Kate walked into the kitchen to talk to
her mother, only to be brought up the sight of two very serious looking
gentlemen in suits who were at the table talking to her mother. She noticed her mother glance up at her
briefly and then back at the gentlemen without acknowledging her presence at
all and Kate knew that something was very wrong. The hair on the back of her neck began to
raise and she tiptoed back out of the doorway and headed up the stairs to her
bedroom.
She got to her room and closed the door
quietly behind her. She walked over to
the window to look down and that’s when she noticed the strange vehicle parked
on the street in front of her house. It
was a dark 4-door sedan. She wondered
what these men were doing here, and why it was her mother hadn’t wanted her in
that room with them.
When her father died, State Troopers in
their khaki uniforms had delivered the news.
These were not police officers or State Troopers. She wasn’t sure what they were. Father Donovan’s warning about the darkness
trying to stop her by making her life more difficult came to mind. Thinking of him reminded her suddenly of the
thumb drive and the letters still in the top drawer of her dresser. On a hunch, she grabbed the lot of them and
tucked them under her mattress, hoping they wouldn’t be noticed.
She took out her rosary and the
pamphlet and began to pray as fervently as she ever had. She remembered that Father Donovan had told
her this was her greatest weapon against the darkness, something it could not
resist. She did her best to focus on
every bead even as her ears strained to try and pick up bits and pieces of the
conversation going on downstairs.
She finished praying the rosary and
began again, finding a comfort in the repetition that helped calm her
nerves. She wasn’t sure why those men
were here but she was sure it was not to deliver good news. Her mother had looked tense, unhappy, and
worried. She had gotten halfway through a second rosary when the door opened
and her mother walked in. She took in
the sight of her daughter praying with surprise but kept her voice steady.
“Kate, I need you to come downstairs
with me,” she said.
Kate tucked the rosary and the pamphlet
in her pocket and headed downstairs with her mother. The men were gone and she heard a car pulling
out and driving away. Her mother seemed
nervous and uncertain as they took a seat at the table together.
“Kate, I need you to tell me what you
know about Kevin and his family,” she said.
“I don’t know a lot about his family,
Mom, but Kevin is a good guy,” Kate replied.
Her mother frowned. “Are you aware that
his father was recently arrested for murder?” she said.
“Mom, I don’t think that’s true. His father disappeared. Men just like the ones at our table this
morning came and took him away one night. His family doesn’t know where he is
or where they’ve taken him,” Kate said defensively.
“Kate, I don’t want you hanging around
that boy or his family anymore. The men
who came here today said they are part of a dangerous cult that’s been guilty
of stirring up trouble and killing innocent people,” her mother said, frowning.
“That’s not true!” Kate said, her voice
fierce. “There’s nothing dangerous about
Kevin or his family, or anyone else he’s introduced to me. They’re not part of a dangerous cult. They’re Catholic, Mom,” Kate told her mother.
Her mother’s eyes looked at her in
astonishment and confusion.
“Catholic? Those men didn’t
mention anything about them being Catholic.”
“Those men are lying to you, Momma, I
know it,” Kate said. “Kevin would never
hurt me.”
“Kate, those men wanted to take you in
for questioning to find out what you know about Kevin and the group he belongs
to. Why would they want to do that if
there’s nothing going on that isn’t supposed to be?” Kate’s mother asked.
“Mom, I don’t know why, but there’s a
lot of things going on that aren’t being told to people. Kevin’s dad wasn’t the only one who was taken
away. There were others, too,” Kate
said.
“Kate, I think you are the one who’s
mistaken. Why would the government lie to us?” Kate’s mother asked.
“I don’t know why, Mom, but I know they
are,” she said.
“Kate, you’re to stay away from that
boy and his friends until you can prove these things to me. I’ve already lost my husband, I’m not losing
my daughter, too,” she said firmly. Kate
knew she meant it. There was no help for
it. She was going to have to make a
choice between obedience to her mother and obedience to a God she barely
knew.
What if she was putting her own family
in danger? What if those men came back and took her mother, like they took
Kevin’s father? Was it right for her to
make a decision that might hurt everyone else? She didn’t know the answers, and
she didn’t know what to think. She
wished she had someone to talk to, someone who could tell her what she was
supposed to do.
A small voice in the back of her head
whispered to her that she knew what she should do, if she had the courage to do
it. She knew that she must defy her mother’s
orders, not because that was the comfortable thing to do, but because it was
the right thing to do. Her mother was
caught in the crossfires of a battle she couldn’t see. Kate could see it, and only Kate could free
her mother from it, but she would never be able to do that sitting on the
sidelines.
