“She wrote that the Order decrees that there are a few mighty persons who essentially run the world. The Rosae Crucis believe that corporations are evil, with the intention of enslaving mankind. They believed that this was already underway, as the majority of people live in indebtedness, poverty, and famine. Maddie also wrote that religion and the media are complicit in this scheme, by misguiding and conditioning the masses into thralls.”
Several people around the table reacted in shock at these things. John just shook his head.
“I know.” Tammy said. “Anyway, there is a lot more in here.” She held up the book, before placing it on the table once more. “But I think it’s better if I first tell you more about what I learned about Maddie and this farm.
“The farm expanded to also include vegetables, which coincided with them receiving shipments of ‘Order-approved’ seed for planting. Maddie wondered if the seed was different, and when she asked about it, she was told that the seed was fully organic and strictly unmodified. They sold most of their production through farmers’ markets, but Maddie was aware that they sent shipments to other locations as well. Maddie suspected they were supplying other groups of Rosae Crucis with their produce and apples.
“But I want to get back to Maddie’s story. Because a few years ago she met Pedro.
“As I mentioned, the Jeffersons sold a lot of their goods at the farmers’ market. That is also where she met her fiancé.”
Tammy again picked up the diary. She flipped to the next portion. Before starting to read, she looked up once more. Her piecing blue eyes held her audience spellbound.
“Pedro was an artisan. His speciality was cider, and he was a regular customer of the Jeffersons. It was only after a couple of years that it became apparent to Maddie and her parents that he had another agenda. Maddie was nineteen years old.”
Chapter 34
The Willemtown farmers’ market tended to be held in the central park of the small town when it was nice out. On this particular spring day, it was raining, so the stalls were set up in the confines of the legion building.
Maddie actually preferred these times. People seemed more inclined to interact when they were squeezed into the cozy building. Almost as if proximity to others triggered more social behavior.
Maddie was musing about it as she watched farmers and artisans mix with town folk and customers like this was some large party rather than a business event. The noise everybody generated produced a steady drone, interspaced with the odd guffaw here and there. If she closed her eyes, she could almost feel the sound.
“Hey, Maddie, what ’cha doing?”
The question startled Maddie and she jerked into the chair behind her. A smiling Pedro stood on the other side of the stall table.
“Oh, hey, girl! I didn’t mean to surprise you.” The smile never left his face.
Maddie felt a moment of embarrassment, but quickly recovered.
“Pedro Aragonez! You shouldn’t be sneaking up on people,” she said with false indignation. She couldn’t keep a smile from creeping into her face.
“Aw, I’m sorry, Miss Maddie,” Pedro replied with equally false modesty. “It’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you, too.” Maddie felt a rush as color rose to her cheeks. “How is the cider coming?” she asked, quickly changing the subject.
He lifted his hand and the bottle that he was carrying by the neck. “I came over to let you have a taste for yourself.”
“Mmmm!” Maddie’s eyes lit up. “Did you bring cups?”
Pedro smiled again. “Well, I did. But if you prefer, we can swig straight from the bottle like a couple of sailors.”
Maddie laughed. She always felt embarrassed at her laughter, as it was deeper than a lady’s should be, in her opinion. Pedro seemed to like it, though, as he perked up.
“OK, let’s go with the cups, then,” he said when she had stopped laughing, which almost set her off again.
He busied himself opening the bottle while Maddie helped a customer.
“I see you’ve been baking apple pies again,” he said when she returned, motioning at the customer walking away.
“Yep!” She swiveled away from him for a second before turning around with one in her hands. “And we’ve giving out samples too!”
Now it was Pedro’s turn to laugh.
She was cutting a couple of slices when her mom returned to the booth, laden with purchases from colleague farmers. The Jeffersons didn’t make a lot of money at these farmers’ markets, but they sure traded a lot.
“Oh, hello, Pedro! How is the cider coming along?” Mrs. Jeffersons said as the put her bags down.
“Heh. Like mother, like daughter.” The twinkle in his eyes was enough to make both women grin back at him.
“Hey, Mom, do you think you could watch the stall for a bit?” Maddie asked. She was already half-way out of the booth before her mother could reply.
TAMMY LOOKED UP FROM the diary.
“That was the day that Pedro finally built up enough courage to ask Maddie out,” she said. “Their romance developed quickly after that. She wrote a lot about it.” Tammy smiled. “A lot!
“She wrote that once they got serious, Maddie’s parents started to ‘interview’ Pedro. But she later realized that this wasn’t just the run-of-the-mill parents interviewing a potential suitor — this was interviewing to determine if Pedro would fit with the Order.
“I guess he passed the test because she was never forbidden from seeing Pedro. It was Maddie who had started to change her mind by that point.”
Tammy flipped backwards through the diary for a few moments, until she found the page she had marked.
“It’s about this new leader who got voted in. His name was Brenin. Maddie wrote that Brenin changed everything.” she read the excerpt.
“Brenin built himself a strong following. He had an undeniable charisma, and his strength and conviction
