Chapter 3
The hair on the back of Q’s neck stood on end. “Kill you?”
She nodded. “No one has ever escaped the dirt. I don’t know why I did it, but I couldn’t stay put. Maybe I’m possessed by demons.”
“I don’t know about demon possession, but I think you need help. Why would anyone want to kill you?”
She glanced over her shoulder again. “They put me in the dirt this morning at sunrise. I waited until I knew they were gone and climbed out. So I have tomorrow and then the next day. But then they’ll find that I left. I can’t stay here. It’s too close.”
“We could call the police.”
She shook her head violently. “No. Never the police.” She backed away and looked like she was about to run. If she took off, he could lose her, and she wouldn’t last long out here without supplies.
“Okay, no police. How about a hotel? You could take a shower, get clean, and we can eat some real food.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t live here?”
He shook his head. “No. I live close to San Diego.”
“I don’t know what that is. I just can’t be close to here. They’ll find me, and they will kill me. I have to go.”
She started to walk off, and he moved to block her. He held up his hands, trying to placate her. Spooking her wasn’t what he wanted to do, but he also didn’t want her to walk off and get lost.
“Listen, let me pack up my equipment, and we’ll find a hotel. You can get clean, and then we can find a place for you to go.”
She narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. “You really don’t live here?”
“No, I really don’t. My name is Quentin, but my friends call me Q. What’s your name?”
She waited a few seconds before replying. “They call me Leonard’s third because I’m his third daughter. My mother used to call me Flora.”
He bristled at her name. He was called Q because of his work with explosives, and his name started with that letter. People thought it was a funny reference to the movies, not because they wanted to dehumanize him.
“Flora, that’s a nice name. I like it.”
“Thank you.”
“Let me get you a shirt. It should cover you up. My sweats will be too big, but maybe a pair of shorts will fit well enough until we stop by a store and get you some clothes.”
He grabbed his rucksack and pulled out a blue T-shirt that fit him well. She pulled it on and it fell to her mid-thigh. It made her look very young. His stomach clenched.
“How old are you?”
“My twenty-one celebration is tomorrow so I’ve been on earth twenty-one years. That’s why they buried me.”
He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. There was something very wrong, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it. “I don’t understand why they would do that.”
“The three-day ceremony is used to purify women before marriage. They bury us to make us clean. If we live, we’re clean, but if we die, we’re demons. I’ve also been buried overnight as a punishment because I do bad things.”
He shook his head, wondering what the hell type of family she lived with.
He’d never heard anything so disturbing as what she was saying.
“That’s crazy. I’m sorry, but that is one hundred percent wrong.
You did the best thing by running.” He started grabbing his things and packing them away.
He had planned to stay until he had to go home, but if what she said was close to true, the men hunting her would probably try to kill him, too.
“Can I help?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’ve got it. You rest. Drink some more water and eat anything you like.”
After he had most of his stuff put away, she followed him over to his truck. “Will we be far enough away they can’t find me?”
He nodded. “We can drive a few hours. That will put distance between us.” He turned to take the tent pack to the truck but then spun back to her. “Do you know which direction you came from? Just so I know we aren’t traveling close to them.”
“I came from the northeast.”
“And you’re sure of that?”
“Yes. We learn how to navigate using the sun’s position from an early age. I know directions and which way I traveled.”
“Okay, we’re headed a little south and to the west. We’ll stop in a town, and you can get cleaned up. Then we’ll get you some clothes.”
Flora couldn’t believe someone from the outside world wanted to help her. She’d heard stories of people from her community running into outsiders and how they were abused and killed. Fear should have kept her away from Q, but he seemed nicer than anyone she knew from the community.
Because she couldn’t stay still, she helped him load the last of his bags into the back of his truck.
A part of her was nervous about going with him.
He could turn on her, and she would end up being sacrificed.
But living with a demon seemed preferable to staying here.
Besides, there was something in his eyes that seemed kind.
Also, the way he talked to her made her feel warm, like talking to her mother had made her feel.
Maybe this was a sign she could trust him.
In their community, only the men were allowed to drive. She’d ridden in the back of a truck before and once inside a car when she was younger. She started to climb into the back of his truck with his packs when he stopped her.
“You ride inside the cab.”
She put her feet on the ground, staring at the spot of dirt between them. “Inside?” That spot was relegated to other men or pregnant women. She knew outsiders were different, but she didn’t know how different.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Get in. It’s getting dark, and I want to put some distance between us and this place. You said we probably have thirty-six hours, maybe forty-eight hours, before they start looking, but I don’t want them to come earlier.”
She nodded and went around to the passenger side of the car.
There were so many rules they lived by, so many laws she had to obey, that she wasn’t sure how to act around this man.
He was allowing her to ride in the front of the truck, and she wasn’t even pregnant.
Maybe she should tell him. She stopped walking and turned to him.
“I’m not pregnant.”
Her words must have confused him because he frowned. “Honestly, that’s not really my business, but I didn’t think you were.”
“But why are you letting me ride in the front?”
His lips thinned, and she could tell he was angry. She stepped back, not wanting to feel his fists. He didn’t punch her. Instead, he spoke softly.
“You’re a human being, and you deserve respect. I wouldn’t think of making you ride in the back. Please get in and get comfortable. I promise not to hurt you. We’ll figure out what to do tomorrow after you’ve cleaned up and slept some.
Flora did as he asked, sitting quietly in the passenger seat as he drove. She wasn’t sure what was in store for her, but things were changing. Maybe she was making the biggest mistake of her life, or maybe she could finally start living.