Chapter 3: Children

Sàmhach

As close a relationship as the police, sheriff’s department, and Families had in Rosebud Falls, it still wasn’t prudent to have many people knowing what they discovered. It would be hard enough to contain the story while Johnson investigated. He wasn’t as suspicious of the Savage Family per se as of their company. The evidence was that drugs and child trafficking had been going on here long before Wayne or Pàl showed up. The sheriff still had one trump card to keep the investigation under wraps. He needed to play it now while everyone was still in shock at discovering the children.

“Pàl and Wayne, you’re here with us, so there’s no way I can prevent you from knowing what we just discovered. I can’t have you investigating on your own while we’re following this shipment.”

“Just say what you want, Sheriff. You’ll find us cooperative.”

“There is a longstanding code among the Families that binds them to secrecy and allows law enforcement to withhold information from them. We haven’t invoked the code in several years but it is paramount that we keep this under sàmhach for forty-eight hours. Silence. Do not speak to other Family heads or anyone else.”

Pàl smiled sadly. “You know, that is one of the possible translations of our name. We understand.”

“I’ll take care of the workers and the EMTs,” Johnson said.

“Not to anyone, Wayne. Even Gee and Karen,” Pàl said as they watched the ambulance pull away. By this time the workers had nearly replaced the entire top layer of rock in the shipment and were already strapping down portions before covering the load with the tarp. After a short session with the sheriff, they nodded their heads and went home.

“Don’t the other Families have a right to know what we found?” Wayne asked.

“The Families seem to be all-powerful to you, don’t they?” Pàl asked his grandson. “In a way it’s true. What we say is almost law. But we hold that power in trust. It’s always a delicate balance. If the Families betray the trust of the people, they will fall. The police department, sheriff’s department, City Council, Family heads… When part of our infrastructure invokes sàmhach, we need to respond with silence.

“As long as it isn’t used to circumvent justice, I guess I’m okay with it.”

“With eleven people already knowing, the chance that we can keep our silence for forty-eight hours is slim,” Johnson said as he rejoined them. I have two deputies in unmarked cars waiting near the exit roads to follow the truck when it pulls out. They will follow wherever it leads. If what we know is discovered before the truck arrives at its destination, a phone call could abort the delivery. We need to know where those kids were going and who sent them.”

“You have our word, Sheriff,” Wayne said.

“I know. You’re Family.”

“How are they?” Johnson asked Mead at the hospital. It was nearly four in the morning and both men arrived in unmarked cars. Johnson had stopped long enough on his way from SSG to change into street clothes. From a distance they looked like any other late-night visitors to ER.

“Completely silent,” Mead said. “Adam and Julia are taking care of them but the children haven’t said a word. EMTs said they didn’t say anything all the way here. Usually, kids show excitement or fear when they are loaded into an ambulance. Nothing.”

“Then the EMTs don’t have anything they can tell. We didn’t tell them where we found the kids, so as far as they know they could have wandered in from the Wild Woods.”

“Unless Adam has gotten through to them in the past ten minutes, none of the kids have done anything but stare into space. We’re going to need help for them, Brad. The hospital’s chief physician and his nurse sister can’t disappear into isolation without raising a lot of suspicions.” They stepped off the elevator and Mead led the way to a hall with a closed door that said ‘Long-Term Care.’ Dr. Poltanys looked up when they reached the children’s room.

“I’m not sure why they aren’t completely comatose,” he said to the two officers. “Though this… waking coma isn’t much better.”

“Any analysis?”

“We drew blood as soon as they got here and sent it down to the lab with a rush on it. Then we got them into the bathtub. I just hung up with the tech. The tests all came back with sufficient RDH in the blood to render them as unconscious as Rena Lynd.”

“The first time we brought her in, she had taken a super dose but was still conscious,” Mead said.

“That’s true,” Poltanys said. “And she woke up coherent, even though disoriented. It took a month for the hallucinations to finally be purged. It surprised me that she took more so soon after her recovery.”

“She didn’t take it willingly. Karen said she kept repeating that he didn’t have to give her the drug. She would have done anything he asked. I just wish we knew who he was,” Mead said.