“Kathryn Lynn Devries, do you
understand me?” her mother said.
“I understand your words,” Kate
said. She was unhappy about being put
into this position. It didn’t seem right or fair.
“If I so much as hear about you talking
to him on the phone or hanging out with him at school, you will be grounded
until your 18th birthday, do you understand me?” her mother
threatened.
Kate crossed her arms over her
chest. She loved her mother, but this
was too far. She refused to answer,
glaring at her mother in silence. Her
mother could not make her agree to this.
“Kathryn, I am serious about this. Those men meant business, and I don’t want
you putting your life or your future in danger over some boy. I’m sorry if his family has gotten themselves
into trouble but I can’t have you dragging our family into the middle of
it. Do you understand that I could lose
my job over this?” her mother demanded, her voice raising as Kate stood there
without a word, simply looking at her.
Kate had never seen her mother act like
this before. Her mother was usually so
level-headed and so laid back that it took a lot to get her upset. This was way off the charts for her. She was
practically yelling. The voice in the back of the head whispered to her that
what she was seeing was her mother’s fear.
It was better to say nothing and let her mother cool down than to
respond and feed the fire. So, Kate
stayed silent.
Eventually, her mother ordered her to
go to their room and grounded her. There
was to be no television, no internet, and no phone until Kate agreed to be
obedient. Kate went quietly
upstairs. She took out her rosary and
stared at the crucifix. What a bizarre
thing to have on the end of something which was supposed to be all about light
and goodness. Why would anyone want to
keep a symbol of a man brutally tortured and murdered close to them?
She put the rosary away and pulled her
journal off the shelf. At least in her
journal she could be honest about what she was thinking and feeling. At least here she could speak without
worrying about what someone else would think.
She wrote about going to Mass for the first time, and about feeling like
she was seeing a connection between her prayers being answered for Kevin’s
father and the readings for the day. She
also wrote about the talk Father Donovan had with them afterward about the
importance of fighting for what was right even when loved ones tried to stop
them for fear of their safety. As Kate
wrote, she knew exactly what she was going to have to do. There was no way around it.
She couldn’t put her family in danger
anymore, and she couldn’t cast aside her new found faith. She didn’t want to have to lie to her mother
about where she was going or who she was with.
She was going to have to run away.
She wasn’t sure where she would go or how she would make it, but if God
was truly with her, she knew He would help her find a way to make it work.
She decided to wait until after school
on Monday to actually leave. It would
give her a chance to pack when her mother wasn’t home and to explain things to
Kevin and seek his advice on where she should go and what she should do. It was a scary thought, being all on her own,
but then again, Father Donovan had promised she would never truly be along
again. She found some comfort in that.
She put her journal back in its place
in her bookshelf and laid down for a nap.
She felt tired suddenly, as if she’d traveled a long journey in a very
short time. She felt much older than
15. The world looked very different to
her now than it had just two Saturday nights ago. Back then, she had been ignorant of the
truth. Back then, she had never dreamed
that the world was dangerous at all.
When she woke from her nap, it was
already dark and her stomach was rumbling.
She felt calmer and more peaceful than she had when she laid down, and
she hoped maybe her mother would as well.
She headed downstairs to grab something to eat. The twins were nowhere in sight, and her
mother’s car was gone.
She made herself a sandwich and noticed
a business card on the counter. The name
on the card was Seth Brannigan.
According to the card, he was with the Department of Homeland Security. There was an email address and a phone
number. Kate wrote down the agent’s
name, phone number, and email address on an empty envelope and slipped the
information into her pocket. She finished up the sandwich, and headed back
upstairs.
Her mother had forbidden her to use the
internet at home, but that wouldn’t stop her from using it at school. It might be the opportunity she needed to
figure out where Kevin’s father had been taken and why. It also might be just the thing she needed to
prove to her mother she was telling the truth.
If she could find the proof, she wouldn’t need to run. She could convince her mother to join the
fight instead. It was a long shot, but
Kate felt it would be worth the risk.
Kate heard her mother’s car pulling up
into the driveway and quickly headed back upstairs. She was fairly certain her mom wouldn’t be
pleased to see her downstairs without her mother’s permission. She took out a book and laid back down on the
bed to read. She heard footsteps on the
stairs and her door opened. Her mother
was standing there, watching Kate.
“So, are you still determined to defy
my orders?” her mother asked.
Kate simply looked at her.
“I take your silence as a yes,” she
said.
Kate didn’t reply.
Kate’s mother sighed and said, “As you
wish,” and then closed the door.
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