A Shepherd's Calling (What Comes After Book 2) (13 page)

Tom didn't miss the other message in his mentor's request:
and this way, we'll still be able to keep an eye on them
. “You're right,” he said. “You'd be a boon to that effort, as you probably know this place best.” Tom looked at Vargas. “No offense.”

“
None taken,” the marine replied. “We'd welcome his company.”

They waited for Dettweiler and the others. Vargas relayed the plan to his second-in-command and then, following Chris, took Red team up around the far side of the ridge.

The large man looked at Tom. “Let's get to that cabin. You following me or Preston?”

Tom's answer required little thought. “I'll follow you.”

“
Wise decision. Be close, but not under foot.” With that, the Staff Sergeant climbed onto the ridge behind his point man, then turned to help Tom up.

They made their way slowly, with frequent stops so no one would have difficulty or lag behind. They spoke little, as most of their focus was on maintaining balance and awareness. Fortunately, the journey was brief and they soon found themselves back on more open ground, moving quickly to the wooden structure that was their goal.

They stopped at the foot of the short steps that led up to the porch, and Dettweiler spoke to Tom in a rumbling whisper. “I'll go in first, then Preston, then Eby. You follow him with your people. Stay together and along one wall, if you can manage. Doughty will come in last and watch the door behind us. Got it?”

The Shepherd nodded. In turn, he spoke briefly with his band and arranged their entry order. Having done so, he noticed the Staff Sergeant look at Doughty. The two of them made a few hand signs, as though they were using sign language. Then the young man saw Blue team climb onto the porch, the only evidence of their passage a brief creak from the top stair. The marines were stacked along the wall to the left of the door, weapons ready. Dettweiler had his left hand outstretched, just shy of the doorknob. Preston clapped the Sergeant on the shoulder, and the marine turned the knob, opened the door and stepped inside. The large man disappeared into the building, and the other two marines soon followed.

As soon as Eby broke the plane of the door, Tom moved forward with Toby directly behind him. By the time the two young men had entered the cabin, the marines had already moved further into the structure, calling out as they checked each room. Tom remained in the large main room, Toby, Ben and Janessa with him. Doughty stayed at the door, watching the front yard. It took but minutes for the marines to clear the building, upstairs and down, and the Shepherd used that time to study the room where he and his companions waited.

It was spacious and virtually empty, bare wooden floorboards telling a story of long use and little care. A stone hearth took up the majority of the wall opposite him, where a large, white cross stood in the middle of the mantle. Shuttered windows were on either side of the fireplace. Beneath each window was a stack of boards and beside that, a hammer with a pile of nails and what appeared to be a rolled up rug. On the far end of the building, directly across from the door they had entered, was another heavy wooden door. Leaning against the wall by the door frame of each portal was a large wood ax, with another rolled rug. Behind the wall which his companions stood against was a narrow stairwell that the marines climbed single-file to clear the second floor.

Other than the objects near the windows and doors, there was nothing else of note in the large, open room. No wood for the fire place, no tools to create, tend or extinguish a fire. No chairs or tables. Even in what must have been the kitchen, there were no traces of creature comforts. The cupboards and cabinets had no doors or covers of any kind and were devoid of contents. No utensils, bowls or cups. Not even cookware. Nothing. The Shepherd thought this strange: considering there was so little in the cabin, it felt like the place should have been empty for a long while. Instead, the gathered dust and debris implied the cabin to have been deserted only a few short months.

Tom heard footsteps and Dettweiler's deep voice. The large man appeared at the foot of the stairs and closed the front door. While there, the Sergeant spoke quietly to Doughty. Preston came around the corner and moved past the Shepherd and his companions, into the kitchen. Once there, the marine positioned himself between the door and one of the windows in that room, looking through old, thick glass.

Preston called over his shoulder, “Someone's definitely been here, Sarge. It wasn't today or yesterday, but it musta been in the last week or so.”

“
Roger that,” Dettweiler murmured. Apparently finished with Doughty, the Staff Sergeant crossed to Preston. “Anything else out there?”

Preston spoke after a moment. “Just our guys. Looks like they're making their way to us...” The marine shook his head. “Aaaand Turner's out of position. How can he be that green and still have made corporal?”

Dett was standing beside his teammate, looking through the same window. “By knowing his stuff. I'm sure part of his promotion was contingent on rotating back in for another tour. Only required to be in the field six months out of every eighteen, remember.”

“
Still. Is it true he wasn't born here?”

Dettweiler's voice was neutral. “He was not. His parents were both citizens, however. That makes him American.”

Tom was beginning to wonder where the conversation was going when Dettweiler looked back at him. Without another word to Preston, the Staff Sergeant joined the Shepherd at the fireplace. The large marine had an easy grace that belied his size, and again Tom was reminded of the similarity he bore to Rujuan, as far as sheer physicality was concerned. But where Rujuan had used his stature to evoke menace and fear, Dettweiler radiated security and readiness.

The military man spoke to Tom in a quiet voice. “Why don't you take your people upstairs and settled in for the night? The others will be back soon and we should have at least some of the sleeping arrangements worked out.” His smile almost softened the angles of his face.

“
Alright. Would you like us to set up a watch in whatever room your man isn't in? Keep eyes open until all of our people are back?”

“
No objections here.” Dettweiler sounded grateful.

Tom crossed back to where his companions still waited and led them up to the second floor. At the top of the stairs, Tom saw an open room. Eby was by the window there, seated in an old, paint-spattered chair. The young marine glanced over at Tom and the others as they passed the room, blinking at them before resuming his watch through the dirty glass. The room in which he sat was nearly empty; other than the marine and his equipment, there was a small table covered by an old blanket, atop which were a few tools and the pieces of a disassembled rifle. Across from the table, there was a bedroll that looked as old and tired as the rest of the cabin.

