Morning came quickly. Matt slipped into his house shoes and stumbled bleary-eyed into the bathroom attached to his library bedroom. Making his way over to the large stone and tile basin, he splashed some water on his face and brushed his teeth. As he did, he took in the elegant fixtures and dark wood floor-to-ceiling cabinets that lined the curved walls.
Long, draping curtains hung from the arched ceiling, tied back to the stone walls. In the center of the room was a large round tile bathtub, enough to fit eight people or more. Spitting out the toothpaste, he walked over to the tub, turning the brass handles on the bath faucet. Out sputtered a mixture of air and water from the spigot, then it evened out into a steady stream. Running his hand under the water, he was surprised to feel warmth, almost to the point of being too hot. Adjusting the handles slightly, he was able to regulate the temperature to be almost perfect.
Disrobing, he grabbed the bar of soap on the edge of the tub and stepped into the quickly filling tub. The water felt amazing. He soaped up, then rinsed off, dunking his head several times under the water to make sure none got in his eyes.
Then, for several minutes, he soaked in the soapy water, letting the warmth ease his muscles from the previous day of cleaning. The sun spilled light into the room through the window behind him, warming his shoulders. Chuckling slightly to himself, he wondered how he could have been so lucky to have these sleeping quarters. He felt like a lord living in a castle, without the servants or the responsibilities of running an estate. Well, except for the cleaning, anyway.
His wasn’t the only lavish bed and bath, as all the quarters in the lower level of the mansion were just as luxurious, if not more so. It was such an odd place—who builds a mansion like this in northern Idaho? And what was the purpose of this place before Matt’s grandfather came to be its owner?
He wished he could have known his grandfather. Or any of his grandparents, for that matter. He rarely saw his grandparents on his mother’s side since they moved to remote Russia as humanitarian workers. The only times he could remember seeing them were once when he was very young, and again four years ago at Christmas. He remembered that his grandfather, Irwin, was a quiet man with a large beard, and his grandmother, Ashley, had piercing blue eyes and a soft voice. Matt’s mother, Brenda, didn’t say much about her parents, but Matt could tell she worried about them constantly.
Similarly, he never knew his grandparents on his father’s side. His grandmother Alice died before Matt was born. Matt’s father, Tam, didn’t talk much about her, or his mother. Perhaps it was because he didn’t know much about them either, or maybe it was too painful to talk about.
Matt didn’t ask his father about either of them, mostly because he was afraid to. When the topic did come up, there always seemed to be a fair amount of cloudiness surrounding his grandmother’s death, which is why Matt never brought it up. He often saw his father gazing at their picture on the mantle, his expressions cycling between hurt, confusion, and anger. Whatever had occurred, it must have been too painful to talk about.
A wave of sadness passed over him. Thinking about his grandparents didn’t normally draw much emotion out of him, but occasionally, he felt their absence in his life. He often wondered what it would have been like to know them, to see them whenever he wanted. When he was younger, he would pretend that they were all one enormous family—hosting large get-togethers, with enormous dishes filled with mashed potatoes and roast beef. His grandfathers would tell jokes and sip black coffee while his grandmothers would serve blueberry pie.
Now, as they settled into the mansion, the mystery surrounding his grandfather grew. With every moment he spent here, the suspicion mounted in his mind. How did his grandfather come by the property? What did he use it for? Why not tell them about it earlier?
Sure, the mansion was a dream to live in—if you didn’t count the cleaning—but what was with the chandelier and the libraries? Or the armory with its barbaric weapons?
More questions he couldn’t answer.
Matt tilted his head back against the stone tile of the tub. Luca had the right idea. Explore. No fear. Find the answers or die trying. For Luca, it was usually just a stern warning and a day or two grounding when he got caught doing something stupid. For Matt, however, it was the disappointment from his parents he had to live with. Cold disappointment, topped with a suffocating helping of shame.
Like the time he and Luca dug up the neighbor’s yard two doors down from Matt’s house because of an old story about a gold prospector who used to live in the area. Matt was sure he had found the original location of the prospector’s cabin from an old zoning map, but it was Luca who convinced him to actually dig up the manicured lawn.
It was well after midnight when they snuck into their neighbor’s yard. Luca and Matt took turns digging until Matt discovered his coordinates were just a little off. They filled in the first hole and dug another ten feet away.
Four holes later, they still hadn’t found anything. It was almost three in the morning when Luca accidentally banged the shovel on the metal fence, causing the neighbor’s dog to wake up. The Labrador barked incessantly until the neighbors on either side awoke, as well as those of the yard which they were digging up. Matt and Luca ran home, leaving the shovel behind. The next morning, the police showed up at both boys’ houses, shovel in hand. Unfortunately for Matt, it was his father’s shovel.
