“You ever drove a tractor?” asked Tigard.

It took Leo a moment to realize he was being addressed. He shook his head.

“Neither did Rikki before he showed up at our front door,” said Tigard. “That’s how we got to be friends. He saw me and the boys plowing late at night, and asked if he could help.” He made a depression in the mashed potatoes with his spoon, carefully half filled the depression with gravy. “Not many folks would stop to help a stranger. Regular Good Samaritan.”

“The twins couldn’t have been more than nine years old,” said Rakkim, smiling at the memory. “Matthew steered while James worked the controls.”

“We had a couple hired hands, but the press-gangs came by one day and that was that,” Tigard explained to Leo. “Don’t know what we would have done if Rakkim hadn’t come along. No way we could have gotten the planting finished. We were already a week behind.”

“You would have done it,” said Florence, watching the family eat. “You and the boys. We might have only gotten half a crop, but we would have tightened our belts and made it through. The Lord will provide.”

“The Lord provided Rikki, that’s what the Lord provided,” said Tigard.

“That’s what you call a mixed blessing.” Rakkim added more gravy to his mashed potatoes. “What are you going to do when the boys go away?”

“These last couple years, James has been shifting us to less labor-intensive crops,” said Florence. “More acres of alfalfa, okra, and yams, less of corn and soybeans.”

“Better prices too,” said Matthew. “The hybrid okra James got us into travels better, which allows us to sell to the Brazilian market, and with beef exports up, the price of alfalfa has tracked the same direction.”

“Mom and Dad are going to be okay, Rikki,” said James. “Matthew here structured some loan with a bank in Atlanta that’s going to allow Dad to buy a couple of robo-tractors. All he has to do is program them and they’ll drive themselves to the fields and do whatever is needed.”

“Planting, disking, fertilizing, harvesting, you name it,” said Tigard. “I don’t even have to turn on a darn switch.”

Florence patted her husband’s thick wrist. “William feels the new tractors make him obsolete.”

“A farmer who doesn’t get dirt on his hands isn’t a farmer,” said Tigard.

“Production should increase seventeen percent,” said Matthew, “and that includes payment on the loan.”

“You still got your pigs, Dad,” said James. “Anytime you want to get dirty, they’ll be there waiting for you.”

“One thing about working on a farm,” Tigard said to Leo, “you won’t ever go hungry.”

“Bill says you’re good with electronic things, Leo. Bill’s not one to brag, but he fixed our grid antenna so it taps into the Brazilian satellite system. He says their weather reports are much more reliable than anything the Belt provides.” She spooned more mashed potatoes onto Leo’s plate. “Maybe tomorrow morning he’ll show you what he did to it.”

Leo looked up from his plate, curious now.

“Farming’s a good life,” said Tigard. He glanced at his wife. “Everything’s sweeter when you’re close to the land.”

Florence flushed.

“So what do you think?” Tigard asked Leo.

Leo blinked. “Are you talking to me, sir?”

“You’re an Ident, aren’t you?” said Tigard.

“His contract is already paid for,” said Rakkim.

“So I’ll buy it out,” said Tigard. “Tell the contract holder I’m offering twenty percent above the price he paid.”

“Bill…” said Rakkim. “It can’t be done.”

“You want me to work here?” said Leo.

“Dad, really, the robo-tractors will make your life so much easier,” said Matthew.

“I get four weeks’ leave after basic,” said James. “I’ll be back every chance I get.”

Tigard nodded, jabbed at his fried okra with his fork. “I know. It was just an idea, that’s all.”

“You thought I could cut it working on your farm,” said Leo, beaming. “Mr. Tigard, sir, that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Like I said, it was just an idea,” said Tigard.

“I could do it too,” said Leo. “I’m not very strong, but there’s nothing I can’t figure out. Tomorrow, before we leave, I’ll rig you up a surveillance system so good that if anyone walks up, you’ll know the color of their eyes.”

“That’s real nice of you.” Florence spooned more mashed potatoes onto Leo’s plate. Added a couple of pork chops. “Maybe when you finish your contract you’ll come back for a visit. You’re always welcome. Friends are always welcome at our table.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Leo. “I’d like that very much.”

“What brings you by after so long?” said Tigard. “It’s not like we’re on the main road.”

“I need a favor,” said Rakkim.

“You got it,” said Tigard.

“That’s what I thought,” said Rakkim.

“What kind of favor?” said Florence.

“Last time I was here, Bill said he had a cousin in Addington,” said Rakkim. “I want an introduction.”

“Addington?” Tigard peered at Rakkim. “I gave you more credit than that.”

“Nice little town, from what I hear.”

“It’s a nice town if you don’t need to breathe. Nice town if you like black lung,” said Tigard.

“Nice town,” repeated Rakkim, “but they say the folks there keep to themselves.”

“They don’t like strangers because the only reason folks come to Addington is to try and find the Church of the Mists, and the only people looking to do such a thing are damned fools.”

“I’ve been called worse,” said Rakkim.

“Leave Leo here, then,” said Florence. “No sense getting this poor boy killed too.” She smiled at Leo. “You pick me some blackberries, I’ll make you the best pie you ever ate.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” said Leo, “but I have to stay with Rikki. Somebody has to keep him out of trouble.”

Tigard pushed his plate aside with a clatter of silverware. “Trouble is all you’re going to find in Addington.”

Chapter 24

Rakkim listened to the rain beating on the roof as he lay in bed with Sarah, Michael between them. Michael grasped Rakkim’s finger, hanging on as Rakkim lifted him up, the three of them laughing. Their laughter faded, changed into something else…something ugly.

Rakkim sat up, fully alert now, already out of bed. He’d slept in his clothes. Stepped into his boots. Rain pounded on the roof, louder than the dream. Where was Leo?

Soft sounds from the closet.

Rakkim jerked the door open, dragged Leo out. “Hey…hey,” said Leo.

Rakkim grabbed the security phone from him and threw it against the wall.

“Hey!” said Leo.

Rakkim dashed into the hall, beat on the opposite door. “Bill! Raiders coming!” He heard movement inside, ran back and grabbed Leo by the wrist. “Get out the window,” he said evenly, keeping his anger in check.

“I don’t hear anything-”

Rakkim pushed Leo through the open window, the kid squawking as he slid down the wet roof, clawing at the shingles. “Rakkim!” Leo clung to the edge of the roof with both hands, eyes wide, blinking in the rain. “Help me!”

Rakkim slid down the roof, landing nimbly on the rocky ground. Just in time to catch Leo in his arms. Rakkim slung him over one shoulder, hopscotched across the pavement to avoid leaving footprints on the muddy ground. He could hear Tigard in the house, calling to his kids.

“Put me down,” said Leo, squirming, as Rakkim carried him toward the pigpen. “What are you doing? I don’t hear anything.”

Neither did Rakkim. Not yet. What had awakened him was something subtler. A perturbation in the air pressure. Not the storm. Something else. Something worse. Rakkim walked through the horse trough, stepped onto the railing of the pigpen, and jumped in among the squealing beasts.

“What are-” shouted Leo before Rakkim pushed his face into the mud.

Rakkim pulled Leo deeper into the mass of pigs, dodging their hooves and snouts as best he could. “They’re going to have thermal imaging,” he said in Leo’s ear, smearing them both with mud and pig shit, thickly coating their hair.