Bone Lake

When she came to Bone Lake back before November, she had thought it the ugliest place in the world, dry as stale bread. But in February, rain had transformed Cat Valley miraculously, and everywhere she looked there was green. All around Callen the world seemed to be opening up, showing her its true beauty. One morning Eli had taken her out early to see the dens of foxes and coyotes; they watched for mountain lions and bobcats. His teaching emboldened her. On her own she explored the nearby ranches. She had ventured as far as the dry lake where archaeologists and their students sifted the fine dirt for remains of ancient cultures that Eli claimed had lived beside the lake thousands of years ago when it was full of water. Andy said America was filling up with muds, and one day soon white people would be extinct unless the Brethren stopped it. This was a hard job but an honor handed to them by the Almighty, who had created the world by His own hand for the pleasure and dominion of the Aryan people. She told Eli this, and he asked why God had chosen the Brethren particularly. Among all the fair-skinned people in the world, why had the Creator of the universe chosen them? The question made her angry; but when she thought about it later, she wondered why no one had asked and answered it at Patriot Camp, in prayer meetings, or in Marilu's home school