Page 57 of Thunder Pass

“Trying to keep out anyone who doesn’t belong.”

“We were both born and raised here, Jared. What are you talking about?”

Maisie chirped again, and Ruth masked it with a sneeze this time.

“Are you sick?” Jared took a step back from the window.

“Yes, she’s sick and I’m trying to get her to that new doctor in town,” Gunnar barked. “Got a problem with that?”

Ruth coughed some more, whether to confirm that story or to mask more sounds from Maisie, he wasn’t sure. Either way, it worked. Jared waved them through with an expression of disgust.

As soon as they were well away from the compound, Gunnar let out a breath of relief. Between Maisie’s clucks and Ruth’s ridiculous attempts to cover them up, Gunnar had nearly burst out laughing right in front of Jared, and who knew how that would have ended up. Jared didn’t seem to have much sense of humor.

Ruth let Maisie off her lap. The chicken settled on the floorboards close to her leg and pecked at a crumb.

“Thank you, Gunnar,” she said softly. “Maisie’s my buddy. She makes me remember the good parts of home. And now she’ll never be part of a stew feeding nasty Jared. Also, she’s a good layer,” she added quickly, as if she had to justify the hen’s existence.

“Happy to have her along.”

Ruth beamed at him, then sobered. “Did you see what’s in the trucks?”

“Yup. Equipment I’d never seen before and crates of weapons.”

She nibbled at the edge of a thumbnail. “One thing that the aunties said really stood out. Magda said that the kids are where they need to be. But I have no idea where that is. I only saw Miller, none of the others. I’m really worried about them.”

“I didn’t see any sign of any kids,” said Gunnar, frowning. “It’s definitely different. Every other time I’ve gone out there, a whole gang of them runs up to see who it is.”

“I hope they’re okay.” Ruth felt anxiety knotting her stomach. “No one there really cares that much about the kids, especially Luke. I think he sees them as pawns to control.”

“He’s like a cult leader.”

“Yes, I suppose. Martha said that when we first went to stay with her. She said, ‘what’s going on out there, some kind of cult?’ So I went online and researched cults, and I saw some similarities. But it’s different there now.”

“How so?”

She tipped her head to the side, considering. “Before, he and Naomi had a vision of a future for us. We believed we were working toward something beautiful, complete self-sufficiency, being close to nature. Now, it all feels more hard and cruel. My aunts didn’t used to be so cold. They used to laugh and have fun. By the way, I wonder who those men were talking about when they said ‘the five-foot-eight boss.’ Luke is six-two.”

“That must be the heavy hitter Naomi mentioned.”

“We have our first description.”

When they reached Martha’s farmstead, they quickly realized that no one was home. No Martha, no Sarah, no woofers.

“I think last night might have been the end of the season for the woofers,” Ruth said as she carried Maisie into the chicken coop and set her down with the other hens.

“I’ll keep an eye on these guys,” Gunnar told her. “You go see if anyone’s inside. Maybe they left a message.”

“Okay, but don’t let the hens be mean to Maisie.”

“Never. She’s my girl. Or my girl’s girl.” He grinned at her, and she kissed his cheek before hurrying to the farmstead.

As he watched the chickens peck at the ground, a crawling sensation crept up the back of his neck. He whirled around, but saw no one behind him. Still, the sense of being watched stayed with him, and by the time Ruth emerged with a packed rucksack, he was convinced they weren’t alone.

“I grabbed some snacks and a few other things,” she said. “No one’s around, and there’s no note.”

“We’re being surveilled,” he told her when they were back in the truck. “Someone’s watching us. Act normal,” he added quickly, when she startled.

“Do you think they followed us?”

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