'Coming back, I think.'
Chapter Twenty
'SOMETHING'S HAPPENING!' SELMER EXCLAIMED. Paul stepped across to the archway. The crowd had moved closer during the past hour, and now he could hear a low murmur. He couldn't see what was happening through the trees, but it was clear that a commotion had broken out.
Jacque yelled down the stairs behind them:
'Someone's coming through.'
Then Paul saw the ripple of motion. A moment later several uniformed boys appeared on the pathway. He stiffened, then saw Dorland among them. The crowd made way, and a moment later Dorland stepped through the archway. His wrists were bloody, his hair tangled in a wild mop. With him came the boy Paul recognized as Jonny.
'Jonny's friends are speaking to the people outside,' Dorland said. 'They're asking them to return to Fairhope. They are letting the people know that the Holy Order doesn't exist anymore.' Paul took Dorland's arm and pulled him farther into the corridor. Except for his wrists, Dorland 205
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seemed to be unhurt. 'What happened back there?'
'Elder Jacowicz returned to the temple after Jonny freed me,' Dorland said. 'He and High Elder Brill are there now, along with the rest of the elders and deacons. I think they're seeking advice from Lord Tern.'
'Let's go after 'em!' Jacque exclaimed. 'We've got the Sons on our side now—'
'That would only result in violence,' Dorland said. 'The deacons and elders are well armed.' He turned to look back through the archway. 'After the people have returned to Fairhope with their sons, I'll go to the temple and talk to High Elder Brill.'
Selmer laughed without humor. 'What makes you think he'll listen? You're the one that caused all this. He'll have your head for a temple decoration.'
'I think he'll listen to me,' Dorland said. Dusk was falling over the city by the time the last of the people from Fairhope had started the trek back to the village. Sabastian and Selmer Ogram had gone with them. Jacque was stationed on the roof of the building, where he could watch the temple with Karyn's binoculars.
Dorland had gone alone to the temple two hours ago. Through the binoculars Paul had watched him go inside, and as far as Paul could tell, he had been in there with the elders and deacons ever since. Paul stood outside the building in the falling light, listening to the rushing river and the sounds of countless insects in the woods all around.
'He must be making progress,' Erich Frakes said. 'They haven't dumped his body out the door yet.'
'I think he knows what he's doing,' Paul said. Strangely, he felt confident that he was right.
'I hope so,' Karyn said. She turned to look
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through the archway at the chauka. It was dark now; Elli had vanished shortly after Dorland returned, and nobody had reactivated the chauka to bring her back. The silver disk lay on the pedestal in front of the chauka. 'I wonder if we'll ever see Elli—I mean, really her, not just an image.'
'I don't think so,' Paul said.
Something in his voice made her turn back.
'Why not?'
'We've assumed that the chauka was a longrange communicator,' Paul said. 'Maybe even a transportation device. I don't think it's either of those.'
'Then what is it?' Frakes asked.
Paul looked out toward the temple. Had Dorland guessed the truth?
