“Too late,” he interrupted. “You’ll take a shower.” He opened the door.
If taking a shower was the only way I could get my things back then I’d take one. I stepped into the room and he closed the door behind me. There was a changing room with benches and lockers, and through another door, three shower stalls. The sooner I get this over with the better, I thought. I took my clothes off and set them on the bench.
The shower felt better than I expected and I was comforted by the thought that they wouldn’t ask me to take a shower if they were going to torture or kill me. When I finished I dried myself off and walked back into the dressing room and saw that all my clothes were gone. In their place was a white robe, a bright red belt, and a pair of flip-flops still in their plastic wrapper. I picked the robe up, went over to the door, and stuck my head out.
“Excuse me,” I said politely. “Someone seems to have taken my clothes.”
“Yes,” the guard said, smiling.
“I don’t really want to wear this,” I said.
“You must.”
I stared at him for a few moments, hoping that the eye contact might change his mind. It didn’t. I shut the door and pulled the robe over my head and tied the belt around my waist. There were no mirrors, but I didn’t need one to know I looked pretty weird.
The guard opened the backdoor. “This way,” he said, then followed me outside.
Behind the guardhouse was a carefully groomed path. As we followed it I tried to think of ways to escape. I was pretty sure I could out run the guard, but then what? They had my return plane ticket, Theodore’s money, and all my gear. I’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere dressed like a ghost. And the robe and flip-flops weren’t exactly warm. When the sun went down I’d probably freeze to death.
“What do you wear during the winter?” I asked.
Instead of answering the guard just smiled.
The path went uphill through a thick stand of trees. A narrow stream trickled next to it. It was actually a pretty spot. If I wasn’t wearing a goofy robe, escorted by Mr. Smiles, on my way to who knows where, I might have even enjoyed the walk.
We came to a large clearing. On the opposite side was the biggest log house I’d ever seen. It was surrounded by a log fence about ten feet high and at each corner was a turret manned by a white clad CODL member. The three storied house in the middle of the compound was painted white and was at least a half a block long. On the left end of the top floor was a large deck. On the other end, connected by an enclosed walkway, was another large log building with several skylights built into the roof.
When we got to the fence the guard mumbled something into his walkie-talkie and the wrought iron gate leading to the compound swung open by remote control.
“This is where I leave you,” the guard said. “Sister Bonita is waiting for you in the cathedral.” He pointed to the building with the skylights, then turned around and started walking back along the path.
I stood there for a few seconds debating whether I should walk into the compound or run away. If I went inside it might not be that easy to get out again. But why wouldn’t they let me out? All I’d done was trespass a little. No big deal. I walked into the compound and the gate closed behind me.
Sister Bonita
~
A large stream flowed in front of the buildings. I walked across the footbridge to the door of the cathedral, and before I knocked, it swung open. I was greeted by two boys who were probably eight or nine years old. Like the other kids I’d seen, their heads were shaved and they were wearing the white CODL uniform, but instead of black belts they had light brown belts around their waists.
“Your flip-flops,” one of the boys said.
“What about them?”
“Take them off please.”
I slipped the flip-flops off and the other boy picked them up and carried them away at arms length like I had stepped in something nasty. I thought about telling him that they were brand new and that I’d only taken a couple of hundred steps in them, but I doubt that he would have listened to me.
The boy pointed. “Your feet.”
“They don’t come off,” I said, trying to be funny, but the boy didn’t crack a smile.
“I need to wash them,” he said.
“You’re kidding?”
He shook his head and pointed at a tiled wading pool built into the floor. I walked over to it.
“Please step in.”
I shrugged my shoulders. It didn’t look like it was filled with acid, so I did as he asked. The ankle deep water was warm and felt pretty good. The boy then proceeded to wash my feet with a soft brush. This felt pretty good too, although it was a little embarrassing.
When he finished he dried my feet off with a towel and smiled up at me and said, “Thank you.”
I looked down at him and thought, This is very creepy.
He handed me another pair of flip-flops wrapped in plastic and I took them out and slipped them on.
“Don’t you guys re-use these things?”
Instead of answering he said, “You may go in now.” The boy who took my flip-flops held open a large door. I stepped through it.
Inside was a huge auditorium. Instead of chairs there were several hundred white cushions on the floor. At the far end of the room was a stage. And sitting on the stage in a white chair was a bald CODL member dressed in a white robe with a white belt tied around it.
“Please come forward, Briggs.”
Two things surprised me. First, it was a woman’s voice. And second, she knew my name. It was like the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her gang meet the wizard in the Emerald Palace. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto, I thought and walked to the front.
“Please sit down,” the woman in white said.
I sat on one of the cushions in the front row and looked up at her. For some reason she looked familiar.
“You must be Sister Bonita,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Well,” I began. And I was about to explain to her that there’d been a big mistake, when a little kid with a shaved head ran across the stage and jumped into her lap. The kid giggled and pointed at me.
