That woman was Mara Keene. Eli recognized her from town, although he had never spoken to her. She had coordinated equipment and volunteers after the spring flood and seemed to remember the location of every generator, trailer, and portable pump in the county. Later, he would learn that she had worked in structural engineering before taking a different path through life. Right then, he only noticed that she was the one people kept turning toward when they needed something practical to happen.
"How many people are here?" he asked Ronan.
"Sixty-three on the roster, including members from the visiting chapters. We counted when they arrived." Ronan followed his gaze. "Every one of them has somebody waiting for them somewhere."
The statement made the list downstairs feel different. The names were no longer marks on a page. They were men with children, grandchildren, wives, parents, businesses, and homes. Eli thought of his own mother standing at the stove and realized that she, too, was waiting for somebody who was supposed to be home.
He checked his phone. No signal. Three messages he had tried to send earlier were still waiting to go through.
He looked up just as a large man appeared at the opposite end of the hallway.
The newcomer had silver at his temples and the broad, heavy build of someone who had once played serious football. His vest carried the markings of a visiting Iron Hollow chapter, and he looked displeased before anybody addressed him. He stopped in front of Ronan, folded his arms, and glanced at Eli with open suspicion.
"Why'd you pull Cutter away from the room?" he asked. "And who's the kid?"
"Garrett," Ronan said, "we need to talk outside."
"I brought thirty-one people up this hill tonight. Whatever's happening under this roof, I don't want to hear it last."
Ronan did not raise his voice. "Then you'll hear it now, and you'll help keep them safe. Come with me."
For a moment Garrett looked ready to argue. Then he caught something in Ronan's expression and followed him toward the rear exit. Cutter stayed with Eli, his phone still in his hand. The boy could hear Garrett's voice through the wall, louder at first and then quieting as Ronan gave him the facts.
"You doing okay?" Cutter asked.
Eli looked down at his hands. "They're not shaking."
"That's not what I asked."
"I know."
Cutter put away his phone. "You don't have to act older than you are. You just have to tell us the truth about what you saw. The rest of this is our responsibility."
Eli wished he believed that last part as completely as Cutter seemed to. He wanted very badly for the whole thing to become an adult problem, one with trained people and proper equipment and no muddy boy in the middle of it. But he had seen the diagram, and he understood parts of it no one else had yet had time to learn. He was beginning to suspect that his involvement would not end simply because someone older had arrived.