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their cups of tea. One of them was Laurel from the night before, who
recognized Ana as and moved over a fraction to welcome her to the bench.
Introductions were made Teresa Montoya, pretty and silent, and Dominique
Picard, who had an accent and an appearance as French as her name. Ana greeted
them, sat down, and made a comment about the beautiful morning; with that
simple prime, the well of conversation began easily to flow, even when Laurel
excused herself to begin her kitchen duties.
Teresa and Dominique, it seemed, were teachers. All of the older students
currently being off to basketball and Biosphere, the two women were free to
bring their record books up-to-date and have a leisurely consultation over an
extended breakfast. They were interested to hear that Ana was herself a
teacher, and asked her about her experience.
"Well," she said, "I used to teach the little guys I started with
kindergarten, then third grade for several years. Then I wanted a change so I
upgraded my certificate and taught high school in a private alternative
school history, English lit, and even beginning Spanish for a year," The two
women did not go so far as to exchange significant glances, but Ana could feel
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that they were definitely paying attention. "Tell me about your school here.
How many kids are there?"
"We have about a hundred kids in the community, eighty-seven of them in the
school," Dominique told her.
"Really? That's quite a good-sized school. How many people in the community
in all?"
"Two hundred seventy, two hundred eighty, something like that. A high
percentage of children, you are thinking, no? Do you know anything about us,
Ana?"
"Not a thing, really. Carla took pity on me last night in Sedona when she saw
me working on my bus's heater, but we didn't have a chance to talk. I did
gather that this is a religious community."
"Please, whatever you do, do not think of us as a cult. We are a community of
people brought together by a common interest in spirituality and responsible
living personal transformation leading to a change in society as a whole.
Steven is first among us here, but he is no cult leader." Ana smiled to show
her sympathy, and Dominique, mollified, went on.
"We have a high percentage of children here because one of the ways we take
responsibility for our existence on this earth is to nurture young people who
have been abandoned by their families. We take in so-called problem
children children who have been rejected by a series of foster homes, who are
being released from juvenile detention centers, children too old or too
ill-behaved for the adoption agencies and we give them structure in their
lives, the firm hand and good example of mature adults, healthy food for their
bodies, fresh air and open space for their spirits, education for their minds,
and, when they are ready for it, the skills to personally transform their
souls,"
"And basketball games," said Ana.
Dominique looked puzzled for a moment, then grinned. "Basketball, yes and we
have a killer baseball team as well. Kids need focused relaxation, and a
little friendly competition teaches them how to use aggression, not be used by
it a lot of the boys who come to us have real problems with aggression,
learned from their fathers, continued by their peers. Besides which, an
all-American team sport is a way we can demonstrate to the community and the
state that we're not a bunch of weirdos about to start shooting at the FBI and
BATF." The colloquial familiarity with governmental agencies was
disconcerting, particularly as Dominique had hit on the very purpose of Ana's
presence here, but it was also amusing to hear the phrase "bunch of weirdos"
rendered in a French accent. Ana laughed. "I met a child named Dulcie
yesterday, who I assume is being fostered here,"
"Dulcie is a sweetheart. But why do you not think she was born here?"
Without pausing to consider, Ana said, "Because she acts like an abused
child," Oh God, she then thought, what if Dulcie is actually one of their own?
But both Teresa and Dominique were already nodding.
"She has only been with us about six weeks. She speaks only to her brother,
who is also here, but she has begun to respond to outsiders by gestures,
nodding, or pointing, and occasionally she uses a few words. That is
progress,"
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"Dulcie?" said Ana. "Do you have more than one Dulcie here? The girl I met
last night was talking just fine,"
"Dulciewas?" It was the first time Teresa had contributed; both women were
leaning across the table as if to seize Ana by the collar.
"Yeah. When she and Carla saw me working on the engine, she asked me what I
was doing. And what was the other thing? Oh yes, when I pulled a length of
duct tape from the roll using my front teeth, she was a good little mother and
told me I shouldn't use my teeth like that, they'd come loose and fall out.
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