“You don’t have to return with me, Dominic. When this is done, we can go our separate ways. I don’t need you there. And you’re right, it’s probably better if you’re not.”
“Hause is still holding half my coin.”
“Oh god,” she threw her head back on the pillow, “you and your coin.”
He didn’t give a shit about the coin. He just didn’t want to part with Lerah. But he wasn’t about to say that out loud. He still had his pride. He grabbed the unoccupied pillow and strode silently to the other side of the room.
“What are you doing? Get back in bed!”
“I’m fine, just go to sleep. We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
He turned his back and curled up against the wall. He was still wide awake as dawn began to stretch its wings across the floorboards of their small dwelling. Soon it would be time to shake off the bitterness of the wedding night and play the happy couple. It was already turning into a real marriage.
35
Things were civil between Dominic and Lerah. They’d developed a mutual understanding. One that said the mission came first and that whatever was going on between them could wait until they got the hell out of Reeman.
The settlement looked different during the day, normal: families going to the wells to top off their water supplies, laborers pushing cartfuls of grain and construction materials, there was even the occasional nod and smile. The only thing that seemed out of place was the men with the guns standing vigil over the whole affair; they transformed the entire scene from community to prison camp.
As Toby led them along he jawed away about this and that, carrying himself with a ridiculous swagger, sporting his rifle as if it were some natural extension of his cock. “We got along a lot better when there wasn’t so much crowding. Now there are folks, folks everywhere, taking up space and resources. Mother wants people for the cause, so she ain’t about to cut them loose, unless they violate Scripture in some way. If it was me, if I was head honcho, king of the court, herding the cattle—”
“You mean if you were in charge?”
Toby looked back at Dominic, displeased about having his attempt at clever musing cut short. “Yeah, if I was in charge, this place would be half of what it is, at least in terms of population. You two wouldn’t have gotten in, I’ll say that much.”
“Now you’re just hurting my feelings.”
“We got too many folks around here not pulling their weight, lot of hanger-ons.”
“That’s not us,” Dominic said, curling his arm around Lerah.
“Yeah, I heard about you, some bad ass war hero or some such shit.”
“Yeah, some such shit.”
“I would have been out there in the shit with ya’ll if it weren’t for Mother. She thought I was too young, thought I’d serve a better purpose here. What Mother says goes; I’m sure you done picked up on that by now.”
“I got that impression.”
“So, are you her only son?” Lerah asked.
“That’s a complicated issue around here. There is two of us, technically. His name is Zach, ya’ll probably met him.”
“The one missing fingers? Yeah, not the most friendly guy.”
“He ain’t got much reason to be friendly right now. But I can’t really go into that with ya’ll, you know, ya’ll being newcomers and all.”
Dominic felt a hand brush his arm. He stopped and looked down.
His admirer was a crumpled up old woman; an empty bag of skin. She was peering up at him through a milky white film. She gave him an effortless smile, revealing a mouth sparse with teeth. “I just wanted to say that ya’ll are a lovely couple, just lovely. The service last night was beautiful. It always does me good to see two young souls in love.”
“Well, ma’am, I’m not so young, but I appreciate it.”
Her laugh was scratchy, but no less enchanting. “Dear, compared to me, you’re practically a baby. Did you know—”
“Ms. Harriet, these two folks got an appointment to keep; we gotta be moving along.” Toby created a barrier with his body and gave the old woman a patronizing pat on the back. “There will be plenty of time for chat later.”
Dominic wouldn’t have minded a few more minutes with the old woman. It felt good to be greeted by something other than contempt.
“Her kids are dead. Her husband is dead. Don’t know what the hell she’s still hanging on for. We all just sort of let her alone; figure she’s earned that much.”
“She seemed pleasant enough,” Dominic said.
“She’s pleasant enough, I suppose. She’ll talk your ear off if you let her. Ya’ll are gonna eat well for the next week. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she’ll be knocking on your door; does it with every newcomer we get.”
“We’re definitely not the type to turn away free food, especially given how scarce things have been for us the past few days.”
“Don’t get used to it.” There was a v-shaped sweat stain forming on the back of Toby’s shirt. It seemed to grow in width and intensity with each new step. “Everyone around here has gotta pull their weight. That reminds me, Momma wanted me to let ya’ll know that you’ll be starting your work assignments tomorrow.”
“I thought only the celibate had to multiply with their labor?” Lerah sounded the part of the true believer.
“Nope, everyone has a job around here. The only benefit of going celibate is that you don’t risk suffering the consequences of not being able to pop out kids. Your man is gonna be with the Watch and you’re gonna be in the greenhouse; we had a spot open up there.”
“I don’t have much of a green thumb,” Lerah confessed. “I’m pretty good with a rifle, though. My husband taught me to shoot.”
“Well, you’re out of luck missy; only men allowed on the Watch.”
“That seems a little unfair.”
“What Momma says goes.”
