“Pedophiles don’t live long in prison,” Johnson answered. “Continue, Adam.”
“They are malnourished and drugged. They are afraid of doctors but are immediately obedient to any command. God knows what other responses have been programmed into them under the influence of that fantasy drug.”
“If we can find Dr. Jones, we might get an answer. We’ve issued an APB,” Mead said.
“You got the Lab’s research?” Johnson asked.
“No. But when we opened his medicine cabinet, there were several pill bottles with prescription tags on them. That wouldn’t raise an alarm if the person still occupied the apartment. But no one leaves for an extended period without their prescriptions. Upon opening, we discovered that all the bottles were filled with the same pills. We have them out for full spectrum testing, but we believe they are Lustre,” Mead said. “We issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of drug trafficking”
“What have you found after a morning with the children, Gee?” Johnson asked.
“I don’t believe the children have been programmed with a lot of trigger words like they respond to ‘doctor’. They follow direct orders which leads me to believe they have been conditioned to absolute obedience and lack of initiative,” Gee said. “I guess I can relate to them because they don’t have a memory. Worse than my problem by far. They know basic care and respond to language. Aside from that, they’re babies.”
“How do you figure that, Gee?” Mead asked.
”They listened blankly to the books I read them this morning without curiosity or comprehension. Until I got down to baby books. They responded to Good Dog Carl and Pat the Bunny. But even then, only when I give them explicit instructions.”
“Blank slates ready to be written on,” Adam said.
“By whoever owns them,” Johnson agreed.
“I can’t do this alone,” Gee said. “I’m not even the right person to be interacting with them. They need a counselor. And a mother.”
“Ellie and Julia say they don’t respond to women. And you’re the only man they seem not to be afraid of. I’m not sure they have a concept of ‘mother’,” Adam said.
“Still, I can’t be with them all the time. And what am I going to tell Karen when I get home? I just can’t do it.”
“I understand. If it weren’t for Julia at home, I’d be in the same boat,” Adam said. “I think Karen should be told.” He looked at Mead and Johnson. Eventually, they nodded.
“We’ll tell her. She’ll have to break the story in the Tuesday newspaper anyway. We just need to keep quiet until the deputies get back from their wild goose chase to Georgia,” Mead said.
“We have two live leads,” Johnson said. “Dr. Jones on the drugs and Larry Syre, the truck driver hauling the children and drugs. We’ll be watching the roads into town and Larry’s house for the next twenty-four hours. We’ll get one of them. If you pull out the right block from the Jenga stack, they all fall down.”
Alliances
“May I go see them?” Karen rasped that evening after Mead Oliver and Brad Johnson talked to her. When she saw the two policemen at the door, her first instinct had told her something happened to Gee. She’d collapsed before they got the first word out. Mead had finally gotten through to her that they weren’t there about Gee.
“We hope you will,” Johnson said. “We understand that both you and Gee have jobs to do but we want to keep this as quiet as possible until the newspaper is out Tuesday morning. We need to catch the criminals and if people know we’ve found children, the ones responsible will go to ground. They may have already.”
“We wanted to let you know where Gee has been all day so you wouldn’t worry,” Mead said. “And to enlist your help. I’m sorry we scared you when we showed up.”
“With as many times as Gee has been injured or mistakenly arrested, I’m asking anyone who wants to talk to me to start out with the words, ‘Gee is okay!’ Then we can talk,” Karen said.
“He’s been with the children all day at our request and is making some progress,” Johnson said. “He’d probably appreciate a lift home.”
“I’m on my way,” Karen said. She slipped on her coat and shoes and headed for the car.
She drove home after meeting the children, not really seeing or hearing anything. She’d watched Gee hug each child and kiss his or her head as he tucked the three into the same bed. Julia turned down the lights and prepared to take her shift on the other bed for the night.
Gee’s eyes were as moist as hers when they opened the door and finally indulged themselves in the comfort of each other’s arms. She sobbed against his chest.
“How could they? How could they be so cruel? Gee, what can we do? What can we do?”
“All we can do is love them and take care of them,” he whispered as he breathed in the scent of her hair.
“Hold me. Take me to bed and hold me,” Karen said leading him to the stairs. She’d had nothing to eat and wasn’t sure she could stomach anything more than a bit of wine. Gee had eaten with the children. Karen had opened a bottle and set it by the bed before the police arrived. She poured two glasses.
“I’m so tired,” Gee said with a huge yawn. “You never told me having children would be so exhausting.” She gave a soft snort as she handed him his glass.
