Page 3 of Christy

Mary doesn’t show up, and the three girls think we should wait until it’s a little lighter out. None of us have shoes on because the jerks always take them to make running away harder. I haven’t been allowed shoes in months. I know that Keli and Erica are trying to get a little sleep, but there’s no way I could, not when escape is so close. There’s a key unlocking the door, and I expect it to be Mary, only it’s not. It’s freaking Caleb and Joseph. It’s never a good day when I have to see Joseph. I can’t imagine today will be any different. I just hope Mary’s okay and still making her way here if she can. Judging by the lack of light that came in when Caleb opened the door, it’s still very early in the morning.Please let us all escape this time!

Max

I really fucking hope this isn’t a trap. We went to a shed-like building that both Pa and Erik thought Mads would be at, but we had no luck. Then this girl came up to us and offered to take us toMads. Well, Mads and three other girls who are apparently also in need of rescuing.

We’re all standing in the trees watching this girl with an almost floor-length skirt move quietly over to what looks like a shack. Just a couple of minutes later, she comes back out quickly, followed by Mads. Mads runs directly to Mick. I’m so fucking glad she’s safe, but again, I feel this ache. I’m not jealous, but I want that. I want someone to love like that, who loves me back in the same way.

Behind Mads are two girls who look like they’re barely old enough to be in college. They’re walking slowly, and that’s when I realize all the girls except for Mary have no shoes on. How much do you wanna bet the fuckers did that on purpose? There’s a girl dressed like Mary, only her hair's up in a long, light-brown or maybe dark-blonde ponytail. She’s following the two girls, but she trips and falls. I overheard Mads say the girl is a klutz.

Leif and Jeremiah pick up the two girls. Mads is fucking pissed and going home. I didn’t say anything to her at the reception like Juan, Ror, or Kierstie did, but fuck if I did anything to defend her when Juan told her he didn’t know how to talk to her after the attack that was the catalyst for Rory ending up in prison for a while. I’m gonna have to talk to her.

I hear a grunt of pain and look over to see Ry falling to the ground, grabbing his eye and his crotch at the same time. The girl he was trying to carry is next to him. I can tell by the sound that Ry ain’t gonna be doing anything but wheezing in pain for a bit, so I swoop in and pick up the girl. She turns her head to look at me, and I swear the world stops. She’s got eyes as blue as the ocean, and I’m pretty fucking sure I could drown in them. She gives me a little smile. “I can walk if you’re afraid I’m going to hurt you like I did that other guy.” I smile at her. “Nah, you’re good. Besides, my brother Ry could use some knocking back down to reality sometimes.”

I follow Jeremiah and Leif back toward the trucks. I look back for a second and see Asher and Saxon are helping Ry to his feet, but both of them are fighting from laughing their asses off at him.

I look at the beauty in my arms and just have to know her name. “Name’s Max. Thank you for helping my sister escape.” She gives me a big smile, and, fuck me, she’s gorgeous. “I’m Christy. I need to be the one thanking her. This is the sixth time I’ve tried to escape. I can’t marry the man whom Joseph picked for me. He’ll suicide me faster than Father did to Mama.” I don’t think this place has fucking improved at all since Ma left it in the eighties.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get you down the mountain and get you safe. My Ma—” She interrupts me with excitement. “Wait, you saidyou’re Madison’s brother, right?” I nod as I’ve got us almost back to the trucks and don’t want to trip and drop her. “Does that mean your mom is Linnea?” Before I can answer, Juan, who's standing at the truck waiting for us, answers, “Yeah, that’s our Ma. Why?” Christy turns and looks at Juan. She blinks a couple of times because Mads, Juan, and I could not look more different. She doesn’t say anything about it, but answers my nosiest brother. “My mama, before she died, always told me if we escaped and needed help, to find someone named Linnea or her brother. I think his name was Erik or Derek or something. She remembered when Linnea was rescued, and almost at the same time, Linnea’s parents died. Mama always said that we could find them. I don’t know if it’s really true, but I’ve tried to leave so many times and never quite made it before… before Father or Joseph and his muscle found me. I just tried a couple of days ago, and you can see just how happy Father was with me.” Her dad gave her the black eye? What kind of fucking men do they have up here?

Pa must have heard the whole conversation between Juan and Christy, because he speaks up from the front seat in the pickup across from the one we’re about to hop into. “My wife is Linnea, and I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to help you, but I think tonight we’re taking you over to Anna’s house. She’s a nurse and has plenty of room.”

