He was familiar, but it had been a long time since he'd seen a member of the Grimnoir elders. "Mr. Rawls?"
He held up his left hand, showing his Grimnoir ring. "It's been a long time, Mr. Stuyvesant. And I see that you are a grown man now. Please, call me Isaiah. Come, get in. We have much to discuss."
Faye was excited, near giddy. She'd been the one that had saved everyone. She'd been the one brave enough to Travel through the cliffs. She'd been the one that had found Mr. Rawls and led him to the spot where the mansion had stood. If Mr. Browning and Mr. Garrett lived, she knew that it was because of her. She was as big a hero as the brave adventurers on the radio programs. She'd never seen a motion picture, but she assumed that she was at least as brave as those people too. She knew that Grandpa would be proud.
If she could squeeze any more pride inside she figured she would burst. Her Power was stronger than she'd thought. It hadn't let her down. It was still there, as much as ever. It wasn't just a well that she could dip a bucket into. It was a river.
They'd all been loaded up into the back of the big farm truck and it rumbled through the ash heading north, kicking up plumes of smoke from under the tires, going back toward the city. She was pleased to see that so many folks had shown up from all over to help. Farmers had used their tractors to drag broken trees off what had been the road. They passed an Army bulldozer pushing up dirt, looking for bodies inside what had been a house. After that was another truck like theirs, only all the charcoal things stacked into the back of it had once been people and that made her real sad. The Peace Ray had burned them all.
There were two new Grimnoir. Both of them were old men, nearly ancient by her standards. Mr. Rawls was the first black man that she'd ever actually spoken with and he seemed really nice. He was a Reader, like General Pershing, only he had a whole lot more Power. His hair was white and his skin was dark as night. His suit was covered in ash, and the fact that he'd jumped right in to help look for survivors made her like him even more. He wasn't afraid to get dirty. She was willing to bet that he was a very nice grandpa to his grandchildren.
The other one was named Mr. Harkeness. There was something about him that didn't sit right with her. He was old too, but he'd dyed his hair black, like he was trying to disguise his age, but he was too dried out and wrinkly to be vain. His eyes were cold, his face narrow, and he talked funny. He was European, not from the warm, loud, laugh-a-lot side of Europe like Grandpa and his family, but from the cold, harsh, serious side of Europe. Mr. Browning and Mr. Garrett were on litters in the middle of the floor, and he was kneeling between them, checking their vitals.
"Are you a Healer?" she shouted hopefully over the engine noise.
"Something like that, child. Not nearly that strong though. Please, let me be."
Mr. Harkeness had seemed sullen ever since she had first spoken with him. The very first question out of his mouth was if Jane was alive. When she'd told him that Mr. Madi had taken her away, he had given her the sternest glare, like he held her personally responsible for her friend's loss. That wasn't fair at all. She'd killed an Iron Guard and shot Madi and a couple of zombies and kept Francis from getting squished and kept Mr. Sullivan from getting a bullet in the back of the head. She'd done her very best and she wasn't even officially a Grimnoir yet. She'd like to see the fancy-pants European do any of that.
Her friends were all staring out at the destruction, bouncing back and forth in the rusty truck bed, all except for Mr. Sullivan, who was watching something else, something far away in the distance, where only he could see. Delilah's body had been wrapped in a blanket and he knelt next to it, protectively. She'd sworn to kill Mr. Madi, but she figured it was going to be a race now between the two of them as to who got to kill him first. Mr. Sullivan looked real mad. The truck bed smelled like manure, and that made her feel a little more comfortable, like home. Either way, as long as Madi died, that would make Grandpa and Delilah happy in heaven. Maybe they would kill him together. That seemed fair.
A bunch of volunteers waved at them as they went past. They looked glad to see someone alive and that gave them hope to keep digging with their shovels. Lance was talking to Mr. Rawls, telling him about what had happened. Apparently Mr. Rawls was the one who had been assigned to come out here and take General Pershing's place.
"It seems like we've done this once before, doesn't it, Mr. Talon," Mr. Rawls said sadly, putting his arm over Lance's broad shoulders. "Only this time, the toll was much worse."
Lance caught Faye giving him a curious look. "Last time the Imperium found us, they burned my house down. That was three years ago, in the attack where Black Jack got cursed. Isaiah and Kristopher here were some of the knights sent to reinforce us," he explained. "We tracked them down and killed the lot of them, but we lost some good men in the process."
"Poor Jane, always so gentle and naive. She volunteered to stay and minister to Pershing. I told her it was too dangerous. Pershing was always getting into trouble. Look where that got her. And my granddaughter took a liking to this one," Mr. Harkeness muttered, poking at Mr. Garrett's belly. "Girl never had any sense…"
That made Faye angry. Mr. Garrett was a very nice man. He was unconscious so she felt the need to stick up for him. "Jane loves Dan a whole bunch."
Harkeness snorted. "And this lump told me he'd protect her, keep her safe. Fat lot of good you all did."
Heinrich was sitting across from Mr. Harkeness, one leg dangling over the side. When he lifted his face, Faye saw a look very similar to the one he'd had when he'd shot her in the heart with his Luger. His voice was totally flat. "Say that again, Scheisskopf, and see what happens."
"That's enough, Kristopher," Mr. Rawls barked. "These knights have been through too much." Mr. Harkeness frowned, and went back to his work. "It isn't their fault your granddaughter was lost."
"We will get her back," Lance vowed. Heinrich and Francis nodded, so Faye did too. Sullivan was still staring off into space.
"Sadly, there are more important things at stake than the life of a single Grimnoir," Mr. Rawls said. "General Pershing was keeping me informed about the Geo-Tel situation. We must secure the last piece before it is too late… You were Pershing's men. Who did he entrust with the location?" There was no response. Faye looked around. She knew, but she didn't think she was supposed to say. "Look, I know he kept it secret. The General was paranoid, for good reason, but he's gone now. The elders have sent me to fill his shoes, and they're some mighty big shoes to fill, believe me. I rode with him before most of you were born. I was a young Buffalo Soldier under his command, before either one of us was recruited by the Society. I feel his loss as much as anyone, but you must understand how important this device is."
"Oh, I think we do," Francis said, gesturing at the scorched earth all around them. Buzzards weren't even circling, because everything dead was too crispy to eat.
Mr. Rawls' laughter was genuine. "This? Francis, my boy, this is nothing. The Geo-Tel cut a swath through Siberia that you can't even imagine. I was one of the knights of New York, and we came this close"-he held up thumb and forefinger nearly touching-"to losing the whole east coast. When there were many pieces scattered and unknown, then Pershing's way made sense, but now there is only one. The single most important mission of the entire Society is to find it."
"And destroy it," Lance said.
"Of course. The elders were foolish when they thought they could keep it to maybe use it themselves one day. We should have smashed it to bits back in '08. If the General confided in any of you, we must know. The world depends on it."