Page 47 of Finding Limits

“She was married to Eric. He was a well-respected elder. I remember her because she was kind. Though my mother never liked her much. Come to think about it, not many women in the village did, I always figured it was because they were jealous. She’s maintained her looks despite aging. This is undoubtedly her.”

“Jesus.” Mitch massages the bridge of his nose like he’s developed a headache. While I let it sink in that there's been a connection between me and him all this time.

“We need to find her. Didn’t you say the Souls never hurt women?” Hunter looks to Mitch for reassurance.

“Never,” he confirms.

“Then all the women from that village must still be alive. We have to find some.” Hunter sounds full of hope and as happy as I am for him, I can’t allow myself to get dragged back there. I’m nowhere near recovered enough for that, and suddenly I feel the pressure of being the only one who can help him.

“Hunter, give us five.” Mitch nods his head toward the door when he sees that I’m starting to panic, and when Hunter follows his order he reaches over the table and grabs both my hands.

“Evy, breathe. It's okay,” he tells me confidently, though I can see from the look in his eyes that he’s just as thrown by this as I am.

“How is this okay? Hunter's mother was from the village. I can’t go back there.” I shake my head frantically.

“No one would ever expect that. We have resources. I’ll speak to Maddy again. Nothin’ has to change.” His strong hands stop mine from trembling and I allow myself to breathe long calming breaths.

“It’s all gonna be okay, you're never revisitin’ that place,” he assures me again.

“Will you shut that child up?” Solomon shouts back at Annie who’s doing her best to keep her son pacified. He’s been sick for days now and Solomon refuses to let her take him to a doctor. No wonder the poor thing cries continuously.

“It’s him, I’m telling you it’s him.” I stare out the windshield at the tall, handsome boy on the other side of the street. I take out the picture I have of him with the couple who raised him, at his graduation, and hold it up as a comparison. I’m ashamed to say I stole it from their house a few weeks ago when Solomon broke in looking for evidence of where my son was, and although I was punished by him for taking it, it was worth it. I can now be certain that the person I’m looking at is my son.

“I could go and talk to him?” I suggest.

“Talk to him?” Solomon laughs at me cruelly. “Kayla, these things take time, you can’t just stroll on up to him and announce yourself as the woman who abandoned him. This just proves how unready you are for this world.” He shakes his head in disappointment.

I’ve lived twenty-five long years wondering what my son would look like. I never got to hold him, he was snatched away from me the second he was born. I’ve never been permitted to speak about him, I was told I had to deny his existence. So, looking at him now and seeing how strong and handsome he’s become makes me want to cry with joy.

“I don’t understand why he’s so important to you, now. I was told to forget about him.”

“You were told that by your last leader, and look at the disaster his selfishness caused. Our entire village was destroyed. Elders are dead. You were lucky I was prepared to take you on as wives or you’d be left to find your own paths,” Solomon reminds us, again.

“I just want to know why he’s so important now. What if he doesn’t want to come with us?”

“Kayla, where we are going, we need strength in numbers, me showing up at our new settlement with two useless women and a child makes me a burden. Your son is good stock, tall, and broad. Men will want to marry their daughters to him. The elders are much more likely to accept us if we have him.” Solomon takes my hand.

“When you spoke to my sister, what did she say? She must have told you what brought him here. He looks so happy.”

“Your sister barely said a thing. She was cagey and disrespectful,” he reminds me of the punishment I got for that too.

“He will be happy at our new home. It’s what has been pathed out for us.” Solomon softens his voice to assure me, though I don’t believe him. Since the attack on our village, he’s been unhinged. He’s convinced that after the death of his father, he is the new messiah. What he forgets is that he has no one to lead. My husband was taken by the men who rode bikes and wore leather. I can only assume, and hope, that he is dead after the years he made me suffer.

Myself and Eric never had children, he was aware that I had birthed a child before I came to the village and he blamed my sins for us not being blessed. He also blamed me for the fact his other wives weren’t blessed either, which started the rumor that I was cursed. The women in my village wouldn't talk to me or even look at me in case I spread the curse to them. I spent years being a stranger to everyone, living in the shadows and wondering what became of the beautiful, baby boy who I carried inside me for nine, precious months.

Now that I’m looking at him, I want to reach out and grab him. Tell him how loved he was before I even met him and that not a day has gone by when I didn’t think about him.

Baby Samuel continues to cry and Solomon turns his aggression on to Annie.

“I told you to keep that child silent,” he scolds her.

“I can’t, I’m sorry. He’s sick and he’s hungry. If you just let me see a doctor?—”

“We can’t trust doctors, Annie. They would take the child and place him with another mother, just like they did to Kayla’s boy, is that what you want?” he snaps, and when Annie shakes her head she looks to me helplessly. I wish I could tell her that I know that's not true, It wasn’t the doctors that took my son from me. It was Solomon’s dad and his elders.

Solomon composes himself and focuses his attention back to the diner across the street, and suddenly I see him shift in the driver's seat, shooting forward so his nose is almost pressed against the windshield.

“No,” he whispers, looking stunned. “It can’t be.”

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