Wolfe stepped forward, holding up his mutilated hand in a kind of benediction. “No,” he said.
“No, what?” Ryan’s hand rested flat on the butt of the SIG-Sauer.
“It says in the Good Book that to err is human and that to forgive is to follow in the steps of Our Savior. It is truly to be divine.”
“So?”
“So, my dear Ryan Cawdor. Long years ago you and others erred. Caused me great grief. But I wish for divinity. So I propose to forgive you. All of you. Both the guilty and those plagued with guilt by association.”
Ryan was ready to trust Wolfe just about as far as he could have thrown him. “So, what’s that mean?”
The first few words of the religious baron’s reply were almost smothered by a fit of coughing from Doc. “It means that you are welcome here. If the testing goes well, as I am sure it will, then you will be accepted and may stay here, in total safety, under my personal protection, for as long as you wish.”
Chapter Twenty
“So, what’s testing?”
Josiah Steele had been appointed by Joshua Wolfe to show the newcomers to their accommodation, a hut that smelled like it had been empty for several months, but was dry and spacious. There were seven single beds and a table and several upright chairs. A decent little kitchen was located out back, as was an outhouse at the bottom of the overgrown garden.
Krysty had run her finger across the table, holding up the gray smudge of dirt. Steele had sniffed, promising to get some women in to scrub and clean it, as well as provide them with some fresh-laundered bedding.
He had also told them a midday meal would be served up, communally, around one in the afternoon, and supper would be at seven.
Now he stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the late-morning sun, his shadow spilling across the dusty planks.
“What is testing?” Jak asked.
The sec man shrugged. “Nothing to worry about for the likes of you.”
“Cemeteries are full of folks who thought there was nothing to worry about,” Mildred objected.
Steele turned toward her. “Could be that you’ve got… No, can’t say that. Just that the Children of the Rock always welcome strangers, as long as they measure up and fit in. Best Brother Wolfe tells you more over the noon meal.”
“Noon or one?” Krysty asked.
“At one. But it’s always been called the noon meal. Kind of tradition.”
He turned, ready to leave, when Ryan called him back. “One last question, Brother Steele.”
“Yeah, Brother Cawdor?”
Ryan touched the tiny rad counter fixed to the lapel of his coat, seeing that it still showed high orange close toward the top-risk red.
“What’s the hot spot?”
Steele’s jaw dropped, like he’d been gut shot. “Who’s told you? Where did you get that?”
“The rad counter? Been carrying it more years than I can remember. If my memory serves, we found a stack of them near Topeka. That it, J.B.?”
The Armorer was sitting on one of the beds, polishing his glasses on a linen kerchief. “Topeka? Yeah, that’s where we got them.”
Steele had recovered his balance. “I guess that we’re so used to it that it doesn’t bother us.”
“What is it?”
“Hot spot. Not so bad as those little gizmos show. Doubt it’s anywhere near to red.”
“Near enough,” J.B. said. “How far away from the ville is it?”
“Two, three miles. Brother Wolfe found it when he was picking this place for the home of the Children of the Rock. Lies north and east.” He cleared his throat. “It’s an old complex, built just before skydark. Earth-shift exposed some part of the central nuke core. Leaks.”
Ryan sat on one of the beds, testing the mattress for springiness, looking at the man disbelievingly. “He knew there was a rad spot that close? And he still picked this for the ville. And you’ve all been here for all that time. I just find that real hard to—”
“There must be some side effects from the radiation,” Mildred said. “Skin problems. Fertility…” She stopped as a thought struck her. “Hey, I haven’t seen many children around this place. Not for the numbers of men and women. Should be more.”