“Yes, Sage Hohndahl.”
“And you are not alone. We have operations just like yours in many places. We planned and prepared for this event for years, Adept Jeffersons. When the time comes, several weeks from now, you need to do your part. There are people in the Order who will depend on you, as we do.”
“Of course, Sage Hohndahl. Captain O’Connor. My family is prepared to do our duty for the Order.”
“We know that. We never questioned your loyalty. You have always been supportive of the Order, both in deeds and in words, Adept Jeffersons. We do not expect that to change now that the end game has started.”
Maddie could feel the hidden threat in that statement and couldn’t prevent herself from shuddering.
The conversation became hard to follow after that, as the people she was spying on moved to another area of the barn. Maddie sat in the shed, trying to make sense of it all.
What was this “Solution” they talked about?
Her mind drifted to the earlier discovery she had made regarding the apple trees. Rosae Crucis scientists were injecting something into the trees, which would ultimately result in a cure or antidote in the fruit these trees bore.
If the apples are the antidote, then the solution must be an illness or poison...
Maddie was not privy to Brenin’s plan, but his speeches and communiques often outlined the injustices that mankind had wrought upon itself and the Earth. He deplored the current societal structure, which was governed by greed and fear.
Just like that, the realization struck Maddie.
They are going to kill them. All the people in power... Maybe even all the people!
Maddie started breathing rapidly as she felt panic rise within her. She left the shed in a rush, leaving the door open behind her. Then she hesitated, not really knowing where to go or what to do.
My room. I need to tell Pedro.
At that realization, she rushed around the side of the house.
And ran headlong into a soldier as she rounded the corner. Maddie’s head was down, and she did not see the man. She collided hard with him and was propelled backward, falling hard on her butt.
“Yeez! Watch where you’re going,” The man snarled. Then, noticing that it was Maddie, he added, “Uh. Sorry, miss. Are you OK?” Maddie looked up to find a burly man standing over her with his hand extended.
She heard a noise to her right and saw her dad exit the barn, accompanied by Sage Hohndahl and Captain O’Connor. They immediately noticed Maddie.
Oh, no! Maddie felt herself starting to panic.
“Miss?” The soldier said, still standing over her with his hand outstretched.
Maddie reached up and allowed the man to pull her. By the time she was on her feet, she had changed her expression.
“Thank you, sir,” she said with a pleasant smile. “Sorry about that. I was in a bit of a rush and not paying attention.”
“It’s nothing, miss. I apologize if I upset you.”
Maddie had a closer look at the man. He was a burly man with a full beard. He wasn’t really dressed like a soldier. More like a security guard. His expression was kind, though.
She smiled at the man once more. “No harm.” She felt her dad approaching and decided to act quickly. “I’d better be on my way. Thank you.” She walked towards the front door of her house. It took Maddie all her self-control not to run in.
She heard her dad call her name but ignored it, pretending not to hear him. She opened the door, quickly slipped through, and shut it behind her. She wanted to avoid her dad at all costs, knowing that she would not be able to deceive or fool him.
She rushed through the room, forgetting to take off her shoes, and rushed to the wash closet attached to the utility room.
She had just closed the door when she heard the front door open.
“Maddie?” her dad called. “Maddie!” he repeated, slightly more forcefully.
Oh shit, he knows! What do I do?
“In here, Dad!” she replied, well aware of the shrill sound of anxiety in her voice.
She heard her dad approach. He stepped into the utility room. “Maddie?” he said again, uncertainty creeping into his voice.
Maddie forced her tone into a calmness she did not feel. “I’m in the washroom, Dad.”
He did not approach any further. “Are you all right? What was that about?”
This was the question Maddie feared. What was that about?
Think, Maddie!
She struggled to come up with a believable answer.
“Maddie?”
“It’s ... It’s my time of the month, Dad,” she blurted out, embarrassed at lying to her father about it. The embarrassment must have sounded convincing enough, though.
“Oh!” She heard him take a quick step backward. Her dad was never comfortable with his daughter having become a woman. “OK. Just, um... Just be careful, OK? We have some especially important guests. And they are, uh, a little on edge. Yeah.”
She could hear the satisfaction in his voice when he said, “Yeah.” It was at that moment that Maddie realized she wasn’t the only one trying to keep the truth from her family.
Her dad quickly left after that. Maddie got out of the bathroom and snuck up to her room. She closed and locked the door behind her with a big sigh, grateful for her small sanctuary.
She reached for the phone. It was a shared landline, with phones in the kitchen as well as in her parents’ and her brother’s room. Somebody could easily listen in on her conversation. She bit her lip as she struggled with the decision. Maddie made up her mind, dialed the number and waited for an answer.
“Hey, it’s me,” she said. “Can you come over, please? I need to see you.”
“Hi, mi dicha... Of course. I will come right over.”
“Be
