“It’ll fade by tomorrow.”
“Put on some more sunblock or I’ll put it on for you.”
She yanked her strap back into place. “Excuse me, but I’ll make that decision. I’m not a child.”
“Then start acting like an adult.” The heat was getting to them, making them both irritable. But Nate wasn’t willing to let the issue go. “If you get burned, it could become a problem and might even interrupt this assignment. That’s a pointless risk.”
With an exaggerated sigh, she dropped her backpack, dug out the sunblock and applied it so thickly to her face and arms that she left white streaks. “Happy?”
“That’s a good wife,” he said with a wink. “Now give it to me.”
She passed the bottle to him and stalked off. With his T-shirt covering his shoulders, and his ball cap protecting his face, he wasn’t as worried about himself, but he put some on, anyway. Then he dropped the tube into the camera bag and strode after her.
They hiked to the other side of Paradise, where they finally saw people moving about. It looked as if they’d just come out of some kind of church service. There were vegetable gardens in this part of the compound, too. And animals. A pen with two dogs. Cows. Pigs. Sheep. Goats. But the rest of the view was similar to what they’d seen before. They could make out more of the brown building Nate had pointed out—he guessed it was a meeting hall or mess hall or maybe the cheese factory Martha had mentioned—and another two or three buildings, one under construction. There were more tents on this side, and the fence with the razor wire looked just as tall and impenetrable. He took pictures of all of it.
Damp with sweat and nearly out of water, they walked back to the dirt road where they’d parked. The sun had begun to set but the temperature hadn’t fallen yet. The fruity scent of the sunblock filled Nate’s nostrils, along with the more astringent odor of the creosote bushes surrounding them. Although it was peaceful, Rachel’s mood hadn’t improved. She wasn’t complaining, but she’d grown quiet. And she’d abandoned him again while he was putting away his camera equipment.
It wasn’t until he crested a slight rise that he caught sight of her. She wasn’t walking away from him anymore. She’d stopped, but she didn’t seem to be waiting for him. He was a little confused as to what she might be doing until she shifted and he could see past her. Then he realized she was no longer alone.
11
Rachel got the impression that the meeting with the man she’d just stumbled across hadn’t been as accidental as he was pretending. She could tell by the brand on his forehead—a C with a slash—that he was a Covenanter. He’d probably noticed their car. Otherwise, it was too coincidental that he’d be wandering around out here without so much as a backpack or a water bottle.
Obviously, he felt far more comfortable, since he was closer to home, than she did. It was also obvious that he didn’t like them nosing around the area. She hadn’t expected that anyone associated with Paradise would. But when she and Nate had gone all afternoon without seeing a single person, she’d assumed they were in the clear. She’d been surprised to find this man standing on the ridge as she trudged back to the truck.
Somewhere in his late forties, he wasn’t wearing a shirt, just a pair of leather sandals and handmade Middle Eastern-style pants. From the look of him, he could’ve hailed from Biblical times.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. Tall and rail-thin, with only three or four gray hairs growing from his sunburned chest, he had a lazy eye that drifted to his right.
Smiling brightly, she focused on his beaklike nose to avoid being distracted by his eyes. “We’re checking out the area. My husband and I are new. We moved in yesterday.”
“Moved in…where?”
She made the mistake of lifting her gaze to meet his eyes, then blinked and returned her attention to the center of his leathery face. “Portal.”
“I see.” He fingered a gray straggly beard as he saw Nate coming up from behind. “That’s your husband?”
“Yes. Nate.”
“What is it you’re looking for?”
Although his tone was mild, she could sense his displeasure. “A few good shots. My husband’s a wildlife photographer.”
“He’s a big man…for a photographer,” he added.
“What does his size have to do with his work?” she asked.
“He looks more like a soldier, athlete or bodyguard.”
“He’s really a cement contractor. But that’s such hard work. He’s been having trouble with his back and would like to get out of concrete before we have children. We’re hoping some of the pictures he takes while we’re here will help.”
“You said he photographs wildlife?”
“Yes.”
“Did you happen to see something…unusual that brought you up here?”
There was an awkward silence during which Rachel could hear Nate’s footsteps. “Not really,” she said. “Today we’re mostly getting familiar with the area. We’d like to see an ocelot, but I know that won’t be easy.”
He seemed to be looking at Nate, but that lazy eye made it difficult to tell. “You won’t see an ocelot before sundown. They’re nocturnal wildcats.”
“Good thing I wasn’t planning on photographing one today,” Nate said as he drew even with them.
“I can guarantee you won’t find one in Paradise anytime.”
But they might find something far more dangerous. Rachel was pretty sure that was what this gentleman was worried about. She had a feeling he knew perfectly well that they’d paid more attention to the town than anything else. He’d been keeping track of them somehow.
Were the Covenanters even less social toward outsiders than she’d supposed? Those Introduction Meetings created a sense of warmth and hospitality, but she suspected it was a carefully crafted illusion.
“Is that the name of the town we came across?” she asked. “We couldn’t figure it out. Our map says it’s a ghost town, but there are all kinds of tents and buildings and—”
“Those tents and buildings constitute a special place,” he interrupted. “A sort of Zion to all who seek refuge.”
Nate adjusted his ball cap. “Zion? It’s a religious group?”
The older man continued to stroke his beard and scrutinize them but didn’t answer right away. Eventually, he said, “It’s home to me and others like me.”