The Girl Behind the Red Rope

by Ted Dekker

  Made perfect sense. I followed her guidance, feeling the seconds stretch. Rushing with less stealth than I’d used to this point, I returned to the mudroom and quickly replaced the screen to cover my tracks.

  The moment I stepped into the basement stairwell, closed the door behind me and secured the dead bolt, relief washed over me like a gust of morning air.

  Still no sound from the main floor. I rushed down the stairs and spun into the unfinished basement. The high window let enough light in for me to see the door to Eli’s prison was closed, locked from the outside with a sliding bolt lock high on the frame.

  Now on concrete and under the main house, I didn’t care about sound, so I sprinted to the room, slid the lock open, and flung the door wide.

  Eli’s head came up from where he lay on the thin mattress. He didn’t look surprised to see me, and for a breath I just stood staring at him. I swallowed and took a step into the room, my hand still on the door handle.

  “I need you to come with me,” I said.

  “You do? Why?” he asked.

  “Because you’re in danger here.”

  His expression didn’t change. He was clearly too naïve to understand his predicament.

  “Now?” he asked.

  “Quickly! We have to hurry.”

  He pushed himself up and stood, grinning. “Okay.”

  We stood gazing at one another. I really had no idea who this boy was, yet I was risking everything to save him. Was I making a terrible mistake?

  It was too late to second-guess myself. We had to move.

  “Follow behind me closely, and stay quiet,” I said.

  Eli nodded and I turned to the window. But that was as far as I got before hearing footsteps overhead.

  My pulse skyrocketed. Someone was in the house! I glanced over my shoulder at Eli, whose face remained unconcerned, and held a finger over my lips.

  My mind was tumbling over itself, my flight instincts screaming for escape, knowing that at any moment Rose could open the door into the basement. Unless it wasn’t her. And even if it was, she would have to get the key. I was glad I’d replaced the screen in the mudroom.

  All these thoughts raced through my mind, silenced by the sound of more footsteps above.

  We had to get out!

  The window was too high to reach without something to stand on. I quickly scanned the basement, the boxes, and some old furniture, which included a small writing desk under a stack of boxes. It would take some time to get to that desk, but I didn’t see any other alternative.

  “Help me,” I whispered to Eli, running for the desk. “We have to clear this desk and get it under the window.”

  “So we can get out,” he whispered behind me. I wondered if he thought this was a game. Surely he wasn’t that naïve.

  “Yes.”

  ROSE SMILED AS SHE APPROACHED HER FAMILY home. She’d been terrified to do what Sylous asked, but now having followed his leading, she felt nearly jubilant. This was how it felt to surrender to God’s will, even in the most difficult of

  circumstances.

  She was smiling, but her fingers were still trembling. It was the quiet that had filled Ben’s room when the toxins had finally stopped his heart. And that last death rasp. Now it was the boy’s turn. But his death would be easier.

  Her husband and sons were reading their nightly devotion together on the front porch. Evelyn was still safely tucked away in her bedroom. The sight eased some of Rose’s tension. She was doing this for them. Keeping the valley safe, serving Christ and his kingdom. When it was finished all would be well.

  Stephen jumped up and waved. She returned the gesture and collected her thick skirt in one hand while steadying herself on the handrail that guided her up the front steps.

  “What are we reading today, dear husband?”

  Harrison looked up from the book in his lap and smiled. “We’re reading about the first time God cleansed the earth.”

  “I think drowning would be awful,” Levi said.

  “We wouldn’t drown,” Stephen said, picking at his nose. “We’d be on the boat because we’re pure.”

  “That’s correct, son.” Harrison looked back up at his wife. “Will you be joining us?”

  “Not tonight,” Rose said, stepping past her children to her husband, who was sitting in his self-crafted rocking chair. The chair was a source of pride for him, even though he was careful not to show it. She placed her hand on Harrison’s shoulder and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “I’m going to check on Evelyn and put some soup on. Take your time.”