“So, in the past few months, we’ve had five cases plus these three with a super dose of RDH. Reef is dead. Rena twice and is now in a coma. Gee and Karen were both out for a while and reported continuing hallucinations and fantasies,” Adam said.

“I hear what you’re saying. What fantasy is playing out behind their eyes, Doctor?” Johnson asked.

The children moved. Their eyes snapped to Adam before he could answer. As one, the children rolled to their knees and pulled down their pajama bottoms.

“What the hell is going on?” Mead exclaimed.

“Damned if I know. Julia, help get them dressed. I don’t want to sedate them in their condition. Let’s see if we can settle them for sleep.” The policemen stepped back by the door as Adam and Julia did their best to comfort the boy and two girls. Mead estimated their ages between five and eight.

“Go to sleep now,” Julia whispered as she tucked them in, motioning Adam away from them. The eyes of all three children closed at once.

“A trigger,” Adam said. “No one else has used my title since they arrived. I think we can safely say these kids were conditioned to respond to a d-o-c-t-o-r. And he was not a nice man.”

“Adam, someone needs to stay here with them. I’ll call for a cot and sleep here. I think we need to bring in Mother or Ellie,” Julia said.

“Not your mother,” Sheriff Johnson said immediately. “I’m sorry but this is strictly under sàmhach. We need forty-eight hours.”

“Understood, Sheriff. We can trust Ellie.”

Trailblazing

“Jonathan, is it normal to have such dense undergrowth when the canopy is so complete?” Gee asked as the three teams gathered together for lunch. Drake Oliver, Mead’s son, had joined Gee’s crew and was a great help in handling the pruning shears to cut through the thicket. Karen was on Gee’s team but Jo had joined Jessie. Surprising no one, Troy had not shown up.

“Not really,” Jonathan said. “This underbrush isn’t even common in our part of the country. It’s all hardy plants that thrive in shade—almost as if someone seeded the area.”

“How recently would that have been?” Karen asked. “Could they have put this in as a way to conceal what they were doing out here?”

“Offhand, I’d say no,” Jonathan said. “This is too dense and mature to be less than ten years old. I’d say it’s more likely to be fifty years. It could be longer. Dad says there has always been a division between the Forest and the Wild Woods, even before the fence was put up.”

“Well, that shoots down that theory then,” Karen said. “It just seems too convenient for nefarious purposes.”

“Doesn’t mean people aren’t using it to hide things,” Jessie said.

“It seems to be getting thicker,” Gee acknowledged. “We’d better get started. I think we’ll need more teams to handle the cut brush this week. And we really haven’t advanced far.” They’d started at the cabin closest to the uncharted area and moved in three directions but none of the teams had managed more than a hundred yards during the morning.

They put away their lunch remains and the teams went back to work. While Karen, Jason, Alyson, Jeanie, and Shannon were not as strong as Drake and Gee, they were still able to help with the trimming and piling of the brush between the trees they targeted for mapping. As clouds closed in during the morning, it got colder, but their work kept them warm.

By the end of the day, each team had cut another hundred yards into the Wild Woods. Jonathan blew his whistle and all three teams met back at the cabin to head out of the woods.

“I wonder if we could put a propane heater in this cabin like you have in the field office?” Gee said. “As weather gets colder, we might need to take breaks to warm up. Especially for meals and such.”

“Not a bad idea,” Jonathan agreed. “All the connections are here. I’ll talk to Dad.”

“We can probably get a bunch of kids out tomorrow to move the brush piles to the chipper,” Jeanie said. “Is it okay for them to do that without a forester to supervise?”

“They won’t be able to operate the chipper,” Jessie said. “But just getting the brush out of our cleared paths would be a great help.”

“I bet we can get more kids from school out,” Drake suggested. “Alyson and Shannon, do you think you could call the girls?”

“Drake, are you still too shy to call a girl yourself?” Shannon teased.

“No… uh… I… uh… just thought we could split it up and I’ll call the guys. You know.”

“Yeah. We know, you goof,” Alyson laughed. “You know, one of these days we’re going to get you a girl who lasts more than one date.”

“You guys are mean,” he said. Then he laughed. “But if you find her, let me know, okay?”

“Hear anything from Wayne?” Karen asked Jo.

