by L. J. Wilson
He wanted to know. He needed to know.
“Evie,” she said, though it was barely audible. She hesitated. Clearly it was not her place to ask. “And yours?” she said to his surprise.
“Sebastian… Christos.”
“That’s unusual.”
“First or last?”
“Both.”
“It’s Greek…”
“I thought it might be,” she said, her gaze cutting over him, lingering on his lower half.
“Yeah. My father…” He stopped, realizing he missed the nickname common to Andor and from the men around the docks. “Bash… some people call me Bash.”
“Bash,” she repeated. She nuzzled closer to the broom. “It suits you.”
“Can you… would you mind telling me where I am… who you all are, besides the Fathers of the Right? Nobody will tell me anything.”
Evie bit down on her lip, looking nervously around the room. “Well, I…” Her chest heaved.
It was information his guards were unwilling to share. Sebastian guessed input from her could end up in a public flogging—maybe for both of them. An urge bubbled inside him. More than he wanted to know, he wanted to protect her. “Never mind. That’s okay. You don’t have to say anything.”
She inched closer. “Nothing. They haven’t told you a thing?”
He shook his head. “Not even if we’re still in Pennsylvania.”
“You are,” she said, her grip on the broom strangling. “You’re about sixty miles outside Lancaster. Good Hope.”
“Amish?” he said.
“No. Our lineage is Quaker. We have electricity… and a station wagon.”
“I saw. I mean, that’s how I got here.”
“Where did you come from?” From the curious look on her face, it seemed like he should say Mars.
“Outside Philly. It’s, uh… it’s a long story.”
“I… I don’t need to know,” she said, sweeping again. But she stopped just as fast, taking another step. “I mean I shouldn’t ask.”
“You’re not. I’m offering. I was accused…”
“The police?” she said, reclaiming the step.
“No. I’m not in trouble with the police.” Sebastian thought about how the truth would hit her ears. He stuck with basic facts. “The people I worked for. I was accused of stealing… something.”
Her expression grew wary. “And did you?”
“I…” Sebastian’s jaw slacked. “It’s complicated. But I… I’m not a bad person.” It felt like something he needed her to know.
A moment idled between them. “I’ll believe you until you prove me wrong.”
“Just like that?” he said, wondering if it was naiveté—which had to account for some of her—or an innate ability to judge right from wrong, maybe the good and evil in this strange place.
“When it comes to people, I trust my own mind.” She shrugged her shoulders softly. “It’s not something that’s encouraged here. Were you ill when they brought you to Good Hope?”
“Ill? No. More like beaten within an inch of my life.”
“The people who said you stole from them. They beat you?”
“Yes.”
“And you were brought here to recover?”
Sebastian heard doubt. “Not exactly. Why do you ask?”
“Because the Fathers of the Right will keep you fed and sheltered. But this is not the place I’d bring a wounded man. We…” She swallowed hard. “They don’t believe in medical intervention.”
“That explains a few things.”
“Not all of them.”
She was smart and cautious, able to deduce that there had to be more to his presence. “My father,” Sebastian said. “Somehow he knows these people… Your people.”
“I’ve heard talk of that. The Reverend takes meetings—a group of men from outside Philadelphia. I’ve always wondered…”
“Wondered what?”
“Well… I shouldn’t wonder anything.” Evie looked between the door and Sebastian. “I should go. If they find me here…”
“If they find you here, what will happen?” If her presence put her in real danger he’d toss her out himself.
“Defiance isn’t tolerated. That’s something I know a little about.” But she didn’t move. “Then and again, I suppose I’m already here… aren’t I?”
“And so far neither of us has turned to stone.”
She nodded as if actually considering the prospect. “Your father and his people. I’ve wondered what the Reverend’s connection is to them.”
“That I don’t know.”
“So if you weren’t brought here to recover from your injuries, and the police aren’t after you, then…”
“I’m here because the people who said I stole from them want to kill me.”
