Human Bait

Chapter 33: The Refuge

The next day, Mekkar led the way to the Refuge. Rekkan toted the heaviest bag, and Mekkar carried the next heaviest, leaving me with an embarrassingly light pack. A few rolled-up shirts protected Fluffy's glass jar and my mother's book.

Barren trees lined the path, bent and sparse like the bristles of an old brush. A damp breeze whistled through high branches and tugged on my hair and clothing. Occasionally, a gap in the trees revealed a sagging house with a burgundy-stained welcome mat. Birds fluttered through broken windows, maggots swarmed heaps of trash, and bushy squirrel tails swished past broken doors.

Mekkar periodically glanced over his shoulder and shot us a smile. I forced a smile in return. Rekkan scowled.

After a few hours, the trees gave way to a rolling field. Tufts of brown grass emerged from murky puddles. Near the field's center, crumbling stone walls jutted up from the mud. A tower of rusted metal protruded from the top.

Mekkar jerked to a halt and clapped his hands. "I haven't seen an Ether temple in this good of condition in ages!" He swiveled back toward us. "Is it alright if we stop here for lunch?"

"No," said Rekkan, at the same time as I said, "Sure."

Rekkan closed his eyes and blew out a breath. Mekkar trod through the mud toward the temple.

Just before Mekkar reached the front steps, the doors swung open, and a portly woman hobbled out. A tattered robe cinched her waist and flared over wide hips. Sunlight glinted off her shiny bald scalp, and freckles spattered her pale skin.

Her crinkled brown eyes tracked between me and Rekkan before settling on Mekkar. "Welcome! You are just in time for lunch. Please join us!"

Mekkar licked his lips and darted a glance back at me and Rekkan. "Well, if you're sure we are not interrupting anything..."

"Nothing to interrupt. My husband and I are perfectly free." She swept a freckled palm toward the open doorway behind her. "Do come in! All are welcome here."

She waddled back through the doorway. A ripped swath of robe dragged behind her before disappearing from sight. Mekkar nodded at us and followed her.

I side-glanced Rekkan. "You ready?"

"One minute." Rekkan snatched the rifle from his shoulder and clicked off the safety. "Now I'm ready." He pushed past me and trudged toward the Ether temple.

The interior resembled the Southie Ether temples I had visited as a child, but the last years had taken a clear toll. Cracked plexiglass at the center of the ceiling splintered the circle of blue sky into tessellations. The twisted, barren tree below cast skeletal shadows on the floor. Thread-bare mats surrounded the tree in concentric circles. A mural of animals and humans danced across the wall, chipped paint deforming the limbs, blackening the eyes, and turning smiles garish.

The freckled woman bustled through a door at the side of the hall with a pot and a stack of bowls. Steam unfurled from the pot, and an acrid odor infused the air.

She set the pot and bowls on the ground next to one of the mats. "Please grab a bowl and help yourself!"

Mekkar's smile strained, and he hitched his thumbs in his pockets. "Actually, we brought our own food."

"Nonsense. Inside the temple of Ether, everything is shared." She plunged in a ladle, and two black flies zipped out.

Mekkar jerked a step back and gulped. "On second thought, it sure is a nice day to eat outside."

Jagged fingernails scratched the freckles on her smooth, bald head. In the bright daylight streaming down from above, the freckles appeared almost purple. "At least come meet my husband. He loves visitors, but he is not very mobile these days."