Through the Flames Page 3

  He had to take a chance. He was afraid he was going to tear himself up, but he remembered that he had gotten in trouble with his dad the last time he crawled through that opening in the chain-link fence—he had made the hole wider, and his dad had said Ryan was going to have to work with him when he fixed it. But they had never gotten around to it. He was going full speed next to that fence, hoping LeRoy would not find him with his headlights. Ryan put the bike down, and it slid through the grass, over to the fence, and right through the opening. Ryan felt the fence brush the back of his head, but it did not draw blood. The back wheel got hung up in the fence, and he tumbled off into the backyard. He dragged the bike far enough around the back so no one could see him, and ran into the house.

  The last thing he wanted to do was go inside his own house, but what else could he do? All of a sudden that scary house looked like the safest place he knew. He didn’t turn on any lights. He just lay on the floor in the kitchen in the dark and tried to catch his breath so he could hear which way the van went. He heard LeRoy racing up and down the street, as if he was sure Ryan had to be there somewhere. Luckily for Ryan, the light timer didn’t kick on and give him away. LeRoy finally drove off.

  Ryan shakily crept to the phone and called Bruce.

  THREE

  The Meeting

  IT WAS time for Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan to drive to the church for their private meeting with Bruce Barnes. Judd kept looking at his watch, wondering how long he should wait for Ryan.

  “Maybe he’s not coming,” Lionel said. “Maybe he’s made his decision.”

  “You know him better than that,” Vicki said. “You know he wouldn’t even want to be out after dark.”

  “That means he found another place to stay,” Lionel said. “Or he talked himself into going back to his own house.”

  “He’ll go crazy there alone,” Vicki said.

  Judd couldn’t believe how disappointed he was that Ryan was not back. He vowed he would wait five more minutes, and that would be it. “If he’s not here when we leave,” Judd said, “he’s out.”

  “But what if he shows up at church?” Vicki said.

  “Unlikely. But if he does, he’d better have a good story.”

  Judd broke his own vow and waited ten more minutes. He shook his head and pulled his jacket on. Vicki said, “Judd, I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “So do I, Vicki, but I made an ultimatum and I have to stick to it.”

  “No you don’t. We’re not about ultimatums. We’re about mercy and grace, like Bruce always says.”

  Judd hesitated. At first he was angry that she was trying to correct him. Was she trying to take over? But then he thought, Who cares who’s in charge anyway, just because I’m older and it’s my house? Actually, he wanted a way out of this.

  Vicki continued. “You said yourself that we were to watch out for each other. All for one and one for all. I mean, if he had come back here and told us to our faces that he wanted out, that he refused to play by our rules, then fine. He’s never been afraid to speak his mind. He wouldn’t leave and not say anything. Anyway, he has to come back sometime to get his stuff.”

  Judd knew she was right. “But why didn’t he call? He knows he’s risking getting kicked out of the house.”

  “I’m afraid he’s in some kind of trouble,” she said.

  “I could be wrong,” Lionel said, “but I think he’s too chicken to get himself into trouble. That kid wouldn’t go with me into his own house in broad daylight.”

  “He knows you think that too,” Vicki said. “Maybe he went and did something foolish to try to prove himself to you.”

  “I doubt it,” Lionel said. “I told you he just blew me off when I tried to apologize.”

  “So he doesn’t know how to accept an apology. Is that a crime? He didn’t have any brothers or sisters, and you can bet his parents didn’t apologize to him much.”

  Judd was beginning to think Vicki was onto something. “So, if we’re going to look out for him,” he said, “where do we start? Where was he going?”

  “I have no idea,” Lionel said, and Vicki shrugged too.

  “He was on his bike,” Judd said. “Let’s just drive around Mount Prospect and take the long way to the church.”

  “Should we call Bruce?” Vicki said. “Tell him we’re going to be a little late?”

