I make two final jumps before we go. First, it’s back to the townhouse to drop off all forbidden technology and a trash bag filled with various takeout containers. Then I set the key for my room at Katherine’s at 1:00 p.m. this coming Wednesday so that I can pick up the biohazard equipment that Connor express ordered. It’s by my desk as promised—a small, clear kit with biohazard transport bags, several pairs of latex gloves, an oversized glass dropper, along with two shiny white suits and bizarre-looking face masks.
I hold them up for Kiernan’s inspection when I jump back to the cabin. “Our chemistry set has arrived.”
He snorts but doesn’t look up from the sketch he’s making. “Fortunately, neither of us will be doing any experiments. I collect the sample, you take it back to Connor. Any ideas what to do with it after that?”
“Connor bought a tiny fridge to go inside Katherine’s safe. He’ll store the sample there until we can locate someone trustworthy to examine it.”
Kiernan slides the paper he was drawing on across the table to me. “Take a look at this.”
It’s a detailed map of God’s Hollow, with the church, the well, and the chicken coop. Smaller squares line both sides of the road that runs through the center of the village. Two of these, the squares that are three and four doors down from the church on the opposite side, are marked with an X.
Kiernan taps the page near the two buildings that are marked. “Saul goes between those two houses, stays about two minutes, and then comes back that same way when he brings Martha to the church. That’s the only time I see any activity between the two of them, other than the one I mentioned before, when Saul is wooing her.”
That seems like an odd choice of words, but I guess hitting on her might not be in Kiernan’s vocabulary, so I just nod.
“They get about ten yards down the street, toward the church, and she sees something off to the side of the road that frightens her. I’m thinking maybe it was the dog’s body. It looks like she’s screaming, ‘Bull.’ Anyway, after that point he has to basically drag her. She’s fighting him hard . . . rips his sleeve and scratches him up.”
“Go, Martha.”
Kiernan points at the house on the far side of the two marked with an X and says, “I watched from each of the points you set and never saw Saul take her inside either of those houses. Given the mud on her dress and legs, I’m guessing he had her in a root cellar or something. We should go in at night and set up a stable point between these houses. That way we can see exactly where Saul takes Martha and get her out ahead of time. Before Saul comes back to get her.”
“And what do we tell her, Kiernan?”
“To get the hell out of there, what else? We can show her where the motorbikes are hidden.”
“I think she’d run, but I’m also sure she’d come back. She’s restless, but it’s her home. And if she comes back quickly, I think there’s a good chance she’d contact the authorities. Based on what we know, she didn’t do that, right? They just put two and two together on their own when no one from the village showed up to do the weekly shopping.”
“So what’s your plan?”
“We hide in the chapel. That’s the only way to be sure that we change this but nothing else. Martha will see there’s nothing to come back to, Kiernan. She’ll know she has to leave, find someplace to start over. When she breaks into a run, we stop him from following her.”
He shakes his head. “You really want the kid to see everyone she loves dead in that church?”
“No,” I say. “It’s going to haunt her for the rest of her life. But don’t you think she has the right to know? Once she sees what he’s done, she’s going to want Saul to pay, and I’ll do my best to convince her that we’ll make him pay.”
“And you think she’ll be quiet? That she won’t talk about two people who appear out of nowhere and save her while the rest of her village dies?”
“We’ll just have to convince her that talking would be a very bad idea.”
GOD’S HOLLOW, GEORGIA
September 15, 1911, 2:42 p.m.
We look like aliens, covered from head to toe in the biohazard suits. Even though the masks are supposed to block most odors, the place reeks of vomit and human waste.
I watched the scene three times through the key, trying to build up my resistance. I don’t look at the faces, just keep my eyes on the ground. If I think of these bodies as people, I’m going to lose it, so I push emotion aside.
Pipe wrench in hand, Kiernan walks past the bench where Sister Elba rests and climbs over the wooden divider that separates the choir from the platform holding the pulpit and the armonica. He presses his back against the wall, partially shielded by the red curtain hanging from above.
I take up position on the other side of the pulpit. The curtain won’t hide me, since the door where Saul will enter is directly opposite, so I crouch down behind the choir bench and pull the Colt out of my pocket. This was one debate that Kiernan won, and although it makes me nervous to carry it around, he’s right. I can’t actually shoot Saul, but a few shots could provide a useful distraction if a whack across the head doesn’t slow him down.
I take some deep breaths as we wait, trying to calm down. Then a scream cuts through the silence. After watching everything transpire through the CHRONOS key, I’d forgotten we’ll have audio this time.
As the sound moves closer, I make out a few words. She’s screaming about the dog, just as Kiernan suspected.
“Bull! That’s Bull! Let me go!”
There’s a scuffle outside the door, and Saul, whose voice I’d imagined as deeper, says, “Oh, no, you don’t. Come on, Martha.”
The door swings inward, and their heads, which are all I can see from this position, are silhouetted against bright sky. “Why are you fighting me? I’m just taking you to Sister Elba and the others, as I promised.”
He kicks the door, and it closes behind them. The smell must hit Martha first, because she coughs and turns her head away. When her eyes adjust to the dimly lit church, her mouth falls open, and her eyes glaze over. There’s no sound for several seconds—I don’t think she’s even breathing. Then she makes a keening sound, soft at first, and then it builds as she brings her hands to her face and begins to scream.
Saul spins her around, I guess to be sure that she gets the full picture. “See, Martha? Just like I told you. They’re all here, waiting.”
The platform shakes as he drags her up the two short steps. I lean back slightly to be sure Saul can’t see me when he turns and dumps her behind the pulpit. I can’t see her from this angle, but I can hear her, and the image I saw earlier of Martha’s arms clutched around her head, rocking back and forth, is seared into my memory.
Saul turns back toward the pews, that sick, blissful smile on his face. How can he stand to take such deep breaths when the smell is nearly overpowering even behind a mask?
He looks around at his creation for a moment and then crosses over to Martha, kneeling down beside her. I can’t see either of them now, but Saul is shushing her softly, like you would a crying toddler. My heart races, and I wait for my cue—the moment when Martha kicks him backward and takes off.
But that never happens. Kiernan jumps up about thirty seconds ahead of schedule, hops over the railing, and whacks Saul on the back of the head with the wrench. I wait for Martha to start running, but she doesn’t. She’s frozen, staring at Kiernan in the white suit and mask. I climb over and grab her arm, but she yanks away from me, and the sobs turn into shrieks again.
Kiernan lets out a huff that’s audible through the mask. He reaches down and tugs Saul off Martha, then scoops her up into his arms like a baby and takes off down the center aisle. I hear a low moan from Saul’s direction as I’m about to start off after them, and I see he’s now up on his knees.