  “Sounds yummy, boys.” Harrison looked up at her, brow arched. “Potato soup?”

  “That’s what I had in mind.”

  “Even better.”

  Rose pushed the screen door open and walked into the house. She removed her shoes and washed her feet, careful not to spill any water on the floor. After drying her feet then removing her overcoat, she walked to the kitchen to put a pot of water on for the soup.

  The house was quiet, only her husband’s soft voice shifting on the breeze outside. Rose took a deep breath, mind buzzing with the task set before her. She’d assumed that the boy would be easier than the old man, but facing that prospect now, she wasn’t so sure.

  She had to remind herself that the boy wasn’t really a boy, but a deceiver in a cloak of innocence. A Fury in a lamb’s coat. She was actually killing evil, not a child.

  She’d poke her head in to check on Evelyn, then take some leftovers to the boy. Leftovers dosed with enough potassium chloride and thiopental to kill him peacefully in his sleep. She would have to figure out how to dispose of the body. Beyond the perimeter seemed like a natural solution. Sylous would know.

  In the end, the community would conclude that the old man had died of his illness and the boy had escaped to be taken by the Fury.

  The stairs creaked under her feet as she ascended to the second floor to check on Evelyn. She found her daughter reading in bed, curled up under blankets. Poor child. She really didn’t deserve such pain, surely.

  “How are you feeling, honey?” Rose asked.

  Evelyn shrugged as Rose crossed the room. The rash had deepened in color and spread up Evelyn’s left cheek. This wasn’t good.

  “Let me see,” Rose said.

  Evelyn slowly raised her hands to show her mother that the rash had also spread down across her fingers. She sniffed, her bottom lip tucked under her teeth, tears shimmering in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mother.”

  It occurred to Rose then that the rash might well be the effect of evil—not on Evelyn’s part, but a sign of the darkness encroaching on Haven Valley. It made perfect sense. The rash had come on as Ben and Eli had neared.

  Perhaps her daughter had a gift. Maybe she was a prophetic siren of evil. The rash would be healed as soon as the boy was dead.

  Rose sat on the bed beside her daughter, comforted by the thought. “Don’t you worry, sweetheart. This is all going to go away soon, I promise you.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She kissed the top of Evelyn’s head. “Yes, I’m sure. I’ll be back up in a few minutes with dinner. We’ll reapply the salve later to help you sleep. I have a very good feeling that this will all be gone in a day or two at the most. Okay?”

  Evelyn nodded.

  “That’s my girl.” Rose stood. “Do you know how much I love you?”

  “As much as the sky,” her daughter said, allowing a slight smile.

  “That’s right. And the sky goes forever.”

  “I love you too.”

  Rose left the room, descended the stairs, and hurried to the kitchen, eager now to be done with the task at hand.

  Harrison and the other children were still on the porch, but they would be in soon. She fixed a bowl of leftover soup, poured some hot water in it so it wasn’t so cold, and removed the vials from her dress pocket. She checked over her shoulder to ensure her family’s voices remained outside the screen, then carefully measured the right dosag
es of both medicines.

  Rose dumped the poisonous concoction into the warmed soup and stirred. She took a deep breath.

  The time had come.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Two

  IT TOOK US WAY TOO LONG TO CLEAR THE DESK AND manhandle it over to the window. I wondered if it was plausible that Eli could have done it by himself and decided yes, with enough time, he could have. It had to look like the boy had managed to jimmy the lock on his door and get out through the window on his own. At least that’s what I wanted Rose to conclude, which meant I had to wipe the dust off the desk so I wouldn’t leave prints.

  But the desk wasn’t tall enough.

  “We need a box or a chest!” I whispered urgently.

  “Like that one?” He was pointing to an old chest across the room.

  “Yes,” I said, running. “Like that one.”

  Once again Eli helped me. Thankfully, the chest was empty and we handled it easily. We carried it across the room, hefted it up on the desk, and set it down with a clunk.

  A loud clunk.