  There she went again with suggestions, Judd thought. But again, she was probably right. He wasn’t used to catering to adults like Bruce. Respecting people was something new for him, and, he knew, for her too. “My dad’s car has a phone in it,” he said. “That’ll save us some time.”

  They piled into the car, and Judd dialed the church as he drove. Loretta, Bruce’s secretary, answered in her southern accent. She said Bruce was on the phone. Judd told her his problem. “Why, young man, I believe Ryan is the one on the phone with Pastor Barnes right now.”

  “Where was he calling from?”

  “I don’t rightly know. Shall I have Bruce call you when he’s free?”

  “No, thanks. Just tell him we’re on our way.”

  That was encouraging, at least. Judd hated the thought of Ryan having called his bluff and making him follow through on his ultimatum. Ryan reminded Judd so much of himself at that age. Judd had been in a church family, of course, but it was late in his twelfth year that he began to become rebellious. A rage had grown inside him that he didn’t understand. He saw some of that in Ryan, and he didn’t want him to run from the group. Ryan needed them. And they wanted him.

  “I begged Ryan to tell me where he was,” Bruce said a few minutes later. “He sounded really scared. All he said was to tell you, Judd, that he would get to the meeting as soon as the coast was clear.”

  “ ‘The coast was clear’?” Judd said. “What in the world is he talking about?”

  “I told him I’d come and get him, wherever he is, but he said he doesn’t want me leading anybody to him, whatever that means.”

  Judd could see from the looks on the others’ faces that they were as dumbfounded as he was.

  “I’ve got a lot I want to tell you tonight,” Bruce said, “and I’d like Ryan to hear it. But I’ve had a long day and don’t want to be up till all hours like I have been the last two nights. Should we get started, and then you can bring Ryan up-to-date when he gets here?”

  That sounded good to Judd, but Vicki said, “I don’t know if I can concentrate while I’m worrying about Ryan.”

  “I think he’s safe,” Bruce said, “as scared and mysterious as he sounded. Let’s try to get something accomplished and not just spend our time worrying. Be praying for him, but let me teach you some things.”

  Bruce spent about half an hour going over the passages he had encouraged them to read since the last time he had seen them. “People are coming in here every day, hungry to read and learn what God has for them,” he said. “We’re planning a big service Sunday morning, and that’s just one day from now, so I’m going to be swamped.” He explained much of what they had been reading, about what was to come once the Antichrist signed a pact with Israel.

  “But do we even know when the Antichrist will come on the scene?” Lionel asked.

  “No, but many of the scholars I’ve read seem to think he would have already been here by the time of the Rapture.”

  “Then it might be someone we already like and trust?” Vicki said. “I never followed politics much, but I heard people saying they thought President Fitzhugh was a liar, and—”

  “I’d be very surprised if it was President Fitzhugh,” Bruce said. “This week I want you to be reading the passages I have outlined on this sheet. It tells some of the characteristics of the Antichrist, and one of them is that he has some sort of blood ties with the Roman Empire.”

  “So he’ll be an Italian?” Judd said.

  “Not necessarily, but something in his ancestry will tie him to Rome. I don’t believe that’s true of our president, and after you have read these passages yo
u may have other reasons why you agree with me that it’s probably not him.”

  “Do you think he’s here now?” Vicki asked. “Is there somebody you suspect?”

  “I have my eye on an interesting world figure,” Bruce said. “But it would be an awful mistake for me to try to identify the Antichrist before I was sure. Be watching and listening to the news. If the Antichrist is not a well-known world figure already, he probably soon will be. He’s the one we’re going to have to fight for at least seven years if we’re going to survive until the Glorious Appearing.”

  “I want to survive,” Lionel said. “But I remember my mother saying something about only a quarter of the people on earth after the Rapture still being alive at the end of the Tribulation.”

  “That’s exactly what I believe the Bible teaches,” Bruce said.

  “Hold on a second,” Judd said. “The population is already a lot less since the Rapture. Only one out of four of those will still be here when Jesus comes back again?”

