Katherine turned her back on the burning buildings at the Bolinas Mall. The leaping flames, the shouting, and the urgency surrounding the fire had unnerved and confused her. She crossed the parking lot, anxious to leave the chaos behind and desperately longing for the peace of the Apthorp.

She hurried up Brighton Avenue as the wind kicked up and blew dust about. Emergency vehicles headed toward the fire, but Katherine didn’t notice them. She was consumed by a guilty feeling that she was complicit in the destruction of the mall. She convulsively pulled and twisted her red scarf as she thought about how committed she had been to the gods and the priesthood. They had been responsible for all that destruction. Did that make it her fault, too? She told herself that didn’t make sense, but her emotions pushed logic away.

When she reached the Apthorp and closed the courtyard gate behind her, she felt herself begin to calm. In her second-floor room, she looked about with pleasure, and peace slowly returned to her mind.

A slip of paper taped to her filing cabinet caught her eye. She couldn’t remember what it was, so she pulled it off and looked at it. Ah. It was that ridiculous poem the letter carrier had recited to her.

A woman who once dressed in brown
Put on a diaphanous gown,
And then she revealed
What once was concealed.
Her act was the talk of the town.

What could it mean? Did it mean anything? Why had she written it down and saved it?

Katherine couldn’t figure any of that out, but she realized the poem must refer to the gown she wore when she served at the Temple of Bolinas. Did she still have the gown? Yes, there it was, hanging in her closet. On a whim, she put it on and turned about, studying her appearance in the mirror. It wasn’t revealing, at all. What a silly poem.

She heard a noise outside and went to the window. A pickup truck was parked in the Apthorp’s circle drive, and three men stood near it. Though it was dark out, the men were lit by the light from the courtyard, and Katherine recognized one of them. It was Dave, the former acolyte at the Temple of Bolinas. She remembered being involved in the incident that cost him his position there.

Just now, he had been at the mall, too. What was he doing at the Apthorp? Katherine felt it could only mean something bad, and it seemed to her that chaos had come from the mall and arrived at her front door. Confusion swept over her once more.

She didn’t know what to do, but felt she must do something. Slowly, reluctantly, she left the safety of her room. The hallway, normally so familiar, seemed somehow remote. The stairway wavered in front of her, but she forced herself to step tentatively down, grasping the bannister. She leaned her shoulder against the wall for support.

As if in a dream, she drifted through the Apthorp’s foyer. She opened the front door and stepped outside. The wind gusted about her. The sound of the leaves in the trees seemed strangely loud, and the courtyard flagstones felt uneven beneath her feet. She stumbled, but grabbed the fence with both hands to catch herself. Holding on, she shuffled hand over hand to the gate.

She opened it, stepped into the gateway, and stopped with the gold Apthorp sign arching over her head. In that moment, Katherine’s confusion vanished. She saw how, in the past, her efforts to please — to do what she was told — had come to nothing.

All at once, it seemed to her the Apthorp had magically appeared and taken her in, to a place where friends accepted her, to a place where she was happy. The Apthorp was where she belonged. It was her home. It was hers, and she knew what to do.

She would protect the Apthorp. She didn’t question her ability to do it, even as the three men approached her.

And so Katherine stood in the Apthorp gate, blocking the way to her home. Swirling wind blew her white temple gown, fanning it across the gateway. It glowed translucent in the light coming from behind her, creating a rippling, moving barrier. When the men reached her, she said, “What are you doing here?” She refused to let her voice quaver.

Dave was in front. “What the hell is this?” he said. “Some costume party? Beat it.”

Katherine didn’t move. “Whatever you are planning, you must not do.”

“Listen, girly,” said Dave. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go back to that stupid temple.”

Dave’s buddies hung back from the apparition confronting them. “This isn’t right, Dave,” said one of them. “Let’s just go.”

Dave turned on them. “Go get us some damn brush, you wusses, just like we talked.”

He moved closer to Katherine and said, “You stupid, or what? You’re asking for it.”

Car headlights swept across the lawn and came to rest on the backs of Dave and his buddies. Doors opened, and Mackenzie, Isabella, Emily, and Anthony got out.

“Christ,” said Dave. “What now?” He turned, pulled his gun from the holster on his hip, and waved it. “Hold it right there.”

Everyone stopped.

Dave took a magnesium fire starter from his pocket and threw it to one of his buddies. “Now get that brush. There’s some right over there.”

But Dave’s buddies didn’t move. They were mesmerized by the sight of Katherine blocking the Apthorp gate. Her hair blew in the wind, and her gown, now glowing a brilliant white in the car headlights, billowed around her.

Dave turned back to Katherine. “Get the hell out of the way.”

She didn’t move. “It’s you who must go.”

Dave lifted his gun and held it in front of Katherine’s face. “Last chance.”

“I will not,” said Katherine. She stared into Dave’s eyes and saw the wild chaos lurking there, but still she stood fast. “You have no reason to be here.”

“Who needs a reason? This’ll be fun.”

A second car pulled up and stopped. Audrey and F F got out. Audrey took in the scene in front of her and immediately sprinted toward Dave and his buddies.

One of Dave’s buddies saw Audrey coming. He reached out to grab Dave’s arm and warn him, but he missed his grasp and hit the hand holding the gun. The gun fired.

The gunshot echoed off the walls of the Apthorp, and then there was silence. The wind stopped, and Katherine’s gown sank down to her sides. Dave and his buddies froze in place. Audrey and everyone else stood paralyzed, silhouetted in the car headlights.

Katherine staggered back and crumpled to the ground.

“Hey,” said Dave. “Get up.”

Mackenzie came across the lawn, struck right and left in a blur of movements, and Dave sprawled unconscious at her feet. Audrey rushed up and snatched the gun.

Dave’s buddies abandoned him, fleeing on foot into the dark.

Anthony knelt and took Katherine in his arms. Her gown spread out around her, but a red stain crept across its whiteness.

Emily frantically called 911 on her cell phone, and Isabella came running with a first aid kit, but none of that helped. Everyone was talking and shouting, but they stopped when Katherine spoke.

“I’ve been so happy here,” she said. “So happy.” She paused, and then said softly, “I’d like a hug. It’s been so long since I’ve had a hug.”

Anthony hugged her.