Asher speaks up from behind me. “I’m sure Mom will dote on you four. As soon as we get back in the range of cell service, the two of you who have family looking for you can use our cell phones to call them.” I help Christy into the truck and hop in next to her, needing to stay close. Everyone gets loaded into the trucks to head down the mountain. Mary is in the truck next to Christy, and I can feel the tension radiating from both of them. Rory’s driving, and Jon is in the passenger seat.

I look over at Christy. “You’re safe now. They ain’t gonna get you and drag you back.” She bites her lip for a second before speaking. “I know you think so, but this is the sixth time I’ve tried to escape and…” Mary interrupts Christy. “And we’re used to the other shoe dropping and sending us back to an even worse situation than we just left. It’s not that we don’t want to believe you, but in our experience, a man’s word is as good as a glass of spoiled milk. You’ll have to forgive us if we aren’t so quick to celebrate.”

Jon asks a good question. “Have you ever been down the mountain? I mean, even to the store or anything?”

They both nod. Mary speaks first. “Last time was probably a couple of years ago. I went to the store with a couple of the wives and one of Joseph’s guys. Just to the grocery store in town. We weren’t allowed to go anywhere else.” Jon looks at Christy, who’s sitting in the middle. The urge to pull her closer to meis seriously strong. “Last time I went to town was with Father’s second wife. She left when I was fifteen, so I think I was either fourteen or fifteen.” Rory asks the question I want the answer to. “And how old are you now?” Christy glances Mary’s way and looks like she’s doing some math. “I think I’m either twenty-two or twenty-three. So it’s been like seven or eight years for me. Father didn’t trust me not to try and run away if I was allowed to go to town.” Jon looks at Mary. “And how old are you?” She looks at Christy and answers, her voice uncertain. “I think I’m a year younger than Christy, so maybe twenty-one or twenty-two. We don’t really know. We don’t have any paperwork, and our fathers either don’t know or don’t care enough to tell us. Our moms knew, but they’ve both been dead a long time.”

My lawyer brain kicks in as we finally hit pavement and can start making good time back to town and to Anna’s place. “So you two have no paperwork at all that shows you even exist? No birth certificate, never been to a doctor or anything?” Christy shakes her head. “Nope, Joseph said it was because the government didn’t need to know, but he made sure the men all had identification and birth certificates. He didn’t let the girls get them because we’re not human in their eyes. We’re property and disposable. If the husband thinks that his wife, who’s not even legally married to him, is going to try to escape, he’s allowed to take whatever measures he needs to make sure it doesn’t reflect badly on him. I will believe till the day I die that Fathersmothered Mama because she was close to escaping.” Mary nods and adds, “My father swears my mama died in childbirth, but my brother was almost two months old when she died. My father…my father is the demon the devil spat out and didn’t want.”

That’s a lot to unpack. Jon must be thinking the same thing by what he asks next. “So if I understand what you’re saying, there’s probably a good number of women who are buried up there that the world has never known about?” Both Mary and Christy nod, and Christy says, “And just in my memory, there’s at least ten or more women that have escaped, or at least that’s what the men claimed.” Mary corrects her. “Fourteen. Whenever I overhear Joseph talking with Father and the other men, it’s always fourteen. It’s always fourteen, and that number started with your-with Linnea. She’s always known by the women in the group as the trailblazer, the one who was the first to escape from the grasp of Joseph.”

I decide right then and there that I’m gonna help these two. They’re gonna need help to get proof they even exist, and I’m gonna do whatever I can to help. I’m not going to dive into the fact that it also means I’ll get to spend plenty of time with the gorgeous girl sitting next to me. I’m also going to ignore what Ma has told me over and over again.“Max, you can’t save everyone. Some people have to save themselves.”

***********

Apparently, Christy doesn’t need saving. Fuck, she’s got Anna, Mary, and Mads-er, Madison on her side. That’s the only explanation I’ve got for the text I just got from Mayson.

Mayson: I know you’re at work, but I figured you should know that shit has hit the motherfucking fan.

Me: What the fuck are you talking about?

Mayson: My mom decided to go on a rampage. She took Mads, Christy, and Mary, along with some guns, and went up the fucking mountain.

My gut sinks. Those fuckers could get a hold of Christy and hurt her. I haven’t even gotten to know her yet, and they could take her away.

Me: And we’re just letting them go the fuck back up there by themselves?

Mayson: You know that’s not happening. We’re in trucks heading up there right now. Grant’s got some supposed shortcut to catch up to them. I’ll let you know when we catch up to them and are heading back home. I don’t know what the fuck got into them.

Me: Your mom is leading them. Who the fuck knows? She’s strong-willed.

Mayson: Don’t I fucking know it.

Me: I’m gonna go over to Ma’s and wait. I have a feeling she knows what’s going on.

Mayson: That’s ‘cause she knows fucking everything.