“Good heavens, what did you steal?” She sucked in a gasp.
Sebastian had clearly confessed something he should have kept to himself.
“I swear there’s a good explanation.” Evie stayed put, which told Sebastian that she continued to give him the benefit of the doubt. The simple closeness, her body to his, made his gut roll—a wave of crazy energy. Sebastian shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn’t want to spook her.
“What… what, um, kind of place do you come from that people would want to kill you?”
The question plunged him into the moment. His world was more extreme than hers. “A place I doubt you’d understand. I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be asking you for information. But no one’s said more than ‘Here’s your lunch’ and ‘Take a bath’ since I got here.”
“And with good reason it seems.” Evie bit down on her lip again, which had Sebastian thinking about things other than beatings and mob threats.
Her mouth was a perfect pout, lips full without lipstick, her skin glowing like the sun reached through her. The clothing she wore was beyond drab—a dirt-colored, out-of-fashion skirt and a pale-pink blouse—yet it only enhanced the long, white line of her throat, the buttoned collar clearly guarding what was beneath it. Part of him wanted to keep it that way.
She distracted the rest of him by asking, “The lunches. Did you enjoy them?”
“Huh?” he said, his wandering gaze meeting hers. “Yes. The food was all good but the lunches were the best.”
She smiled.
“What?”
“I made all the lunches. Hannah made the breakfasts and the Widow Vale supplied your dinner. Spreading the work out will always lighten a task.”
“Is that some kind of bible verse?”
“No,” she said. “I believe it’s common sense.”
She appeared to have a lot of that. She also seemed willing to think for herself, a concept that wasn’t too popular in this place. “I don’t suppose you could tell me anything more, like if the brothers plan on keeping me here until Armageddon, or…”
“Mmm,” she said, looking him over. “If it’s Armageddon, I’d think you’d do better to worry more about your soul than the date. But no. I don’t know anything. I’m sure Reverend Kane will visit soon. I suspect he’s as anxious to see you go as you are to leave.”
“Guess I don’t fit in too well around here.”
“He doesn’t like outsiders—unless they’ve come to buy from the bake shop. But yes, I suppose someone like you would be of particular concern. We’re not unfriendly, but the ways of our sect need to be protected. It’s the reason the brothers haven’t said much to you.”
“You’re right. They haven’t been hostile… just indifferent. Except the one brother, he’s been on the friendlier side. Uh, Ezra. Do you know him?”
“Ezra. Of course I know him.” Her fingers fidgeted over the broom handle. “I’m going to marry him next month.”
“You’re—Marry… Ezra… Damn,” Sebastian said with a heavy sigh. She skirted back on the curse word, maybe the reminder. Distance turned out to be a good thing as the cabin door swung open and a man ploughed through. His presence cast a shadow over
the two of them. He was as tall as Sebastian and looked as stern as Andor dressed in black from head to toe. His hawkish gray gaze swung from Sebastian to Evie.
“Reverend Kane,” Evie said, her voice raising an octave.
“What in God’s name are you doing in here, girl? Or maybe we should consult the devil!” He forced himself between Sebastian and Evie, grabbing her by the arm.
Instinct drove Sebastian. He locked his hand around Evie’s other arm and pulled her toward him. Whether it was surprise or Sebastian’s strength, the Reverend let go. “Don’t touch her.”
“Touch her? She’ll be lucky that I don’t banish her from this sanctuary.” He looked from Evie to Sebastian. “And how dare you speak to me like that. After I agree to take you in, store your sorry, sinful hide among my people.” But he seemed more concerned with the girl’s transgression, his voice booming. “Explain yourself this instant, Evie Neal.”
Sebastian released her arm but remained on guard. No way was the lord and master of these religious crazies going to lay a hand on her.
