Chapter 3

Breakfast, considering that everything came out of a can or box, was pretty good. The clean up consisted of those who hadn't helped make breakfast, washing and drying what was in the sink. Afterwards we reassembled in the living room. Rebecca came and stood in front of me. "Brother David, this is the time when we usually hold our morning meeting. At home, it's the time when announcements are made, schedules are announced and the like, followed by a short morning devotion."

She looked at me and smiled slightly. "It is usually conducted by an Elder or Deacon, and the devotion most commonly consists of some simple parable or thought for the day that follows the news of the day. Please, Brother David, we all know the most important announcement: it's still snowing so don't go outside. Please give us the morning devotion."

"Even if I'm not of your Faith?" I queried.

"Maybe it is better that way," Judith spoke up. "It's not like all of us don't have all the usual parables memorized."

I stood up, my mind racing.

"Most of the parables I know are probably the ones you've heard as well," I told them. "A parable, though, is a story with a clear message, so I'll tell you a story.

"My mother is Brother Jerome's older sister. When I was growing up, we lived in Arizona, but weren't involved in the Faith. My mother always extolled Brother Jerome's special traits and qualities to me and never said an ill word about him.

"When you are growing up, at first you take what your parents and any of those older than you say without thinking or consideration. As you grow older, you consider what they say and nod; that is, after all, how you were raised. By the time you reach the age you are at, you're more aware of things and the more questions you have.

"When I asked my mother why we didn't live with Brother Jerome if he was so special, so holy, she told me that she recognized his qualities, but chose to live apart. That didn't make much sense to me, and I did as many young people do -- I thought about it and started making assumptions -- and I stopped asking questions because I thought I knew the answers.

"My mother followed the news about the Faith carefully, and she talked to many friends she had in the Faith. I came to the conclusion that she didn't like the Faith's ways when it came to sex and the age young women in the Faith had sex. It was, after all, the main bone of contention between the Faith and the statists. Everyone knows girls that age are too young, and only pervs go after them, and pervs deserve to be locked up and the keys thrown away.

"That said, however, my mother raised me to honor and respect women and to treat them as special people. She never said a bad word about Brother Jerome or anyone in the Faith, no matter what the news said about them.

"Then one day a doctor told my mother that she had lung cancer, and that it had spread throughout her body and she had but weeks to live. My mother made arrangements for me to live with a friend of hers. My mother's friend had been of the Faith, and had moved away some years ago when her husband was killed in an accident. Then one day my mother was dead and I was living with a stranger and I felt -- lost. Still, the questions I had were ones I only asked myself and I felt smug because I knew all the answers.

"Sisters, never despair to the point where you only ask questions of yourself. We have an amazing ability to lie to ourselves and never see through what is usually a thin tissue of false assumptions.

"Now, I'm here with you. I don't know why my mother lived apart from the Faith, but it wasn't because of how young women are treated. One thing she made crystal clear to me as I was growing up was the importance of recognizing that everyone is different, that everyone has to be treated for who they are, rather than some group we -- or someone else -- categorizes them in.

"The government, the statists as you call them, want a world where one rule fits everyone. In order to do that, they dumb things down, they draw categories as broad as people will let them get away with ... and if you still don't fit? They don't care. Fit or else!"

"It is my understanding that you are here by choice, all of you. It is my understanding that you are brought to the Light when you wish, not when someone else wishes. It is my understanding that if a young woman wishes to become pregnant by a Father of the Faith that no stigma is attached to her or her child and later she can choose to be married to the man she wishes to marry and that they will stay married for all eternity.

"I didn't know much about your beliefs and the Faith you believe in before this, and it turns out most of what I thought I knew was wrong. But I've seen enough to know that I don't have very many problems with the tenets of your Faith."

"Thank you all for listening."

I stood there and looked at them, hoping I'd done well. Susan stood up and came to me, bowed her head a bit, then leaned close and kissed me. She turned to her sisters.

"There are three of us who aren't here of our free choice. You all know the reasons for that. Our choices were constrained -- not by our brothers and sisters in the Faith, but the statists."

She turned to me. "I just turned seventeen, Brother David. I have a fine son back at the Temple, who is under the care of one of the older Mothers. The three of us are the only unmarried women with children that Brother Jerome couldn't pretend were older than we really are.

