The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  Until Raquel had saved her. Raquel, who’d lost a mother early. Raquel, who’d loved Nora’s parents as much as Nora had.

  Raquel had held onto Nora, and Nora still remembered the words that had turned her life around.

  “Run if you want to, Nora,” Raquel had said. “Sometimes running is the only thing that makes sense. But remember, you can either run towards a dream, or run towards your own destruction, and you always have a choice where to head.”

  Somehow, Raquel had sobered Nora, and she’d gathered herself together. Unable to bear the memories Milburn had held, Nora had moved to New York, and started working in the kitchens. She’d let her life be consumed by her one remaining dream, to eventually move back to Milburn, and to build a new sanctuary, with the best friend she considered her only remaining family.

  Only now, Raquel was gone too.

  Because Raquel had always supported her, Nora had never wondered before how her leaving town had affected Raquel’s own happiness. It struck her now, as she gazed over the fields, that even though Raquel had made many friends over the years, Nora had been the only one she ever really confided in, and even Nora had been in the dark about so much of what went on in Raquel’s head.

  Raquel’s own family had been destroyed, too. First, when her mother died, then when her father married a woman Raquel despised. What had it been like for Raquel, to live so close to a family she hardly interacted with? When she and Nora spoke on the phone, their conversations were never about that time. The two of them had only ever spoken of their dreams for the future. That had given them strength.

  But perhaps, somehow, Raquel’s past had caught up with her.

  *****

  Nora drove to the ranch where the cult members lived, and waited by the heavy iron gates to be let in.

  The Church of Supreme Truth. It had started a long time ago, as a simple, tight knit church, with the charismatic preacher Stanley Staten. There were rumors that he had gotten excommunicated when he was caught messing about with the finances of a different church, but that was after Nora had already left Milburn. The excommunication hadn’t stopped Stanley. He’d simply begun his own cult, with the most loyal of his herd following him wherever he went. To them, he preached that there was one solution to life, and he held the key. The followers included Raquel’s father and stepmother.

  How had Raquel reacted? She’d brushed it off as just another kooky belief her stepmother was indulging in. Nora had only heard her mention it in passing.

  “As long as Jolene is busy spending time with her new friends, she’s not hassling me,” Raquel had said. “That’s all that matters!”

  Bringing herself back to the present, Nora rang the bell next to the gates and waited. A speaker crackled to life next to her.

  “Who enters here, best do so with clean heart,” a nervous young voice said.

  “My name is Nora Newberry, I’m just here to speak to Raquel’s father… Um, Davis Madden.”

  There was static on the speaker, but she heard a buzz, and the large gates slowly rolled to the side.

  The ranch was a slightly dilapidated place, the white fence patchy with pieces of damp, rotten wood, and the roof itself looking shaggy and unkempt as unbrushed hair. Still, it had been a grand ranch in its time, and looked it, spread out in a straight wooden line with windows at regular intervals.

  Nora left her car parked outside, and walked to the main door, taking her time to observe the grounds. Broken marble statues lay littered all around, looking eerily beautiful with flowery vines creeping on and around them.

  A giant statue of an outstretched hand stood outside the main door. The statue had bits of marble broken off from various parts of it, either ravaged by the weather, or vandalized by someone closer at hand. Nora paused to read the inscription at its bottom:

  Life is a question. The Supreme Truth is the answer.

  She shivered slightly. The wind was swirling fallen leaves in a chaotic dance, and her argyle sweater wasn’t enough to block the cold. She should have brought a coat. In her mind, Nora could see Mrs. Mullally’s disapproving face, and despite herself, she grinned. She really was fond of her landlady.

  The main door opened, and an old man and woman stepped out. The man was dressed in black pants and a yellowing white shirt, while the woman wore a pastel 1960s style dress that hung loose and went down to her ankles. Nora jolted, recognizing Raquel’s father and stepmother.

  She’d remembered them both as the people she’d left behind ten years ago - a heavy woman with permed red hair and a skinny man with bad teeth and Raquel’s bright blue eyes.

