Three Converts

Part 48

Three days later we got our first runaway from the commune. There was a light rap on the door in the middle of the night. All four of us sprinted out of bed. I recognized her, but didn't recall her name. "Frida," she said shakily. She was trembling from cold and fear. Rocco and Griffin retreated back to their rooms, after noting how nervously she was looking at them. Sure enough, once they left, she was an open book. She explained she'd been recruited several years ago, but had regrets ever since. She'd been in a "bad living situation" (we didn't press that issue), so when a girl offered her a place to stay and indiscretion at the commune, she took her up on it. Annie approached her yesterday and after a short conversation, told her she could come here for help.

"We will help," Misty assured her. "But tonight you should sleep. Do you think anybody saw you leave?"

"No," the woman snorted. "Nobody will even notice. I often go days without speaking to anyone in the commune."

"Come with me. Are you hungry?"

She shook her head. "Mostly just tired."

I led her to Sam's room, where we'd cleaned and scrubbed, and tried to make it as cozy as possible. "Tomorrow we'll start figuring out a job and more permanent place to stay," I explained. "In the meantime, here are some clothes. The robe is a dead giveaway."

Frida flopped on the bed. "I can't wait to be rid of this stupid robe." She was already practically asleep. I left her, closing the door quietly and tiptoeing across the hall to Griff, who was sitting on the bed bouncing his knee anxiously.

"So? How did it go?"

I shrugged. "Good, I guess. Easy. She was happy to leave the commune. What are we going to do with her?" For all our rushing to get people out of the commune, we were still ill-prepared for them when they came to us.

"Whew. I don't know. Hopefully Annie and Gibby will space them out so we aren't bombarded all at once. Eventually though the council will start noticing disappearing people." We'd agreed they would try to get inconspicuous people off the mountain first, rather than start with whole families. That way, (hopefully) it would take the council longer to realize their followers were dwindling.

"Tomorrow Misty is going to change Frida's look before she even leaves the house in case anyone is out looking for her. Then I'll take her to look for work. And maybe I'll find something too."

"Great. I'm going to put a wall up in my dad's room, splitting it into two rooms. It's big enough and that way we can have more guests and give them some privacy."

I put my hand on his face. "Thank you." He was taking my cause up as his own. "Thank you" seemed inadequate for all he was going through for injustice that didn't affect him. We curled up and slept soundly the rest of the evening.

By the time I woke up, Misty had already transformed Frida. The woman's hair was no longer brown and gray, but black and chin-length. Annie was letting us borrow her clothes for the guests, since all she needed these days was a robe. Frida looked a little ridiculous with her trendy hair style and baggy clothes. We pinned Annie's shorts at the waist, but the outfit still hung off Frida. The woman smiled for the first time since arriving. "I better put on some weight," she suggested.

We spent the rest of the day cautiously going about town, looking for jobs. Once we saw a Robe strolling down main street looking for recruits. We casually turned down a side road to avoid him. By evening Frida found a job renting canoes to people at the lake. It was perfect, if not a particularly high income. The Robes rarely came down to the lake, and certainly never rented canoes.

By the time we got back to Griffin's, the wall separating Sam's room was already up. Rocco and Gordo were the only ones working on it though. "Where's Griff?"

Gordo motioned toward the garage.

I found Griff sitting in the garage with an enormous hunk of wood. "Hey! Where'd you get that?"

He smiled a bright smile at me. "Moe, down the street asked if I'd make his daughter a little desk. I told him if he provided the wood, I'd provide the desk."

"Griffin! That's amazing!"

"Sort of, except I forgot I don't have any tools," he laughed. He didn't seem one bit bothered by that fact. "I think I can manage something though."

"It's going to be gorgeous." I sat on the big log. "Frida got a job today. It's nothing fancy, but it'll do."

"Nice. You're good at this rescuing people stuff."

"Ha! Talk to me when the whole commune is shut down."

Griffin began stripping the wood, and I watchedhim transform it from a useless log into something beautiful and full ofpurpose.