When he opened his eyes, the dogs were sitting in a half-circle ten feet from him…and people were gathering outside the archway. A lot of them. He rose to his feet and moved toward them. He was taller than most of them, but that was true in normal populations as well.
Lanterns had been lit, dispersing some of the darkness. The people wore simple clothes made from organic fibers, dyed in dozens of colors—not unlike those from the Friendship Community. Some were decorated with intricate needlework. Several children were in the front of the group, having been the first to follow the dogs. Women came forward and snatched them up, dragging them away to the back of the group, leaving the men in the front to face him.
None of them had weapons. They were soft and vulnerable. What if it hadn’t been him to enter their world, but one of King’s men?
“You’re the War Bringer,” one of the men said. “The true one.”
“I’m Kelan.” He preferred to keep things real, but nothing in this strange situation fit that term. Whether the moniker he’d chosen as a protective symbol before he went into the Army was meant for him alone or was the icon of a greater purpose was yet to be determined. “Who are you?” he asked as he moved forward.
The crowd parted, clearing a path to an old man whose white beard reached his heart. This man stood unmoving in front of Kelan. “We’re workers here.”
“Are you here against your will?”
The man looked around. There had to be almost two dozen people. “Not at first. But once here, we weren’t allowed to leave.”
“There have to be a dozen exits out of here.”
“And all of them were guarded by King’s men.”
“I don’t know where King is, but the FBI is all over this place. If you want to leave, I can take you out.”
“Can we take our dogs?”
“Of course.”
“Will you wait while we gather our things?”
“I’ll wait. I’m looking for two girls—Ellen and Bryn. Do you know them?”
One girl moved to the front of the group—the girl from Fiona’s closet. “They didn’t kill you.”
Kelan grinned. “No. Nor you, I see.”
Ellen gestured to the other girl to come forward. “We’ve been hiding down here ever since the initiation was interrupted.”
“Fiona sent me for you. I’ll take you home once the FBI has finished interviewing you.”
“Will they keep us from going home?” Ellen asked.
“No. Is everyone here from the Friends?”
Ellen shook her head. “Not everyone, but we’ve been talking about bringing them all back with us.”
Kelan nodded. “Get your things and let’s get out of here.”
A few minutes later, he was helping people bring their animals up the ladder. Once everyone was out, he did a quick walk-through of the tidy but ramshackle place where they lived to confirm that everyone was out.
When he climbed out of the shaft, Max and Lobo were there leading another group of about the same number. Lobo looked stunned. Kelan grinned.
“I can’t believe this was here and we didn’t know,” Lobo said as they started back for the command post.
Kelan looked at the crowd following them. “And you haven’t checked the other silos yet. Who knows what they hide.”
“I’m going to set up temporary shelter for them in the ballroom. We’ll start taking their statements tonight.”
“They want to return to the Friendship Community.”
“They’ll need smallpox inoculations first.”
Kelan nodded. “I’ll send Doctor Beck Williams down with Greer and Remi to take care of that tomorrow.”
“Kelan—I’m staying here tonight,” Max said. “I want to ask them if they’ve seen Lion and his boys here. I think I better do that individually or else they won’t want to talk about him.”
Kelan nodded. “I can stay and help.”
“No. Get home to your woman. She needs you more than I do right now. I’ll head back with Greer tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Fiona became restless in her room. She wandered out to the stables to see if Mandy was still there, and found her working with one of her newly donated horses. There were bags of sand on the saddle. Mandy led the horse around the corral where she worked with her clients.
“Hey there!” Mandy called, bringing the horse around to the mounting ramp. “You’re just in time. Feel like helping me for a bit?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“We’re doing great with the sandbag weights, but I think he’s ready to be tested at the next level. I need you to ride him while I lead him. Make sure you move around in some ways he might not expect. Not all of my clients have full motor control; we need to simulate that experience so that he doesn’t spook when it happens.”
“I’m in. Tell me what to do.”
Mandy removed the sandbags, then Fiona got in the saddle.
“So as I walk him around, how about you sway side to side?”
Fiona did that, careful of the horse’s reaction. She wanted to get him used to the motion, not scare him.
“What brought you out here?” Mandy asked.
Fee lifted her shoulders. “I wanted to talk.” She looked at Mandy. “I need some advice.” There wasn’t much about what had happened that she was ready to say aloud—except for what Kelan had told her about his claiming ceremony.
“Shoot.”
“Kelan asked me to come up with vows that I will make to him as part of the claiming ritual. He commits to four, and I do the same—we exchange them during the ceremony.”
“I like that.”
“I don’t know what ones to make.”
“I suppose they would be different for each couple.”
“What vows would you make to Rocco?”
They moved a couple times around the corral before Mandy answered. “I can think of two off the top of my head. One is that I would be endlessly patient as he works through his illness. He had PTSD long before he had me.”
“I like that.”