At first I didn’t know what he meant. Babylon? Plunder? But then I got really excited. Going down to Babylon. I was smart enough to figure that one out. He was going down into the world. He was going to get us food.
But that wasn’t the only thing that made me happy. This meant an entire day without him. I wouldn’t get raped. I wouldn’t get abused. I wouldn’t have to listen to him tell me how he was going to kill my family. I wouldn’t have to listen to him tell me how grateful I should be that he had saved me from the world. I didn’t know which was more exciting, a day away from him or the possibility of getting food.
Watching him get ready to leave, I felt like a little girl on Christmas morning. My mouth began to water at the prospect of finally having something to eat. My heart raced as he put on his boots and picked up his pack. Yes, I wanted to say. Go down to Babylon and get me food!
But how was he going to get it? What did plunder really mean? I looked at him, confused. But Mitchell didn’t offer to explain, which was unusual, for he was always searching for something new to talk about. It turned out that it didn’t matter. I would learn about plunder soon enough.
Then another thought popped into my mind. Maybe he would bring me some news of what was going on with my family. Maybe he would tell me about the search efforts. I could picture him using the news to torment me: Esther, they were so close. So close. And yet so far away. Maybe he would bring me news of the world, anything at all to break the boredom. Or better yet, maybe someone would follow him when he came back to our camp. Maybe someone would stumble upon us while he was gone. Maybe someone would catch him while he was down in the city. I knew all of these things were extremely unlikely, but I couldn’t keep the thoughts out of my mind. He was going to the city. He was exposing himself to society, other people, maybe even the police. That had to be helpful, I just couldn’t figure out how.
Then my heart seemed to jump with a terrifying thought. What if he did get caught? What if he didn’t come back? He had the key to the lock on my cable. No key, no freedom. I’d be trapped forever. If he got caught and didn’t come back, what would Barzee do? She’d take off and leave me, that’s what she’d do! She’d run as far and as fast as she could go if that’s what it took to protect herself. She’d leave me there, cabled to the trees in the middle of the mountains. I would die, alone, starving, and out of water. It was a terrifying thought.
As he got ready to go down into the city, he talked excitedly to himself. For someone who was convinced the world was nothing but a den of sinners, he sure seemed to be in a good mood. Then it occurred to me that he was planning on doing a little “descending below all things” of his own. Maybe even a lot of descending. He was going down to eat and drink and party, leaving me cabled to the trees.
*
Mitchell was gone all day. It got hot. A little bit of water for lunch was all we had. The sun moved toward the western horizon. I was getting pretty good at estimating the time by watching as it marched across the tops of the trees. The mountain shadows were growing long. The sun faded behind the highest ridge line and evening came on. It started to get cooler. I started to wonder how Mitchell was going to get us any food. He didn’t have any money. Nothing he could trade for. He might be able to steal a pocketful of something, but how could he possibly get enough to feed us all? What if he came back with nothing? Then I started to get angry. He’d been gone a long, long time. What if he was down there eating and came back with nothing for the rest of us to eat?
I kept looking down the mountain, expecting him to walk out of the shadows of the trees. I listened carefully for the sound of branches snapping or the crunch of boots upon the leaves. I was getting really hungry. I couldn’t wait for his return! Come on … come on, I was praying inside my head.
It grew dark. We waited in the darkness. No fire. No flashlights. It grew colder. Finally, Barzee said it was time to go to bed. We climbed into the tent. I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I was too hungry. And I was worried now that he was not coming back. But Barzee seemed unconcerned. She knew how far it was down into the city. She knew it was a long and tiring hike. But I had also seen the way she kept her eyes toward the canyon, the way she listened too, hoping to hear the sound of his footsteps across the dry leaves.
After a while I feel asleep.
Around eleven, I felt her shaking me on the shoulder. He was back.