“I never intended to have triplets. But I know now, you are the right father. You’re a good man, Gee. So much better than I deserve.” They leaned against each other as they sat in bed. Gee took a sip of the chardonnay and sighed.
“What if I’m not?” he whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“What if I’m not a good person. Perhaps the loss of my memory was a way to escape what I’ve done somewhere in the past. Could I have hurt children? Could I have given children drugs or starved them like that? Karen, what if I am truly an evil person? I need to make amends. I need to find anyone I’ve hurt and apologize. I need…”
“Shh. Gee, it isn’t like you to get upset like this. Of course you are a good man. We see evidence of it every day. The man you are up here… who doesn’t remember?” she said tapping his head. “He could never overwhelm the man you are here.” She moved her hand to his heart. “This man, the one I love, could never be evil. You spent an entire day reading to three little angels and trying to draw them out of their shell. I talked to Ellie when I got there and Julia was going into the room. They’re as tired as you. All they could talk about was how caring and careful you were with the children.”
“I don’t even know why they called me,” he said. “I’m just a stranger.”
“The children love you. From your reading at the library on Wednesdays to your Harvest crew to your high school crews in the Wild Woods. They’d do anything if you led them. That is something extraordinary. You might not know why you are in Rosebud Falls, Gee, but I do. You are here to save the children.”
“I don’t feel like a savior,” he answered his fiancée. “Wayne would be much better at this. He teaches first graders. They love him. I bet he would know what to do in this situation. Much better than I do.”
“If you feel that way, call him. He’s on the list the Sheriff gave us of people who know. And he’s your friend. Call him.”
“It’s late and I’m too tired to move right now,” Gee said. He kissed Karen lightly and laid his head on her shoulder. “I’ll call in the morning when I’ve had some sleep.”
Karen put her nearly untouched wine on the bedside table and turned out the light as they snuggled into the comforter and each other. In moments, they were asleep.
Arrest
“Detective, we have movement,” Officer McCarran said into the phone. He’d had the overnight shift watching the Syre home. It was seven o’clock Monday morning and he’d dialed Mead’s cellphone.
“What do you have.”
“Syre’s tractor just turned up the street toward his home.”
“Let’s move,” Mead said. “I’m three minutes away. Get between him and the door of the house. It will be easier to take him outside than if we let him get inside the house.” Mead pressed Sheriff Johnson’s number as he flipped on his lights and headed toward the row of houses where the Syres lived. He could hear the sheriff’s siren coming from a distance. When Mead pulled into the drive behind the truck, Larry Syre had yet to emerge from the idling rig. Mead gave a blast from his siren.
“Larry Syre!” Mead called over his loud speaker with his sidearm drawn. McCarran, following his boss’s lead, moved behind the porch rail and drew his own weapon. It was an uncomfortable feeling to Mead. He seldom had his gun drawn except on the practice range. “Step out of the cab and keep your hands where we can see them!”
“What the fuck?” Larry yelled as he pushed the door open. “I haven’t had anything to drink. I’ve been working all night.” He stepped out of the cab with his hands held out as the sheriff swung in behind Mead and flung his door open to offer backup.
“You are under arrest for transporting stolen property, including a cargo of stone, across state lines,” Mead called.
“That’s bullshit! I took a load to Georgia and delivered it.”
“The shipping order was for Florida,” Mead said.
“The hell it was. I’ve got the bill of lading right here.” Larry turned back toward his cab.
“Don’t move!” Mead shouted. “You are further arrested for attempted child trafficking and transporting a controlled substance. Get down on the ground.”
“Well, fuck you!” Larry yelled. He dove for the cab and spun with a shotgun in his hand. A shot rang out and Larry Syre pitched forward, the gun spinning from his hand. McCarran stood to level his gun just as the door of the house flew open and hit him in the arm. His shot rang out but the gun was jolted into the air as Roxanne Syre burst from the house.
“What’s all the noise? Larry!” she screamed as she ran toward her husband. The three officers rushed forward. McCarran pushed the woman down beside her husband as Mead kicked the shotgun into the lawn. “Larry!” she cried out again. McCarran pulled the woman’s hands behind her and slapped cuffs on her as Mead checked the condition of the fallen driver.
“We need an ambulance,” he yelled.
“On the way!” Johnson responded as he clicked off his shoulder mike and kept his gun trained on the scene.
“What a fucking mess,” Mead muttered. He rolled Larry over and pressed his hand against the wound with a wad of the driver’s shirt.
Sirens screamed in the quiet of the morning as an ambulance made its way through Rosebud Falls to the community on the north side of town.
Karen heard the sirens as she and Gee drank their coffee in the kitchen. They were slow getting started but Gee was concerned about getting to the children.