  “Hurry!” I whispered, wiping the dust off and clambering up. When I turned to help him, he was already kneeling on the desk beside me, staring up at the window. I followed his gaze. Then stepped up on the chest to get a closer look.

  The windowsill, now at my chest, had a single rusty latch that looked as if it hadn’t been used in decades. I twisted it as hard as I could but it refused to budge. My fingers were shaking, my hands sweating, and I couldn’t get a good grasp.

  More footsteps pounded overhead from several sets of feet, shaking free ceiling dust that fell over my arms. I glanced back at the door, certain it would fly open any moment.

  Heart in my throat, I spun back to the lock and yanked as hard as I could. Still nothing.

  Something tapped my leg and I glanced down to see Eli holding up a wrench. He smiled and my mind stilled. I didn’t stop to consider where he’d found it or how he’d retrieved it so quickly. I just grabbed it from him, maneuvered the mouth over the lever, and jerked as hard as I could.

  With a snap, the latch squealed open.

  I placed the wrench on the windowsill and pushed the window open. Then I reached back for Eli. “Up, hurry. Hurry!”

  He clambered up on the chest, reached for the window, which was just above his head, and jumped. I grabbed his waist and pushed him up. With a few kicks of his legs, he shimmied through and was out.

  Holding my breath, I yanked myself up, pulled myself through the small opening, and made it about halfway before getting stuck at my waist without leverage. Eli grabbed my hand and tugged.

  And then I was out and rolling free of the window, dress flying over my head. Eli fell to his rump and laughed as I jumped to my feet.

  “Shhh!” I hushed, finger to my mouth. “Quiet.”

  I stood in a crouch, scanning the area. We’d emerged along the right side of the Pierce home. Anyone looking out the window of the house next door would see us. We had to move, and I already knew where we were going.

  I grabbed Eli’s hand, dropped my shoulders, and ran.

  ROSE HAD TAKEN THREE STEPS TOWARD THE HALL, soup bowl in hand, when the front screen door squeaked. The children were coming in.

  She quickly returned the bowl to the counter. The patter of little feet sounded behind her, and she turned to see Levi and Stephen entering the kitchen.

  “Call me when dinner is ready,” Harrison’s voice boomed from the living room.

  Rose smiled at her children. “How would you two like to help Mommy with dinner?”

  Levi pulled a stool over to the sink. “Should I peel the potatoes?”

  “Too dangerous. But you can scrub them, and you can help, Stephen. Each of you scrub five potatoes, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m going to take this food downstairs, then I’ll return to cut them up for the soup,” she said.

  “Okay.”

  She ruffled Stephen’s hair. “Good boy.”

  Careful not to spill, Rose hurried to her office, retrieved the key, made her way to the basement door, and opened it. She stepped in and locked the door behind her.

  She tried to gather the full resolve she’d felt only minutes earlier, but uneasiness returned as she took the stairs down. Then again, no one said doing the right thing would be easy.

  The moment she turned the corner into the main basement, she saw the desk and above it, the window. Open.

  Still uncertain of what she was seeing, she looked to her right. The boy’s door was open. She lost her grip on the bowl and it fell to the ground, smashing into a dozen shards. Still not daring to believe, she ran to the room.

  Empty. The boy was gone!

  Just to be sure, she hurried around the room, heart pounding, searching every nook and cranny. There could be no doubt, the boy was gone.

  She rushed up to the desk, on which sat a chest. He’d somehow picked the lock on his door, slid the desk over here, gotten the window open, and climbed out.

  Could a twelve-year-old boy do that alone? Maybe.

  No. There was no way. Even if there was a way, she refused to accept it.

  Someone had helped him.

  Harrison was calling to her. “Honey, is everything alright?” He’d heard the shattering bowl.

  “I’ll be right up,” she shouted, but her mind was on Sylous now. She’d betrayed him!

  No . . . No, someone had betrayed her.

  Who would do such a thing for a stranger? Who had anything to gain from freeing the boy? Who would be so bold as to do so from her home? Someone who had betrayed her before, Rose thought. Someone who believed the stranger had meaning.

