The Survivors

Chapter Nine: Juliet & Her Romeo, pt. 1

9
JULIET AND HER ROMEO
It was nearing dusk when we got to Bigfork. We checked into a chain hotel several miles up the road from Bigfork, halfway to Kalispell, and then we headed toward the Survivors.
  We drove the same way I'd come the week before, down the same small road lining Swan Lake. I pulled off behind the Laughing Horse Lodge and got out of my car. "We're going to have to go together in the SUV," I told them. "My car won't make it up the road."

Crammed together, two to a seat and three in the cargo space, I took the driver's seat in the Range Rover and put us back on the main road. Quickly, I turned onto a National Forest trail that was just wide enough for (though perhaps not meant for) a car.
  "Is this a road?" Ginny asked, trepidation in her voice.
  "We're on it, aren't we?" I replied. The road was rocky and uneven. Inches from the sides of my tires, the road sloped sharply down. It wound up and around the mountain, and, at the top, there was a trailhead. Beyond it, the road became even rougher, looking less and less like a place someone should drive. It wound further, until finally, the path flattened and abruptly stopped. When we emerged from the Range Rover, we were surrounded on all sides by mountains taller than the one we were on, now somewhere near the edge of the Flathead National Forest and anonymous peaks on a contiguous mountain range that reached all the way to Colorado. I had found this road before I left for California, so I'd know where to bring a car back to. It was only six miles, but it'd taken us nearly half an hour to reach the end. As best I could tell, this was the last sign of man-made anything within 20 aerial miles of where my family was hidden. We had to travel the rest of the way on foot.
    "They weren't kidding with this isolation bit, were they?" Mark asked.
    "You all thought I was being dramatic," I huffed. The boys laughed, and we all took off running.
  I was getting slightly nervous about this encounter. I knew Anthony had the ability to see the future, and I wondered if he had already seen how this meeting would go. I tried to tap into his mind, and I heard his deep voice clearly.
    Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
    He was reciting the Lord's Prayer. This was probably more to block me than it was anything else—he didn't appear to be praying. Still, it was an interesting choice. As the descendent of accused witches from the Puritan era, the Lord's Prayer had a very specific connotation to me: The ability to say it was, supposedly, proof that one was not a witch. I wondered if he were sending me a message.
    We were fast approaching the gates to the city. I scanned through the Winters' thoughts. Their minds were all very serious, focused. They each had a conviction that this visit was part of their path, but I couldn't imagine why their thoughts were so intense. I suddenly considered how little I knew about the family that stood around me, the one I wanted badly to be a part of. Should I have found out more before I brought them here, putting my own family at risk?
    Before I had long to consider this, we reached the clearing and, upon entering it, the gates opened. They had seen us coming. That was a relief. I hadn't decided how to explain why I brought the whole family instead of just Mark.
  Andrew and John emerged first. The sisters, Catherine and Mary, were on their heels.
  As we got closer, Andrew smiled and stretched out his arms. "Welcome home, Sadie," he said, embracing me.
  "Um, thank you," I said awkwardly. That was an interesting, deliberate choice of words. I pulled away and gestured toward my traveling partners. "Andrew, family," I said, "these are the Winters."
  "It's our pleasure to have you here. It was gracious of you to travel all this way," Andrew said. His facade was calm, but I could sense his inner tension.
  The Winters did not respond.
  I looked at Ginny, catching her eye so we could speak. Say something, I said.
  Dad doesn't want me to, she said.
  Then make him talk! I said. Do something!
  She looked at her father and searched his face for direction, but there was nothing there.
  I tried to convey my need for them to say something, anything, to Everett. I can't, Sadie, he apologized, I can't do anything until he says something first.
  Anthony was still reciting the Lord's Prayer in his mind.
  I couldn't take it anymore. "Family, this is Mark." I grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. "He is the one I met in my travels. This is his father, Anthony," I gestured, "and his mother, Adelaide, and his brothers, Patrick and Everett, and his sister, Ginny." Each of the Winters nodded. Still, no one said anything. I couldn't let the awkward silence hang there, so I added, "They provided me with great hospitality."
  Andrew didn't even try this time. Everyone was silent. I was getting stressed and losing my focus, and it wasn't long before all I could feel was tension radiating toward me from each of them. "Maybe we should go inside?" I asked, touching Andrew's arm. He nodded.
  "Come, friends," he said, coolly. "Let me introduce you to my family."
  I hung back for a second and found myself between Ginny, Mark, and Everett. "Guys, why are you being like this?" I hissed.
  "Sadie, just don't worry," Mark said. In her head, Ginny caught my eye and said I don't know why the cloak and dagger. At least my connection to her was back, but that still wasn't an answer.
