Exit Kingdom

identifies himself simply as her deliveryman, you are generous to be
concerned about her. I assure you, Mr Todd, we are not in the business of hurting people. We are a sanctuary here. There are still some of those left, you will be happy to hear.
    Moses nods.
    One more thing, he says.
    Whitfield opens his hands palms up as if to offer himself for service.
    When I told you about her, Moses says, you took her straight tothe doctors.
    The pastor nods.
    Is that cause—
    Moses starts to ask his question but stops short and looks around as though someone were spying on them. He shifts and leans in closer to the pastor and continues.
    Is that cause you don’t believe she’s holy? Cause you believe it’s just a thing with her body rather than her soul?
    The pastor smiles, folds his hands and leans forwardas if he would meet Moses in conspiracy over the tabletop.
    I’m a man of God, says Whitfield. You said so yourself. It’s my business to believe that God has a hand in everything. It’s an article of my faith that things are the way they
are because they are supposed to be that way. Is the girl divine? Absolutely. And so are we all.
    But—
    But the two things are not mutually exclusive,the pastor continues. Her body may have some divinity it can share with the rest of us. The soul, the body . . .
    Whitfield waves a hand as if to dismiss them.
    . . . Our desire to distil one from the other is a child’s game. For good or bad, you are your appetites as well as your expiations. You are just as much what you
would
eat as what
you
do
eat. Look around you. The dead risen. Thebody has its harmony, too. Where is the soul?
    Whitfield knocks against his own sternum.
    Right here, he says. In our playful and meagre guts.
    The pastor sits back, and so does Moses, considering what Whitfield has said. After a few moments of silence, Moses speaks.
    Faith sure has changed, he says and shakes his head.
    Not much, Whitfield says and smiles. It’s just got a littlebigger. Things tend to do that when you open your eyes to them.
    *
    We have rooms for you, says Pastor Whitfield after they have eaten. He shows them into what looks like a dormitory wing of the compound, but there don’t seem to be
civilians living there. Moses wonders if they will try to keep them locked up, but the rooms they are shown are snug and clean and have unbarred windowsopening onto the courtyard.
    We can make you both very comfortable, he goes on. We didn’t know whether you were . . . together, so we’ve found two adjoining rooms. Use them as you see fit.
    The Vestal looks up at Moses. He sees her white face out of the corner of his eye, but he does not return her gaze.
    Actually, Pastor, Moses says, I can’t stay. It’s my brother. I left him in a badstate – told him I would come back. He needs help. He got shot, and the wound’s got
infected. When he’s took care of I’ll come back. Abraham and me – both of us will.
    Whitfield says he understands and goes to gather some antibiotics from the medical wing.
    Do you trust em? asks the Vestal when Whitfield is gone.
    She sits on the edge of one of the beds, her arms crossed over her chest.

    They seem all right, Moses says.
    They’re too nice.
    Some people are just nice, I reckon.
    I don’t want to be an experiment.
    You ain’t an experiment. Everybody just wants to know why you’re different. They figure that out, maybe they can put things back to the way they were.
    I don’t care about things going back to the way they were.
    Moses opens his mouth to demur then realizessome thing.
    I don’t really care much about it either, he admits. Some worlds you’re just made for, and I’m made for that one out there. But it ain’t everybody so adaptable. You might
do somethin for those people.
    She keeps her arms crossed and looks out the window, the snow falling in hard streaks against the darkening sky.
    I don’t want to stay, she says stubbornly.
    I’ll be back,he says. Two days. Then we’ll figure things out.
    Let me go with you, she says. We’ll fetch Abraham and then we’ll all come back, all three of us.
    They ain’t going to hurt you, Moses says. The sooner they get their research done, the sooner all of us can leave.
    Your job’s done, she says. You can leave now. Ain’t no obligation bringin you back.
    There is a challenge in her voice.She wants to be corrected. She wants a promise from him. Moses wonders if this is a woman he can make promises to. He wonders how much of her is