The small group went to a room at the other end of the hall and found it in a similar state: sparsely furnished with a noticeable layer of dust. This one had a couple of sleeping bags, one rolled in a corner and the other spread out against the wall to the right of the door. A small wooden stand with several large splotches of wax stood in the middle of the room. Tom entered the room, carefully picked up the stand and set it against the wall, near the window opposite the door. He removed his pack and rifle, set them beneath the window.

“
This our room, I take?” Janessa sounded exhausted.

“
Looks that way,” Tom replied.

From this vantage, Tom was able to see new ground. The cabin must have blocked it from view when they were studying the area from across the ridge, before their approach. There was a visible trail leading from the back door, where Preston now stood watch, leading through a short, open field and back toward the wooded ridge. He watched as the marines investigated something at the foot of the ridge while Chris studied the ground. While the Shepherd kept a vigil at the window, he heard his companions moving around, setting up their own sleeping bags and blankets, making the place comfortable for the short time it would be theirs. Only a few minutes passed before he saw Chris and the others headed toward the cabin. Tom turned from the window and found Janessa looking at him.

“
What was the deal with this place?”

“
I don't know, but I think we're about to find out. Mind taking over at the window?”

She did so without a word, taking his place near the dirty glass portal and leaning her own rifle against the wall. Toby and Ben sat quietly on their blankets and watched Tom walk out of the room. He made it downstairs just as the Major was entering the cabin.

“
No sign of the Bonnets, sir. Can't be one hundred percent certain, but it doesn't look like they followed us out here.” Dettweiler offered this information to Vargas in a quiet, but not quite confidential voice.

“
What did you find?” Tom asked when all the men were indoors.

“
Not much, I'm afraid.” Vargas looked around the empty first floor and went to the hearth. “Seems another group has been through the area in the last couple, three weeks. Several individuals at the very least, heavily burdened. Shame we couldn't see the other side of the cabin from the lower part of the ridge.” Having reached the stone hearth, the Major looked first in the fire place. “Though, at the end of the day, I doubt we would have considered another camp site.” The marine paused when he saw the cross on the mantle and turned to Chris. “You're sure this was part of the camp?”

Chris nodded while looking around the open room. His expression grew puzzled, and his eyes sought Tom's. “Is the whole place empty?”

“
Pretty much,” the Shepherd answered. “Mind bringing the rest of us up to speed?”

The Hunter blinked, then lowered his eyes. “Of course, Shepherd. Respite is just over the hill at the end of this ridge. It's built on a campground that this cabin was once a part of. Just so happens, through providence, fate, good fortune or what-have-you, the marines parked their trucks near the old utility lot between the hill and community proper. While I was showing the Major a path we could use to get back to the vehicles, we found the trail he mentioned.”

Tom narrowed his eyes. “What are you saying? A group of people came here and took everything out of this place? Including the furniture?”

Chris shook his head. “There was no furniture. Not really. This is barely four miles from town, so we used it to cache tools, weapons and munitions. Served as an outpost and gave us a place to fall back to, if necessary.”

“
Didn't you say the trail was two or three weeks old? Wouldn't that have been around the time that you left? Maybe even before?”

The old teacher sighed. “Yes. And to your next question: yes, I think they would have told me they were going to empty this place before doing so. The problem is, the people living in town might not have been the ones that did it.”

The Shepherd spoke slowly. “What do you mean?”

The Hunter was a moment in replying. “Respite was far from unified, at least when I joined it. Some folks were not happy with how the council was running things, and those people threatened to break away a number of times. Given any evidence of renewed military activity or presence, regardless of the source, it's possible that group finally had enough.”

“
Where would they have gone?”

“
There's another community north of Square Pond. They probably would have gone up there. Either they cleaned us out before they moved on, or we were robbed. Troubling thought, even in this day and age.”

Tom's jaw flexed. He had to believe Chris hadn't known about this before leading them out here. He also knew there was no time left to find another camp for the night.
Even if it played out exactly like he said, it's exceedingly unlikely the group would be back at all, let alone tonight
. This understanding made it no easier to accept the gravity of the situation. However remote, the possibility remained that another group was in the area and could even now be watching their every move.

Tom took a breath. “You'd still like to check Respite tomorrow?”

The older man nodded. “Now more than ever.”

Tom turned to the Major. “Since some of the residents may harbor ill will towards military personnel, it's probably best if my people check the town. Alone.”

The marine frowned. “I'd prefer not to leave you unprotected, Mr. DuPuis. In this instance, however, you might be right. We'll be out of sight, but close enough to help out if things get ugly. Finalize rendezvous time and place in the morning?”

“
Sounds like a plan. We'll see you then.” Tom said this and looked at Chris.

The two men excused themselves. Once upstairs, Tom pulled his old teacher into an empty room and closed the door behind them. The Shepherd asked his former mentor, quietly, “Is there anything else I should know?”

“
Such as?” The older man kept his voice a mirror of Tom's. “I doubt you're looking for a regional history lesson. You've probably already determined that there's little danger in remaining here until morning and that, while we'll need to use caution in our check of Respite, we should still be able to leave within the Major's proposed timetable. What else would you like me to tell you?”

Tom did not keep the tension out of his voice. “Do we need to worry about that splinter group or the community they left to join? Could they ambush us or come back to retaliate against the people they left? How about Respite? Will they be up in arms to get their people back or be looking to lash out at the community possibly taking in their refugees? Should we be worried about what's missing from the cabin?” He took a breath. “I can't shake the feeling you're not telling me the whole story, here.”
About this or anything else
, he thought.