All of the houses pretty much looked the same in Reeman. Some had obviously been added to over the years, the newer sections of wood appearing lighter in tone, having spent less time under the thumb of the harsh Outland weather. Toby led them up a small incline that wound between two houses with cluttered porches. There was an older man sitting in a chair that appeared to be a bit too small for his frame. He was cleaning the bore of a varmint rifle. He acknowledged Toby with a shallow nod.
“Things slow down at the wells?” Toby asked him.
The man nodded. “Yeah, no one is getting much done. All of them are still jabbering away about the fall yesterday. Didn’t much feel like hearing it anymore.”
“Alright then, have a good one.”
“You do the same.”
Their destination resided at the top of the path. Blake stood on the front porch as if he’d been expecting their arrival. Perhaps he had. He stepped down and greeted them. “I’ll take it from here.”
Toby handed them off without a word and turned back down the path.
“He wasn’t too rough on you guys, was he?” Blake observed them over the top of wire rimmed glasses.
“He’s not so bad once you get him talking,” Dominic said.
“You just have to catch him on the right day. Anyway, come in; let’s get out of the sun.”
The smell of food was the first thing Dominic noticed when he stepped inside.
“Something smells delicious,” Lerah said.
Riley was on the other side of the room, laboring over the boiling culprit that had attacked Dominic’s nostrils. She stood and wiped her hands on the front of her dress, before trotting across the room and greeting them with full hugs.
“You two remember my wife?”
“How could we forget? Whatever you’re cooking, it smells divine.” Lerah stood on the tips of her toes and sniffed at the air.
“And of course, there’s my daughter, Judith.” The little girl was running her toy car against the wall, creating crashing noises with her pursed lips.
“Oh my gosh, yes, just the cutest thing.” Lerah dropped to h
er knees and slid across the floor to invade Judith’s playtime.
Dominic couldn’t hold back his smile as he watched Lerah gush over the little girl. Her walls were down, the woman underneath was on full display, there was no bullshit to cloud the glass.
“Hun, would you please take Judith out for a bit? I’ve got a meeting with these folks.”
“Of course, she needs to get some air anyway. Could you stir the soup for me every now and then?”
“Have no fear, darling.” Blake gave his wife and daughter a quick peck on the cheek and sent them out the door.
“Looks like you’ve got yourself quite the family, Doctor.” Dominic took long heavy steps around the room. He stopped and hovered over the cook pot. He took the spoon up and stirred the soup delicately, inhaling the aromatic fumes. “Smells damned good, damned good. I haven’t had a good stew in some time. What’s in it?”
“Some potatoes and a few vermin I took the other day.” Blake was beginning to look a little uneasy as he watched Dominic molest his wife’s cooking.
“Well, your wife has worked magic.”
“Thank-you, uh, do you and your lady want to—”
Dominic dropped the spoon and raised a hand. “In a minute, we’ll get to that. I just want to take all this in for a moment. I mean, there’s not much space, but you’ve really made it work. It all feels very… sweetheart, what’s the word I’m looking for?”
“Cozy?” Lerah had taken up a position by the door, her hands folded at her waist.
“Yes, cozy, that sounds right. Cozier than where I grew up, that’s the damned truth.”
“Well, thank-you, we like to think we’ve made the best of things.”
They had made the best of things, they truly had; they’d turned a prison cell into a palace: the rolling cook pot, the two beds sitting side by side in the corner, the neatly stacked shelves of books and trinkets jutting from the walls, the dining room table with the place settings all perfectly aligned, and the tall chair at the center of the room with the afghan draped across the back, it was a picture that looked as if it’d been taken a million miles away from Reeman.
“You make this chair?” Dominic pressed down lightly on the back of the chair; sturdy.
“I did, yes.” There was a glimmer of pride in his voice.
“You wove the seat and everything?”
“I did.”
“Wow, that is impressive, may I?”
“Go ahead.”
Dominic slid around and eased into the seat, bracing himself for the bottom to drop out. The seat sank comfortably beneath him, the legs whined a bit, but everything held together. Dominic was impressed; it was no small feat to create something capable of supporting a man of his stature. “This is a fine chair. I’ll have to commission you to make me one.”
“It would take some time.”
“I imagine it would, it’s a fine piece.”
“It’s not so much the making of the chair as it is the gathering of the materials. There isn’t a whole lot of spare wood lying around here. I’d have to go beyond the walls and gather it on my own. That takes some time.”
“Forget about it then. I don’t want you risking your life to build me a chair. I’ll just come over and sit in yours.”
Blake laughed. He seemed to have relaxed a bit. “So, I know our business isn’t exactly pleasant. But it’s necessary. Who would like to go first?”
Dominic shook his head and crossed his legs, looking up at Blake from the chair. “I don’t think we’re going to let you examine us today. What about you babe, you feel like being poked at?”
“Not particularly.” Lerah was leaned back against the door, her arms and ankles crossed.
“See, Doc, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Blake looked back at Lerah, then at Dominic, then back at Lerah, as if he were trying to find a twitch, a smile, something that told him this was just a big joke. “That’s not really an option, Mother requires—”
“Is Mother here?”
