Part 24 (1/2)
They lay perfectly still as the sound of a single person picking his way toward them grew louder. Jan slowly drew her gun from her jacket pocket. Catherine already had hers in her hand. When it seemed that there was only a tree or two between them and the man, he turned away. They heard his steps recede to the north. They lay quietly for another few minutes before sitting up.
”f.u.c.k,” Jan said.
”Who do you think it was?” Catherine asked.
”It's either someone from the welcoming committee at the ranch, or . . .”
”Or what? You think it's someone from your father's camp, don't you?”
Jan looked Catherine in the eye. ”I had a feeling we were somewhere close to it, and now I have more reason to think we are. And I know one way to find out.”
Jan headed east again, softly now, with her eyes straight ahead.
”Clue me in here,” Catherine said. ”I don't like an operation where I don't have the facts.”
Jan looked back at her. ”There used to be an electrified fence around the whole perimeter of the Colonel's property. Unless he finally gave up on maintaining it, we should be able to see it. I don't know if Maddy would see it though. If she ran into it, it would give her a pretty good shock.”
”Does it signal anywhere when it's activated? I mean, would your father know if someone hit the fence?”
”Not when I was here. Maybe he's gotten more sophisticated since then, but I doubt it.”
They crossed a creek and crept forward another fifty yards before Jan spotted it, the wires of the fence a greenish color and so thin that they'd be easy to miss. They stood and stared at it.
”This is what you had to get past when you ran away. When you were sixteen?”
”Yes.”
”It's unbelievable. It's mad, really.”
”I think Maddy's in there. We have to go in,” Jan said. She said it urgently, as if she thought Catherine needed convincing.
”Of course we do. Let's find a place to climb and get over the fence.”
Within minutes they had climbed up and over the fence, and Jan was back in her own heart of darkness. She knew the way now. It was all as familiar as her hand, as any home would be.
Maddy looked straight ahead as a little girl addressed her solemnly.
”Did you do something bad?” the girl asked.
”No, I didn't.”
”Because people only have to stand there like that when they do something bad.”
The girl seemed confused, but no more so than Maddy was. A woman came up and shooed the girl away, looking at Maddy and Kristi with disdain before walking away from them. Maddy could see others from the corner of her eye, but she could barely turn her head to get a look at them. When Kristi and Maddy both angled their heads toward each other they could just see the other's face. Kristi's was white, as if she'd seen a ghost. Maddy felt like hers must be bright red. She'd never been so mad in her life.
Their heads and hands had been stuck into an old-fas.h.i.+oned set of stocks, planted in the center of the camp so they'd be scorned and mocked by the residents, just like in Puritan days. Behind them was the colonel's cabin. To their right was the larger building that seemed to be some kind of community house. The women and children congregated there, making occasional forays to stand in front of the stocks and stare at them. A few little boys threw rocks at them, but one of the mothers put a stop to that. Maddy heard her say they ”were not that kind of people,” whatever that meant. They were not like any people Maddy had ever heard of.
Straight ahead were the shacks, and she a.s.sumed that's where people slept. There didn't seem to be any men about, and if they were, they were in with the colonel deciding their fate.
”What the f.u.c.k are we going to do?” Kristi said.
”I don't know. I don't think these are the guys who know Drecker. I don't know what they want from us.”
A tall, gangly boy came up to them, holding a long stick. He poked Maddy in the thigh with it.
”Be quiet,” he said. ”There's no talking when you're in the punishment.”
Maddy had a feeling these stocks got dragged out here with some regularity. ”What happens to people from the outside who end up in these things?”
He looked surprised that she had asked him a question. ”I don't know. We've never had someone from outside here.”
”I don't understand. What kind of place is this?”
The boy poked her again. ”No questions,” he said, poking her once more. He seemed to want to stay and continue poking, but a woman's voice called him and he ran away, dropping the stick as he went.
They stood locked in place for what seemed hours, but may have been minutes. Maddy's feet barely touched the ground, and the strain on her calves was painful. Kristi's knee hurt and she kept s.h.i.+fting her weight around. They both were sweating, though the air was cool. Eventually, they heard boots approaching from behind and the colonel telling the women and children to get into the cookhouse and stay there. Maddy's anger started to dissolve into fear.
”I don't want to f.u.c.king die,” Kristi said.
Maddy didn't either. She watched as the colonel and two of his men gathered in front of them, and the thought that she was about to die lay over her like a shroud. The colonel looked much older in the brighter light. His wrinkles were cavernously deep, his jaw sunken by too many missing teeth. But still, he held his body straight, and had about him the air of someone who was used to being obeyed. His men were behind him, two steps back on either side. He looked squarely at them and spoke in a clear voice.
”We have conducted a tribunal to determine the charges against you and the sentences to be imposed.”
”A tribunal?” Maddy said. ”Is that like a kangaroo court?”
The colonel raised his hand as his men stepped toward Maddy. They held back.
”Unless you'd like your gag replaced, you will listen silently as I pa.s.s sentence. You'll have your opportunity to speak.”
A radio crackled and one of the men stepped a few feet away to respond.
”Colonel, B squad is reporting in. They've spread out and covered the property. They've found nothing. Should I have them come in?”
The colonel looked directly at Maddy and Kristi as he spoke. ”They stay out there until I tell them to come in. These two are not acting alone.”
”Yes, sir.”
The colonel took a step closer to the stocks.
”You've been found guilty of trespa.s.sing and are being charged with espionage,” he said. His voice was cadenced as if he were reading from a grand jury indictment. ”You'll be punished for the first. In regard to the second, we will find out who you're working with. Now, your punishment for trespa.s.sing is twenty-four hours in those stocks. You may end this punishment at any time by telling us who sent you here. If you don't offer this information within the twenty-four hours, a second tribunal will be held to determine your guilt on the espionage charge.”
Maddy's neck ached from holding her head up to look at the colonel. But she didn't want to hang her head in front of him. She looked over at Kristi and saw she'd given up that battle. Her head was hanging, and Maddy thought she was crying. She turned back to the colonel.
”I'm not sure where you got the idea that you have this kind of authority over me, but I'm a citizen of a country that has laws. And procedures. Call the police if you think I've done something wrong. This is crazy.”
The colonel held her gaze as he spoke. ”Lieutenant, give her an adjustment.”
The lieutenant named Martin marched quickly up to Maddy. She thought she saw the other men wince. Without hesitation, Martin slugged her across the face. Kristi screamed. Maddy's body slumped as she tried to keep from throwing up. She fought hard to come up through the pain that seemed to drown all five of her senses. When she saw the blood dripping from her nose and mouth, pooling in the dirt beneath her, she started crying too.