“It took me all afternoon to read this thing, but it really was a gold mine,” she said, holding aloft the diary.
“Maddie and Pedro got officially engaged about two weeks later, after something that I can only describe as indoctrination. Pedro was taken away and introduced to other members of the Order, and there was even a Sage who showed up to meet him — although again, to me it sounds more like he was being interviewed.
“He must have done a good job feigning ignorance, because Maddie had definitely told him about the Order. But I guess he made the grade. It sounds like Maddie’s parents also vouched for him. So, Pedro was brought into the Order, and their engagement became official.
“Maddie wrote something near the end of her diary that makes sense to me now. She wrote that they didn’t know it at the time, but the consequences would have been dire if Pedro was found unworthy, or if they had realized that he knew more about the Order than he let on. She wrote that Pedro might have even been killed.”
A couple of people shook their heads in disgust at this. But nobody doubted it.
“Anyway, I’ll skip ahead to the last few portions. There are some interesting events that she wrote about.” Tammy started to read Maddie’s entry in the diary:
Something weird is going on. A Captain showed up at the farm today, along with a group of his men. The first thing he did was to send out two squads, led by Swords, to “secure the area.” Mom tried to tell him that we didn’t need any securing but was quickly hushed up by Dad.
The Captain has taken over Mom and Dad’s bedroom, so Dad is crashing in Rick’s room and Mom is staying with me tonight. Their men are staying in the barn.
“And her next entry is even more concerning.”
Several more people showed up today. Mom told me that they were scientists, led by Sage Vicky Hohndahl. I guess she was some big-time government scientist.
This afternoon I ran into the Sage and her team of Adepts and Journeymen when I was about to go rake the leaves in the orchard. They were messing around with the trees. I could see them pounding what looked like small pipes into the tree stems with mallets. Sage Hohndahl came over to me as soon as she saw me. She was friendly but firm, asking me to leave the raking for another day. She even tried to block my view of what her Adepts and Journeymen were doing. I smiled at her and left the area.
But she doesn’t know this place — my place. So I snuck back later and saw what they were doing. I thought they were tapping the trees, but it turns out they were injecting something into them!
I needed to find out what was going on. That something serious was happening. I tried to talk to Mom and Dad, but Mom had no idea, and if Dad knew he wouldn’t tell me anyway. He was acting strange and said that he had to go meet somebody, so I surreptitiously followed him.
Dad met up with that Captain and Sage Hohndahl. I saw them going into the barn together. There were too many guards stationed around the barn, but they didn’t know about the spyhole.
Tammy broke up her narrative. “I read about that ‘spyhole’ in an earlier entry. It was when they were building the barn. She didn’t explain it very well as she was only ten, but it sounded like there was a utility trench leading into the barn on one end and out to the shed on the other end. She used to play with her little brother, and one would sit in the shed and the other would go to the barn, and they could speak to each other through the conduit.”
That said, Tammy turned back to the diary.
MADDIE SNUCK INTO THE shed, making sure nobody saw her. It took her a minute to find the end of that tubing and shake off the dust and dirt. Then another minute to build up the courage to put it to her ear. Maddie had visions of rodents or bugs crawling out as she put her ear to the conduit.
However, that was quickly forgotten as she heard the voices.
“How long before you know?” she heard her dad say.
“It should only take a couple of weeks at most. Hopefully coinciding with the apples ripening,” Sage Hohndahl replied.
“And the event? When will that happen?”
“You don’t need to know that — do you, Adept Jeffersons?” the Captain said. His question sounded more like a challenge.
“No... I suppose I don’t. But it does sound like it is imminent.”
“Correct. The Solution is imminent. And your apples will be the antidote,” the Sage said.
Solution? Antidote? What the heck is going on?
“We’re not entirely sure of the dosage required, so it will be important for you to make sure that you protect your harvest.”
“Yes, Sage.” Her dad sounded nervous.
“What is it, Adept Jeffersons?”
“Well... It’s just that... this is really happening! I guess I was never sure when Brenin spoke of his plans—”
The Captain finished the sentence for him: “If they would really happen.”
“Yeah. This—this is huge.”
She could just make out the sound of low laughter. “Huge... Yes. This is huge. This is the biggest event to ever occur in mankind’s history. The solution to all the world’s problems. Brenin was very clear in his vision for the Order, and you should never underestimate his ability and drive to get that vision realized,” the Captain said, his voice growing louder and more fervent with every word.
Maddie imagined that her dad looked downcast or ashamed at the rebuke. Brenin stood directly below Summuh and was the embodiment of his will on Earth. To question him bordered on the heretic. She should know.
“But don’t