“No, but—”
“Let’s talk chairs, do you wanna talk chairs instead, Doc?”
“No… not really.”
“Okay then, let’s talk something else.”
“I don’t really have time to talk. If you’re not going to submit to the exam, I’m going to have to report to Mother—”
“Micah and Susanna.”
Dominic saw instant recognition in Blake’s eyes, a recognition that quickly flooded every corner of his body. “I don’t know—” Blake made a break for the door, with every intention of blowing right through the delicate little flower standing in his way. Lerah sprouted thorns and made quick work of him. She punched him in the throat, stunning him and taking the sound out of his body. He stumbled back towards Dominic, who handled the rest; he threw him across his hip, put him on his back, and planted him with a knee.
“I told you he wasn’t going to cooperate. What are we going to do now?” Lerah ran her fingers through her hair as she checked the front window for any signs of unwelcome guests.
“He’s just scared, give him a chance.” He slapped Blake across the face, trying to focus him. “Ain’t that right, Doc? You’re just scared and I don’t blame you. I’d be scared too. Breathe, you’re fine.”
Blake grabbed at his throat, gulping air.
“There you go, keep breathing. Now, we’re going to talk, just like this. If you try to scream, or do anything else stupid, my knee goes on your throat and it doesn’t come off. Sound like a fair deal?”
Blake nodded as he removed his spectacles and rubbed away some of the water that had accumulated in his eyes.
“Okay, Micah and Susanna, tell me about them.”
“Are you two Union?”
Dominic slid his knee towards Blake’s throat.
“No, wait.” Blake strained to hold the monstrous appendage at bay. “I just want to know what position I’m dealing from. Mother has got a lot of eyes and ears out there.”
“We could just lie to you,” Lerah said, falling into the chair at Blake’s head.
“You could, yeah. But I’d like to think that I’m a pretty good judge where people are concerned.”
“Seems like a good skill set to have.”
Blake nodded. “It’s kept me alive this long.”
Dominic slowly removed his knee from the man’s chest, stood, and backed towards the door, blocking the only route of escape; he was a much more imposing obstacle than Lerah had been. “Yeah, we’re Union… well, she’s Union; I’m more like the hired help.”
Blake worked himself into a sitting position and stayed there. “That’s a dangerous thing to be around here.”
“I’m assuming you’re talking about Micah and Susanna? What happened to them?” Lerah was leaning forward on her knees, growling in Blake’s ear.
Dominic signaled for her to dial it back a bit.
“I promise you both, I had nothing to do with what happened to them, nothing. Mother found out they were Union. I don’t know how, but she did. She nearly tossed me off the cliff along with them.” He wrapped his knees up around his chest and dropped his head between his hands, letting out a dejected whimper. “Damn it, she’s just now starting to trust me again. If she finds out who you two are, that you’re talking to me, she’ll kill me. She’ll kill my family, do you understand?”
“So Micah and Susanna are dead?” Lerah asked.
“Yeah, they’re dead.”
“Did you know they were Union before Mother found out?”
Blake looked around as if another pair of ears may have found their way into the room.
“You’re safe with us, Blake. What you say stays here.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I knew. I knew pretty early on. The Union made contact with me when I was out scavenging; this was some time back. They were looking for a way to get some people in here and sweep the rug out from under Mother. I guess they didn’t want to risk a body count. Mother had been out of control for awhile, so I ag
reed to help however I could. They said they’d be in contact. I never heard anything else until Micah and Susanna showed up at my door.”
“And Mother just magically figured out who they were?” Lerah asked stiffly.
“I swear on my wife and kid, I do not know how Mother found out. One day the Watch just came for them. A few days later they took the Fall. Mother grilled me about it. She suspected me of working with them, but I guess she could never prove it.” His hands were shaking. “Listen, guys… ma’am… I just want to live in peace. I don’t want to put my family in danger. Not again. Mother has been very clear with me.”
Dominic ignored his pleas. “What were you working with them on?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“When you were helping Micah and Susanna, what was their game plan for taking Mother down?”
“We never had one.”
“What do you mean you never had one?”
“They turned, okay. They bought into all of this.”
“Bullshit!” Lerah dug the tip of her boot into one of Blake’s kidneys. He yelped and scooted beyond her reach. “They wouldn’t turn. No one in their right mind would give up Genesis for this.”
“Maybe they weren’t in their right mind,” Dominic said.
“It didn’t happen overnight. They were eager to undermine Mother. We tried to figure out a way to destroy her without destroying everyone here. She’s not a block you can just rip away; the entire structure will come tumbling down. The people here adore her. They trust her. They’ve got their entire lives wrapped up in her, literally. If she says you violated Scripture and you’re taking the Fall, then you’re taking the Fall. There are no second opinions. Her vote is the only one that counts. She can turn friends to enemies with a snap of her fingers.”
“Someone explain to me why we’re trying to preserve this pack of crazies?” Lerah seemed to be venting rather than asking a question.
The Fall of Man: The Saboteur Chronicles Book 1 Page 29
