Chapter 10

Ellie and I stood on the porch and watched them go. We didn't let them go far before we hurried inside. "It's getting colder," she told me.

"I know. The sky is clear and there is little wind. It might be quite cold out there tonight." I looked at my watch. I was a little after two in the afternoon.

"I have a radical plan to suggest," I told her. "Lets pack some things and head to Flagstaff now. We'll get there about dark, we find a hotel and check in. Then get a decent meal."

"I was about to say it hasn't been that long since I've had a decent meal -- it's been a lot longer for you. You are starting to look a little gaunt, David."

She looked at me. "I had the feeling from the first time we've met that there's something you're not telling me."

"At first I had a good reason not to tell you. I've learned a great secret in the last two weeks. I've never understood why politicians think trying to cover up their mistakes is an effective strategy -- entirely too often it makes things worse."

"I'm not a politician and neither are you," Ellie observed.

"Evidently I now am -- but unlike them I know why I've been keeping the cover up going. I think you won't hate me forever -- but what I'm deathly afraid of is embarrassing myself in front of you."

"What sort of embarrassment? I've seen you in your jockey shorts -- and even less."

"Hypocrisy," I said simply. "I talk about the value of truth and I've lied to you since you woke up. I talk about not having sex with young women -- and have done it."

"Big things or little things?"

"Fourteen young women. Ellie, the first time I ever saw you undressed was last night."

She swallowed. "You're saying they were actually here? Where did you hide them?"

"Lets just say this house is the tip of the iceberg."

"I understand and forgive you, David. I was as warped and twisted then as Sheffield is today. I wouldn't have understood and I would have done my best to derail things."

"There are a couple of other things. One that's important to you personally."

"What would that be?"

"Of all of those young women, Rose knew the most about how to survive in weather like you -- we -- were in. Don't ever arm wrestle with her -- I'm pretty sure she is stronger than I am. She went with me to get you. She was the one who supervised your initial care and treatment. She has a lot more experience looking at you nude than I do."

"The little vixen!" she said with a laugh. "That's not a problem!"

"I'm a Father of the Faith many times over, and if several of those young women get their wish, a father as well in nine months."

"If you're a hypocrite, then I'm one too."

"Rose was one of those I brought to the Light."

"If she liked it as much as I did, good for both of you!"

"And last but not least: tomorrow I'll want you to meet Sister Susan."

"Is she one you brought to the Light?"

"Actually, it was the other way around, at least at first. Ellie, I love you. I love Rose -- but I also love Susan."

She stood still for a moment, clearly thinking. Then she shrugged. "I'm joining a bunch of polygamists. I want to be one myself. I don't see as I have any right to call the kettle black."

"Susan doesn't like to kindle sparks with her sisters."

"Somewhere along the line you told me it was important that people choose for themselves. Are there any more surprises?"

"She forgives you for helping those who took away her son at the Temple."

"Usually I like to get all the bad medicine down in one gulp. I hop in the swimming pool; I don't ease in. For this, a drop at a time seems to be working best. Is there anything else?"

I huffed a sigh. "Susan is nearly seventeen; her son was born nine months after her birthday. I understand it's not uncommon among the young women of the Faith. Brother Jerome is the baby's father."

"If I don't have a problem with her having a child, I don't have a problem with who the father is. You're expected to adopt the boy?"

"Me, you and Rose, when she's old enough to marry."

"That's not a problem."

"Susan's pregnant again."

"I thought that was a one time thing?"

"It is. She fell for some guy in Sequin; he talked his way into her panties. Then he laughed and walked away. Still the baby isn't his; Susan turned to Brother Jerome for consolation."

"Even so, I don't want to ever learn his name; I'd hurt him."

"The last thing is that Susan knows about you and Rose. Brother Jerome isn't the only member of the Faith who seems to be able to see what's going to happen. She is embarrassed and very contrite. She's aware of how she let her hormones get away from her. She ignored everything she'd been taught and it turned out badly."

Ellie grabbed me and kissed me very hard. "Then, my husband-to-be you will give her the very best wedding night ever. And we will tell her of our love for her and her babies, who are as much a part of our family as she is."

For that, I kissed her back. We didn't get on the road for nearly an hour after that.

It was on the way to Flagstaff that she knocked me for a loop. She'd been quiet for the first two hours of the drive; I didn't feel much like talking either. Out of the blue, she waved her right hand.

"I think I'm still missing something."

"I've told you virtually everything I know."

"Virtually." She said it like it was a dirty word. "David, tell me the honest truth: who founded the Faith?"

"Rachael Wilson, Brother Jerome's wife. Brother Jerome and my mother were the first members. Rachael was an MD."

"And she's dead now? Martyred?"

I shook my head. "Not in the sense you mean, although she did die for her beliefs."