  Everett very gently hooked our fingers. He whispered, "Deal's a deal?" and raised an eyebrow. He wanted to know if I could read his mind so he could talk to me.
  I shrugged. "Try."
  Dad is appraising the situation, he said.
  Apparently he was not convinced they were safe from danger. And he was being rude, which wouldn't help at all.
  We got to the main square. "Sadie," Andrew's voice called. I walked to his side. "Daughter, I'd like you to focus very hard on sensing me," he said. I was unsure what he was getting at, but I obliged. His voice came to my mind immediately.
  Do not be alarmed that I know you can hear me, he said. Hannah saw this mind-reading in your future, and I realized the talent has come to you. It is a secret that will remain between Hannah, Lizzie, and me, he said calmly. Please nod if you understand.
  I did.
  Do we need to know anything about this family?
  I shook my head.
  Are they violent? he asked.
  I shook my head again.
  Can they read minds like you?
  I nodded and grabbed a strand of my hair, curled it around my finger and held it to my chest. He understood I meant Ginny.
  Do they have other powers?
  I gestured as if I was fingering a beard.
  The father? he asked.
  I nodded my head and quietly said, "Hannah."
  He can see the future. Others?
  I didn't know any of the other Winters' powers other than Mark's. "The one I was looking for," I said aloud. "Mary and Catherine and you."
  Yes, he said, you saw those talents before.
  "Thomas, too," I said.
  He can astral project? Is he projecting now? Andrew asked.
  "No, he's here," I said.
  Thank you, Sadie, he said. I was more nervous now, this going nothing like I had seen it in my mind.
  We reached the amphitheatre. The other ten elders were there, along with a large crowd. I scanned the faces and immediately realized it was my entire family.
  Andrew pulled me toward the center with him. "Family!" he cried. "Our daughter, Sadie, has returned to us yet again. Praise God. We are truly blessed!" A chorus of "Amen" from my family filled the air. He held me close. He was making me their hero. "She has returned with the other we spoke to you about, and his family. We have come together to meet and learn from one another," he said, his voice booming through the space. "I would like Sadie to introduce this family, the Winters, to you."
  I did as I was told, motioning for each member of the family to come forward.
  Then Andrew introduced every member of my family, by generation. Each group rose and bowed their heads as Andrew called their names out, one by one. It was a powerful gesture.
  When he was finished he said, "I'd like to offer Anthony a chance to speak to us."
  I thought it was risky, perhaps even presumptuous, that Andrew would put Anthony on the spot like that. But Anthony stepped forward. Perhaps this was what he had been waiting for.
  "Thank you," he said to Andrew. Then he addressed the family as a whole. "Survivors," he called, his arms outstretched. "My family and I have traveled here to meet you because we know we are a small community. Until today, you had never met any of your kind from outside your walls, and my family has never met as many as we are meeting now. It is a privilege to make so many new friends. Our two families are part of one family, together.
  "We have traveled this earth for many years. We have seen many of God's wonders, and we hope that we will have a chance to tell you about the world that lay outside the mountains that surround you," he said in earnest.
  At these words, a thousand loud thoughts swarmed in my head from the Survivors, clouding my hearing and thinking. Survivors of all ages began reacting to Anthony in their minds. Heretic! They screamed. Lies! I heard. He'll tear our family apart, one sobbed. My breathing hitched. But then a quieter, more distant echo: Oh, thank God, some said. What we've been waiting for! one of them said. Thank you, Sadie, one said. It surprised me the most.
  But those softer voices of support did not outweigh the rage coming from the elders and from the traditionalists. These were things my family did not want to hear. I could feel John behind me, the white-hot anger building in him, permeating my skin. The crowd leaned in toward us, their eyes telling their feelings. Andrew was fighting to stay calm. Lizzie prayed quietly, asking the Lord to forgive me for what I had brought upon the family. The Winters were trying to maintain a calm facade, pretending they didn't hear the whispers or notice the stares.
  Anthony spoke again. "We have been so pleased to know your daughter and sister, Sadie. She is the picture of bravery and progress. We hope that you will feel her strength as your own so that you, too, might one day seek a life exploring God's wonders across this globe." I stopped breathing as the silent intensity of my entire family rose. "It is our pleasure to meet all of you today. Blessings to you all."
  The Survivors began whispering to each other, a quiet roar of suspicion and outrage coming from the crowd. But as soon as Anthony finished speaking, Andrew stepped forward, not missing a beat. "Thank you for your words, Anthony," he said. "Family, friends, we invite you now to a feast and bonfire. Let us celebrate and get to know our new friends."
  He closed with the Lord's Prayer.