“There isn’t really anything to tell. I work, and I watch out for Patience. She’s eighty-two and doing great, but everybody needs someone.”
He got the distinct impression there was more to her life here that she wasn’t telling him. Carlos wanted to interrogate her further—without her realizing that’s what he was doing, of course.
The clouds broke around the same time he spotted the signpost for Reverence Sisters Community and took the exit. According to his GPS, they had eight minutes until their arrival.
As soon as they crested the hill just off the highway, he saw it.
Carlos scanned the whole valley, driving along the winding lane on the back side of the hill. “Look at this place.”
Sparse buildings. Creepy vibes, and a desolate air to the whole place. Birds circled one of the far buildings, and on the asphalt lane through the property a bag swirled in the air, then skittered toward a building.
She placed her coffee in the cup holder with a sigh. “As much as I want to find Luci, maybe it’s better if she isn’t here.”
Carlos didn’t want to agree. He just wanted his sister back.
Chapter Eight
Eliana scanned the place, which at one point had likely been a beautiful resort—or a retreat center. On her side stood a huge barn with the door hanging off, only darkness inside. A chicken coup and a pen for what looked like sheep or goats. No animals in sight.
A river ran behind the livestock enclosures, maybe more like a trickling stream. It probably depended on what time of year it was as to how fast the water flowed.
The next few buildings looked more like cabins, arranged like a cul-de-sac, with a dirt track that broke off and circled in front of each. The roads were rutted with boot prints and thin tire tracks that might have been from a bicycle or ATV.
She pointed to the cabins. “We should check those out.”
A lot of them had shattered windows, like someone had stood outside and thrown rocks through the glass.
Carlos turned off the main lane, parking in front of the centermost cabin, then came around the front of his truck.
As she climbed out, Eliana heard a distant howl and stared across an expanse of grass that disappeared down a hill, blocking her view beyond the buildings. She looked back at thebroken windows. “Seems like someone went to a lot of trouble to destroy this place.”
“Come on.” Carlos led the way to the center cabin. “There should be debris from outside on the floor.”
“There’s broken glass.”
“Right, but if this door has been open for weeks or months, leaves would’ve blown in,” he pointed out. “Or rainwater.”
“But apart from the glass, it’s clean.” Just desolate.
“It’s too early to say it’s anything, but the place hasn’t been like this long.”
She shivered, and not just from the cold. “Threadbare blankets. A bookshelf and only a rug to sit on. It’s like some kind of weird convent.”
The books on the shelf looked like old volumes of religious texts. She saw some names she knew, Puritans from hundreds of years ago. Multiple copies of the book of Revelation. Leather bound volumes with gold lettering,The Teachings of the Mother.
She had no idea what to make of it. “Why would Luci come here?”
Carlos didn’t look happy either, standing in the center of the cabin looking around at the bunk beds—no pillows. No lamps. No lights on the ceiling.
Eliana turned around. “This place has no electricity.”
“Those who live in darkness have seen a great light.”
“Huh?” She moved to stand by him.
Carlos shook his head. “She’s been on the party track since high school. After college, she kept her bartending job and her party friends. It’s only been a few years, and Dad and I figured she’d eventually calm down.”
Eliana recalled the two of them saying that about Carlos’s older sister back when they’d all been in high school. Clearly not much had changed on the Luci front in the past few years,even if Eliana hadn’t talked to either of them much since she’d moved back to Wyoming. After that, Eliana had gone to college in Denver for a while. Life had moved on.
