CHAPTER ONE #3
Asher speaks up from behind me. “I’m sure Mom will dote on you four.
As soon as we get back in the range of cell service, the two of you who have family looking for you can use our cell phones to call them.
” I help Christy into the truck and hop in next to her, needing to stay close.
Everyone gets loaded into the trucks to head down the mountain.
Mary is in the truck next to Christy, and I can feel the tension radiating from both of them.
Rory’s driving, and Jon is in the passenger seat.
I look over at Christy. “You’re safe now.
They ain’t gonna get you and drag you back.
” She bites her lip for a second before speaking.
“I know you think so, but this is the sixth time I’ve tried to escape and…
” Mary interrupts Christy. “And we’re used to the other shoe dropping and sending us back to an even worse situation than we just left.
It’s not that we don’t want to believe you, but in our experience, a man’s word is as good as a glass of spoiled milk.
You’ll have to forgive us if we aren’t so quick to celebrate. ”
Jon asks a good question. “Have you ever been down the mountain? I mean, even to the store or anything?”
They both nod. Mary speaks first. “Last time was probably a couple of years ago. I went to the store with a couple of the wives and one of Joseph’s guys.
Just to the grocery store in town. We weren’t allowed to go anywhere else.
” Jon looks at Christy, who’s sitting in the middle.
The urge to pull her closer to me is seriously strong.
“Last time I went to town was with Father’s second wife.
She left when I was fifteen, so I think I was either fourteen or fifteen.
” Rory asks the question I want the answer to.
“And how old are you now?” Christy glances Mary’s way and looks like she’s doing some math.
“I think I’m either twenty-two or twenty-three.
So it’s been like seven or eight years for me.
Father didn’t trust me not to try and run away if I was allowed to go to town.
” Jon looks at Mary. “And how old are you?” She looks at Christy and answers, her voice uncertain.
“I think I’m a year younger than Christy, so maybe twenty-one or twenty-two.
We don’t really know. We don’t have any paperwork, and our fathers either don’t know or don’t care enough to tell us.
Our moms knew, but they’ve both been dead a long time. ”
My lawyer brain kicks in as we finally hit pavement and can start making good time back to town and to Anna’s place.
“So you two have no paperwork at all that shows you even exist? No birth certificate, never been to a doctor or anything?” Christy shakes her head.
“Nope, Joseph said it was because the government didn’t need to know, but he made sure the men all had identification and birth certificates.
He didn’t let the girls get them because we’re not human in their eyes.
We’re property and disposable. If the husband thinks that his wife, who’s not even legally married to him, is going to try to escape, he’s allowed to take whatever measures he needs to make sure it doesn’t reflect badly on him.
I will believe till the day I die that Father smothered Mama because she was close to escaping.
” Mary nods and adds, “My father swears my mama died in childbirth, but my brother was almost two months old when she died. My father…my father is the demon the devil spat out and didn’t want. ”
That’s a lot to unpack. Jon must be thinking the same thing by what he asks next.
“So if I understand what you’re saying, there’s probably a good number of women who are buried up there that the world has never known about?
” Both Mary and Christy nod, and Christy says, “And just in my memory, there’s at least ten or more women that have escaped, or at least that’s what the men claimed.
” Mary corrects her. “Fourteen. Whenever I overhear Joseph talking with Father and the other men, it’s always fourteen.
It’s always fourteen, and that number started with your-with Linnea.
She’s always known by the women in the group as the trailblazer, the one who was the first to escape from the grasp of Joseph. ”
I decide right then and there that I’m gonna help these two.
They’re gonna need help to get proof they even exist, and I’m gonna do whatever I can to help.
I’m not going to dive into the fact that it also means I’ll get to spend plenty of time with the gorgeous girl sitting next to me.
I’m also going to ignore what Ma has told me over and over again.
“Max, you can’t save everyone. Some people have to save themselves. ”
***********
Apparently, Christy doesn’t need saving. Fuck, she’s got Anna, Mary, and Mads-er, Madison on her side. That’s the only explanation I’ve got for the text I just got from Mayson.
Mayson: I know you’re at work, but I figured you should know that shit has hit the motherfucking fan.
Me: What the fuck are you talking about?
Mayson: My mom decided to go on a rampage. She took Mads, Christy, and Mary, along with some guns, and went up the fucking mountain.
My gut sinks. Those fuckers could get a hold of Christy and hurt her. I haven’t even gotten to know her yet, and they could take her away.
Me: And we’re just letting them go the fuck back up there by themselves?
Mayson: You know that’s not happening. We’re in trucks heading up there right now. Grant’s got some supposed shortcut to catch up to them. I’ll let you know when we catch up to them and are heading back home. I don’t know what the fuck got into them.
Me: Your mom is leading them. Who the fuck knows? She’s strong-willed.
Mayson: Don’t I fucking know it.
Me: I’m gonna go over to Ma’s and wait. I have a feeling she knows what’s going on.
Mayson: That’s ‘cause she knows fucking everything.
Me: Yeah, she does. Let me know the second you have them safe.
Mayson: I will. I saw how you’ve looked at Christy. I ain’t blind.
Me: I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
Fucker doesn’t answer. Hopefully, that means they’re catching up and far enough up the mountain that they don’t have fucking cell service.
I look around my office, and I know I’m not going to get any more work done.
I grab my jacket and head out to my truck.
I look at the front desk and realize that’s another thing on my to-do list. Haley is only part-time and doesn’t have a full legal background.
She’s a great administrator, but I think I need a paralegal, too.
Research in this kind of law can be a bitch, and I need another set of eyes.
I make the ten-minute drive over to Ma and Pa’s. I park, grab my phone, and head up the walk to the front door. I knock once and open the door. “Ma! You home?”
Ma comes hurrying in from the kitchen. “You didn’t go with them?
” I shake my head. “I was still at work. I didn’t even know what was going on till Mayson texted me.
I still don’t know what’s really going on.
” Ma comes up and gives me a hug. “I don’t know that many details, but I have a feeling Anna’s helping those girls slay their demons. ”
I let the words fall out without thinking.
“Yeah, but who’s there to protect them from those same demons that’ve hurt them their whole lives?
” Ma moves and looks up at me. “From what I understand, they raided Jackson and Wyatt’s gun safe.
They’ve got that plus the element of surprise.
With those fuckers up there, that’s the biggest thing.
I also know those two girls need to be a part of that.
They need it in a way I can’t describe to you.
I just know they do.” She looks at me for a moment and continues.
“Sometimes a person needs to save themselves, and both those girls are so much stronger than any of us know. They have to be to have survived their whole lives up there.”
Ma moves back toward the kitchen. “Now, I see you’re wearing a tie, which tells me you had court this morning.
Come have a seat. I’ll get us some coffee, and we can visit while we wait for any news.
You can also tell me why exactly you’re so interested in the well-being of the two y’all rescued from the mountain. ” Ma really does see everything.
She gets us each a cup of coffee, and I loosen my tie, unbuttoning the top button of my dress shirt.
She sets a mug in front of me and sits down across the table.
I can’t count how many times I’ve sat at this table with either Ma or Pa and talked out a problem I was dealing with.
They’ve always been here for me. I can’t imagine what Christy feels without anyone but Mary in her corner.
She’s a strong woman, that’s for fucking sure.
Ma gets my attention by leaning back in her seat and asking exactly what’s on her mind.