“Amen,” she said, hoping he would take the hint and wrap things up, but Luke dropped her hands only to pull her in for a prolonged hug and take up the song again in her ear. She remained a captive of his fervent embrace for an eternity, until the song finally faded and the crowd reorganized into one giant circle. Ruth, the other counselors, and most of the campers were crying as Zach went around and raised the shades on the tall windows. It was another sunny day, the patches of earth in the clearing outside growing larger as the snow retreated. Again, as before, Gabi felt desperate to get home and get to work. A quick look at Marnie proved that she felt the same, but Ruth’s closing sermon kept them all standing long after the campers began to shift on their aching bare feet.
“For the first year ever,” Ruth finally concluded, “every single camper has received their call. That is amazing, you guys. You will be an inspiration for those who follow in your footsteps, and I am honored to have been a part of it.”
“Sounds like an acceptance speech,” Marnie whispered to Gabi, but her tone was light. They had done it. Their only obstacle to taking the Witness exam was behind them. Better still, the buffet the lodge staff was busy setting up along the walls was sure to be untainted. There was no reason to dope the campers any longer, the aim of Consecration Camp having been achieved in spades. Gabi, Marnie, and Jordan planned to stash as many leftovers in their bags to take home as possible. They were going to need all the energy they could get over the next ten days if they had any hope of passing the toughest test of their lives.
Chapter THIRTEEN
THE WITNESS test was all anyone could talk about in Alder. Special study groups were formed and private tutors hired by those hopefuls whose families could afford them. The most fortunate were those whose parents were former Witnesses or, even better, Apostles. There were certain things about the exams that only veterans knew. That information was meant to be confidential, but the test was so competitive that parents couldn’t help but give their children an edge even if it meant bending the rules.
In terms of physical fitness, Mathew was already where he needed to be, but he agreed to continue training with Gabi since its positive effects were so apparent. In addition to conditioning and strengthening, Mathew taught her advanced blocks, holds, and takedowns, while she drilled him in Witness theory. Passages of doctrine for all situations that might arise in the field had to be at one’s fingertips. Precedent for managing these situations must be cited, as well as a ready grasp of cross-cultural communication, conflict management, and mediation skills. Marnie, like Mathew, was already primed for the physical test. Gabi had no idea what her friend’s regimen was, or how she pulled it off living in the cramped quarters of the group home with the other unfostered orphans, but it worked. Marnie was quick, agile, and had a special knack for stealth. She was an expert at catching Gabi unawares, at least when they were outside, careful to always stay downwind and quiet as falling snow. The written portion of the test was another matter.
During their study sessions, conducted in secret in Gabi’s bedroom after school, Marnie could only last a quarter of an hour before getting so enraged by the material that she would need to scream into a pillow and bang out some one-armed push-ups before she was calm enough to continue. The rote memorization of conversion policies proved the worst trigger.
“I don’t want this crap in my head,” Marnie barked as she punched Gabi’s mattress with her fist. “What if it worms in there and brainwashes me until I’m just another Unitas zombie?” Marnie said stuff like that all the time, about how anyone who believed the doctrine and lived according to its principles was brainwashed, and it put Gabi on edge. Unitas was all she knew, and there was nothing wrong with trying to create a society founded on the ideals of peace, unity, and protection. It was the execution that was flawed, but Gabi knew enough of Marnie’s story by now to understand the source of her anger.
Marnie’s family had been caught up in the violence that flared during Willow’s last suspension from the fellowship, before Burton Ames had gone in with a negotiation team and resolved the situation. Marnie was quick to clarify that the term negotiation had included torture, starvation, and, in the case of her missionary parents, death. Though they’d been enthusiastic supporters of Unitas principles, Marnie’s parents refused to promote forced conversion of the Tribes. In their view being missionaries meant their faith was what motivated them to help others in whatever way they could, and that “help” did not include forcing their beliefs on others. Due to their influence in the community, the council appointed them comanagers of the food distribution center in Willow. Marnie’s parents were expected to require all residents to present certificates of conversion each time they received rations, but they rejected the practice, both publicly and privately.
Willow was one of the last tracts of arable land in Unitas, being close to the shrunken Mississippi River and distant from any of the big industrial meltdowns. This should have made it among the most stable and prosperous of the branches, but most of the food was either exported to Alder and Birch, or sent to a central processing plant for storage