“Yeah. He called and begged off tonight, too. Said he’d try to be available tomorrow afternoon for a while but his grandfather needed help at the office. Something to do with funny bookkeeping,” Jo said. “I hope he’s okay. You know, his grandfather wants him to quit teaching at the end of the school year and get more involved in the company. I think Wayne would really miss teaching, though.”

“I thought sure someone would be out to check the progress today. Loren has been really interested,” Gee said. “I didn’t even see David at the office. It’s like a silence has descended over the whole town.”

“Let’s break it and call Leah and Don up for dinner. Jo, think you could get your grandmother to join us at our house?”

“Are you sure that’s not too much work, Karen?”

“It gets dark so early, we’ve got plenty of time. Let’s make it dinner at our place at seven.”

“Thanks, cousin. See you then.”

It was a simple and pleasant meal. The six had a lot to talk about, much focusing on Ben’s poor health. Once he’d declared Karen as his heir, the old man seemed to fade.

“When will you move over to the estate?” Leah asked.

“I don’t really want to think about it,” Karen said. “We’re so comfortable and I hardly know the place over there. This is our first home together.” She smiled at Gee and took his hand. “Maybe Jo should occupy it.”

“Um… no,” Jo said. “I’m still adjusting to having an apartment that’s bigger than a bedroom. Why does someone need to live there? You could sell it for a fortune.” Leah looked at her in horror and even Celia shook her head. Karen sighed.

“It’s the tree,” she finally said. “Our family, even if it doesn’t bear the ancestral name, needs to keep the tree.”

“Rather mystical,” Don said. He and Leah once thought they would eventually move into the mansion. He just assumed that when Karen took the mantle of the Family, she’d move there.

“It needs to be owned by the Family but I suppose you don’t have to live there,” Leah said.

They let the conversation hang, no one really willing to contemplate the day when Ben Roth would no longer be there. He was ninety-two years old and no one lives forever.

“Here’s something to run past you, Leah and Don,” Gee said, changing the subject. “One of my crew this week suggested that we need to expand the Forest.”

“We just did with the Wild Woods,” Leah said.

“Oh. Yes. Well, what she was talking about is that there are a lot of trees needing to be relocated. They are too close together and some are going to suffer.”

“Don’t they cut them?” Don asked.

“One of the conditions for taking over the Wild Woods was that no tree would be cut unless it was dying or in imminent danger. Collin made me put that into the contract with SSG and the foresters. We’re talking about moving some into open area adjacent to the woods. You bought some property out that way, didn’t you? Would you entertain the idea of expanding the Forest onto it?”

“You have enough votes now that you could change the agreement,” Leah said. “I respect Collin’s position, but his mental faculties aren’t all there.”

“I made an agreement with him,” Gee said. “How could I justify breaking it? Who would ever make an agreement with me again? The whole coalition would fall apart.”

Leah sighed and Don scratched his head.

“We seldom find people who are as good as their word,” Don said. “That’s why bank lending agreements are so many pages of legalese. You give us all a lot to think about. We’ll consider it when you get a plan together.”

“We aren’t talking next week,” Gee laughed. “It will take close to a year before we’ve fully assessed the land and the needs of the Wild Woods.”

Tails

“This is Johnson. Talk to me,” the sheriff barked into his phone. It was seven o’clock Saturday evening and seemed like he hadn’t slept since Election Day. Pàl and Wayne had brought in a box of shipping documents. They’d tracked thirty orders over the past ten years to the same address in Florida.

“Sheriff Reynolds down in Kissimmee,” the caller said. “I sent a man out to the address you gave us. You sure chose a good one. This area around Kissimmee has been filled in and developed over the past forty years but it was mostly swampland to start with. You’re shipping tons of rock to one of the few swamps left down here. There’s no warehouse and no business out there.”

“Thank you, Sheriff Reynolds. We were suspicious that it was a fake bill of lading. This will help our investigation immensely.”

“You’re always welcome to come and check the location personally, Sheriff. Disney World is just six miles from our office. Bring the wife and kids for a break.”

“Thank you for the invitation. I’ll consider it. It gets cold up here in January.” Johnson disconnected and turned to his companions. “Pàl, where did you live in Florida. That’s where you were before you moved up here, right?”