“I, well… I was only dropping off his lunch,” she said, pointing to the picnic basket that sat on the table. “I was going to leave it outside, and then… I, um—”
“Then I called for help,” Sebastian said. “I, uh… I’d just gotten dressed. I was dizzy. I thought I was going to pass out. No one was here. I yelled and she heard me. I was just thanking her… Evie, is it?” he said, although Sebastian knew her name was stitched to whatever soul he had.
The white of her knuckles choked the broom. “I… Well, I…”
“Evie?” the Reverend said.
“It’s what he said. I was putting the lunch outside for Ezra to bring in. I heard him call out and—”
The Reverend snatched the broom from her and Evie darted back. “And you decided to sweep up once you came inside?”
“I knocked over the broom when I grabbed for the edge of the fireplace,” Sebastian said. “That’s all. She picked it up. What’s your problem? She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“She’s here. That alone is wild disobedience in my parish.”
Sebastian narrowed his eyes. He needed to think like these people. “And being a Good Samaritan, that wouldn’t allow some leeway on disobedience?”
The look on Evie’s face was fair warning that he’d crossed a line.
In fact, he’d probably trampled it.
The Reverend didn’t answer him, his tone beyond stern. “Go, Evie. We’ll discuss penance later. Apparently, the time has come for me to speak to our mission. And I should say we’ll begin with respect for authority.”
She hurried toward the door. But with the Reverend’s back to her, Evie turned. For as brief and innocent as it had been, Sebastian felt branded by the encounter. A breath rose and fell from her chest and her expression was full of wonder. But it was the flash of a nervous smile that he reacted to, Sebastian feeling his own heart beat as she disappeared out the door.
Instead of returning to Adah Kane’s kitchen, Evie found herself at the edge of the Wheaton’s property. She wanted to be in a neutral place. Those were short supply in Good Hope. Her father’s house was a poor choice—Gideon Neal, while nonthreatening, would only agree with whatever Reverend Kane postulated. Hannah was hanging wash in the yard, sunshine and fall breezes soaking into damp sheets. Evie paused near the gate, letting airy elements do the same for her. Perhaps her encounter with the mission would blow away on a breeze. It wasn’t to be as Hannah peeked around the corner of a billowing wet sheet.
“Evie Neal, you look as if you floated in here on a cloud.” She drew her hands to her waist. “It’s about time Ezra put such a look on your face.”
“Ezra?” Evie said, startled.
“Well, yes. I could make it out from the bedroom window earlier—you and Ezra on the path to the cabin. Surely he’s the cause of that dreamy look.”
“I…” Guilt clamped Evie’s mouth shut.
“Evie?” Hannah said, coming closer. “What’s going on? Tell me you’ve just come from the barn with Ezra. And on Tuesday morning!” She clapped her hands together, laughing. “I swear to you, if I’d half your spirit, I might suggest the same the moment Tobias asks me to marry him. But you best be careful, the Reverend might read your mind by the look on your face.”
Evie rushed toward Hannah and grasped her hands. “I wasn’t with Ezra.”
“What?”
“Hannah, I…” She pulled her friend along until they were on the far side of the wash line, out of earshot of another human being. “I met the mission. I spoke with him.”
“But how?” Hannah asked, squeezing her hands tighter to Evie’s.
“I went inside the cabin. I know I shouldn’t have—that we’re forbidden. But I only wanted to put clean sheets on the bed. He wasn’t there at first. He was in the bathroom, which is why I thought it would be fine. But then he just appeared—like an angel… I don’t know, maybe a devil, and… Oh, Hannah, there’s something about him. Something dark and mysterious and fascinating all at once.”
“I don’t understand. Did he hurt you?” Hannah said, examining her friend from top to bottom. “If he did, Ezra, the Reverend, your father—well, he’ll wish he’d never set foot in Good Hope.”
“No, it wasn’t anything like that. He wouldn’t hurt me.”
“How can you say such a thing? You just met him. You certainly can’t know that about him.”
“That’s just it. I feel like I do. In fact, he lied for me.”
“And that speaks in his favor how?”
