“Somebody looks happy,” her dad exclaimed. Maddie realized that she had a big smile on her face.
“Yeah. I love it out here.”
“Oh, you don’t need to tell me that. I know how much you love it out here. Especially when it rains.” He chuckled and took Maddie’s hand in his as they walked across the grass and towards the tree line. “I remember having to save your bacon on several occasions, young lady. When you were little... Heh!”
He laughed. It was good to hear him laugh. Maddie couldn’t help but join him.
“Your mother, oh how she hated it,” he went on. “Every time we had one of these summer showers, you’d be sprinting out the door! I remember coming out onto the deck and watching you splash and roll around in the mud — man, you’d be covered from head to toe in mud sometimes. I don’t know how you did it.” He smiled at the memory.
They passed the threshold into the orchard. The smell of fruit hung heavy in the air. Again, they inhaled the scent deeply.
Maddie’s father remembered why he had asked Maddie to come outside with him, and his expression turned earnest. “Maddie, we’ve got to talk.”
She sensed the change in mood and the smile slipped from her face. “OK. What is it, Dad?” She tried to sound innocent, but deep down she knew what was coming. And she was right.
That walk turned into an hour-long lecture on Rosae Crucis beliefs and the expected behavior of its members. He was very adamant about Maddie protecting the secrecy of the Order, using catchphrases like “keeping a low profile” and “silence is golden.”
Maddie turned to her dad with a mischievous grin, noticing the last rays of sunlight reflecting off the high windows of their house behind him.
“Hey, Dad, you forgot one: ‘Loose lips sink ships.’” She added a tiny wink for effect.
Her dad’s response was anything but what she expected, though. His usually jovial face dropped into a scowl. “Dammit, girl!” he said, grabbing her upper arms in a forceful grip. “Would you just listen to what I am saying?”
Maddie grew frightened of her father, possibly for the first time in her life. She looked at him with wide eyes, too stunned to say anything.
“This is serious, Maddie,” he said as the anger slowly left him.
“You’re hurting me, Daddy!” Maddie’s eyes glistened.
Her dad let go of her and took a step back, raising his hand to his mouth, shocked by his own response.
Maddie quickly turned, leaving him standing in the fading light. She heard her dad call out, “Sorry...” behind her. He sounded stricken. Choked up. She let the words fall into the gap between them as she continued towards the house.
IT WASN’T UNTIL A FEW days later that she realized he was trying to protect her. On that day, a rather non-descript man arrived at the farm and asked to see her father. They went off to meet, and Maddie could tell that something was wrong when she caught the look that her dad exchanged with her mom. Maddie got suspicious when her mom tracked her down fifteen minutes later, to tell her that she was to join the meeting. She got suspicious, curious, and frightened all at once.
Filled with trepidation, she followed her mom back into the house and made her way to her dad’s small office. She hesitated at the door for a moment, her hand raised to knock on the portal.
What is this all about?
Only one way to find out. She answered herself and knocked on the door.
“Enter.” The command was not uttered in her father’s voice.
She saw the stranger sitting behind her dad’s desk as she entered the office. One look at her dad told her that this was serious.
“Ah, Madeleine Jeffersons.” The man said. “Please. Sit.” He indicated the chair next to her father. Maddie quickly sat down, only sparing a brief glance towards her dad. He looked nervous.
Maddie sat with her hands in her lap and her eyes upon the desktop in front of her. After a brief pause, the man spoke once more.
“Tell me, Madeleine, do you know who I am?”
Maddie raised her eyes to the stranger. He was of diminutive build, with circular glasses held up by a sharp, beaklike nose. His short, dark hair was receding up his scalp. His eyes beheld her with an authoritative and inquisitive look. The corner of his mouth was raised ever so slightly in an amused expression. Like he was enjoying this. The image that came to Maddie’s mind was that of a rodent.
A rat.
She also knew that she had to be careful around this particular rat.
“No, sir. I do not know who you are.”
The corners of his mouth rose some more. Just enough to show the glint of very white teeth.
“Good. You should not know who I am. Otherwise I wouldn’t be particularly good at what I do.”
Maddie saw the look of superiority cross the man’s face.
“I know you are from the Order,” Maddie blurted out. The man’s smile dropped instantly. “And I would hazard a guess that you are a Sage ... No, not a Sage.” She corrected as she saw the emotions play across the man’s face. “An Adept. Working for a Sage.”
She nodded as she saw the anger rise in the man across the desk.
“But you’re not an Adept of Agriculture. Nor Governance. Tell me, sir: Are you perhaps an Adept of Intelligence?” She asked the last as sweetly and innocently as she could.
The man’s jaw worked rapidly as he attempted to control his anger. It made Maddie smile all the more sweetly at him.
Think you can come in here and intimidate us? Think again, bub.