  Only one name came to mind.

  Grace.

  THE ABANDONED TRAIN CARS SAT ON RUSTED TRACKS to the north of Haven Valley. Only a stone’s throw beyond the perimeter, the cars were out of sight except from the top of several boulders at the red line. When I was much younger, Jamie and I would climb those boulders and make up tales about how much gold and jewels the cars could carry.

  That was before approved paths had been staked out. Before the laws to stick to those paths had been introduced and enforced. The only time I’d seen the train cars lately was with Jamie, when we’d broken the law so he could go check the Fury for himself.

  Breathing hard, I pulled up just short of the red rope. I looked around to make sure we weren’t seen by anyone doing a perimeter sweep. No one in sight. I glanced down at Eli, who’d matched me the whole way, two of his strides for each of mine. We hadn’t spoken; I’d been focused on getting here without being detected.

  He smiled at me.

  “You good?” I asked.

  “Good.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To those cars,” I said, and stepped over the red rope. Images of what had happened to me last time I’d been past the perimeter flashed through my mind. I’d tried to think of anyplace to hide Eli inside Haven Valley, but I knew once Rose discovered he was missing, they would search every house. There were a few abandoned buildings to the east that had once been used by the mining company, but they might be the first place the guardians looked.

  At least for the night, the train cars were probably safe. The safest place I could think of anyway.

  True, the Fury were out here. Part of me wondered if rescuing Eli from Rose only to put him in the reach of the Fury was doing him any favors. But he’d lived among the Fury for years and survived.

  My body tensed every time I heard a sound. I was alone and vulnerable, even with Eli walking beside me. Especially with Eli beside me. He was just a boy.

  Bobbie was absent. I took some comfort in that, because if there was any immediate danger, she would be around to warn me. At least, that’s how I hoped she worked. Or maybe she’d become tired of my strong head and abandoned me. Like she’d said, she wouldn’t force herself on me.

  Either way, I missed her.

  We reached the
cars quickly. Three in total, linked by large rusted hooks. The sliding door on the one in front of us was open a couple feet.

  “Go ahead,” I said, turning to Eli. “Up inside.” I offered my hand and helped the boy through the opening. With a final glance behind me, I hoisted myself up and in.

  The inside of the car was nearly dark, but we could see well enough. The right side was empty; the left was strewn with stacked crates rotted by time. The ceiling was half rusted away, but the back half looked solid enough to stop rain. Best place I could see was the back right corner.

  “Here,” I said, stepping toward it. The floor was covered in a layer of leaves—I wished I had something to offer the boy to lie on. Something to keep him warm if the night became too cold. Maybe a light to give him some comfort, though a light would draw attention. But all I had was my dress, and I needed that.

  I hadn’t had any time to think through this plan at all. And I had no more plan. I only knew that if I hoped to help Eli, I couldn’t be caught myself.

  He was checking out the dried leaves on the floor, seeing if they were free of snakes or something. Satisfied, he looked up at me.

  “You’re leaving,” he said matter-of-factly. I was surprised by his calm.

  “I need you to stay here tonight,” I said, studying him. “Do you know why I took you away from the basement?”

  “You thought I was in danger.”

  “Yes,” I said. “And I have to return before they know I left my room. But you’ll be safe here.”

  It was a lie, because I didn’t actually know if he would be.

  “Promise me you’ll stay inside this car tonight,” I said, hoping the urgency in my voice was clear. “I’ll be back as soon as I can in the morning. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Promise me, Eli,” I repeated. “Stay in this car tonight.”

  “I promise.”

  I nodded. “I’m sorry I have to leave.”

  His apparent lack of concern continued to surprise me. I should be relieved he wasn’t afraid, but it didn’t seem normal to be so unaffected. Maybe there really was something wrong with him? Again I was reminded how little I knew about this boy I had risked everything for. I wanted to ask him a hundred questions, but there wasn’t time now.