A voice echoed suddenly through the stone walls of the bathroom. “Nice to see you finally washed that stench off you. Not that it would really ever go away.”
“What are you doing in here?” Matt jerked his head in surprise at his sister’s voice. “Is there anyone else here?”
Jenna chuckled. “You mean Jordan? No, she doesn’t have any interest in seeing the weird hairs on your back. And don’t get any ideas about her. She thinks of you and your dumb friends like brothers.”
“I didn’t—” Matt stammered. “I don’t like—” he tried again, but the words just wouldn’t come. He turned to peek behind Jenna to make sure she was telling the truth about Jordan not being with her.
“Breakfast is ready.” Jenna rolled her eyes. “It’s another family meeting. Hurry up and get dressed.”
Matt watched his sister leave. She could be so annoying sometimes. She used to look up to him, follow him wherever he went, and ask him to play with her all the time. But in the last year or so, she had changed. She had grown physically, and was thinking more for herself, and becoming more independent. Rarely did she need Matt for anything, and as much as he hated to admit it, he missed it.
Matt dried off and dressed, throwing on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and headed toward the dining room. He met Luca coming down the hall. “I was just coming to make sure you hadn’t drowned yourself in that giant tub,” he told him.
Matt shook his head. “You must have talked to Jenna.”
Luca winked at him. “Right-o. Hey, If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Jordan has a thing for you.”
Matt stopped suddenly. “What? You saw her? Was she with Jenna?”
Luca scowled. “No, wow, chill. I just meant from yesterday in the chapel. The way she looked at you. You okay?”
Matt continued walking, with Luca trailing behind. “Yeah, just still adjusting to all this,” he told him.
Luca caught up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, grinning. “I’m here for ya, Maps. I’ve got the ladies all figured out.”
The boys continued to the dining hall, where everyone was already seated. Matt and Luca found two spots near Bennet and Nolan. Following prayer, Jenna and Matt’s mom brought out several bowls of eggs, potatoes, and bacon. Matt filled his plate, grabbing the hot sauce to dab some on his eggs.
“What’s with the breakfasts? I thought we were going to be rationing up here,” Luca said, leaning over to Matt, who shrugged as he dripped more hot sauce on his potatoes.
“Not sure. I know the plan was to bring mostly dried and canned foods. Maybe they snuck in some fresh stuff before leaving,” he said.
There was little conversation around the table as they ate, as most of the group were still bleary-eyed from spending the previous day cleaning. Matt caught Jordan looking at him twice, but he was getting conflicting expressions from her glances. Could she be angry at him for some reason?
Tam cleared his throat. “Wonderful breakfast, all who helped in the kitchen.”
Several nods and grunts of agreement filtered around the table. “As you know, we have a few items that we need to discuss before we go about our day. First thing—I know most of you must be wondering where the wonderful food came from. Late last night, we had a visitor who claims to be the caretaker of the property, an old Native American named Mingan of the Blackfoot tribe. Turns out, he has a small farm he tends on the east side of the property and has agreed to share some of it with us.”
Tam paused, taking a sip of coffee before continuing.
“Apparently, he and his family have been caring for the place for many years and would like to continue to do so in exchange for keeping his residence and farm on the property. I personally agreed to the arrangement, but mentioned that I would need to bring it up to the group before giving a definitive answer.”
Luca’s father Thiago lifted an eyebrow. “Can we be sure he is safe?”
Tam nodded pensively. “He recognizes my claim to the mansion. Apparently, my father has had a similar arrangement with him.”
“How long did you say this guy—Mingan has cared for the property?” Bennet’s father Salim asked.
Tam shook his head. “He didn’t, but he did say he took over for his father, who cared for the mansion before that.”
“A long time, then,” Luca’s mother, Sarah said.
Tam nodded. “As far as I know, he harbors no ill will toward us or the property. I would venture to say that by providing us with food, he is hoping to maintain that relationship.”
The table was silent for several moments. Then Salim took a sip of coffee, clearing his throat. “I agree with the arrangement. I was once a refugee, with no claim to land.”
Thiago nodded. “I agree as well. With our inventory consisting of mainly boxed and canned foods, it would be nice to have fresh eggs and meat until we can figure out a way to become self-sufficient.”
“True. Which is the next item I wanted to bring up,” Tam said. “We need to start working on a garden. With our essential escape plan, we included a good store of seeds and herbs. Although I haven’t been inside yet, I am told there is a solarium at each end of the mansion on the other side of the courtyards. We will need to get started on planning for our future produce needs immediately. My wife and Peyton Butler have agreed to head up that project. We will all assist with the initial planting efforts, but we will need a few more that are willing to help care for the gardens long term. Would any one of the young—”
Nolan raised his hand.