“Port St. Lucie,” Pàl responded. “It’s about a hundred miles southeast of Kissimmee. I moved there soon after Wayne was born and Scotland started to make my bones ache. Not much there. Seemed like a nice quiet place to watch over my son and his family. Sorry to say, my son passed away nearly ten years ago.”

Johnson didn’t probe as to the cause of Pàl’s son’s death. “That’s where you’ve lived all your life, Wayne?”

“Close. I went to USF in Tampa for college and taught elementary school in Fort Pierce nine years. I moved up here in August.”

“And never had anything to do with the company in all that time?”

“I kept track of the business financials as a stockholder, but didn’t want to make a move until I had a hope that we could rally a takeover,” Pàl said.

“We have a truck leaving Rosebud Falls about three times a year for ten years with a bill of lading designating a non-existent address in Florida. Where does it go? My deputies tailing the load say it’s definitely headed south and doing a pretty good clip. By the time they reached Virginia they were beginning to think the guy had no bladder. He isn’t speeding enough to draw attention and makes the Port of Entry and weigh station stops. According to the deputies, that tractor of his must have a pretty powerful engine the way he’s walking up the hills.”

“Any guesses where he’s going yet?”

“Last check-in was Charleston, still headed south.”

Johnson’s phone rang again. He checked the caller ID and answered.

“Johnson. What do you have, Doctor?”

“Not much, I’m afraid. I gave Mead a report an hour ago but he wanted me to talk to you directly,” Adam said. “The children… We need someone in here who can develop a rapport with children. Julia doesn’t have children and Ellie’s are grown. My ex took my son and moved west when he was three, which tells you something about my parenting skills. We’re okay but don’t understand what’s going on. The children don’t do anything without direction.”

“You mean they ask permission for things?”

“No. It’s taken us a while to figure it out. They simply wait until told what to do. We set food trays in front of them and they did nothing. Told them they could eat now and still nothing. It wasn’t until Ellie got frustrated and just said, ‘Eat!’ that all the children immediately started eating. None of them has asked to use the toilet. Julia takes them in one at a time and tells them to go to the bathroom. They have no will. It’s like their minds are blank.”

“How about triggers? Have you found any other words they respond to like ‘doctor’?”

“No. We’re being careful with what we say. We don’t want to trip any responses without knowing what we’re doing.”

“And they won’t answer any questions?”

“None of them talk. Or they won’t talk. When they’re asked a question, they look conflicted and frightened but won’t say anything.”

“Anything else?”

“Just one thing. Apparently, rules change when the lights go out. Ellie got them all fed and to bed this evening. When she turned out the light, the two older ones got out of bed and crawled in with the little one. They’re huddled together asleep now.”

“This has to stop!” Johnson said in frustration. “How can anyone do this to a bunch of children?”

“We need help, Sheriff. We aren’t trained to handle this kind of thing.”

“As soon as I call in anyone else, we’ll have state and probably feds crawling all over. I need more time before anyone knows we have them.”

“I have an idea.”

Sheriff Johnson listened and saw the sense in the situation. He finally agreed to consider Adam’s request, though he doubted it would help.

Mead carefully put together an evidence packet that would not tip his hand. Under the temporary assumption of rendering emergency aid, police had opened the apartment of the missing Dr. Jones. After verifying the doctor was not in the apartment and appeared to have packed a bag to leave, they relocked the door and left. They were not authorized to search for anything else and nothing they discovered during this incursion was usable as evidence.

“And why do you think you need a search warrant, Mead?” Judge Warren said. “Your officers found no sign of foul play, right?”

“Judge, the disappearance of Dr. Jones coincides with the discovery of Cabin Four in the Wild Woods, the cabin labeled as having been the lab. Everything was cleaned out of the cabin. Reese Ecklund at LaRue Labs has investigated Dr. Jones’ work area and determined there is reason to believe some of his research is also missing. Of course, it is their right to search any company property but Dr. Jones’s apartment is not company property. Since the doctor’s work at LaRue was tied to the distillation of the chemical components of Rose Hickory nuts, we believe there could be a connection between him and the unauthorized laboratory in the woods. We wish to investigate this connection and search for any notes and materials that could be considered property of LaRue Labs.”

