Parable of the Talents - Octavia E Butler Page 0,135

how anyone connected with Christian America could do what you say has been done. I could barely stand to hear you say it. I knew it was just wrong. It had to be.

“And I was right. The people who do the kind of thing you described are a splinter group. Jarret has disclaimed all connection with them. They call themselves Jarret’s Crusaders, but they lie. They’re extremists who believe that reeducating heathen adults and placing their young children in Christian American homes is the only way to restore order and greatness. If Acorn was attacked, these are the likely attackers. I’ve talked to my friends in CA, and they say it isn’t safe to probe too deeply into what the Crusaders are doing. The Crusaders are a kind of secret society, absolutely dedicated, and ruthless. They’re courageous people. Misguided, but courageous. I’ve been told they really do find good homes for the children they rescue. That’s what they call it—rescuing the children. They take them into their own homes if necessary and raise them as their children or they find others to raise them. Problem is, they’re a nationwide group. They send the kids out of their home areas—often out of their home states. They’re serious about raising these kids as good Christian Americans. They believe it would be a sin against God and a crime against America to let them be reunited with their heathen parents.

“I’ve heard all this second- or third-hand from at least half a dozen people. I don’t know how much of it is true. I don’t know where Larkin is, and don’t have any idea how to find out. I’m sorry about that, sorry about Bankole, sorry about everything.

“You probably won’t like this, Lauren, but I think that if you really want to find your daughter, you should join us—join Christian America. Your cult has failed. Your god of change couldn’t save you. Why not come back to where you belong? If Mom and Dad were alive, they would join. They would want you to be part of a good Christian organization that’s trying to put the country back together again. I know you’re smart and strong and too stubborn for your own good. If you can also be patient and join us in our work, you’ll have the only chance possible of getting information about your daughter.

“I have to warn you, though, the movement won’t let you preach. They agree with Saint Paul in that: ‘Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence.’ But don’t worry. There’s plenty of other more suitable work for women to do to serve the movement.

“Some of our people have relatives or friends who are Crusaders. Join us, work hard, keep your eyes and ears open, and maybe you’ll learn things that will help you find your daughter—and help you into a good, decent life as a Christian American woman.

“I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m enclosing a few hundred in hard currency. I wish I could give you more. I wish I could help you more. I do wish you well, whatever you decide to do, and again, I’m sorry. Marc.”

And that was that. There wasn’t a word about his going to Portland—no explanation, no good-bye. No address. Had he, in fact, gone to Portland? I thought about that and decided he had—or at least the server who told me he had believed what she was saying.

But why did my brother not mention where he was going—or even that he was going—in his letter? Did he think I wouldn’t find out? Or was he just signaling me in a cold, deliberate way that he wanted no further contact with me. Was he saying, in effect, “You’re my sister and I have a duty to help you. So here’s some advice and some money. Too bad about your troubles, but I can’t do any more. I’ve got to get on with my life.”

Well, the money I could use. As far as the advice was concerned, my first impulse was to curse it, and to curse my brother for giving it. Then, for a moment, I wondered whether I could join the enemy and find my child. Perhaps I could.

Then I remembered the man I had seen at the Center—the one whom I had last seen acting as one of our “teachers” at Acorn, and raping Adela