“Maddie’s parents celebrated when Brenin was named Sentinel of the Order. They had an actual party, with a feast and everything. Maddie claimed that this was a rare thing at the Jeffersons’s household.
“Brenin had arranged for all members of the Order to receive a present. The costs must have been astronomical. Maddie’s dad got an intricately carved wooden statue of a bear, its paw frozen in mid air as it swept a fish out of the river. Her mom received a beautiful quilted blanket with native designs. Maddie wrote that her brother got the biggest surprise as he opened the cylindrical package he had received. His eyes were wide as he drew out a sabre, complete with sheath. The sabre hilt had the Rosae Crucis symbol engraved in it. Maddie got a watch.”
“The freshly elected new leader’s first order of business seemed to be to surround himself with fanatics. He replaced a few people of rank. According to Maddie, the biggest move he made was to retire the elderly Suzanne Waters and name Kevin Wallace as the new Paladin, governing over North America.”
Tammy shook her head. “This is typical behaviour for a dictator. I did a study in college on the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany in the 1930s. This sounds remarkably similar.”
She turned her attention back to the book in her hand. However, she spoke without reading the diary, using her memory instead.
“According to Maddie, he replaced several others, including Sages, the faction leaders within the Order. Of course, it comes as no surprise that these newly elevated members were all strong supporters of Brenin. Maddie was also aware that anybody of significant rank who took issue with this practice was quickly replaced.”
“So, this Brenin guy pretty much ruled with an iron fist?” Jack asked.
“Yes. That’s exactly what it sounds like,” Tammy agreed before flipping ahead a few more pages. “There’s another piece in here ... Ah, there it is.
“Exactly a year after Brenin had risen to power, things really started to change. It was subtle at first, with minor changes to Order legislations.
“He was very intense about things like secrecy and security. The Order was to remain a secret society and any actions by members that breached the new security rules were severely reprimanded. He also started to push people to do more for the Order. People were asked to volunteer for Order initiatives, while they were actively discouraged to volunteer for the general public.
“Maddie’s parents had volunteered occasionally for one of the homeless shelters in the city, donating both their farm goods and their time. But from one day to the next that stopped. Her parents stonewalled her when she asked about it. They stated that they only had so much time and energy and felt that Order volunteer requests took priority over the rest.
“She really started to notice her family pulling away from general society. And it wasn’t just her parents. She knew several other families who belonged to the Order, and they exhibited the same behavior.
“According to Maddie, Brenin’s speeches also started changing. Whereas at first, he was tolerant of the world outside of the Order, now he started to criticize the actions of governments and corporations. He shared many hushed-up news articles with his following. Stories of corruption, extortion, larceny, and murder were common within the Order during those days. Brenin’s ire was more directed at the common people, though. They were sheep being led to the slaughter, in his opinion.
“Maddie wrote down the following quotes from Brenin: ‘They dig their own graves with spades of ignorance and materialism, like a bunch of spoiled children.’ This is what he said of the Western world. While those struggling in third-world nations were ‘weak-minded slaves, acceptant of their lots in life.’ Maddie wrote that she didn’t totally disagree with his statements, but that she found them harsh and threatening.”
Tammy looked up from the diary. “Maddie was a smart girl. Inquisitive.” She smiled rather ruefully. “I think that I would have liked her, had we met.”
Her smile faded, and she faced those around the table. “I’m just glad she wrote all this stuff down. I don’t think any of us had a clue that this Order, this Rosae Crucis, even existed, never mind what they are about.”
She waited for a moment for somebody to respond. When nobody did, she lifted the diary and continued her reading.
“Brenin encouraged the members of the Order to support each other and only use Order-approved products and services. Brenin suggested that this would build an independent society. He also mentioned that it would serve in the Order’s best interest to conserve its wealth, although he detested the idea of money. This sounded reasonable. But then Maddie started hearing rumors... Apparently when ‘encouragement’ to purchase Order-approved products failed, it turned into something more akin to ‘coercion’.
“Maddie’s scepticism grew, and she openly started to question some of Brenin’s announcements as well as his motives. Maddie’s father put an end to that. One evening after supper her father asked her to come out for a walk with him.”
Chapter 35
Maddie loved summer evenings on the farm. The days were hot, but usually in the evenings a cool wind would sweep through the area. It was often accompanied by showers. That made for perfect conditions, as far as Maddie was concerned. There had been a brief shower at supper time this evening, so Maddie didn’t need any convincing to go for a walk with her dad.
They stepped out the front door and down the steps. The hard-packed roadway was slightly muddy, and they quickly hopped up onto the surer footing the grass offered.
“Damn,” her dad said.
He stopped and tried to wipe the mud off his shoes. Maddie did likewise,