"Brother Jerome says that the statists will be doing DNA testing to tell if children are with their real parents. The men of the Faith have all left; there will be no fathers to test. The women will refuse such tests as long as they can; they will refuse to permit such tests being performed on our children. Brother Jerome says that the tests will be made, and the children will be taken away, but in less than a year they will all be returned.

"I wish I could have brought my son with me, but Brother Jerome knows that the statists have those among us who watch us or who might lie about having seen us leave ... we could never have pretended to be anything but what we were if we had our children along."

I tried to be gentle. "Susan, dressed the way you were, there was no way you could have ever convinced anyone that you are something different than what you are." I turned to all of them.

"I tell you this -- taking children from their parents is a wicked thing. I don't know what Brother Jerome has told you, and I know I'm not a parent, so I don't honestly know how I'd feel if the government swooped in and took my children. This is a trial, a test. Not of you or your faith -- but for the statists.

"If not on Earth, then at the Gates of Heaven, those who take part in such an abomination, such a perversion of justice, will meet their just reward -- they will be turned away from the gates to suffer eternal damnation for their crimes.

"I realize that punishment deferred is cold comfort for pain today -- but your pain today will not be so much as an iota of the pain they will feel for all eternity."

Diane cleared her throat. "Brother David," she held up a cell phone. "My phone is buzzing. I don't understand how a call could get through."

She glanced down at the screen and blinked. "It's Brother Jerome." She opened the phone and said something, then nodded and moved towards me. "He wants to speak to you, Brother David."

I took the phone, shaking my head in wonder. Somewhere close by was a cell tower ... probably on one of the nearby hills. Uncle Jerome had an uncanny ability to think and plan for everything. He'd said yesterday that they owned the local power company; evidently they had links to the local phone company as well.

"Uncle Jerome," I told him, "we are well."

"I am glad to hear that, Brother David.

"A situation that I had not foreseen has arisen. I want you to think long and hard about what you will do. Brother David, a statist police officer followed the bus from the Main Temple to the ranch. Foolishly, Brother David, when you were settling in, she too settled in. She did not know to turn off her car engine when the snow got too deep, Brother David, lest the carbon monoxide kill her. That was last night. Right now, David, in spite of a sleeping bag, a blanket, and warm clothes, she is near death from the cold and the gas.

"Brother David, she is two thousand one hundred steps down the road leading from the ranch house back to the main road. I cannot tell you what to do -- I can't see any outcomes, good or bad.

"Brother David, I see things. You think I'm a charlatan; but then so do most people. I've known the statists were coming for nearly two years now. A year ago I knew you would lead some of the young women of the Faith to safety. I've known about the snowstorm for months.

"In the boxes of supplies you were given, Brother David, are two 'cold suits.' Those are designed for men working eight-hour shifts -- with three breaks -- in cold storage warehouses that run constantly at twenty degrees below zero. There are heavy gloves and boots, needed to survive outside. There is headgear and goggles so that you can see outside.

"There are a half dozen GPS devices in the lower pantry, along with emergency radios and similar tools. The various devices come with instructions.

"I do not know what will happen if you try to rescue this woman, Brother David. I have no idea. Bringing a statist into the Lower Temple would be a bad idea at the best of times; I don't think you could fool even a dim-witted statist, by telling her the young women of the Faith got out at Camp Verde but you should try that first. If however, at some point if you feel you must, you may show her the Lower Temple.

"I just do not know, Brother David. I don't want to offer you advice, just the information."

I made up my mind. "Brother Jerome..." I started to say; there was an audible whistle of relief from the other end. "I am not a statist; my mother raised me better than that. Sir, I wouldn't leave a dog out there."

He sighed more loudly. "Brother David, great things await you in this life ... your life has barely begun to run. Be careful out there."

I handed the phone back to Diane. "There is a statist policeman, actually, a police woman, a mile and bit down the road, trapped in her car. I assume you've all looked outside." There were worried nods. "She will die unless someone rescues her. If we do rescue her, she will surely tell the statists about us, the first chance she gets.

"There is cold weather gear, and I will put it on and I will go and try to find her. Sisters, please. This will be very dangerous. If I don't return -- wait until spring to look for me."

