"- yes, so, you're fifteen. And that is still a child. Some people might have told you that you are old enough to marry, or old enough to work all day and not go to school, but the law in this country is that you must stay in school, and you are not old enough to live on your own."

"I am a holy warrior of God."

Diel feels a stab of frustrated grief. "Right. And - it is because God chose you that you felt - safe to leave your family -" leave an arranged marriage, probably - "and go out into the world, and that was a very brave thing for you to do. But you are still very young, and there are lots of things you do not know, and so you should have a home, and someone who can teach you."

"I do not want - 

- there are many hungry children. They need - services. I do not want to take services because you think I am a hungry children, when I am a holy warrior of God."

"That is very noble of you. But even holy warriors of God can need help and support and people who will look after them. And I will try to find someone who can look after you."

She does not know how to thank the woman. She tries to smile appreciatively.

Right. The good news is that the girl actually may not be a difficult placement. 

"I'm going to make some phone calls. Do you need anything? Something to eat or drink? Do you have...things you own, that aren't here?"

"My -" Sword-stabbing motion. 

" - right. I think the police may need to keep that."

" - but we will keep you safe, you won't need it."

"It is - my family -"

"I will make sure that they know it's your property and once it's not related to their investigation we will see if it can be ...kept somewhere, for you, so you can have it when you are older."

"Yes, ma'am."

Right, time to make some phone calls. Who doesn't currently have a placement - nope, no one except some people who've said categorically no teenagers -

- she actually think Iomedae would do fine with younger kids, she's probably used to them -

- oh, there's an option -

She calls Evelyn Steel at 7pm on Friday night. 

Lily is in the bath, which does not make this the best timing in the world, and means it's unlikely to be a routine call. Emergency placement, probably. 

Fortunately she's just finished putting conditioner in Lily's hair and that can sit for a few minutes. "Sorry, love, can you just play with your toys here for a minute? I need to take this." 

She answers. There are splashing sounds and childish noises in the background. "Evelyn speaking. What is it?" 

"It's Diel. I have an emergency placement, teenage girl. - It's a bit of a tough situation, but she's an absolute sweetheart. She's fifteen. She fled one of those fundie cults, and she's been living for the last six months with some migrant workers. Someone tried to rape her, and she stabbed him, and then carried him to the nearest church to get medical attention. She's very religious. Evelyn, I know that people try to oversell teenagers who are going to be a tough placement, but she is genuinely the sweetest kid. She tried to decline foster care because she was worried other kids needed services more than her. Incredibly polite, very tidy. I know you have another placement but I bet you anything she's good with younger kids."

Which is all fine and good and she's inclined to take Diel at her word, but it's also..not overall a description that makes Evelyn feel less worried about the girl being described. That sounds like the kind of religious background that involved abuse-level discipline, and that's even before whatever she went through during the last six months before she came to the attention of social services. Good for her for getting away, but - she definitely has a feeling there's going to turn out to be some significant trauma in her past. 

"- Of course I'll take her. I would appreciate more information, though I understand if you don't know much. Has she ever been to school?" 

"No. She knows Scripture, not in English - she speaks very limited English - and she can add and subtract." It would be unprofessional to say aloud that Diel HATES FUNDAMENTALISTS.

"What's her native language?" Evelyn knows nonzero Spanish by now, and she has Google Translate, but it sounds like it might be more complicated than that. She hadn't even known there were any non-English-speaking religious cults in the Reno area. Though who knows how far she's made her way in the last six months, staying under the radar... "Have we been able to narrow down which religious community?" 

"Not at all, I was going to start looking once I found somewhere for her to spend the night. She also speaks some Spanish but I don't think that's her native language either. It might be, like, Yiddish, or something, I saw a documentary about that once. We're going to do some more interviews, I'm sure - she said five of her siblings are dead, which has got to be sufficient grounds for removal of the rest of them -"

"Oh my god." Evelyn actually feels kind of sick, and has to remind herself not to use words she shouldn't in front of Lily. "That's so upsetting. - Is she keeping things back on purpose, do you think? Does she seem afraid of us finding out more about her family?" 

" - I mean, she's almost certainly lying about some things. She claims that she ran away from home because she got a vision appointing her a holy warrior of God, and - well, I don't even know if I'd call that lying, but it's - a story that let her leave, right? She didn't seem defensive about answering questions, but - I think we're getting something very very far from the full story."

"...Yeah. I'll - see what I can do." She doesn't expect the girl to open up to her at first. Maybe not for a long time. But the most important part is giving her a stable, safe home.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I can take her tonight. - She's been checked out and at least isn't obviously sick, it sounds like?" Five dead siblings (aaaaaaaah!!??) sounds like the kind of background where she's never been to a doctor before, and also what if they all had TB or something. Possibly even worse, never seen a dentist before. She probably hasn't had the best nutrition over the last six months, either. "Also, what's her name?" 

"Iomedae Claves. She got checked out at the hospital when she showed up covered in blood, seems to be in surprisingly good health. We'll get her scheduled for all her vaccinations, not only had she never gotten any she'd never heard of the idea."