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“Sadly, not at this time,” Marjorie said. “The upkeep of this place—we do it on a shoestring, but it’s not nothing.” She said she could float Rhiannon’s fees for a few months, but that was pushing it.
Rhiannon swaddled Teddy and sat on her bed and stared at the glorious sunset. The mountain peak jutted up in the center of the community like a lighthouse. She thought of all the people she’d left behind. Her mother. Johnny. Lenna. People at the office. She thought of the one conversation Carey had had with their mother, allegedly—when he told Joanna that Rhiannon was going around saying she was the mother who drove her children off a bridge. It felt like validation, that Carey had stood up for her. She almost wanted to call him and thank him. Only, how would she explain the baby?
But it felt like those people existed on another planet now—a planet that, frankly, she didn’t want to return to. Her heart was broken, and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to put it back together after what had happened. But Marjorie’s nurturing ways, the rhythms of the place, even Teddy’s emerging placidness—she justneededthis. Just until the cracks healed a little.
Who could she ask for money? She had no one.
One night in November, her phone rang. It was twoa.m.She didn’t recognize the number on the screen.
“Is this Rhiannon Cook?” There was something unusual about the person’s voice—it had a computerized buzz in spots, though that was probably just the connection.
“It…is,” Rhiannon said hesitantly. She worried she’d made a mistake in answering.
“I’ve received word that you’re a woman who’s struggling.”
“Wh-what?” Rhiannon sat up in the darkness. “Who is this?”
“They make it hard, sometimes, with those fees. But I can help you.”
“How did you get this number?”
“I’m someone who cares. Someone invested in the success of these communities. Most importantly, I’m a feminist. I believe in women helping women. And I believe that there should be no privilege hierarchy in these places. If you want to be there, then you should be there.”
“H-how do you know I need money?” Rhiannon pictured her mother on the other end. But that made no sense. Why wouldn’t she just identify herself? “Are you here? In the house?”
“I can help you. We can help each other.”
“How?”
“I’ll pay your buy-in money.Ifyou do something for me.”
Rhiannon’s chest tightened. “What?”
“I want you to be my pigeon. Do you know what pigeons do?”
A full moon appeared from behind a cloud. “No…”
“They carry messages. The ancient Greeks used pigeons to carry the names of the winners in the Olympic games to other cities. In the 1800s, stockbrokers used pigeons to transmit stock quotations from Paris all the way to London, can you imagine?”
“You want me to carry a message to someone?”
“I want you to carry the message of the ranch. That’s how this is done. But only to a select few. Just like a carrier pigeon, you’ll have a destination. And you’ll bring them back here.”
Rhiannon felt uneasy.
The voice continued. “There are other women just like you. Suffering. In need of the ranch, but not knowing the ranch is anoption. You might even know someone, if you think hard enough. So I want you to be my carrier pigeon. Bring them into the fold. Get them to buy into the program. Get them to join the family. You don’t even have to figure out what to say. I have a whole speech for you.”
“But I can’t leave.”
“Whatever you’re worried about,” the voice said, “you’ll be fine.”
“How doyouknow?”
“It would only be a day trip. And you’ll always be driving. I’ll give you the instructions about what you need to do.”
“Is this Marjorie?” Rhiannon blurted. It had to be. When the voice didn’t confirm or deny, she added, “Is this really the only way? What about Teddy?”
“He’ll be cared for. Say you’re having a medical procedure. Something that was booked ahead of time. You’ll take a taxi to the airport parking lot. I’ll leave a car for you. Space 52A, in the long-term parking.”