“I wanted to be there when they woke up,” he mumbled.
“You needed the sleep,” Karen said. “So did I. Two days of labor in the woods is more physical exertion than I’ve had in a long time. As soon as we’ve eaten, I’ll drive you to the hospital. Ellie or Julia will call if there is any difficulty this morning.”
“I know. I just worry. We need a mother. You, Ellie, and Julia are great but…”
“I know. We aren’t mothers. The silence is sure to be lifted soon and we can call for reinforcements. Even another nurse would help. The three of you can’t continue working around the clock.”
“I’m going to call Wayne to see if he can call in sick,” Gee said. As he scrolled through his contacts, Karen’s phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Karen, it’s Mead Oliver. Sàmhach has been lifted. See how soon you can get the Family heads to the hospital for a briefing. Let me know when.”
Families
“What’s his condition?” Heinz Nussbaum asked after Mead told them of the arrest and shooting.
“He’ll recover,” Adam said. “Dr. Gaston is with him now and has re-sectioned the perforated bowel. It was a clean shot.”
“And his wife?” asked Karen.
“Treated and released. We don’t believe she intended to interfere in the arrest. She just heard the commotion and burst out the door,” Mead said. “She’s waiting in the cafeteria for word on her husband.”
“Who gives a goddamn about the bastard?” David demanded. “You said he was trying to transport children. Where are they? Are they healthy? Are there more? I’m calling all foresters into the Woods for a complete search.”
“Healthy?” Adam scoffed. “They’re malnourished, drugged, mute, and frightened. If you ever saw pictures of the Chinese refugees who came into Seattle in shipping containers a few years ago, you’ll have a pretty good picture of what we have.”
“Based on conditions inside the container,” Sheriff Johnson said, “we estimate they’d been concealed in it for at least three days before we found them. That would take it back to right after the foresters found the Lab Cabin. They’d already been evacuated. I doubt there are any others.”
“Wayne and I spent the weekend auditing shipping records,” Pàl said. “We can’t identify anything else in the past month that could have held human cargo. There were two other shipments to the same location earlier in the year—one in June and one in September.”
“This is sick!” David said. “That church is at the bottom of it. They’re the ones with the child reclamation camp. You should roll up everyone who has anything to do with it.” There were nods around the table as most considered David’s option a good one.
“We can’t do that,” Judge Warren sighed. “You know that. Even if the church is involved, there’s no evidence the members know what’s going on. If Larry Syre identifies his boss, we might have a clue that lets me sign more warrants. I have to say the rest of our hope is based on finding Dr. Jones. It’s looking like he’s the one behind it and might even be who the cargo was destined for.”
“Where’s Gee?” Collin asked softly. He’d sat quietly with Violet there to support him for over an hour. It was the first meeting of Family heads he had attended in fifteen years and his voice startled the others.
“He’s with the children,” Karen answered. “So far, he’s the only one they respond positively to.”
“Now that the silence is lifted, we rushed a child psychologist up from Palmyra,” Adama said. “She’s observing the interactions.”
“I want to see,” Collin said.
“I agree,” Loren said. “I want to know what our community has come to. I’d kill myself and leave the Family to my niece, Jessie, but I just can’t do that to someone so young. It’s our mess and we need to clean it up. Violet, I’m sorry you have to witness the Families at their lowest. Maybe we’ve all outlived our usefulness. I feel very, very old.”
“Renee,” Collin whined as he looked through the window into the playroom where Gee was reading to the children.
“No, Collin. It isn’t Renee,” Karen comforted the old man. “We’ll find her. I swear we will. But she disappeared fifteen years ago. This little girl isn’t more than five.”
“Is that what they did to my little girl?” Collin asked. “Did they destroy her mind and take away her childhood? Did they use and abuse her? Hang every one of them from the highest hickory! This evil must be purged from our Forest and Wild Woods!”
There was uncommon strength in Collin’s voice and Karen wondered where it had come from. For a moment she saw a flicker of some otherworldly light in his eyes but it faded rapidly as he sagged against Violet. She led him away to take him home.
I Littlest.
Brother. Sister. Gee.
Gee let me pat the soft bunny.
Not like doctor. Doctor hurt.
Gee put me to bed with Brother and Sister.
They hold me.
I don’t cry. Be quiet. Doctor will hurt.
I do what Gee say.
Observation
“There!” Dr. Salinger said. She was a soft woman in her early fifties and one could imagine children treating her like a grandmother. She had carefully cultivated that image over years of dealing with children’s psychiatric issues. She’d seen all too many abused children in her practice. “I don’t know what just happened, but the one you call Littlest just relaxed.”