"That seems like a contradiction."

"She treated rich people half the time and gave her time free to the poor the other half of the time. She contracted TB on the Navajo reservation and it killed her."

"Is Brother Jerome your father?"

"No, no one knows my real father's name. He was killed in an accident very shortly after I was conceived."

"Why did you accept the Faith?"

"Good question! All of my life I've thought I understood the world. From the time I headed that bus towards Arizona, I found I understood less and less of the world than I imagined. Those young women, for all that they are younger than I am, understood the world -- and life -- better than I did. At first I was impressed, then I was awed. I had problems at first; my mother never said anything to me about the sexual practices of the Faith, so I was like most people, appalled at the notion of making love to someone as young as many of them are.

"In the end I couldn't see why, if a woman can have and enjoy sex at a particular age, that she shouldn't have sex. Yes, there are consequences that can come with men having sex with young women, but try as I might, I can't see anything wrong with girls sharing pleasure with each other. Nor did I see anything wrong with a young woman of legal marriageable age wanting a baby.

"And if a girl could enjoy sex before her first period, why not enjoy it with a man? And why not have that sex with a responsible person who isn't just trying to get himself off?"

"Was Dr. Wilson gay?" Ellie asked.

"Until she met Brother Jerome she and my mother were lovers. When they founded the Faith the three of them married in it."

"And you mother left the Faith because she was unfaithful?"

"She felt bad about it, obviously. But she was instantly forgiven for very extenuating circumstances. It was something else."

"What else?"

I sighed. So much for all your secrets, Brother Jerome!

"All if the Fathers of the Faith have come from outside. There is something in how they teach the young men of the Faith that doesn't work. It's not that they're bad fathers, but the one thing a Father of the Faith has to be able to do is stand up afterwards, wish the young woman well and then leave and not look back. The young men of the Faith promptly fall in love with nearly every young woman they bring to the Light and want to marry them. That doesn't work."

"Again, what is your part in this?"

"I was raised outside the church. I never knew it until today, that my mother gave up the two people she loved most, to further their dreams. They hoped I would not only be able to be a Father of the Faith, but see the error in their teaching."

"And have you?"

"Not really. I know that the ability is something you can learn, but can't teach. My spiritual guide tells me that I know the answer, but I can't see it."

"What does the Faith do about the urgings young men feel?"

"That might be part of the problem; I just don't know enough. They are taught masturbation. I guess there are some of the older women of the Faith, widows I suspect, who show some of them the ropes. I got the impression it isn't a whole lot of them. Young men are warned that it is against the tenets of the Faith for one man to seek pleasure with another."

"That seems a little one-sided. If the Faith permits gay women, shouldn't they allow gay men?"

"I was told that God doesn't approve of gay men; not because of what they do -- but how they do it. I was told that most gay men seek their own pleasure without regard -- or love -- for their partner. That most gay women love and treasure their partners. Many of them want to have children, and if society permitted it, more would have a family."

"I know for a personal fact, and I include myself, that not all gay women are that big on loving their partners."

"Would you have done that, if society didn't frown on your relationship in general? And your peers in particular?"

"No," she said softly, then beat her hand on the steering wheel. "There has to be a better way." She slowed the car and looked at me.

"You know what would be cool? Dangerous as hell, but cool?"

"I don't know about doing dangerous things."

"Sister Catherine and Sister Abigail want to get married. They are both in their early twenties, right?"

"Yes," I said tentatively, not having any idea where she was going with her thought.

"So, there are no age problems. Could the Faith fly them to a state where gays can be married and have someone like Brother Jerome do a typical wedding ceremony? Maybe invite a few media types?"

I looked at her, stunned. "That would be some kind of big."

"Yes it would. But if Brother Jerome is marrying two gay women -- that will send a strong message about the Faith."

"You're right though, it would be really dangerous. A lot of people would have to be consulted. I have no idea if Sister Catherine or Sister Abigail would agree. They certainly have good reason not to draw publicity on themselves."

"It's a thought, David."

I'd already noticed that when it came to the Faith, it took a stronger man than myself not to tear up.

"It's a good thought, Ellie." I choked on the lump in my throat. "I never met Rachael Wilson, so far as I know. I never knew my mother was married to Brother Jerome and Rachael. I just ... I just..." I was at a loss for words.

"This is something they would have wanted, I think. If it was possible, if it isn't too dangerous for Catherine and Abigail, this is something they would have wanted."

We were quiet, lost in thought until we pulled into Flagstaff. We got directions to the Sheriff's office and Ellie drove past just to make sure where it was, and then found a nearby Ramada Inn. We checked in, toted our bags up to the room and then found a steak house where I really did have a decent meal. By the time we got back to the room, I was nearly asleep. Ellie got my shoes off and me under the covers, and then she spooned around me.