  “Because of the wars, plagues, famine, and disasters, yes,” Bruce said. “I don’t mean to scare you, but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to look around this room and see that there are four of us here.”

  “And you’re saying,” Vicki said, “that only one of us is likely to be still alive in seven years?”

  “Seven years from the signing of the treaty between Antichrist and Israel, yes.”

  Vicki’s shoulders sagged, and she said just what Judd was thinking. “What’s the use then? What are we here for?”

  “That’s the exciting part,” Bruce said. “Our job is to win as many converts as possible before the end. Because when Jesus comes back to set up his thousand-year reign on earth, we’ll either be here waiting for him or we’ll come from heaven with him. Only those who come to him between the Rapture and the Millennium will reign with him.”

  “How many will that be?”

  “Some of the scholars I’m studying estimate that the multitude of believers the book of Revelation calls ‘numberless’ could be as high as a billion and a half.”

  “I want to stay alive and see that,” Vicki said.

  Bruce smiled a tired smile. “I want to stay alive and be part of winning them,” he said. “I’ll talk more about it Sunday. You’ll all be here, right?”

  “Right,” Judd said. “All of us. All four of us.”

  They heard a commotion outside: a squealing of bike tires, the dropping of a bike, the banging open of a door. Ryan rushed into the room, flushed, sweating, and—it appeared to Judd—just a little proud of himself. “Whew!” he said. “I made it!”

  Judd, in spite of how relieved he was, couldn’t help saying, “You’re late.”

  “I know, but I called Bruce. You told them, didn’t you, Bruce?” Bruce nodded. “I still get to stay in the house, right?”

  Judd nodded. “Just tell us what happened.”

  Judd was amazed as Ryan told where he had been and what he was up to. At first Judd wasn’t even sure he could believe the story, but it had a ring of truth to it. Lionel’s mouth dropped open when Ryan told of the phone conversation he had overheard between Talia and André. Lionel looked like he wanted to leave right then and track down his uncle.

  Ryan brought the story all the way up to where he was racing away on his bike, with Talia running after him and the van starting in the distance. “What did you do?” Vicki demanded. “Where did you go?”

  He told them the whole story.

  “Why didn’t you call us?” Judd said when Ryan finished.

  “I didn’t have the number! The church’s number is still on the notepad by our phone from the first time I wrote it down.”

  Judd was as excited as Ryan had been. He had reason to be pleased with himself. Maybe what he had done, getting so close to those people at Lionel’s house, had not been smart. But he had stood up to them until he could escape, and his escape was perfect.

  “You wanted that bad to stick with us, huh?” Judd said.

  “You have no idea,” Ryan said.

  “And you’ll be here Sunday with the rest of your friends?” Bruce said.

  Ryan nodded. “This is where I’m supposed to be, I guess.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I got to thinking when I was on Raymie’s street, what happens if LeRoy catches me? Or what happens if I don’t see some car and shoot out in front of it? I could die. Then where would I be? I made my decision and said my prayer while I was on that bike. Is that OK? I mean, I didn’t even have the breath to say it out loud. Does it still count?”

  Bruce stood and embraced Ryan. “It sure does, buddy,” he said. “God heard you. Welcome to the family.”

  Later Bruce helped load Ryan’s bike into the trunk of Judd’s car. “See you tomorrow,” he said, and Judd noticed that as happy as Bruce had to be, he wasn’t smiling. There was happiness once in a while, Judd realized, when something turned out the way they hoped. And he was sure everyone was as thrilled as he was that all four of them were now believers. But looking and acting happy was something totally different now from what it had been just a week before. There was too much to think about, too much to get used to, too much to overcome to be too smiley.

  Ryan let out a big sigh, sitting next to Lionel in the backseat. “Wow,” he said. “I don’t ever want to have to go through that again. You can fight your own battles from now on, Lionel. I’m getting tired of looking out for you.”

