Through the Flames (3 page)

That was something he had to think about as he sat there in the grass, a couple of blades of it in his hands. He pulled the thin green strips apart and smelled the richness of the ground beneath him. It was one thing to hold out on his own decision about God because he didn't like what had happened to his parents. But what would they want for him if this was the truth?

How would he ever see Raymie again, or Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Walter? He knew he was still here because he had heard the truth and not acted on it. How long was he going to be stubborn, hoping everyone else was wrong when he knew full well they were right?

Maybe tonight, maybe at the meeting, he would ask to stay after and talk to Bruce. He didn't want to do something just because everybody wanted him to. He wouldn't be pressured into this. But he still had a lot of questions, and if anyone knew the answers, it would be Bruce.

Ryan froze when he heard footsteps above him in the house. He wasn't about to stand and peer into a window. He held his breath.

There was the squeak of a bedspring, as if someone had sat on the bed. He heard a mechanical sound he didn't recognize, but it came to him when he heard one end of a conversation. Someone had placed a phone call. It was a woman, sitting on the bed in the room just above him. He was able to hear her clearly if he kept his breathing shallow.

“André,” she was saying, “you ought not to be drinkin' now. You got to keep yourself healthy, and you can surface sometime soon.”

Surface?
Ryan wondered.
What does that mean? He's hiding out somewhere but he can come out soon? Will he have a disguise? He'd have to have a new name. Did the police even suspect that he was still alive, that they had assumed the wrong dead man was André?

“Now don't you go gettin' religious on me now, hon. You're just lonely. . . . Your cousin was over here the other day, and the guys offered to let him stay. But he wasn't too happy about us being here and he took off. . . . Yes, someone will try to find out where he is and check up on him. Or you can do that yourself in a few days. But you've got to be careful now, you hear? . . . No! Now don't be worrying about him. It wasn't your fault. He seems like a smart kid who can take care of himself. . . . Thirteen?! Are you sure? That big gangly boy? He looked sixteen if he was a minute. Well, he spoke well for himself—even stood up to the guys here. Don't worry about him. . . . Quit your crying now. This will all be over soon. . . . I love you, so shut up.”

Ryan jumped to his feet and ran down the driveway and across the street to his bike. He had done his job. He had accomplished something. He had something to tell the others. André was alive. André was in hiding. André would be coming out into the open soon and might even come to Lionel's house.

But what was all that stuff about André getting religious and worrying about Lionel? His phone message that night must have been real. He must have really been worried about what his influence had meant to Lionel. That had to be good news, right?

Ryan began pedaling back toward Judd's when the door of Lionel's house burst open and a thin, young black woman raced at him across the lawn. Had she been the one on the phone? Had she seen him? What did she want?

Ryan tried to accelerate, but he couldn't do it fast enough. The woman overtook him and grabbed him by the shoulders. For as thin as she looked, she was wiry and muscular, much stronger than Ryan. The bike stopped beneath him, and it was all he could do to stay upright.

“What were you doing in our yard?” she demanded.

“Your
yard?” Ryan said, barely able to catch his breath. His heart banged so hard in his chest that he worried his ribs would crack. “I thought it was my friend's yard.”

“And who is your friend?”

Ryan knew better than to say. He kept his mouth shut.

“Maybe you'd like to tell one of the men in my house.”

Ryan was petrified. “I'm not going to tell anybody anything,” he said, amazed that had come out of his mouth. What he wanted to do, what he was afraid he would do, was break down and cry and tell everything. He was a friend of Lionel's, and Lionel wanted his house back, but that news would bring all kinds of trouble down on Ryan and his friends.

“We'll just see about that,” the woman said. She strengthened her grip on Ryan's shoulders and began to yank him off his bike.

“You don't have to do that,” Ryan lied. “I'll come with you. I'm not afraid of you or anyone in my friend's house.”

“Then get off that bike and come in here.”

She kept one hand on his arm as Ryan dismounted, and he noticed one of the men of the house coming out onto the front porch. If that guy joined her, he was in trouble.

As he climbed off his bike, she let go of his arm and the man on the porch hollered out, “You need help, Talia?”

“No! He's comin', and you're gonna talk to him!”

But with that, Ryan pulled away and began running with all his might, pushing his bike along. The woman yelled at him and took out after him, but Ryan was fast. He didn't want to jump on his bike until he knew he had enough speed to get away from her. She was yelling for the man on the porch. “LeRoy! Get him!”

“Get him?” LeRoy shouted back with a laugh. “I'll run him down!”

Ryan was sprinting as fast as he could and sensed he was pulling away from Talia when he heard the old rattletrap van start up. He leapt onto his bike and pedaled with all his might. His only hope, he knew, was that his bike could go places that van couldn't. And Ryan knew this suburb.

It wasn't long before Talia had quit running because she fell too far behind. But Ryan could hear that old van engine growling, and he was scared to death.

He cut through yards, went down alleys, turned every which way as fast as he could. He thought he had gotten away from LeRoy a couple of times, and then he showed up, somehow guessing where Ryan would come out. LeRoy never got closer than a block or so, though, until Ryan got into his own neighborhood. LeRoy was about a block behind and closing fast when Ryan got near Raymie Steele's house. Raymie and Ryan had a route they always used when going between their houses, especially when they were trying to sneak somewhere or were trying to keep from being seen. It went through the side of Raymie's yard to the back and through the hedges in his yard to the hedges of the next one. That led into an alley that emptied out right near Ryan's house.

It put him right in plain sight unless he got there fast enough that no one was right behind him. If someone came out of that alley late enough and couldn't see him, he wouldn't know which way Ryan had turned. Actually, he didn't turn at all. Ryan just made a jog around the side of his own house and slipped through a small cutout in the fence. He usually ran through the shortcut, but on his bike he was really flying.

When he got to Raymie's side yard, his bike fishtailed in the grass, but he couldn't slow down. He just tried to stay up while still pedaling fast. He straightened out just in time to squeeze through those two hedges, but he could see LeRoy and his van heading for the alley. LeRoy had to slow down to make the turn, and by that time Ryan was through the hedges and clear. He could hear LeRoy but he couldn't see him, so he knew LeRoy couldn't see him either.

Ryan shot through the lawn at the side of his house, riding as fast as he ever had. His legs were burning, and he was gasping. He saw the headlights of the van just as he got to the fence and knew if he got off his bike and tried to slither through the fence on foot, LeRoy would see his bike and know where he was.

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.

I
T
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 you 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.