Botanicaust

metal drew Tula ’ s attention to the Holdout. Brother John and another man hauled Levi toward the fence while the old man, Peter, stood outside the open gate, staring at her. His ancient blue eyes watered the crevasses of his weather-lined face. His shock of white hair stood up around his head. She wondered where his hat was.
    He reached out a gnarled hand. “ Katie? ”
    Tula ’ s heart stopped. The world swam before her eyes.
    Her name was Katie.
    “ Papa? ” She mouthed without sound. He looked different, yet his eyes were the same. So was the set of his mouth above a beard gone white with time. She recalled sitting on his knee at the dinner table, playing with his pocket watch while he counted the numbers circling its edge. The slow ticking movement of the second hand.
    My name is Katie . She couldn ’ t breathe with her chest so full of longing for the childhood she had lost.
    The men reached the gate with Levi in tow. Through the shock of her returned memories, Tula registered the others shouting Papa ’ s name — Peter. He moved slowly backward toward the fence, his face wracked with loss. His big-knuckled hand hovered in her direction. Tula blinked, trying to think clearly. Stars crossed her vision. If she didn ’ t move fast, she and Eily would be trapped outside.
    Twisting, she grabbed the child by the arm. The girl screamed Ana ’ s name in protest but only half resisted as Tula dragged her to the gate.
    Papa waited until she was inside, then shut the gate with a clang.

    The men erupted. “ Peter, what have you done! ”
    “ Activate full alarm! ”
    “ Watch the fence! ”
    One man released his dog to charge Tula. Her childhood training returned, she shouted, “ Platz! ”
    The dog stopped.
    “ It ’ s my Katie! Don ’ t you see? She knows the dogs! ” Papa ’ s voice rose above the din. The alarm changed its rhythm from an ebbing and flowing wail to a blaring staccato.
    Wave after wave of memories crashed against her as the dam retaining the past crumbled. Sneaking off into a hailstorm to catch ice with her brother. A crash of lightning and the tingling jolt across the wet soil as a bolt struck the nearby fence. The frenzy of the Holdout dogs attacking her brother and cannibals alike as the invaders swarmed the opening. A shudder passed through her as she recollected the scent of cooked flesh and she crumpled to her knees, hardly able to breathe.
    In the back of her mind Tula was aware that Eily knelt with her forehead against the ground and keened.
    The men caught the loose dog but kept it within inches of Tula ’ s bare shoulder. Tula smelled the creature ’ s breath as it snarled and panted. The rest held their dogs in check, in a circle around her and Eily. Levi lay forgotten in the dirt next to the small stone house.
    Papa ’ s red face appeared and disappeared behind several sets of shoulders as the men blocked him from her. “ Katie! My Katie! ”
    She wanted to run to him, to press her face against the coarse spun cotton of his blue work shirt like she did when she was a child. But angry men blocked the way.
    “ Go back into the house, Peter. Katie is dead. You accepted that long ago. ”
    “ What do we do with them? ”
    “ Put them back outside! ”
    “ Let the dogs have them! ”
    Papa bellowed and shoved his way past the men. Tula rose to meet him, heart like a bird in her throat. He seemed so much smaller than she remembered. Reaching a knobby hand to caress her cheek, he asked, “ What did they do to you? ”
    Abomination . Shame flooded her, even though her mind argued against the feeling. The Protectorate had saved her, not damned her. She clutched his weathered fingers, tears clouding her vision. “ Papa. ”
    The siren fell to silence, and everyone froze. The dogs continued barking. A man emerged from the small stone house. “ Platz! ” he bellowed. The dogs ceased barking but growled low in their throats. “ These two Blattvolk pose no immediate threat. Let us discuss our options like men. ”
    Papa faced the man squarely, using one hand to thrust Tula protectively behind him. “ My Katie has come home. ”
    “ Peter, this isn ’ t the Katie you know. Be cautious. ” The man focused past Papa ’ s shoulder to her. “ You bear the Mark of the Beast. We owe no sanctuary. ”
    She felt like she was five again, being scolded for sneaking out of Sabbath. “ I was very young when the cannibals stole me. ” Softer than a whisper.
    “ She ’ s a