“She looks the same as she did before,” Julia said. “Same glassy stare. Same quiet acceptance.”
“Look at her hands. They were rigid. Now they’re relaxed. The older two haven’t made that transition yet. They respond only when directed. Now look at her face. Littlest is smiling.”
“She is?”
“The muscles in her face relaxed and that indicates a smile,” Dr. Salinger confirmed. “It might not be obvious but it is progress. I want to consult with the reader while the children eat their meal. Who is this again?”
“His name is Gee Evars” Julia said. “He shares a similar problem with them as he lost a huge chunk of his memory. He’s spends one night a week reading to children at the library. His Harvest teams were all second and third graders who adored him. He leads high school work parties in the Wild Woods—something we’ve taken him away from so he could help the children. Children respond to his gentleness and caring ways. He’s become a champion for them—for the whole city.”
“And nothing inappropriate?”
“Not remotely. He is a fierce protector of children. And everyone else.”
“The children’s recovery should be guided by a trained therapist,” Salinger mused. “At the same time, it would take me days—maybe weeks—to develop the rapport he has with them. I’ll continue to observe and offer suggestions for now. Whatever else you do, don’t call CPS. They only know one way to deal with children who have been in abusive homes and that is to split them up into foster care. That would send these children back to being vegetables.”
“They have a limited frame of reference,” Gee said. “The picture books are best but I’m not even sure they know what the pictures are of.”
“Very good observation,” Salinger said as they ate soup in the hospital cafeteria. “I believe you need to give them more time to learn about the things you are telling them. You got good response with Pat the Bunny. Let’s see if you can include more tactile experiences. I’ll suggest some stuffed animals. Tell stories about the animals instead of trying to get them to read the stories with you. They need to learn what the animals are. You are doing a very good job, Mr. Evars.”
“Please, just Gee. Everyone calls me that,” he sighed. She looked at him and read his burdened posture.
“How about you, Gee?” she said softly. “How are you holding up under this burden?”
“Children are no burden,” he said immediately. “Oh, I’m tired. It does require all my focus when I’m with them. But work in the Wild Woods is slowing down because I’m here. The children are just more important than the trees.”
“That’s a good attitude. But what about you, Gee. Is this bringing back any of your memories? Are you experiencing discomfort because you can’t access them?” Her gentle voice was easy to trust and she saw his shoulders relax a little.
“I worry sometimes that I wasn’t a good person and that is why I lost my memory. But if I can be a good person in the present, I guess that’s a step in the right direction. I wonder who I was but, with Karen’s help, I’ve seen that who I am is more important. I only hope that who I was never harmed anyone like these children have been harmed,” Gee said.
“I know you want to get back to the children,” Salinger said. “I’ll continue to observe and offer pointers to you when I can, but you’re doing a good job with them. Just remember, you can talk to me about your personal concerns as well as about the children. Perhaps as you help them, you will also help yourself.”
Assignment
“We have a problem.”
“Since when did any problem of yours become a problem of mine?” Troy snarled into his cellphone. He looked around to be sure no one was near.
“The night you decided to rape and impregnate a fourteen-year-old three years ago.”
“No one could ever pin that on me.”
“Just because we encouraged her to deny knowing anything and to refuse a DNA paternity test doesn’t mean she won’t have a change of heart. You know what that would have shown.”
“I thought you took care of that permanently. What did I pay you for?”
“She’s secure.”
“How long are you going to hold this over me?”
“As long as it’s useful. Which brings me to our problem.”
“Which is?”
“The doctor who assisted us has become a liability to us all. He knows what lurks in your past and what was done to be sure it doesn’t rise in the future. He’s officially a missing person and if the police get hold of him, it could be disastrous.”
“You can’t ask me to murder someone.”
“Of course not. Just eliminate the risk, Troy. If you think spending the rest of your fortune on him will keep his silence, by all means do so.”
“You know that won’t work,” Troy sighed. If it would, he wouldn’t be a problem now.
“Dr. Jones handles dangerous chemicals on a daily basis. Accidents happen and no one would miss someone of such a perverted character.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“Always wanting something for you,” the voice on the phone sighed. “You need a wife, Troy. A young pretty one. A single mother would make her perfect in establishing you as a kind of hero. The woman I have in mind would be very compliant with your wishes and would welcome your attention. She’d worship you and attend to your every need. She’s even capable of intelligent conversation if you need that on occasion. She’s our greatest success. Just take care of the risk.”
“Where do I find him?”
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at nathan@nathaneverett.com.