  The blue eyes were all she recognized. Raquel’s father had aged so much. His hair had been replaced with a cleanly shaven head, and wrinkles warped his once sharp features. As for Jolene, she was no longer heavy. She was as frail as a bird, with a faraway dreamy look in her eyes.

  Looking at them, Nora felt pity for them both, and regretted telling Sean the things she had about Raquel disliking them. There was no way they had anything to do with Raquel’s death.

  “How can we help you?” Jolene asked, taking Nora’s hand and leading her towards a large sofa on the porch. Davis limped behind her. Nora realized that the woman was off somehow - either high, or perhaps very sleepy.

  “I’ve come… to give my condolences about Raquel,” Nora said. “Also to let you know that I’m here if you need any help at all.” She said the last part instinctively, and meant it. If either of them needed help, Nora would do her best to give it.

  “Kindness,” Davis said, coughing a little. “You have a kind heart.”

  “Raquel’s death was a sad event.” Jolene shook her head. “But the pain of the eternal sword will fall on all of us who walk the earth. There is no mourning the inevitable.”

  Nora began to feel a strange nervousness creeping up her spine. Jolene spoke almost in a monotone, like a stereo system playing the tape inserted in it. Davis nodded along automatically.

  “I wanted to ask you if…” Nora knew they’d have no answer but asked anyway, “I wanted to ask if you knew anyone that wanted to harm Raquel.”

  “Raquel wanted to harm Raquel,” Jolene said. “We tried so to explain to her the way of supreme truth, to help her see that her ways would lead only to the eternal sword and the abyss beyond.”

  It was a bright sunny day, Nora told herself. There was no cause for her to shiver, no need for her to feel as if a gray fog were choking her. Had ten years of indoctrination driven them so insane that they could not even comprehend or regret the death of their daughter?

  “Raquel could not be saved. But you have come here,” Davis said. “You have come for help, and so we will give you help.”

  “Yes, thanks, I…” Nora got up. “I should get going.”

  Two men came out of the main door, dressed identically to Davis. Nora recognized one of them - Raquel’s ex-boyfriend, Jonah Ashburn. Behind the two, was a man in a black suit and a pastel tie. Stanley.

  Nora began to edge away slowly.

  Stanley took her elbow, and led her inside. The door opened onto a large hall, with a staircase at one end, and a door leading to a kitchen at another. Nora’s eyes widened. If the ranch had seemed dilapidated on the outside, inside, it was nothing short of a hovel. The floors were scrubbed clean, but they were bare of any furnishings, and the wood panels had scratches and dents all over them. On one side of the hall, ten thin mattresses were piled up, and a bedsheet thrown over them. A statue of a glaring angel with a raised sword stood beside the staircase.

  But creepiest of all were the people, standing in one line against the wall, dressed identically, they stared at Nora out of sunken, hostile eyes.

  Stanley had his hand on her lower back, and led her up the staircase, into an office. Jonah, and the other man, apparently acting as Stanley’s bodyguards, stood by the staircase, in a position that was clearly intended to deter anyone else from going upstairs.

  “We believe in minimalism here,” Stanley said. �
��The love of possessions is a route to the love of evil.”

  Well, that apparently didn’t apply to Stanley, Nora thought. His office was downright lavishly decorated, compared to the hall. There were paintings hung in golden frames on the wall, and comfortable sofas arranged around a post-modern coffee table. To the left, there was an antique writing desk with curved legs and intricate woodwork, and a velvet backed chair next to it. In the back, ominously, stood three gray file cabinets, blocking the window.

  “Does everyone else sleep in the hall?” Nora asked, as she sat on the sofa.

  “Of course,” Stanley said, sitting across from her. “I tend to spend my nights meditating instead of sleeping. When you’ve achieved oneness with the world as I have, sleep becomes a frivolous way of spending time.”

  Sure, Nora scoffed internally. I bet you sleep up here in comfort while the others use ratty mattresses.

  It boggled her mind that a man who was so obviously fake could have fooled these people into following him. Still, she supposed that stranger things had happened where cults were concerned. At least Stanley wasn’t abusing any of them.

  She hoped.

