Nathan Snake's Arc

Chapter 6 of 13

Nathan stood at the graveyard gate as the sun dropped behind the western trees. The daughter from plot seven had sent word three days ago that her brothers were coming tonight instead of next month. Something had happened in the city. They needed shelter now. Nathan checked the latch on the gate and looked back toward the church. The deacon didn't know he had the deed yet, but that wouldn't matter if the brothers showed up and someone saw them. The gate locked at sundown by church rule. Opening it after dark would be noticed. Nathan had two choices. He could leave the gate unlocked and risk the deacon finding out, or he could let the brothers wait outside until morning and risk whatever was hunting them finding them first. He walked back through the graveyard and stopped at the stone bench near plot seven. He'd placed it there two weeks ago, before he knew about the brothers, before he'd found the deed. The bench sat under the old maple tree at the edge of the property line, thirty feet past where the church claimed the boundary ended. Pink blossoms grew wild along its base, planted by someone decades back. Nathan stood beside it and looked toward the old temple structure at the far corner. The building had crumbled years ago, but its walls still stood tall enough to hide two men. Vines covered the stones and the door sagged open. It wasn't much, but it was shelter. And it was on land the church didn't own. Footsteps came from beyond the gate just after dark. Nathan opened it without hesitation. Two men stood there, younger than he'd expected, thin and dirty and carrying nothing but a canvas pack between them. The taller one had a cut above his eye that hadn't healed right. The shorter one held something wrapped in cloth. He pulled the cloth back enough for Nathan to see. It was a sapling, roots wrapped in wet burlap, its small branches already budding. The brother said their father had grown it from seed before he died. They'd carried it through the city for two days because they had nowhere else to plant it. Nathan took the sapling and told them to follow him. He led them to the temple and showed them where to sleep. He told them they could stay until it was safe to move on, but they had to stay hidden. The brothers thanked him and went inside. Nathan walked back to the maple tree and dug a hole beside the bench. He unwrapped the sapling and set it in the ground, packing soil around its roots. The deed was in his coat pocket, folded and safe. He didn't need the deacon's permission anymore. This land belonged to the forgotten poor, and it always had. He watered the sapling from the rain barrel and went home. The graveyard gate stayed unlocked behind him.