Chapter Twenty-Six

Billie awoke to the sound of the small automatic door being opened and knew she had overslept. Her breakfast had arrived. She took the cardboard tray and set it on the table. Then she sat, folding her hands in prayer like she had been trained to do from the first day. She finally forced herself to eat for the sake of her baby. She waited for the booming voice of the Keeper to begin his daily prayer and sermon about her sinful condition, a distorted and terrifying sound she loathed and dreaded each morning, but today was different. The voice was spoken through a synthesizer, but it was the soft voice of a female. She read the same scripture, but it was without the meanness and wrath of the devil Keeper. When she finished, Billie looked up toward the camera.

“You’re not the Keeper. Who are you?”

“No, I’m not the Keeper. But I am of his Fold.” The woman hesitated as if realizing she had said too much. “No more talking, please.”

“The Fold? What is that, and who is the Keeper?” Billie figured the woman would not answer, and was surprised when she did.

“The Keeper is the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He knows the sheep, and the sheep know him.” She paused for a few seconds. “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. John 10.” The voice paused for several seconds. “I must go now.”

“Wait! Please don’t go!” But there was no answer. Billie was alone again. Still, she somehow felt this new voice held compassion where none existed with the Keeper. In her mind, she began to devise a new plan.

Billie reached for her oatmeal, anxious to see if the bitter taste of drugs was there. It contained no bitterness. This was not her day to be examined, and she was secretly glad, not ready for her daring escape attempt. She would get one chance and one chance only, and felt she needed more time to plan and train. Her mattress contained the only aids she would have—the pocketknife and the Maglite.

The woman’s voice was the same at lunch and again at dinner, and she was the same one who read scripture and prayed for forgiveness of Billie’s sin before turning off the lights that night. Billie risked one more question at dinner, even though the woman had told her she could only read scripture to her and was not allowed to converse.

“When will the Keeper be back? I need to talk to the Keeper. What if I have complications with my baby?” It was a long shot, but with the new plan forming in her mind, Billie decided to risk it. The long seconds of silence following her question made her believe the woman would not answer.

“The Keeper will be gone for a while, but you are in good hands. I can help you. I have helped deliver many babies, even ones who come too early and don’t make it into this sinful world. Do not worry.” There was a pause before the woman spoke again. “Are you feeling any pain, Billie?”

“Only fluttering, but I don’t know what I should be feeling. I’m scared.”

“You feel your baby. Do not be afraid. If you yell for me, I will hear you.” And with that, the member of the Fold was gone.

Billie took out her Bible and turned to the concordance and looked up the word “fold.”

An enclosure for sheep.

Billie then looked up John 10 and read the full chapter to herself.

The Keeper thinks he is a protector of the sheep, whatever that means. His fold must be his followers. I wonder how many followers the Keeper has.

Billie closed the Bible and lay back down on her mattress.

I don’t feel like the sheep; I’m not being protected.

Feeling the flutter in her stomach, Billie caressed her baby as she always did. The lights were turned off in her cell, and Billie prepared herself for training.

As she climbed the wall that night, she devised her plan—a bold plan, but one that might just work if she could pull it off before the Keeper came back. When she lay back on her mattress ready to rest after an extra-long training session, she stuck her fingers into the hole under her mattress and moved the knife and the Maglite closer to the hole, ready to be grasped in a hurry.

As she did every night now, she moved her lips, mouthing her words of comfort.

Be strong; fear not! God will save you!