The Forsaken (The Chosen Series Book 2), Patricia Bell [e textbook reader .txt] 📗

a touch of gray. And the scent. She picked up the envelope and sniffed it. It was the same. A musky, clean smell. Had it not been a dream after all? Had the man really been there?

Carefully and quietly, she opened the envelope. Inside was a sheet of paper with four words written on it in the same bulky box letters as the envelope.

YOU ARE IN DANGER.

And that was it. Was it a threat? Or a warning?

Chapter 35 ― Malachi

As Malachi headed to the storage building, he was full of excitement. He would see Jonathan and Luna again, and he hoped they had a plan. He’d checked out the box he’d told them about and found a plate, only it was held closed with four screws. Between him and Daniel, they had gotten it unscrewed and found a panel that held several switches. Each had been labeled with letters that neither he nor Daniel understood. But the one that stood alone, that one, they understood. It said MAIN.

As he headed to the truck where Jonah and Elder Joseph waited for him, he stopped. Elder Joseph had his arms crossed, and the look on his face was one of spite.

Slowly, Malachi continued toward them. But before he reached them, Thomas, the sixteen-year-old son of Elder Aaron, walked out from the supply building.

“Ready to go?”

Malachi looked from one to the other. Had he been replaced?

“Go home.” Elder Joseph sneered. “Take care of your ailing stomach.”

Malachi glanced at Jonah. Had he betrayed him? Jonah did not dare a glance back at him. Instead, he turned and headed for the truck.

Malachi watched as the three men jumped into the vehicle and drove off, leaving him in the dust.

“Malachi!” a voice sounded in the distance.

He turned to see Tabitha, Naaman’s daughter, running up to him. He walked toward her.

“What is it?” he asked.

Tabitha breathed heavily. “I want to know,” she bent down and took in a deep breath. “Is she . . . where is she?” Finally getting some air in her lungs, she spoke. “What have they done to Abigail?”

“I cannot speak of it. I am sorry. Go home.” Malachi turned to leave.

He could not risk telling her what he knew. She was a girl, and she would wag her tongue to all her friends and put Abigail’s life in danger.

“My father is dead, isn’t he?” she called out.

Malachi stopped in his tracks. “What did you say?” He turned back to Tabitha.

“He’s dead. I know he is. And Jonathan, Jacob, and Luna, Abigail never believed they were dead. She was right, wasn’t she?”

“Tabitha, it is a hazardous business to—”

“Why, Malachi? Tell me. I deserve to know.”

“Your father is dead.”

Tears flowed down the girl’s face. She nodded. “And what about the others?”

“Jacob is dead. The three others live.”

“Jonathan is alive? And Rachel? Luna?” Excitement gleamed in her eyes for a moment, and then it died. “Abigail?”

“All of them are alive. Even Abigail. But she is in danger.” He had no idea why he was telling her any of this. He was sure to regret it, but there was nothing he could do now. It was out.

“Where is she? Has she been fleshed out? How do you know so much?”

“Come,” Malachi said. In for a penny, in for a pound. “I will show you.”

“WHERE ARE WE GOING?” Tabitha asked.

“To see Abigail. It won’t be long now,” he said, waving a hand to the home ahead of them.

“Who lives ... is that―” Tabitha gasped.

“It is the home of the High Prophet. Come, we must get to the side before we are seen.” He’d been to see Abigail so many times that he had perfected the route.

Tabitha followed quietly behind.

When they got around the side of the building, he waved her forward. “Hurry. This way.” He got down on his knees and glanced into the vent. Abigail lay on the floor in her normal position.

“Abigail?” Malachi called.

Abigail rose and looked up. “Malachi?”

“I brought someone to see you.”

Abigail got to her feet. “Who?” She walked closer.

“Abigail! I am so happy you are alive!” Tabitha said from behind Malachi.

“Shh,” Malachi reprimanded as he stood and allowed the girls to speak. “Keep it down.”

As the girls talked, he sat up against the wall and tried to figure out how he would get back to town to see Jonathan and Luna. The excitement he held only a few hours before, had drizzled into a slow depression. He had to speak to Jonah. To find out if he had given him up.

Chapter 36 ― Abigail

“How are you?” Tabitha said through the slats in the vent that separated them.

“I am not so good. My body is stiff and . . .” Abigail stopped. To complain was to be disrespectful to God. “I am well.”

“Oh, Abigail. I am so sorry. Malachi has a plan. He is going to get you out of there.” She looked up to Malachi. “Right?”

Malachi nodded. “I will do my best.”

“You must free her,” Tabitha said. “She will die down there.”

“I am doing my best, Tabitha,” Malachi said through gritted teeth.

“He is doing his best,” Abigail said. “He has been very good to me. If not for him, I would be . . .”

Abigail could not take anymore. She burst out in tears. “Please get me out of here,” she cried.

Chapter 37 ― Luna

Luna and Jonathan waited most of the morning in the hot sun, but Malachi had not shown. Jonathan took a chance and snuck over to the booth where The Chosen set out their wares each day, but Malachi was nowhere to be found. He’d come back and told Luna that a younger boy, Thomas, had seemed to have taken his place.

“What should we do now?” Jonathan asked.

“I don’t know. I guess we go back home.”

With nothing else to do, they headed back to their car. But before they got too far, a voice called out to Jonathan.

They turned around. “It’s Jonah,” he said.

They waited as he caught up to them.

“Jonathan,”