“Which makes him even more determined,” Gideon said grimly.

“And dangerous,” Rafe added, very quietly.

“So, things are not so fine,” Irina acknowledged with a sigh. “But we are all here and safe, yes?”

“Yes,” Mercy told her. “We are all here and we are all safe.” She held on to Amos’s hand, pushing her fear away for the moment. She didn’t shove it into the box in her mind, but she was able to set it aside to focus on the stepfather she’d missed so much. “I bought one of your pieces yesterday. At the general store in Snowbush.”

“The jewelry box.” Amos nodded, his smile almost bashful. “DJ said so on that call to the store owner.”

“‘Surely Goodness and Mercy,’” Mercy murmured. “I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

“I carved it into all of my larger pieces,” Amos said. “It was the only way I could think of to remember you.”

Mercy gripped Amos’s hand tightly. “I remember how you used to sing to me. I tried to get more information about you. About Eden. But all my questions got poor Ginger killed. We have to find them—DJ and Ephraim. We have to stop them.”

“Do you know where Eden is right now?” Gideon asked. “I’ve been searching for it for so long.”

Amos shook his head. “I know it’s near a network of caves and tunnels. I know it’s north of Snowbush by a few hours. I know we’ve stayed there once before. Pastor chose it because winter was upon us on the last move and it would provide us with adequate shelter. But I don’t know anything else. It was a valley. No matter how high I climbed, I could never get a sense for where we were. And I tried, please believe me, I tried. But as you will remember, even leaving the compound is forbidden in Eden, so exploring is nearly impossible. I got special permission because I needed to find the best sources of wood, but I could never be gone too long or be sure I wasn’t being watched.”

“I believe you,” Gideon said again.

“We do know another thing, thanks to Mr. Terrill,” Molina said, her eyes brightening. “On that call DJ made to the store owner, he told the guy that he didn’t have any more ‘product.’ That they’d had to leave it behind. That was half true. We found evidence of an underground grow house at the Snowbush site. The equipment was gone, but a few spores had sprouted in the dirt they left behind. Now that we know that they’re selling psilocybin, we can listen and watch for new suppliers to that geographical area.”

“Shrooms?” Mercy turned to Rafe. “That’s their new cash crop?”

“New cash crop?” Amos asked, stunned. “You knew that the Elders were selling drugs? How?”

“I remembered that the healers had pot for pain,” Mercy said. “And I remember the field of poppies that we kids weren’t allowed to go to.”

Amos sat back, looking drained. “Poppies? For opium. Dear God.”