Botanicaust

three steps to the porch of the quiet building. A door slammed from the house to her left, and she jumped, turning to see a dog straining against its chain in their direction. Across the wooden boards of the open porch, deep-throated growls rumbled toward them, but the creature didn ’ t bark. Tula felt rooted in place, gaze locked with the man-eater. Levi opened one of the double doors and tugged her inside.
    Past a nurse ’ s station and the dark windows of the doctor ’ s office, two halls stretched in opposite directions and a wide staircase rose against the back wall. Levi led Tula to the left at a brisk pace, his head turning toward each of the open doors, although he didn ’ t slow down.
    Many children already slept, small mounds beneath the blankets. The rooms held two or three beds each, although several only had one occupant. In one room, a mother had her back to them as she read a story to the child in bed. Tula had to double step to keep up as Levi sped past the open door.
    At the end of the hall, gaslight glowed from the open doorway. In a chair next to the window, a sallow young woman in a blue dress sat crocheting. She looked up and put her yarn aside to rise from the chair. “ I thought you might come — oh! ” She stumbled back a step, bumping the chair against the wall. Her hands made the sign against evil as she spotted Tula.
    “ Sister Amelia, this is Katie. I ’ m sure you ’ ve heard the gossip, by now. ”
    “ You brought her with you. ”
    “ Papa? ” A small boy, hardly more than a skeleton, wrestled with the blankets and managed to sit up.
    Levi perched himself on the edge of the bed. “ Josef, this is the friend I was telling you about. She was captured by cannibals when she was no older than you are. ”
    “ She ’ s a Blattvolk! ” The dark circles of his eyes were as large as saucers. His breath started making soft, rhythmic whistles, and Tula had to resist the urge to rush to his side to help.
    The nurse fumbled at the bedside table for an inhaler without taking her eyes off Tula in the doorway.
    “ The Blattvolk saved her from the cannibals. But you know, I learned something. The Blattvolk are just people. Some of them are good. Some of them are bad. ”
    “ And she ’ s a good one? ” Josef dutifully sucked on the inhaler. Tula took a relieved breath herself as the whistling eased.
    “ Yes. She rescued me. ”
    Tula added, “ And your papa rescued me back. ”
    Josef stared at her as if surprised she ’ d spoken, but his eyes held only curiosity. “ Were you a cannibal? ”
    “ When I was as little as you, the cannibals broke through the fence. They … ate my brother. ” Her voice cracked. Saying her memories out loud for the first time made her feel as small as the boy in the bed. “ We ’ d snuck out of Sabbath to chase a hailstorm when the fence went out. He was hurt — by our own dogs . The cannibals ate him first. ”
    She wavered on her feet, remembering the smell of cooking flesh, the hunger in her belly. She ’ d refused to eat then. But later …
    She had to take a backwards step to lean against the wall near the door or else fall down. Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out the memories, but that only made them worse. Sister Amelia made a small noise. Tula opened her eyes, focusing on the woman — the familiar and comforting bonnet at the back of her head, the compassion in her eyes. Levi had risen, and came to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
    Sucking in a breath, she continued her story. “ I don ’ t know how long I was with them. The woman who protected me. I think she ’ d lost a child. She kept me close. When the Haldanians came — the Blattvolk — I thought they were angels. ” She could still see the hazy halo of smoke around the man who had lifted her into the duster. “ I thought that for a long time. ”
    Sister Amelia gasped. “ They ’ re abominations! ”
    Tula drew herself up and locked eyes with the woman. “ They saved me from the cannibals. The Haldanians seek to end hunger, end cannibalism, so they change people to be like plants and make food from sunlight. I would have been eaten if not for the Blattvolk. I would not be here now to see Papa again, and cousin Bethy, and whoever else might remember me from so long ago. ”
    Sister Amelia ’ s eyes widened and she screamed and plastered herself against the window. Tula stiffened, wondering which of her words had upset the woman. Levi ’ s