Point of No Return
Point of No Return
Copyright © 2006 by Focus on the Family
All rights reserved.
A Focus on the Family book published by
Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188
TYNDALE
and Tyndale's quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Focus on the Family and Adventures in Odyssey and their accompanying logos are federally registered trademarks of Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, CO 80995.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the
Holy Bible, New International Version
®
.
NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.
TM
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved worldwide (
www.zondervan.com
).
The books in this collection were originally published as:
Point of No Return
, © 1995 by Focus on the Family
Dark Passage
, © 1996 by Focus on the Family
Freedom Run
, © 1996 by Focus on the Family
The Stranger's Message
, © 1997 by Paul McCusker
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansâelectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwiseâwithout prior permission of Focus on the Family.
A note to readers: The Adventures in Odyssey novels take place in a time period prior to the beginning of the audio or video series. That is why some of the characters from those episodes don't appear in these stories; they don't exist yet.
Editor: Liz Duckworth
Cover design: Jacqueline Nuñez
Cover illustration: Gary Locke
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCusker, Paul, 1958-
[Selections]
Point of no return : four original stories of suspense, time travel, and faith / Paul McCusker ; [cover illustration, Gary Locke].
v. cm. â (Adventures in Odyssey ; 3)
Summary: Four stories set in the fictional town of Odyssey follow the adventures of the Whit's End gang as they learn valuable lessons in helping their fellow man, forgiving, and living their faith.
Contents: Point of no returnâDark passageâFreedom runâThe stranger's message.
ISBN-13: 978-1-58997-332-9
[1. Conduct of lifeâFiction. 2. Christian liveâFiction. 3. FriendshipâFiction.]
I. Title. II. Series: McCusker, Paul, 1958-
Adventures in Odyssey ; 3.
PZ7.M47841Po 2006
[Fic]âdc22
Printed in the United States of America
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 /16 15 14 13 12 11
To Matt and Sam Butcher
With special acknowledgment to Marshal Younger and his Underground Railroad episodes for the Adventures in Odyssey radio series.
CONTENTS
B
OOK
F
OUR
:
The Stranger's Message
CHAPTER ONE
Friday Night
J
IMMY
B
ARCLAY
looked into the deep blue water. It was still. Faintly, he could see his reflection looking back. It didn't look much like him, though. In fact, it could have been a complete strangerâ¦but it wasn't. That had to be his young face looking up out of the water. The blue, still water.
There was also the scent of pine.
He got on his knees and looked closer at the deep blue waterâpondering it. He waited.
This was really stupid, he knew. At his ageâa mature and wise 10 years oldâhe shouldn't be in this situation. He never should've let Tony talk him into it. How many kids of 10 try to smoke their best friend's father's cigar? What made it worse was that Jimmy thought people who smoked cigarettes were Neanderthals. So why did he try the cigar?
He rested his head against the porcelain, sending a tiny shiver through the toilet bowl. The deep blue water rippled. The scent of pine was overwhelming.
Mom must have cleaned in here today
, he thought. He couldn't imagine when, though. His mother worked part-time as a dental receptionist and was on every committee the church could think up.
A new wave of nausea worked its way through Jimmy's stomach, and he prepared himself for it. Again, he stared into the deep blue water. Again, it was so still.
At that moment, he tried to remember how many puffs he had taken on the cigar before Tony said he was turning green. He couldn't remember. Too many. Way too many.
The wave subsided, and he sat down. He rested his head against the cabinet that housed the sink and prayed for deliverance. He begged his stomach to make up its mind:
Either do it or don't do it. Let's stop playing around.
Of course, I wish you
wouldn't
do it
, Jimmy told his stomach
.
From his room down the hall, he could hear music. Tony, his best friend, was listening toâsinging along withâsome CD he had brought over. Jimmy winced. It sounded as if Tony had the volume turned up full blast.
Jimmy wondered how long it would be before Donna, his older sister, would hang up the phone downstairs and yell at him to turn off the music. He thought about hollering for Tony to turn it down but was afraid to. He didn't know what it would do to his stomach or his mother's freshly cleaned bathroom. He leaned over the deep blue water again in case.
Tony screamed along with a song.
How could he be so energetic when Jimmy was sitting on the bathroom floor ready to die? Easy. Tony was good at talking Jimmy into doing stupid things and never doing them himself.
Jimmy grabbed the sides of the bowl, sure that something was about to happen. He held on and waited.
This is so very very very dumb
.
When will you learn? When will you stop acting like such an idiot? You're a jerk, Jimmy Barclay, and you'd better never let this happen again.
As if to say it agreed, his stomach settled down. It seemed suddenly at peace.
After a moment, Jimmy stood up slowly. His head swayed a little. He dropped the cover over the deep blue water and turned to the door. Everything would be just fine.
He paused at the mirror and looked hard at himself.
A little green around the gills maybeâbut nothing too terrible. Just Jimmy Barclay looking a little sick. Boy, it's a good thing Mom and Dad are out.
He opened the door, turned out the light, and headed for his room. He didn't notice that the music had stopped. It didn't click in his mind that all was deathly silent. When he entered his room to find Tony sitting quietly on the edge of his bed, he still didn't think much of itâ¦.
Until he saw his mom at his CD player and his dad looking over the remains of the cigar.
There are no words to describe the look on their faces, but most kids know it when they see it. Jimmy knew it well. His stomach turned upside down, and he considered running back to the bathroom.
“Get ready for bed, Jimmy,” his dad said as he walked out of the room with the cigar. His mom looked at him with an expression of complete disappointment and followed.
And that was it.
Jimmy looked at Tony.
Tony shrugged and said, “I didn't hear them coming. I would have done something if I knew they were coming.”
“How could you hear them with the music going full blast?” Jimmy asked. “They probably heard it at the restaurant and came home to investigate.”
His dad yelled from the kitchen, “Do you need a lift home, Tony?”
Tony looked at Jimmy. Jimmy shrugged.
Tony shouted back, “Oh, no thanks. I'd better walk.”
“Good night, then,” Mrs. Barclay called out.
“I guess that means I'm leaving now,” Tony said to Jimmy, grabbing his jacket from the foot of the bed.
“I guess so.”
“See ya,” Tony said as he drifted out of the room. “Call me when you get paroled.”
“Thanks,
pal
.”
Tony opened the front door and called out a final farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Barclay before retreating into the crisp Friday night.
Jimmy sighed.
From somewhere on the front lawn, Jimmy could hear an outburst of Tony's laughter.
George Barclay, Jimmy's dad, was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Mary, Jimmy's mom, was at the counter pouring herself a cup. Donna also sat at the table with a stricken look on her face. Obviously, his mom and dad had already read her the riot act. Jimmy guessed that they held her partly to blame for what had happened. She had been on the phone when she should have been keeping a closer eye on him.
“You're home early,” Jimmy said brightly.
After a moment of silence, his dad spoke. “We're home early because I decided to go see your grandmother tomorrow. I may leave first thing in the morning.”
Grandma Barclay was Jimmy's dad's mom. She had been sick over the past couple of weeks, and they were worried it might be a relapse of her cancer. She lived a couple of hundred miles away.