It hurt Monty’s heart when he realized the girls were turning the pages of the coloring books to absorb the images and studying the colors of the crayons but didn’t understand how to use them. It worried Lorenzo that the girls went in and out of a catatonic state, their senses overloaded by the journey despite efforts to limit their visual input.
That had shown Monty and Lorenzo what caretakers would be facing. And it gave them some understanding of what Meg Corbyn had faced when she ran away from the compound—and what she still faced daily by living with the stimulation of a place like the Courtyard.
“A sealed ward in a hospital wouldn’t be much better than what they’ve known,” Lorenzo said bitterly.
“Do you think that’s what it will come to?”
“I don’t see much alternative, do you?”
“No, I don’t.” Monty studied Simon for a moment before adding, “But I think he does.”
When they reached the Lakeside train station, the Courtyard’s small bus was waiting for them. Monty called Captain Burke to let him know they were back.
He’d expected the bus to go to the Courtyard, where he and Lorenzo would have to decide what to do with the girls. But Blair Wolfgard left the train station and headed north on River Road.
“Mr. Wolfgard?” Monty said. “Where are we going?”
Simon, sitting up front with Blair, just looked at him for a long moment before turning away.
Uneasy, Monty sat back, not sure what he could do if the Wolf had stopped trusting him. The girls looked frozen in place. Even Jean, who had maintained some ability to function throughout the journey, looked as if she’d reached her limit of new experiences. And he didn’t think he and Lorenzo could stop whatever the Others decided to do.
When they reached the mainland half of Ferryman’s Landing, Monty suddenly realized what Simon intended. The barge waited for them, and they left for Great Island as soon as the bus was secured on deck.
They didn’t stop at the docks. They drove to a bed-and-breakfast and pulled into the lot.
Simon pointed to the five girls, then at the building. “Look at that place. Could you stay there for a while? This is outside, so you have to mind the adults looking after you or you could get hurt.”
After some hesitation, the girls moved to look out the windows where they could see the B and B. Monty watched them rub their arms the way Meg did when a potential prophecy prickled her skin. But after a minute, they looked at Simon and nodded.
“Jean?” Simon asked.
She wrapped her arms around herself, shook her head, and closed her eyes. “Too much,” she whispered.
Nodding as if that wasn’t a surprise, Simon herded the girls off the bus. They were met by Steve Ferryman, who introduced everyone to Margaret Seely and Lara Herrera, the owners of the B and B.
Lorenzo made one effort to maintain control, but a warning look from Steve Ferryman silenced him, and Monty was well aware of the Crows gathering in the trees around the B and B—and Blair Wolfgard standing at the bus’s open door, on guard. So it was only the two women and Simon Wolfgard who escorted the girls into the building.
Steve made a “follow me” motion at Monty and Lorenzo before walking to the other side of the parking lot.
“You have a problem with this?” Steve asked. “Because I can tell you, you won’t be taking those girls off the island. Not right now, anyway.”
“You’re not equipped to deal with cassandra sangue,” Lorenzo said.
Steve snorted. “Are you?”
“No, we’re not,” Monty said before Lorenzo could argue. “But I don’t think you realize how difficult this will be.”
“Namid’s creation, both wondrous and terrible,” Steve said softly. “You could say the Intuits were the original breeding stock that produced the blood prophets. And, no, we aren’t any better equipped than you to deal with them. If we were, we wouldn’t have lost a girl last year. But we’re all going to have to think hard and fast about what can be done.”
“I’m not easy about the girls being taken out of our hands,” Lorenzo said. He wagged a finger between himself and Monty. “We brought those five girls out of the compound. We had to leave dozens behind, dozens of girls who …” He shook his head. “We’ll find someplace for the girls.”
Steve gave them a strange look. “You don’t understand how the terra indigene work, do you? They’ve taken this out of your hands—and I’m not just talking about the girls you brought back to Lakeside. Now that they know what to look for, you can bet the Others are out there now, hunting for cassandra sangue in every human settlement.”
We showed the Others the likeliest places for the girls to be kept, Monty thought, feeling chilled by the amount of blood that was about to be shed. “All of those children, killed.”
Another strange look. “It’s possible that whoever runs the compounds will kill the girls rather than let someone else have them. But that’s not what you meant, is it?”
He hadn’t considered that. As a police officer, he should have considered it. “No, that’s not what I meant.”
Steve said nothing for a minute. “I expect a lot of people are going to die over the next few weeks because of this. And I have to figure that not all the girls will be able to survive when their lives are no longer so restricted. But I can tell you that Intuits have coexisted with the Others ever since humans set foot on this continent, and we have never known them to harm a child.”
Monty watched Simon walk out of the B and B alone. “So we let them go.”
“The Others aren’t going to let you keep the weapons, so, yes, you have to let the girls go.”
Jean kept her eyes closed, sufficiently overwhelmed by the quiet sounds of the Wolves and men returning to the bus. Engine turning over. Movement. Where were they going now? Could it matter? Did anyone else on this bus understand what was coming?
The terra indigene would move fast and strike hard—and Thaisia would never be the same. As for the cassandra sangue who would be caught in the whirling images of these fights …
Blood. Desperation. Terror. The flash of razors as a way to silence fear of the future, only to see the truth in a prophecy that comes moments too late.
Not for me to know, Jean thought. Not much of me left to use.
She had lived too long in that restricted life. She had yearned to be outside since the day she’d been taken from her parents, a little girl who had held on to memories as proof that there was something more than the cells and the lessons and the men and women who looked at all of them and saw nothing but the value of skin.
Now that was over. But outside was too big, too much. She’d sent Meg outside with nothing but her childhood memories as proof that the cassandra sangue could survive. And yet, Meg had survived and would make things better for all of them.
She must have dozed off, because when Simon Wolfgard said, “We’re here,” she opened her eyes and realized the bus had stopped moving.
She slowly made her way down the steps, assisted by Simon and Lieutenant Montgomery and followed by Dr. Lorenzo and Steve Ferryman. A man and woman waited for them in front of a comfortable-looking house. There were other buildings nearby—a barn and … chicken coop … and another, smaller building that looked similar to the house. Cottage? Guesthouse? She couldn’t recall an image that quite fit the look of the structure.
“This is James and Lorna Gardner,” Steve Ferryman said. “They’re Simple Life folks. That means they make use of some practical technology, but they prefer to keep their lives uncluttered.”