Life is never how you expect it to be.

Rose spoke up. "Not all of us were raised in the Faith. I was raised in Wyoming. They teach you how to survive in the cold and snow about the time you learn to walk. I know more about the outside than any of you. You can't go out there alone, Brother David."

"Sister Rose, courage is not the only requirement that will be needed for this journey. Inner strength will not be the only quality needed for this ... pure strength will be required as well."

She turned up her lip at me. "If any of you can beat me arm wrestling, I'll stand aside and let you kill yourself. But you won't."

Rebecca was first. I'd seen arm-wrestling contests in college. The stronger guys liked to intimidate people -- they would nail your hand to the table and grind your knuckles into the surface. Rose simply rapped Rebecca's knuckles against the table. Nadine tried, then Nancy, then Susan. All failed.

She looked me, serious and intent. "I can do this Brother David. Please trust me."

I could only nod, hoping that there wasn't a cold suit small enough to fit her. I needn't have worried; I think her gear was better than what I had. Moreover, she produced a sled, saying she'd found it in the garage of the ranch house. "What for?" I asked.

She giggled. "Brother David, can you carry a statist for a mile? Do you want to?"

I subsided. Rose was definitely better at this than I was.

Finally it was Rebecca and Nadine, Diane and Judith who came to see us off. It was impossible to use the front door of the ranch house -- the snow had buried it, but the garage door was clear so we went that way.

The wind was blustery, but not as bad as it had been, but there were still a lot of snowflakes in the air -- both still coming down and what the wind kicked up. Visibility was a couple of hundred yards, but there were enough landmarks so I didn't think we'd get lost. There was, I thought, about four feet of the fluffy white stuff on the ground, but it was hard to tell, because of all of the drifts.

The GPS was like a magic device. I'd programmed in the beginning and set the end point for our proposed trip, and it would show me if we were offline. The road, as I recalled, had been straight, so I figured if we went straight we'd be in good shape.

Without the GPS, it would have been much harder. And, as it turned out, on the way back when the wind and the snow picked up, we'd have gotten lost for sure. I suppose I'd have realized I was lost soon enough, but then -- I'd have been lost, with no idea which way to go. With the GPS I always knew which way was the direction to where I wanted to go.

The outdoors was a surreal nightmare. In spite of it being nearly noon, the light was a more like early evening, just after the sun had set. Visibility was good at first, with patches of longer visibility at irregular intervals. By the time we were on the way back visibility had dropped to less than twenty feet.

Finally Rose moved up beside me and pointed to a hummock in the snow. "There," she told me. She bent down and undid the one other thing we'd brought with us besides the sled: a snow shovel.

I sank it into the snow, and almost at once hit the car's roof. I scraped a bit off, being careful, which turned out to be a good thing ... there had been no way to tell, but the driver side car window was open. The car had been turned away from the house, so it was on the offside.

At that point I had the door open, and a woman, slumped over the steering wheel, was visible.

Rose was a lifesaver! "Oh my gosh! She had the car engine on! Brother David! Pull her out! Carbon monoxide!"

I hastily rushed to drag her out. Instantly I learned that she was soaking wet, and I could feel faint tremors in her body. "She's shivering," I told Rose, "but it's awfully weak."

"Brother David! We have to hurry to get her back to the house! She's suffering from hypothermia and maybe frostbite. We have to get her out of those wet clothes and warmed up!"

The trip back to the house was far worse than the trip out had been. The visibility was far less, and only the GPS kept me on the right path. Rose tried to carry the shovel and keep the woman upright, but eventually she tossed the shovel well clear of the road and concentrated on helping push the sled.

It took nearly an hour to cover what had taken half that on the outbound trip. The other girls had moved into the upper house, and someone had gotten a fire going in the fireplace. Still, when they heard us closing the garage door, they flooded the garage.

Rose was right there. "Rebecca, Nadine, go to the master bedroom. Put clean sheets on the bed, get towels; lots of towels. Susan and Diane, when Brother David gets her in there, take off her clothes, all of them. As quick as you can, dry her off! Rebecca and Nadine, after the sheets and towels, bring blankets. Lots of blankets."