“He defended me when the Reverend found us together.”
Hannah let go of Evie’s hands, cupping her palm over her mouth. She lowered it slowly. “Found you with him… inside the cabin?”
“Yes. We were talking. I know it was foolish, I’d gone in to change the bedding and… Well, that part doesn’t matter. The mission, he’s so different from anyone I’ve ever met. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.”
“That ugly, is he?”
“Hardly.” Evie shook her head. “I’d say more brutally handsome—like a strong, wild horse. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s a jumble of things I can’t sort out or put a name to. But that feeling you’ve spoken of so often…”
Hannah’s expression grew more concerned.
“Bash. It’s short for Sebastian,” she said as if revealing his name might change the look on Hannah’s face.
“It sounds like a good wild-horse name.” Hannah crossed her arms. “And did you learn why the Reverend’s brought him here?”
The question stopped Evie cold. The few details she’d learned had sounded unsavory. But an instinct to keep secret what Sebastian Christos had confided was stronger. “No,” she lied. “Reverend Kane came in before he had a chance to say.”
“Evie, I don’t understand. Is this just about having defied the Reverend’s rules… our rules? I’ve known defiance to put a warm buzz in your heart. But I’m not sure insolence explains the look on your face.” She inched her gaze up and down Evie. “Or the way you’re breathing—like you’ve run here from the cabin.”
“I don’t know either. But I do know I want to see him again.”
“Are you mad? I’m sure the Reverend, never mind Ezra, would have something to say about that.”
Evie pursed her lips, absorbing Hannah’s warning—which was realistic. Before entering the cabin, her world had been orderly, defined. It still was. But glancing over her shoulder, she couldn’t help but feel as if the world had grown a little larger.
“Evie, you have no business with him. See him for what possible reason?”
Evie’s gaze ticked around the confines of the Wheaton’s fenced yard. Then it moved on, locking with the sharp blue of the sky and a distant horizon. Evie had no valid answer, only a thrumming in her body that felt as welcoming as it did wild.
When Evie Neal left the cabin, the Reverend and Sebastian remained at a standoff. Sebastian held his tongue and temper as the
Reverend paced around him, broom in hand. He didn’t turn, waiting to be spoken to. He’d allow that much room for respect—not for the man circling him, but for a way of life he did not understand. Seconds later, Sebastian realized his mistake as the broom handle cracked against his weakened legs. He dropped to his knees, a curse word heaving from his gut. But the Reverend underestimated the fighter in Sebastian. He swung his aching body around, catching the broom handle as it came careening toward his head. “What the fuck is your problem!”
A new standoff ensued as each man held tight to a portion of the broom.
Eyes like two bullets narrowed at Sebastian. “You are my problem. Your presence. Your unclean life. Your language. Your ability to coax a young girl into a place she doesn’t belong. I won’t tolerate it. None of it. Not if I have to beat it into you.”
“I explained why she was in here.” Sebastian tightened his grip, thinking he could win the broom tug-o-war if need be. “What, exactly, would it have said about her if she walked away from someone calling for help?”
“It’d say she understands that my word is law—something I’d like to see more of from Evie Neal. I will win obedience from her.”
“From the way she cleared out of here, I’d say she gets it. And she said that before you came in, that it was wrong for her to be here.” The admission seemed to earn a point with the Reverend, who retracted the broom. Sebastian managed to pull himself to his feet. “Look, we agree that you don’t want me here, and I don’t want to be here. Obviously, I’m doing better. Despite the broom whipping,” he said, eyeing the pole handle, which the Reverend still gripped. “I appreciate the food and shelter. Maybe I should be on my way.”
“I wish it were that simple. I’d be pleased to turn you into the night, let you take your chances with the miles between us and what you might call civilization. But it seems you’re to be my problem for some time to come. I’ve agreed to help your father by keeping you alive.”
“How do you know my father?” Aside from the short fuse, Sebastian didn’t see a whole lot in common.
