CHAPTER TEN Luke

"I'd put that away if I was you," I whispered to Josiah after sneaking up behind him.

Josiah practically jumped out of his skin and hurriedly rolled up what looked like a magazine. "You scared me, Luke," he yelped, scanning the storage room to see who may have overheard my warning.

"You think Franklin's gonna allow that in one of his businesses?" I asked. "And where in tarnation did you get that?"

"It's just a catalog," he argued. "I swiped it from the doctor's office."

"Yeah, a catalog of half-naked women folk," I reminded him. "Something you stole as well."

"They're all wearing undergarments. That's dressed, so what's the big deal?"

I grabbed the item and made out that it was a J.C. Penney advertisement. Opening the pages, I found women modeling underwear. "The big deal is that you're sinning. You want Franklin or one of his henchmen finding you with this?" I asked, swatting the side of his head with the small catalog.

Josiah and I were sharing a bench we'd dragged over to a workstation in the back. The day had been slow because of a holiday the local folks were celebrating, so we were taking a lunch break while we worked on checking inventory in the backroom of our furniture store. All the ranch's businesses were open like any other day. All I knew was that the weather was warmer, and summer was just around the corner. The reason for the outsider's holiday? No idea.

"Want one?" he asked, holding up a sandwich wrapped in wax paper. I assumed it was ham and cheese since the women folk back at the ranch made those four out of five days a week.

I accepted a sandwich and studied Josiah while he opened his. He was small for sixteen and had just been allowed to work in one of our retail stores. All of us boys worked hard from the age of eight, but that was only on the ranch where the authorities couldn't give us grief about underage workers. Turning sixteen was a big deal for the boys because they could get off the ranch and see what other folks were doing outside our gates. As long as you didn't mingle with them.

Josiah was a sweet kid. Far too innocent to be carrying images of nearly naked ladies around with him, but mostly kept his nose clean. "Why you wanna look at those women?" I asked him, taking a huge bite of my sandwich. I'd been correct. Ham and cheese.

"They're pretty," he replied. "You can see their skin, too. He grinned mischievously. "Don't you like lookin' at ‘em?" he asked, shoving it under my nose.

I swatted the magazine away. "I don't take that sorta risk, and neither should you."

"Easy for you to say, Luke. You're the boy every girl wants to marry." He let out a long sigh. "Me? Not so much," he said, biting his lower lip. "None of the girls like me that way."

I was surprised to hear him speak about such things. Young men were not allowed to speak about courting, marrying, and certainly nothing to do with the girls on the ranch.

"And how exactly do you know that?" I grilled, being careful to keep him on the straight and narrow. According to Franklin, our job as the older boys, meaning over the age of eighteen, was to keep the younger boys' thoughts pure and godlike. I wondered what God thought about Franklin's behavior.

"I ask them if they like me enough to marry," he replied.

I gawked at him like he'd sprouted a second head. Grabbing his shoulders, I got in his face. "Listen to me," I hissed, glancing side to side to make sure we were alone. "Never, ever, speak to the girls about such things. Do you hear me?"

"Geesh, Luke. Calm down," he stated, twisting away so I'd loosen my grip on his shoulders.

"I mean it, Josiah. If Franklin got wind of this offense you'd be in a heap of trouble," I stated.

"And then what's gonna happen?" he asked sarcastically. "A trip to the barn?"

My blood froze. I'd often worried whether other boys suffered at Franklin's hands like I did. Considering that keeping David in line and away from Franklin was my full-time job, the other boys were the last thing I needed to worry about. It wasn't like I had extra time for another job, but protecting my younger brother was mostly all I thought about.

I moved to within inches of Josiah's face, securing his wrists with my hands. "What do you know about the barn?" His eyes widened, and he appeared frightened by my sudden stern behavior. "I asked you a question. What do you know about the barn?" I repeated.

"I heard you get disciplined in the barn," he whispered, trying to pull away from my grip. "You probably get a whoopin'."

"Have you been disciplined in the barn?" I questioned, my heartbeat pausing while I waited for his response.

"No," he answered.

My pulse steadied, and I let go of him. "Good. Keep it that way. Burn that magazine you have and stop asking the girls those sorta questions. You understand me?"

"You mad at me now, Luke?"

"No, but I will be if you don't remember our rules. Next time you feel like asking a question, you come see me."

He stared directly at me, his lips quivering before his eyes filled. "I saw something at the big barn," he mumbled, looking down at the floor and wringing his hands. "Joey Martin and Franklin were inside for a long while, then Joey came out last and he was crying."

I placed a hand on his knee and held it there. I could feel him trembling. I was trembling. "What did Joey say?" I asked.

"Joey wouldn't say anything," he replied. "He got one of those bad whoopins, didn't he?"

"He probably did," I fibbed. "Franklin's a big man, Josiah. Make sure you don't misbehave."

I was about to remind Josiah about a few more areas he needed to improve on. Things like his work effort and lines he better not be crossing, when the bell at the front door rang, alerting us to a customer.

"You want me to go up front?" he asked, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

I tousled his hair and smiled. "You finish your lunch. I got this one."

When I reached the swinging doors to the showroom, Josiah spoke up. "Why do some boys get taken to the barn for punishment, and some of us don't?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," I stated, leaning against the doorframe, my back to him as I gathered my calm. "Maybe some of them are violating rules." The anxiety monster that lived just behind my well-crafted demeanor knocked on my brain. ‘There're more boys, Luke.' I focused on breathing as I fought the rising fear racing through my veins as it made its way to my brain. Breathe. Focus.

His question stabbed me directly in the heart. Now I had more things to worry about. More boys. More nightmares. More anxiety.

I pushed the swinging doors open and came face to face with the man who said I could call him Tate.