I go to Sister Ann for chores instead. Her face is pinched and thin. “Stay close today, Emmeline,” she says, packing candles into a crate. “Course, Sister Ann.” “I mean it truly.” She frowns. “No one is permitted outside the fortification unless it’s on Brother Stockham’s say-so.” My heart sinks. “Why?” When she looks up, her eyes are scared. “There was a Taking last night.” The words send a cold shock through me. I’ve never lived through a Taking. The last one happened before I was born. The sounds from the cabin fill my ears. Enormous rush of poison breath. Soft creaking on the floor. “Who?” Not Kane. Not Kane. I send a silent prayer to the Almighty. “One of the Watchers.” “Frère Andre?” Did he go after his Elephant Man again? Should I have told someone? I thought it better not to, thought it was safer for him. “No. Pellier. I think his first name was Bertrand.” She shakes her head like we shouldn’t speak on it further. “Just stay close.