“He has hair!”
I tried very hard not to show my surprise. The little kid was Belinda Vose. And I realized why the woman looked so familiar. Sister Bonita was Sara Vose’s twin sister, Bonnie. She looked a lot different without hair.
“Amanda, you’re not supposed to be in here,” Bonita said crossly.
Belinda’s smile vanished as if her aunt had slapped her. “Sorry, Mommy,” she apologized and gave Bonita a slight head bow.
Amanda? I thought. Mommy?
“Go back to your room and meditate,” Bonita said, sternly. “i’ll be in soon to see how you’ve done.”
“Yes, Mommy,” Belinda said and bowed again. She was about ready to burst into tears, but she held them back. Tears probably weren’t allowed. I wondered what four-year-olds thought about when they meditated.
Bonita watched Belinda walk away, then turned back to me. “Sorry for that interruption, Briggs. You were saying?”
I was too shocked to say anything now. Belinda thought Bonita was her mother and didn’t even know that she had been kidnapped. Seeing Belinda also meant that Theodore wasn’t insane. If anyone was having a fantasy it was me, not Theodore. His long shot had led directly to the solution.
“Are you all right, Briggs?” Bonita asked.
“Sure, I’m fine.” I said, but I wasn’t. Seeing Belinda changed everything.
“You look strange,” she said suspiciously.
“Just tired,” I said quickly. “And hungry.”
“Of course,” she said, relaxing a little bit. “Why are you here?”
“I want to join the Children Of Divine Light,” I answered, surprising myself.
“I see,” she said calmly. “Before we discuss that, I have a few questions for you.”
“All right.”
“We’re an ope
n community,” she began. “As such, what belongs to one of us belongs to all. So, we took the liberty of going through your pack.”
So that’s how she knew who I was. My name and address were on the name tag. Luckily I had left all the information about Belinda in my bedroom back home... Then I remembered the photograph of Belinda. I’d left it in my shirt pocket and they had my shirt. Philip Marlowe would not have made this mistake. My stomach felt queasy and I thought for a moment that I might throw up.
“You walked in from Mammoth Hot Springs?” She asked.
“Right.”
“I see,” she said. “We noticed that your airline ticket says that you are returning on Monday night. If you wanted to join the Children of Divine Light, then why were you planning to leave on Monday?”
“I didn’t know if you’d let me join,” I lied.
She nodded. Here it comes, I thought. We also found the photograph of Belinda and now we’re going to kill you. I held my breath.
“I’m sorry you had to spend the night in the cabin,” she continued. “We’re very careful about trespassers. We have many enemies.”
I let my breath out. “Well, I’m not one of them.”
She didn’t say anything.
“What about my clothes?” I asked casually.
“I beg your pardon?”
“When I was taking my shower someone took my clothes.”
She smiled. “You’ll get them back. I imagine they’ve been taken to the laundry. We don’t allow those kind of clothes in the compound. Don’t worry about it.”
Easy thing to say, I thought. It was only a matter of time before they discovered the photo and turned it over to her. I had to get away from there before they found it.
“So you want to become a member of our community?”
“Well, I’m not sure,” I stammered. “You see—”
“I’m afraid you can’t join us,” she interrupted. “In the first place you’re a minor. We don’t allow minors here without their parents.”
Unless you’ve kidnapped them, I thought.
“And the children we have here are much younger. We’ve found that it’s too late for children over the age of five years.”
“Too late for what?”
“Too late to learn the way,” she answered.
“What’s the way?”
She smiled pleasantly. “I’m afraid you’ll never know.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” I said, trying to look very disappointed. “It looks like I came all the way out here for nothing.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “We’ll have someone drive you in to Mammoth Hot Springs later tonight. Or if you prefer we’ll take you to Bozeman. Perhaps you can catch an earlier flight.”
“Tonight?” I wanted to leave immediately.
“Yes,” she said. “We won’t have anyone available until later this evening.”
“I don’t really need a ride. If you’ll just give me my things back I can hike out of here right now. I don’t want to be a bother.” And I didn’t want to be there when they found the photo either.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” she said. “We want to make sure that you get back safely. If something were to happen to you and they found out that you were here, we might get in trouble. You understand of course.”
I nodded, knowing more about her troubles than she could imagine.
“So what time will I be able to leave?”
“I’m not sure. We only have a few cars up here. It won’t be until late. After our evening service. In the meantime we’ll give you something to eat and a room you can rest in. You must be tired after last night.”
“I am.”
“If you want to see the rest of the commune later i’ll assign you an escort. He’ll be able to get you some food as well.”
“Thanks,” I said without much enthusiasm. I had to figure a way to get out of there. “Maybe I should call my parents and let them know what’s going on.”
“That’s an excellent idea.” She reached behind her chair and came up with a cordless phone and handed it to me. I was hoping for a little more privacy, but I could see she wasn’t going to give it to me. I dialed anyway.
