The Hallowed Ones

“Liewe, they could be wolves. Or coyotes.” She was trying to be reassuring, but I could see the fear igniting in her gray eyes.

I shook my head. “No. Not like this. This is a . . . a savaging. No animal can break spines and ribs.”

“They’re here,” Ginger whispered. “The vampires.”

My mother’s head snapped around to Ginger. “What are you talking about?” she demanded. Her grip tightened on my elbows, and I winced.

Ginger’s breath was shallow over her words. “I got through to Dan on my cell phone. The contagion from Outside . . . it turns people mad. They are calling them vampires.”

“I thought your cell phone was dead,” a male voice said.

My gaze flashed beyond the clothesline. Elijah stood there, favoring his wounded ankle. He’d been listening to us behind the hanging sheets.

“What are you doing here?” I snapped.

“Katie. Mind your manners,” my mother said.

I glared at Elijah. “I would have expected that you’d found something else to do other than hang around here. Isn’t there anything going on at Ruth’s house?”

“Katie.”

Elijah looked hard at me, then at Ginger. “I thought your cell phone was dead,” he said again.

Ginger lifted her chin. “I found a charger in the bottom of my car as I was cleaning it out.”

“When were you going to say something about this?”

I hated his imperious air. I shrugged out of my mother’s grip. “I don’t think she owes you an explanation.”

Elijah folded his arms across his chest. “She does when she’s enjoying our hospitality.”

“She’s not enjoying your hospitality.” I jammed my finger in his chest. “She’s enjoying my family’s.”

“Katie.” My mother’s hand was on my shoulder, hauling me back.

“She’s from Outside,” he said, looking past me at Ginger. “Who’s to say that she didn’t bring something in?”

I reached back and slapped him.

It stunned him, and it stunned me. I’d never struck anyone in my life, and the roar of blood in my ears made me powerful. I could see the red mark spreading on his face where my hand made contact. My palm stung.

Elijah stared at me, incredulous.

“Ja, she’s been Outside,” I snarled at him. “So were you. And me. And your father.”

My mother grabbed my wrist so hard I could feel the bones crackle. She began uttering an apology to Elijah.

“You had better get control of her,” Elijah said, rubbing his cheek.

I laughed at him. “You certainly won’t ever have control of me. Go to that . . . mouse . . . who will allow you to tell her what to think. Now leave!”

Elijah lowered his hat over his eyes and moved away on his crutches. My mother led me up the back steps by my wrist into the kitchen. Her eyes were storm gray in anger.

“What is wrong with you?” she cried.

“What was he doing here?” I gestured through the open door with my chin.

“He came to check on you.”

“He doesn’t want me. He wants Ruth,” I snapped. “He needs to leave me alone.” I turned away.

My mother grabbed my chin, forced me to look at her. “He doesn’t know what he wants. And neither do you.”

“I—”

“Enough!” Her voice crackled like lightning.

I lapsed into silence.

I was dimly aware of a shadow in the doorway. Ginger.

My mother glared at her. “Come in. Sit down. Both of you.”

Ginger obediently sat down at the table. My mother pushed me down in a chair.

Through gritted teeth, she said: “You two will stay here while I summon the Elders. They will sort out what to do with you.”

“I’m sorry. I just . . . I didn’t know how to say it.” Ginger’s voice was small.

“So you kept it from us?”

Ginger hung her head. “I wanted Dan to be wrong. I thought . . . I thought that he had lost it. Cracked under the pressure.” She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes.

My eyes widened. I had never seen an adult lie before, and I was fascinated to see how it was done.

Ginger went on: “I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe that such a terrible thing could happen to my children.” A sob escaped her lips. “My children.”

Something in my mother’s gaze softened. She put her hand on Ginger’s shoulder. “I have been praying for your family. And I will continue to do so.”

“Thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done.” Ginger put a shaking hand on my mother’s. “I mean no disrespect.”

My mother bent to kiss Ginger on the prayer bonnet she wore askew on her blond hair. “I know.”

She went outside. Through the kitchen window, I saw her step up into Star’s saddle. My mother and the horse headed north, to the next cluster of houses.

I stared at Ginger, incredulous. She took off her glasses and wiped them on her apron.

She looked at me through reddened eyes. “Now is the time that you and I have to get our stories straight. Or we’ll both be dead.”

“I think . . .” I blew out my breath. “I think we’re dead already.”

She leaned across the table and poked me in the sternum, blue eyes blazing. “Don’t you dare say that. I wouldn’t want any of my children to give up, and I won’t let you do it, either.”

I stared down at the table. There seemed precious little to live for.

“Hey.” She pressed her hand to my face. “We are going to survive this. But you’ve got to fight for it.”

Numbly, I nodded.

“Okay. We need to work out a timeline . . .”

And Ginger began to teach me how to lie.

* * *

The Elders and a handful of other men of the community descended upon our house. My father came with them. His face was tight and creased.

He grasped my hand. “Lead them to what you found.”

I walked before the phalanx of men. I could feel their stares boring into my back. I forced my eyes forward, put one foot in front of the other, until we reached the field. I stopped at the edge of the fence, went no farther.

The men filed past me. The Elders surrounded the fallen cattle, whispering among themselves. After some time they finally nodded at one another, then streamed out.

The Bishop said to my father and the other laymen: “Burn them.”

They walked back toward the house. The Hexenmeister remained behind, leaning on his cane.

My father asked: “What shall I do with the rest of the cows?”

Herr Stoltz frowned. “Put them in a barn. A barn with a Hex sign on the door.”

“What did this?” my father asked.

The Hexenmeister gazed back at the dead cows with rheumy eyes. The other men were cautiously approaching the bodies with wood.

The old man looked back at me. “The Darkness. The Darkness took them.”

“I don’t understand.” My father looked confused.

The Hexenmeister’s face crumpled in heavy sadness. “You will.”

He limped on after the others.