Tammy nodded at Michelle and Abi in turn.
“What I can tell you, is that she was scared. And paranoid. Everything that she and Pedro did over the next few weeks reads more like a war-time espionage novel than a diary. Maddie wrote an interesting passage in here.”
Tammy thumbed through the diary until she found the right page.
Chapter 38
Maddie
October 8, 7:45 AM.
It was a dreary morning. The clouds hung low in the sky and threatened to dump their contents on the world around Maddie. It wasn’t cold enough for snow, but the air made her shiver, nevertheless.
I guess it’s an indoor-market day today.
Maddie loaded up the pickup truck. The engine was already running, and Maddie looked forward to jumping into the cab. It would be nice and warm by now.
She would be heading alone to the market. Apparently, her mom and brother were going somewhere else with her dad. That wasn’t out of the ordinary, as Maddie had gone to the farmers’ market on her own plenty of times.
As she loaded up a few last things, Maddie started planning her day. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed her father calling her name.
“Hold on, Maddie!” He approached with two more sacks of apples. Curious, Maddie waited for him to get to the truck.
“What is it, Dad? I’ve already got some apples loaded.”
He nodded at her. “Yes. I know. But you took the wrong ones. I need you to take these, instead.” He held up the two sacks in his hands. The sacks were identical to the ones she had just loaded.
Maddie was confused. “What’s wrong with the ones I’ve got?”
“Oh, nothing, dear. It’s just that those apples are meant for the ... uh...” He trailed off, uncertain how to continue.
“Meant for what, Dad? Can’t you tell me?” Maddie shot an equally innocent and hurt look up at him.
He hesitated for a moment. “All right. Maddie, those apples are supposed to be sent to one of our satellite communities.”
“Oh. OK.” She nodded at her dad and let him switch the bags.
“Off with you then!” he said over his shoulder as he walked towards the garage end of the barn. She watched as he placed the sacks against the wall. He entered the garage through the side door and shut it behind him.
Maddie knew that it was now or never. She quickly snatched a bag of apples off the truck and sprinted to the garage, swapping it back for one of the originals and running back to the truck. She had just put the bag down when she heard the large garage door start to lift.
There was no time to lose, so she jumped in her truck and drove down the driveway and out of sight, just as the garage door opened to eye level. Maddie looked through her rear-view mirror anxiously as she pulled out of the driveway and onto the road.
He didn’t see me. Good. She caught sight of her own face in the mirror. The look in her eyes wasn’t proud.
You’ve just deceived your own father! Her eyes shifted to the load in the bed of the truck. The sack of apples sat prominently on top of the rest of the produce.
Humility turned into determination. The truck responded by roaring down the road and speeding towards her goal, as her foot pressed on the gas pedal.
TAMMY LOOKED OVER AT Abi, then at Michelle.
Abi seemed thoughtful and slightly embarrassed; Michelle proud.
Michelle caught Tammy’s stare and said, “The girl was brave. She had literally everybody against her and she still managed to do things like that.”
Tammy caught Abi frowning in defiance. The young soldier was clearly not convinced yet.
“That wasn’t all.” Tammy said as she lifted the diary, putting it on the table before her.
“I’ll just summarize what happened next. Pedro and Maddie were creating their gift baskets when something ominous happened. Her father got a phone call one evening. He hardly said a word, but Maddie watched him grow pale with shock. He couldn’t help saying ‘So this is real. Now it’s real.’ After he hung up the phone, he hugged his wife, then his befuddled kids. Maddie asked him what was wrong, to which he responded with the cryptic words ‘It has started.’
“Of course, her dad didn’t realize it, but Maddie knew exactly what he meant by that. She snuck out that very evening to meet Pedro and tell him the news. The two of them produced as many baskets as they could, and Maddie started delivering them.
“Those last few weeks were tough. Maddie knew that their time was running out, so they took bigger risks. There were times when she and Pedro were almost caught and had to come up with extravagant lies to get out of trouble.
“It got so bad that members of the Order even showed up on Pedro’s doorstep one day. Maddie didn’t write a lot about it, but he was definitely questioned, and his place was searched.
“Right near the end, Pedro called Maddie. He told her he had to do something, but wouldn’t tell her what it was, or where he was going. Maddie was suspicious, as she noted in her diary. She was concerned for Pedro’s wellbeing.” Tammy looked around the table, Maddie’s concern mirrored in her own expression.
Tammy lifted the diary as and thumbed through it again. Then she caught herself and looked up at her audience. The last of the fruit sat forgotten in front of them, and the sun had gone down outside.
“Sorry. I kind of get into this role...” She put the diary back down and again looked at Michelle and Abi in turn. “I have no doubt that they risked their lives. Could they have done things differently? Sure. Did they do the right things? I don’t know.” Her expression became melancholy. “We have all lost people that we care about. Colleagues, friends... family. But surely more people would have died if they had done nothing. Surely we