  That almost made Judd smile. For now he was as exhausted as Ryan sounded. He was ready to sleep. And already he could hardly wait for Sunday morning.

  FOUR

  Sunday

  JUDD was awakened early Sunday morning by a phone call from Bruce Barnes. “I’m concerned about Ryan,” Bruce said, “and I’d like you to help me check up on him.”

  “He’s still upset about his parents, of course,” Judd said. “But he seemed a lot happier last night. Why are you worried about him?”

  “Well, I have no doubt his decision was real,” Bruce said. “I just want to make sure it wasn’t something done totally out of fear. He was afraid something might happen to him, that Lionel’s uncle’s friends or enemies might catch him and kill him.”

  “Yeah?” Judd said. He wasn’t following Bruce. “Does it make a difference? I mean, a big part of my reason was fear too.”

  “Yes, Judd,” Bruce said, “but you also understood, if I recall your story correctly, that you were a sinner and needed God’s forgiveness.”

  “And you don’t think Ryan thinks that?”

  “I don’t know. I’m just saying I didn’t hear him say it. That doesn’t mean his conversion didn’t ‘take,’ but it’s important to our faith and to our walk with Christ that we realize what he has saved us from. True guilt and sin have been washed away.”

  “You want me to ask him?”

  “Not directly. I can probably do that better, being so much older than he is. I would have asked him last night, but I didn’t have a chance to be alone with him, and I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of you and the others.”

  Judd had to think about this. Maybe Ryan did have different reasons for finally making the decision he made, but not everyone came to Christ for the same reasons, did they? Of course, in the end they did. Everybody has the same problem—sin that keeps them from God. And it was by seeing and admitting that that Judd made his decision. But he also wanted to be with Christ and with his family when he died. And he wanted to avoid hell. Getting forgiven for being a sinner was a huge reason for him to do what he did, but the other stuff—being assured of heaven and staying out of hell—seemed almost as important. Did that mean his own decision had been based on fear? And was something wrong with that?

  Bruce concluded by telling Judd that he was merely trying to be sure Ryan didn’t think God was just some sort of a heavenly fire insurance salesman. Staying out of hell was one of the benefits of trusting him, but going from darkness to light, from death to life, from unforgiven sinne
r to sinner saved by grace, that was the crux of the decision.

  On the way to the church that morning, Judd couldn’t help prodding Ryan a little, just to see what he was thinking. Was he just the member of some new club with the only friends and “family” he had left? Or did he understand what had really happened to him? Maybe it was too much for someone his age to grasp. And yet, Judd reminded himself, when he was twelve, he knew the score. He simply had not acted on it and didn’t really believe it was all that crucial. Needless to say, he did now.

  “So, Ryan,” Judd tried, “how does it feel to be part of the family?”

  “Great,” Ryan said. “I still miss my parents, and I know I always will. And I’m still hoping they somehow became Christians before they died. But I’m glad I’m going to heaven.”

  “Isn’t it great to have our sins forgiven?” Judd said.

  Vicki shot Judd a double take, which made him assume she sensed he was fishing for something. Lionel was not a morning person. He had leaned his head against the window in the backseat and seemed still to be sleeping.

  “I guess,” Ryan said. “I wasn’t that much of a sinner, though.”

  “Oh, really?” Judd said. “You were the almost-perfect kid, huh?”

  “No. But the only time I did bad stuff was when I was mad or something. I was never bad on purpose.”

  Now Vicki got into the discussion. “Never lied, never cheated, never stole, were never jealous of anybody or wanted revenge? Never gossiped?”

  “Nothing that was really that bad,” Ryan said. “Honest.”

  “But I’ll bet you’re glad that we don’t get to heaven because of the good things we do.”

  “I don’t know,” Ryan said. “I might have made it. I was really a good kid.”

  “But you said yourself you weren’t perfect, and only perfect people can get to God. And anyway, how can you say you might have made it? You didn’t make it. Christ came and you were left behind, just like we were.”