  Stanley crossed his legs, and put his hands up behind his head. “I knew you’d come,” he said, smiling at her. “As soon as I saw you in Mason’s office, I thought to myself, here is a woman who will understand me.”

  Nora smiled weakly. “That’s nice, but it’s Davis I came to talk to. Isn’t he going to come up?”

  “He is only a novice,” Stanley said. “Only a being who has reached the third level of understanding may venture up these stairs. My followers are all currently not permitted to ascend.”

  “But I am?” Nora raised an eyebrow.

  “You are a guest.” Stanley smiled. “Everything is permitted to you.”

  She felt herself tense. She was very aware that the door was shut behind her, and that there was no other escape route. The last thing she wanted was to talk to Stanley, but it seemed she had no choice for now.

  “So,” Stanley said. “There’s much charity to be done in the world, and we, the followers of Supreme Truth are eager to do it. Are you hear to talk about Raquel’s will?”

  “As I said already, I’m here to talk to Davis.”

  Impatiently, Stanley waved her words away, looking a little more irritated. “And I’ve told you already, Davis has handed over power of attorney to me. Whatever you want to say, you can say to me.”

  Nora stayed silent. He waited for a minute, then prodded her. “Well? Aren’t you going to say anything about Raquel’s will? That money will go to some very good causes. We’ve already planned it out. Plus the roof needs—”

  “That money is meant for Davis,” Nora said, cutting him off.

  “My dear, you have a terrible memory,” Stanley said, with that infuriating, never failing smile. “I told you, Davis is one of us now. He has pledged to share what’s his.”

  “Sharing isn’t the same as giving it up,” Nora said. “I want to talk to Davis, alone, before I figure out how he’d like Raquel’s money to be spent.”

  “He’s already made his decision!” Stanley said abruptly, straightening.

  “Still,” Nora said.

  Shaking his head, Stanley said, “Very well. You want to hear from him? Wait here.”

  Springing up, he left the room, and Nora thought she heard the click of a lock as he did. Immediately, she was up too. Snooping wasn’t a very nice thing to do, but with Stanley, Nora didn’t feel the slightest guilt doing it.

  Quickly, she looked over the papers lying on the desk, row after row of excel sheets with numbers on them. Money? Perhaps. The drawers were all locked, and wouldn’t open when she tried to force them. Under the desk, the garbage bin had pencil shavings, a bent paper clip and some staples… and a crumpled post-it note.

  She picked it up, and jumped as she heard voices in the corridor outside. Sprinting back to the sofa, she had just enough time to glance at it before stuffing it in her pocket.

  “Need underwear, toothbrush, 3 new t-shirts and a pair of shorts.”

  Useless. She sighed.

  The door opened, and a smiling Stanley walked in with Jolene and Davis behind him. Jonah and the other thug stood by the door, alert.

  “There now,” Stanley said, sitting down. “Davis, tell her what you told me.”

  Davis nodded hastily, his hands behind his back. “Yes, Mahaan.”

  Nora raised an eyebrow.

  “Mahaan is what my followers refer to me as,” Stanley said. “Continue, Davis.”

  “Since my wife died, I had no family. The Church of Supreme Truth has become my new family. We are one people, and share equally. I wish for all of Raquel’s money to be transferred to our accounts.”

  “Satisfied?” Stanley smiled. He waved a hand, and Davis began backing away.

  “No. I actually came to ask Jolene and Davis where they were the night Raquel died,” Nora said.

  “We were all asleep, as is our way. We do not let the darkness enter through our lids. We sleep when the light fades, and wake as it reappears each day,” Stanley said. “Isn’t that right, my flock?”

  Davis and Jolene nodded their heads, mute.

  “Jonah, did you see Raquel lately?” Nora asked. “The two of you broke up a long time ago.”

  Jonah jumped, as if he wasn’t used to being addressed, then looked at his feet and stayed silent.

  “Jonah was with us too,” Stanley said, stepping forward.

  “And you… were you sleeping, er, meditating upstairs that night?” Nora asked.