When Theodore answered I said, “Hi, Mom!”
“What?” Theodore asked.
“I’m at the commune.”
“Briggs?”
“That’s right.”
“Are they on the line?”
“Heck no.”
“But they’re listening to you?”
“Right.”
“Is Belinda there?”
“Sure is.”
“That’s fantastic!” He shouted. “What a lucky break. Did you take her photograph?”
“Nope, and I won’t be able to either.”
“Why not?” He asked, obviously disappointed.
“Give me a break,” I said cheerfully.
“Oh, right,” he said. “I guess you can’t go into a lot of detail right now.”
“Not at the moment.”
“Do they know why you’re there?” He asked.
“No, but they will pretty soon.”
“That’s bad. If they find out they’ll move Belinda and we’ll probably never find her again.”
Yeah, I thought. And what about me, Theodore? Thanks for asking.
“i’ll contact the authorities,” Theodore continued. “But even if I convince them that Belinda’s there they probably won’t be able to get into the compound before she’s been moved. It could take them days to get a search warrant.”
“Oh, well,” I said smiling.
“I guess you’ll just have to get her out yourself.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I said, trying to keep the fake smile plastered on my face.
“It’s our only choice.”
Ours? I thought. You’re not here, Theodore!
I glanced at Bonita, or Bonnie, or whatever her name was. “Okay,” I said into the phone. “i’ll be home Sunday night. They’re going to drive me to Mammoth Hot Springs this evening. Okay, Mom. Love you too. I’ll see you then. Bye.”
I hung the phone up. “No problem,” I said to Bonita, relieved that she hadn’t grabbed it from me and discovered that my mom was an adolescent boy in a wheelchair.
“Well good,” she said. “i’ll introduce you to your escort. He’ll take you to your room. After you rest he can show you around.” She put her hand on my shoulder and add, “I’m sorry this didn’t work out, Briggs. Perhaps one day you can bring your own children here and they can learn the way.”
Or maybe i’ll bring them to visit you in prison, I thought. And they can learn what happens to an aunt who kidnaps her little niece.
Brother Thomas
~
The guy that Bonita assigned to me was a guard, not an escort. Like the other guards he had a radio hanging from his belt.
“My name is Brother Thomas,” he said. “I’m here to serve you.”
Yeah, I thought. Like a tennis ball if I get out of line.
Brother Thomas was probably thirty years old and had arms bigger around than my waist and absolutely no neck. I figured they must have a weight room somewhere, because muscles like his didn’t come naturally. Even Paul Bunyan would have been impressed.
He led me upstairs to my room.
“If you need anything just ask,” he said.
“I think i’ll take a nap.”
“Sister Bonita said you were hungry.”
“Maybe later.”
“Fine. I’ll be right outside.” He closed the door to the room.
The first thing I did was check the window to see if I could use it as an exit. Negative. I was on the top floor facing the front of the house and in clear view of at least two of the guard towers. If the fall didn’t kill me I wouldn’t get very far before someone grabbed me. A couple windows over was the balcony I’d seen from below. If I was careful I might be able to reach it, but then what? I’d still be on the top floor and with my
luck the room it led to would probably be filled with people wearing white robes.
My room had a bed, a night stand, and a lamp—that’s it. Nothing that was going to help me escape. Across from the bed were two doors. Behind the first door was a bathroom. I walked in and checked the medicine cabinet above the sink. All I found was a bottle of aspirin, a bar of soap, a package of disposable razors, and a can of shaving cream. Not much help.
I walked back into the main room and opened the other door. It was a small closet and hanging inside were a half a dozen white robes and several different colored belts. I reached for the belts thinking that I might be able to tie them together and lower myself from the window after it got dark. Then I noticed something underneath the robes.
My backpack! I yanked it out and tore it open hoping to find the shirt I’d been wearing with a wash-ruined photo in the pocket. No shirt, no photo, no luck. The camera was also missing, which meant that even if I saw Belinda again I wouldn’t be able to take her photograph. Everything else was there including the can of bear repellent. I grabbed the bear spray, then sat on the edge of the bed and thought about my options.
It was only a matter of time before they found the photograph of Belinda. When they did I was certain that things were going to get very bad for me.
I decided that the first thing I needed to do was to get out of the stupid robe. I took it off and put on my spare jeans, shirt, and tennis shoes. Having my own clothes on made me feel better. I left my shirt tail out and stuffed the bear repellent in my waistband, then looked in the bathroom mirror to make sure no one could see it.
***
As promised, Brother Thomas was waiting for me outside in the hallway.
“What’s this?” He asked, pointing at me.
I thought he’d seen the bear repellent and I was about to whip it out from under my shirt and give him a squirt when he added, “I suppose the clothes will be all right since you’re leaving soon.”
“I felt a little uncomfortable in the robe because I’m not an official member,” I said quickly.
He nodded. “I thought you were going to rest?”