“Anne?” I walked into her father’s small room at the back of the house. There was no sign of either Landes.
I returned to the main living area. Anne’s bed, a tiny twin in the corner, was neatly made. Her oil lamp sat unlit on the rustic table beside it. The well-worn Bible lying just where my friend had left it.
“She’s not here,” I said more to myself than to Bastian.
“Doesn’t look like it.” Bastian stood in the doorway, not coming inside. “Sara, I don’t mean to rush you, but I think we should get out of here, and soon.”
I agreed with him, but it upset me to think I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye. To see how she was doing after what happened to David. I knew she would take it hard. I suspected her feelings for the older Scott ran as deep as mine for the younger.
“I can’t just leave her. Not now.” I picked up her pillow and hugged it to my chest. The idea of walking away, leaving Anne behind at this place, was unconscionable.
“I know,” was all Bastian said.
“She loved him, you know,” I told Bastian, my eyes filling again. I had cried more in the last twelve hours than I had in the last ten years.
Bastian’s own eyes grew bright with unshed tears. “And he loved her. She was the best thing to happen to him in a long time.”
And that mattered.
So much.
I squeezed the pillow, twisting it with my fury before slamming it back down on the mattress. “He’s the devil. He should burn in…h—hell,” I stammered, conditioned shame making it almost impossible to say.
I could hear voices off in the distance. Bastian looked over his shoulder. “We need to go, Sara.”
“What am I supposed to do, Baz? She’s my best friend. My sister. I can’t leave her after everything that’s happened. I can’t disappear without her knowing.” Panic rose in my chest. Leaving was hard enough without letting Anne down in the process.
Bastian crossed the room and picked up the Bible, flipping it open to a blank page at the beginning. He ripped it out and handed it to me. “Leave her a note. Tell her we’re going to my parents’ house in Ohio. Their names are Laura and Nick Scott. I’ll give you their address and my cell phone number. She’ll know where we are.”
This was the first time I heard what our plan was. I felt a little better knowing we had a destination.
“Okay. I’ll do that. It’s something at least.”
The voices were getting louder. We didn’t have much time. I found a pen on the desk in the corner and hastily wrote Anne a letter. Bastian recited the address and phone number so I could write it down. I implored her to leave The Retreat. To come and find me. That I’d figure out a way to take care of us.
And that I was so sorry about David.
That I loved her.
I folded the paper into a square and tucked it in her pillowcase where I hoped her father wouldn’t find it.
We quickly slipped out the door and into the trees. The crunch of leaves beneath our feet sounded too loud in the night air.
We waited for the group of Gathering disciples to pass by. I tensed at the sight of Stafford, Bobbie, and a few others carrying shovels, heading in the direction of the small plot reserved for the Carter family cemetery.
“What are they doing?” Bastian whispered.
I couldn’t tell him.
“Doesn’t matter. We need to leave.”
I started to turn away when movement caught my eye. I paused.
I saw Anne walking towards her house, her father by her side. Pastor Carter on her other side, his arm around her shoulders. Her head bowed.
My stomach lurched. I was going to be sick again.
Pastor Carter was talking to Mr. Landes, who nodded agreeably.