“Well done, Mead. I’ve had a bad feeling about this from the time we found he was missing. You put together an adequate evidence packet for a warrant.” The judge signed the search warrant. “Are you planning to execute this tonight?”

“No, sir. As much as I hate calling an officer to assist on Sunday morning, I think it’s preferable to late Saturday night. You know how Saturdays are, even here in Rosebud Falls.”

“Mead, is there something else I should be aware of?”

“Nothing I can tell the court, your honor.”

“What?”

“Sàmhach.”

“That word hasn’t been used in Rosebud Falls in ten or twelve years.”

“Not since the investigation of the kidnapping of Collin Meagher’s great-niece.”

Judge Warren stared at Mead as if willing him to give details. Mead knew, however, that having invoked the silence, he could not be pressured by any Family member to reveal the subject. Even though the judge had a level of civil authority, he was still Family. Finally, Warren handed the warrant to Mead.

“Thank you, Your Honor.”

“Sheriff, we lost him.”

“Oh, Christ,” Johnson moaned into the phone. “You’re sure?”

“I don’t see how he can keep driving like this. He must be downing energy drinks one after another. God knows, I’ve had a few. He surprised us in Atlanta when he switched from the direct route south on I-75 to I-85 southwest. We’ve been rotating tail and lead for twenty-four hours. Bruce headed down to LaGrange to get some sleep while I dragged behind. He passed the truck about twenty-five miles southwest of the metroplex. When I pulled off at LaGrange, Bruce was still waiting for him to show up. He had to have turned off in that region.”

“Well, that ends that,” the Sheriff sighed. “Get some sleep and head home. We’re going to end up with feds whether we want them or not. You guys did the best you could. At least we know now the shipment wasn’t headed to Florida.”

Call for a Champion

“Gee, this is Sheriff Johnson. I hope this isn’t too early.”

“Not at all, Sheriff. We’re almost ready to leave for the woods. I have a weekend crew.”

“About that,” Johnson said. “I need your help. Urgently.” Gee came instantly alert, setting down his coffee cup.

“How can I help?”

“We have rescued three children. They are unstable and we can’t get through to them.”

“And you think I can?”

“These kids are part of your mission, Gee. They’re why you said you wanted to open the woods.”

“I need to cancel my crew. I’ll tell Karen and call Jonathan and Jessie. If there are children from the woods, that’s my highest priority.”

“Listen, Gee. Before you start calling people, you need to understand; no one knows about this. Tell Karen you have been summoned by the police on a matter of sàmhach. It is critical that you do not tell anyone about the children or precisely where you are going. A deputy will be by in thirty minutes to pick you up.”

“But I have to tell Karen. She’s my…”

“No, Gee. She’s Family. If she’s unfamiliar with the term, have her call Mead Oliver.”

“Uh… how do you spell that?”

“I know I’ve seen the word. It’s in my great-grandmother’s notes. Or perhaps her father’s,” Karen said as she searched through her desk. “It had to do with an attempted murder back in the forties. There is so much history in this room. Here it is.” She pulled out a journal and began to thumb through its pages. “Sometime just before the seven heroes went to war.” Gee stood by. Karen hadn’t challenged him about not telling her where he’d been called to. She wanted to know the meaning of the word and would prefer not to call Mead for a definition of something a Family head should know.

“He didn’t give me a definition. Just said you’d know.”

“Here it is. ‘Police did not inform the Family heads that they were investigating a murder attempt on the youngest Cavanaugh son. When Leo Cavanaugh wanted to call a meeting of the Families, Police Chief Arlan Graves simply invoked sàmhach. We hadn’t used that word since the early twenties. Sàmhach means ‘silence.’ Our forefathers realized there would be times when a Family fell under investigation. In fairness to the community, Families had to be kept silent and out of communication with others and even within the Family itself. Sàmhach means complete silence. To preserve our heritage and position, it must be honored.’ I see,” she said.

“I’m sorry…” Gee started.

“Look at the time!” Karen interrupted. “I’d better get to the woods so we can get organized. I love you, Darling.” She kissed him intently and looked into his eyes. “What you have to do, do well.” She stomped into her boots and left. Five minutes later a deputy was at Gee’s door.

