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“Your guess is as good as mine,” she said, shaking her head. “She communicates via text messages or messengers on foot. I haven’t spoken to her in weeks, and I’ve begged for help with the children or at least some direction as to what I’m supposed to do. She said she’d contacted the diocese, but as you can imagine, we’ve had no communication from them.
“Sister Josephina always says that she’s out there doing God’s work, and that she’ll let us know what to do about the children. I have to tell you, I haven’t seen anything resembling God’s work here.”
“We appreciate your time,” said Butch, standing to leave the church.
“I’d be grateful if you all went out through the gardens again,” she said. “I don’t need for everyone to see that I’ve had strangers in here. It would scare the children.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Pierre. They left through the gardens as requested, circled the block, and headed back toward the docks and the ship.
“What now?” asked Ambry.
“Now we eat, sleep, and kiss you goodbye in the morning while we find those other two churches.”
“Pierre,” she started.
“No. No arguments. The ship needs you and Marjorie. We need to find the churches and Sister Josephina.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
By the time they walked back toward the docks and saw the secure gates ahead, it was nearly dark. Unfortunately, the gates were not. They were lit up like a Christmas tree, with hundreds of people standing at the gate begging to be allowed through.
“What do we do?” asked Ambry.
“Stay close. No one let go of the other,” said Pierre.
He took the lead, holding fiercely to Ambry’s hand, while Butch took her other one, then took Marjorie’s hand. Fish grabbed her other hand, then linked hands with Conn, Winslow, and then Tucker.
As big as the men were, they could barely move, sandwiching the women between them. Deciding they needed a new approach, they surrounded the women in a circle, still linking hands and moving as one large unit. Crowds pushed aside, but Ambry called out for them to stop.
“Stop! Pierre, stop!” she yelled.
“We can’t,” he said, turning to see her face.
“They’ve been hurt,” said Marjorie. “We have to help them.”
“You don’t know where they’ve been or what they’ve done,” said Butch. “We need to get you two back to the ship, and then we’ll help.”
“No, we need to help now,” said Ambry. She looked up toward the gates, spotting a familiar head, then two, then three. “Look! They’re here! Dad! Frank! Ajei!”
“Who are those people?” asked Marjorie.
“The cavalry,” smirked Pierre, pushing through again. They were sitting in the back of a large military truck, a makeshift aid station ready for whoever needed it.
“Ajei!” yelled Ambry, working her way toward the woman.
“Ambry! Damn, it’s good to see you guys. We need help.”
“What the hell happened?” asked Pierre.
“Hi to you too,” smirked Frank.
“Sorry, Dad.” He hugged him, slapping his back, and Frank smiled at his son, then kissed Ambry’s cheek. Her father did the same, shaking Pierre’s hand. “What happened?”
“We’re not sure. We got here to give some relief to you guys, and the team was met with this. The kids are saying that someone chased them, and they ran here.”
“Get scrubbed,” said Ajei. “We need help. Frank and Ham are decent medics, but they’re not the best.”
“I heard that,” frowned Ham.