  Stanley’s face began to turn red. “You come here offering help, and then begin to sow seeds of division between us. Many are the forms of evil. You have no intention of sharing that money, do you? You wish to keep it all for yourself.”

  The four looked at her now, with rising suspicion in their eyes. Standing up, she gathered her purse close, and said, “I think it’s time for me to go.”

  “It is the money she has come for,” Stanley said. “As always, it is the money that draws birds of prey to the house of grief. Be gone, for you shall find nothing here to quench your greed. My flock have entrusted me with their worldly possessions. I will not relinquish them to you.”

  A substantial amount. A substantial motive.

  But could she really blame him? A voice in the back of her head, a voice that made her feel ashamed, piped up that the money being gone meant the diner was probably gone too. Part of her wished that Davis would listen to her scheme, and the bigger part knew he never would. Still, diner apart, she was very unwilling to simply hand over Raquel’s money to Stanley. She had no problem handing it over to Davis if he hadn’t so clearly been under Stanley’s control. As it was, it was probably best to put it in some sort of fund, and only give it to Davis when he really needed it, or when he saw sense and quit the cult.

  “You really want me to give this man all of Raquel’s money?” Nora asked Davis, appalled. She stared at Raquel’s father, who rubbed his toe in the ground, and refused to look at her. Something about the defeated slope of his shoulders, and the tight smirk on Stanley’s face, made anger prick at Nora’s heart. In a kinder voice, she said to him, “Davis, I don’t care about the money. But I’m asking you if you need help. I promise I will give it to you.”

  “False concern!” Stanley shouted. “Be gone, covetous witch!”

  Davis muttered something under his breath, and Nora walked up to him.

  “Be gone!” Stanley said, his voice almost a yell this time, and Jonah and his friend began to move towards her.

  “Blink,” Nora said, in a rushed whisper. “If you feel you need help, if you feel you can’t say it, just blink twice, I’ll do something.”

  A tremendous struggle seemed to take place in Raquel’s father. His body trembled under her gaze, and the shuffling of his toes increased to a hysterical frequency. But he refused to look at her.

  With all her heart, she wished he would blink.

 
Instead, his eyes rolled back in his head, and Davis fainted. With a cry, Nora reached out to catch him, but she felt a hand grasp her by the elbow, and pull her away. Davis crumpled to the floor.

  “Look what she’s done!” Stanley exclaimed. “Throw her out of here!”

  “Davis!” Nora exclaimed. “Is Davis all right? What’s happened to him?”

  Jolene still had a blissful smile on her face, and was humming to herself, while looking up at the ceiling. What kind of wife was she, anyway! Nora resisted the urge to strike her across the face, and shake her by the shoulders. But first, there was Davis to worry about.

  She pushed her elbow into the ribs of the man holding it, and freed herself from his grip. Immediately, she bent down to see if Davis was okay. His eyes opened, and he looked scared.

  “It’s all right,” Nora said in a soothing voice. “We’re all here. We’ll call the doctor—”

  “Doctor? We don’t believe in putting pharmaceuticals in our body,” Stanley said. “Davis needs a dose of meditation. He needs to cleanse his aura to be free of the demons you’ve clearly cast on him!”

  “Are you stark, raving mad?” Nora flushed. “Davis needs a doctor, and if you want to see a single penny of Raquel’s money, I demand you bring him one!”

  “Go,” Davis said, in a weak voice.

  Nora couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What?”

  “Go. Leave. Please,” Davis said, slowly lifting himself up, and standing shakily on his own two feet.

  “Davis...” Nora’s voice trailed off helplessly. For a moment more, she looked at Davis, and whispered again, “Please let me help you.”

  Behind her, Stanley strode up and put a hand on Davis’ shoulder. Davis turned around silently and allowed himself to be led away. Stanley gave her a smirk now, and raised his eyebrow. With one hand, he pointed imperiously, and the bodyguards began to move her out.

  Defeated, Nora allowed herself to be escorted out, aware of passing the others, who hissed and spat at her as she left. Her last step through the iron gates was assisted by a healthy shove, and she stumbled and righted herself as the gate shut behind her. Walking to her parked car, she felt more frustrated than ever.