“I need books,” Gee said after unsuccessfully encouraging the children to talk. “Is there anything in the hospital?”

“We have a small library and there is a children’s section. I’ll go get a few.”

“Thank you, Ellie. I don’t know what else to do.”

“They completely ignore Julia and me but their eyes track you no matter where you move. It’s the same with Adam or Mead. They track a male. But they don’t seem frightened of you. They try not to show it but I can see the fear in their eyes when Adam is around.”

“Look at the bunny, Littlest,” Gee said as he read to the children. They sat where he’d placed them on the floor next to him. Ellie had brought a beanbag chair from the children’s wing and Gee was comfortable as he read book after book. Unlike his times in the library, instead of starting with picture books for the youngest and progressing to older children, he found himself working down to more and more basic books as Ellie brought them to him, searching for the level the children could understand. “Do you want to touch the bunny’s soft fur? Pat the bunny, Littlest.”

The smallest of the children snapped her eyes to Gee and he nodded. She reached out her hand and touched the bit of fur pasted in the book.

“Brother? Wouldn’t you like to pat the bunny? Go ahead. Pat the bunny.”

Looking toward Gee for confirmation, the little boy—about six, Gee guessed—reached out a tentative hand to touch the fur. He looked at the tiniest of the children. Gee guessed she might be five. They had a hint of a smile. In the absence of other names, Gee called the children Littlest, Brother, and Sister. He had no idea if they were related. He turned to Sister—maybe eight. She reminded him of Sally Ann Metzger.

“Sister, isn’t it nice how Brother and Littlest are patting the bunny? Can you pat the bunny?” The girl did not respond to the question. She simply looked at Gee. “Go ahead. Pat the bunny, Sister.” Immediately the girl reached out her hand touch the bunny. He watched as her fingers intertwined with the other children on the tiny bit of fur.

“It’s nap time, Gee,” Ellie whispered. “You need a break.”

“Okay, children,” Gee said. “Our friend Ellie says it’s nap time. Everyone up and go use the toilet. Sister, help Littlest up on the seat.” The children finished taking turns on the toilet and after being prompted, washed their hands.

“Time to hop in bed now,” Gee said. The children looked quickly at each other and the boy climbed onto a bed. Sister lifted Littlest up to the same bed and climbed in next to her.

“They all got in the same bed,” Ellie whispered. “They each have their own.”

“Let them,” Gee said. “Let them rest where they are comfortable.” He turned to the children and touched each of their heads softly. “Sleep now and I’ll come back to read some more in a little bit.” Gee knew they had to be pretending sleep as they all closed their eyes at once, but perhaps they would fall asleep before long. Ellie pulled the shades and turned out the light. She stepped outside the room with Gee.

“That was amazing,” she said. “You’ve been reading to them for three hours.”

“They’re babies,” Gee whispered. “Just babies.”

“But they smiled,” Ellie said, softly laying her hand on Gee’s shoulder. “For you. When they touched the fur, they smiled.”

“Who could have done this to them? Who could do this?” Gee sagged against a wall.

“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Ellie encouraged him, kneading the shoulder she still grasped. “Go get a cup of coffee. Adam is in the cafeteria. He’ll talk to you.”

“They’ve all three been abused,” Adam reported to the two policemen and Gee in the cafeteria. “In ways that would put a man in prison for life.”

“Life?” Gee asked.

“Pedophiles don’t live long in prison,” Johnson answered. “Continue, Adam.”

“They are malnourished and drugged. They are afraid of doctors but are immediately obedient to any command. God knows what other responses have been programmed into them under the influence of that fantasy drug.”

“If we can find Dr. Jones, we might get an answer. We’ve issued an APB,” Mead said.

“You got the Lab’s research?” Johnson asked.

“No. But when we opened his medicine cabinet, there were several pill bottles with prescription tags on them. That wouldn’t raise an alarm if the person still occupied the apartment. But no one leaves for an extended period without their prescriptions. Upon opening, we discovered that all the bottles were filled with the same pills. We have them out for full spectrum testing, but we believe they are Lustre,” Mead said. “We issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of drug trafficking”

“What have you found after a morning with the children, Gee?” Johnson asked.