Tam smiled. “I knew I could count on you, Nolan. Now, for the other regular duties, we will need to find a way to organize and maintain this place while we are here. Other than the garden tending, I think there are three other maintenance areas that will help us all keep this place operating.”
He picked up a small leather notebook in front of him. “I have agreed to head up the cleaning crew, along with Sarah Salvaro. The cleaning crew will be responsible for general house cleaning once per week, including sweeping and mopping main hallways and general gathering rooms, dusting, and doing laundry. Everyone is responsible for cleaning their own room and bathroom. We will need two others besides Sarah and me. Who would like to help?”
Kendis raised her hand, followed immediately by Luca.
“Great,” Tam said, making a note in his notebook. “Next, will be cooking and cleaning up after meals—”
Jenna and Jordan raised their hands immediately.
“Wonderful. We will all, of course, help out with the cleanup, following each meal, and taking turns doing the dishes. Jennifer and Thiago have agreed to head up the task of cooking, of which I am extremely grateful—and relieved. If it were me in the kitchen, I think we’d all starve.”
Several chuckles and a few whispers of approval filtered around the table.
“Finally, the security team will be responsible for several tasks, which, due to his background in security while in Iraq, Salim has agreed to oversee, along with Zaneta. That will include setting up and monitoring the security system we brought with us, as well as radio and personal coms, updates and checks, seeing to the locks on a nightly basis, and a few other things Salim and Zaneta will go over. Matt, Bennet, I suppose this task falls on you two. Which—brings me to our last item to discuss.”
Tam took a deep breath, then sipped his coffee slowly. “We haven’t yet talked about why we are here, and what has led us to this point.”
Tam glanced around the table at the adults, each who nodded for him to continue. “As I am sure you young people are all aware, our four families have chosen to remove ourselves from the growing concerns in the cities. We made this choice for several reasons—the destructive agenda of the Purple Hand, the resulting retaliation by the government, including the tagging program, the lack of food and other resources…”
He paused, taking a breath before continuing. “Among other reasons. What you don’t know, however, is why all of this is occurring.”
“It’s the Purple Hand. They are just nuts,” Luca mumbled.
“Right, but did you ever stop to wonder why? And why now?” Tam challenged.
“No. I guess not,” Luca responded.
Tam sighed. “Well, you all deserve to know the truth. All of you do. The government as we know it is breaking down. Willingly, for that matter. What you see as your government now is only a front for what is really going on behind the scenes, and that, we believe, is a complete breakdown of the United States as a whole.”
Nolan whistled. “As in like, no more?”
Tam nodded. “Thanks to Thiago and his position with the intelligence community, we have good reason to believe that there is a core group of people that have positioned themselves to take control. A shadow government, so to speak.”
“So, this isn’t going to eventually go away?” Kendis asked, a look of shock splashed across her face. Matt looked around the table at the rest of the group. The adults had solemn looks on their faces, while the teens held similar expressions as Kendis.
“We have to prepare for that possibility. We could be here for a number of years,” Thiago responded.
Years. The word seared through Matt’s mind like a hot iron. Did this mean that life as they knew it would never be the same? Would the mansion be their home for the rest of their lives? Or at least until the shadow government or Purple Hand caught up with them?
“Our hope is that this isn’t the case, but we have reasons to believe that it is likely. And like I said, you young people deserve to know the truth,” Tam said.
Jenna looked at her mother, tears rolling silently down her face. “I thought we would be here for a month or two until things calmed down,” she said quietly.
Brenda’s face fell. “Oh, my, Jen—I did say that, didn’t I? I am so sorry. I wasn’t certain then, and things changed so quickly.”
Kendis joined Jenna with the tears. “What about school? And other things, like church and grocery stores?”
“And what about going to the lake?” Bennet added.
Tam looked to his wife for help, but she was already feeling the guilt from her earlier conversations with Jenna.
“This is the moment to be strong,” Salim said, his Arabic accent pronounced. “There are evil forces at work here, and while we cannot predict the future, we can make the best of what we have been given here and now.”
“Your father is right. We must remember our blessings right here, right now. We have food, and a safe place, and friends,” Zaneta added.
There was silence for a few moments before Tam cleared his throat to continue. “We have much to think about right here for now. Let’s focus on our chores and learning to get along in the same house. With that, we should probably get to it.”
The adults stood and began clearing the table, while the teens sat for a moment longer, stunned looks being passed between them. It took Matt and Nolan’s mothers’ gentle urging to get them to snap out of it and help with the dishes.