"Turn about is fair play," she whispered.

"I wish I was awake."

"David, the both of us have had a rough two weeks. Did I mention you rubbed me raw last night? Sleep, David, sleep!" That was easy enough to do!

When I woke in the morning it was to the sounds of Ellie dressing; I'd slept through her waking up and taking a shower. I rolled over on my elbow and said, "I love you Ellie. Now and forever!"

"And I love you, too, David! And I love Rose and I'll come to love Susan," she replied.

"Rose already loves you, she told me." I glanced at my watch and started. I had been exhausted! It was 9:30 in the morning.

"I'll get up and get some breakfast. You know where to find me."

"I have no idea how long this will take. With Sheffield I had three interviews with him, one with a county commissioner and one with some chief of staff to a county commissioner ... I never figured out which one.

"I've been given constructive credit, according to the FBI, because I was injured on duty, and then marooned by the storm. David, what about you?"

"It's a problem," I admitted. "But on the other hand, cartoonists aren't noted for their normal work habits. I'll be okay."

Ellie headed off for her appointment, and I eventually found my way to the coffee shop. The motel had a "business center" off the lobby and I signed onto my web site. There were thousands of emails! The PC had Microsoft Office installed, so I created a Word document and wrote an explanation of how I'd been caught in the Great Blizzard and that I was okay.

I got it so I liked it, and then posted it to my site. I looked through a number of the emails, but they were mostly variations of "Whazzup dude?"

I was back in the room by eleven and then all I could do was wait for Ellie.

She came through the door a little after 1. "I'd ask how it went, but you might think I was anxious or something. How did it go?" I asked.

"Easily the oddest interview I've ever had -- not that I've had that many. He asked me straight out -- Cliff Shepherd had recommended me -- did that mean I recommended his life style? I told him I'd talked to his deputy once, but life styles had not come into the discussion.

"He then came right to the point. What did I think of Brother Jerome and his 'church.'" She made air quotes.

"I told him that I started out having problems, but the more I learned about what was really going on, the fewer problems I had. Eventually, I told him, they did nothing that other religions didn't do.

"He told me that about a third of the people in the county are Mormons and he'd hate to guess how many of those are polygamists. One of my jobs would be to turn a blind eye to anything that wasn't a problem. I told him if there wasn't a problem, there wasn't anything to see. Then he explained that the country had a number of Mormon 'fringe groups' he called them, including the FLDS and the Hope in Zion temple. Texas and those organizations have had some bad blood in the last few years and that he hasn't and he intended to keep it that way.

"I told him that the bad blood was on the part of aggressive prosecutors who more interested in being reelected than following the law. People who have abused prosecutorial discretion. I told him that initially I thought that the prosecutions were justified, but the more I looked into particular cases, the less justified I thought those cases were."

She laughed. "He took me out to lunch and said I start in a week; expect to spend a lot of time learning on the job, as besides Mormons and the like, I was going to have to deal with a lot of native Americans. They have their tribal police, but they got in trouble wherever they feel like it. He wants to deal with just the important cases and let the tribes deal with everything else."

"You got the job!" I said, happy for her.

"I got the job," Ellie confirmed. "I start a week from today. I am, David, going to need to find a place to live."

"We are going to find a place to live."

"I hinted about Camp Verde and he said it was a bitch of a commute. Technically, his officers are supposed to live in Coconino County and Camp Verde is in another county." She looked at my expression and took pity on me.

"David, he said the cults and the Indians filled his plate, just by themselves. The best people to deal with the former was someone who spoke their language -- and the best people to deal with the latter was people willing to learn their language. I told him I was working on the first, and willing to learn the second."

I hadn't had lunch, so I grabbed a burger in the coffee shop and ate it as we drove out to Camp Verde. Ellie glanced at me as she drove. "I've never been much of a cook; I have this feeling I'm going to be learning a lot more about it than I ever have up to now. We have got to get you eating right."

"Probably," I mumbled as I chomped another bite. I knew I didn't have good eating habits, but you'd be amazed at how many calories you could burn off backpacking in the mountains. I'd spent a lot of time in the high country; it was my favorite place.

Ellie pulled off the freeway and stopped. "Whoa!"

I looked out and smiled; the Mogollon Rim was impressive. "You haven't seen this before?"

"It doesn't look nearly as impressive looking up at it as it does looking down. And on my first trip up here -- David, I was a little fuzzy. I knew it and it's one of the reason I didn't put up more of a fight about what I thought I saw."

"I really am sorry about lying to you. I should have told you before we went to bed."

"No, that's fine." She waved at the vista. "The only other times I came this way it was dark."

She carefully got us back on the road and I leaned back and dozed. It wasn't the longest nap in the world. I'd barely gotten to sleep when Joan appeared.