CHURCH LADY P.I.: Part # 13 (Snooping)

CHURCH LADY P.I. Part # 13

(SNOOPING)

REMEMBER: This is a mystery and it must be read in order, including the  Introduction, then Part 1, Part 2, etc. Also read the Companion Blog Post from my Personal Blog, "Laura-Lee Was Here" called, "FINALLY FINISHED: Church Lady P.I.". There are clues everywhere. (LR)

"Four Christians with a gun and a kangaroo are crammed into an old pick-up truck and on their way to rescue a little girl from a Baptist Campground ..."

Even without the "kangaroo" we still sounded like the beginning to a bad joke. Oh, if the Lord had revealed to me what was coming I probably would have jumped out of that truck, even if it was travelling at it's top speed.

Bert  suddenly  turned off his headlights and slowed his truck to almost a crawl and I knew we had arrived at our destination: the old and supposedly deserted former, "Mount Zion Christian Campground".

We drove slowly and quietly past what Bert and Marc referred to as "Lower Zion". This apparently is where all the the main outdoor gatherings had happened when this camp was booming with the voices of the young and old alike throughout it's many years of usage. Even in the dark I could see several huge logs still remained where they had been used as make shift "pews" around a massive fire pit.

I couldn't help but think of how it had once rung with the songs of worshippers, prayers of the faithful and penitent, and the laughter of young and old alike. Now it just looked forgotten and forlorn with a 'pinch' of creepy thrown in.

Bert said he knew a good place to "stash my truck while we snoop around" and the moment we passed the gathering place he turned and drove directly into a grove of trees.

All four of us got out of the truck as quietly as possible and didn't actually close the cab doors but just shut them. Marc had taken the responsibility of keeping Bert's hand gun. He set the safety, stuffed it into the back of his jeans, made sure it was hidden by his jacket (which I had given back to him) and all four of us turned our eyes up towards the large hill from which this "Mount Zion" had gotten it's name.

My previous trembling had completely stopped and another Bible verse jumped forward from my memory. I looked at Marc and saw his eyes had turned towards the hill. Suddenly we looked at each other and I just knew we were thinking the same verse. The Lord was communicating to both of us the same truth from his Word. This "unity of Spirit" was occurring between us more and more as Marc and I had continued to pray and seek Jesus together as a team and not just as two individual Christians.

He gave me a faint smile and said simply, "Twenty-four, right?"

Yes. Psalm 24. We were thinking the same thing and that helped to calm my nerves and reassure me. Not just that I could have faith in Marc to hear and obey his Lord, but proof (again) that the Lord was, in fact, with us.

It didn't take us long to find what we were looking for. It had become a dark night and the light from a window showed up brightly to direct us to the only signs of life in this camp.
All four of us, Bert, Marc, myself and Sarah's mother Ginnette decided to stay together until the situation called for a different strategy. We were just about to "move out" (as Bert referred to it) when Ginnette whispered, "Shouldn't we pray or something?"

I stopped and looked at her. "Do you want to pray?"

" Yes. I do." she answered simply.

We all came together in a four person huddle, with our arms linked around each others' shoulders. Following Ginnette's lead, we bowed our heads when she did. I thought I would hear her lead us into prayer, but after a minute with my eyes closed and hearing no words I opened my eyes to peek and see what she was doing. Her eyes were squeezed tight shut and her lips were moving, but she wasn't saying anything out loud. I witnessed so many different emotions cross her face as she mouthed that silent but fervent prayer that it made me wonder at all she must be going through with her precious daughter missing and most probably in the hands of some very nasty people.

After another minute or two she suddenly lifted her head, opened her eyes, looked up at the three of us and said, "Amen. Right?", with just the hint of a smile.

The rest of us responded together, "Amen. Right!"

Even though we had prayed "quickly and quietly" I felt sure that in Heaven it had been heard as "loudly and bold".

We unlinked arms and started creeping towards the distant light that I estimated to be about one third of the way up the "Mount Zion" hill.
Before we got to our destination Marc and Bert (who had previously attended this camp several times when they were youths and it was in it's prime) confirmed that our destination, from where the light was emanating, was probably the building which had once been home to the camp's director.
We were almost there when Bert spotted a couple other vehicles that had also been "stashed" among some trees.  We all stayed put as Marc went on alone to see if he could look into the windows of the Director's Cottage.

He gave my hand a tight squeeze before letting go and jogging off in a crouching position to complete his task. The thought, "Hidden Dragon, Crouching Christian" came out of my mouth unbidden as he disappeared into the night and brought a chuckle from my two compadres. But as I saw the gun in the back of his pants reflect the moonlight, a wave of dread and nausea hit me when I thought what could happen if he was discovered.

This made me quickly turn to Ginnette and wonder what she was thinking with her daughter missing and all her worst fears and imaginings to torment her. I saw that she was actually chewing on her bottom lip and staring deep into the night with wide eyes.
But before I had the time to think anything more, Marc was back. He was sweating profusely but he had hope written all over his face.
He immediately turned to Ginnette and announced in an excited whisper, "I've spotted Sarah!"

Ginnette gave off a little noise which was a cross between a squeal of delight and the noise I once heard a 'Mama' cat make as she was giving birth to a kitten.
Marc wasted no time in filling us in. There were four people in the camp: The former high school basketball coach and another man Marc didn't know who seemed to be on some kind of sentry duty. Inside the cabin, Sarah was laying quietly on a bed in the back room, while Mr. Harker was pacing back and forth between the front and back rooms of the cabin.

 "I saw Sarah first when I looked into the bedroom window,"  Marc stated,  "and was going to just go in and get her, but then Harker suddenly came in. I didn't know if he was armed or how dangerous he would be so I just held my peace."

Then Marc turned slightly and addressed Ginnette directly. "She looks fine. Not hurt or anything. She has her eyes closed and is just laying on the bed and she has one of the bunnies with her. She seems to be sleeping. Harker came in and checked on her and then walked out again, but there's no door between the two rooms. I was afraid that if I woke Sarah to take her out it might alert Harker that I was there if she got scared and screamed or something. After all, she doesn't know who I am."

He stopped talking and took a deep breath as he looked around. But  turned to Ginnette again and added, "But, Praise the Lord, the window has no lock and there was even a small crate nearby that I was able to easily place beneath the outside of the bedroom window."

Again, I knew exactly what Marc was thinking. As he was catching his breath, more from excitement than any physical exertion, I continued for him. 
"Are you thinking that Ginnette go in and get Sarah, while we keep Harker distracted at the front of the building?"

"Exactly," he answered.
"What about the other two men?" I asked directly.

He said, "Well that depends on what we intend to do to distract Mr. Harker. But I was thinking I might just make the other two 'earn' their ill gotten money by taking them on a little tour of the woods hereabouts." His face split with a sly grin and with that hair of his, which I already mentioned is always tussled, I could suddenly imagine him doing something very similar years previously when he was a young boy scampering around this camp causing all sorts of mischief. Probably with Bert next to him back then too.

He caught me smiling at him and he winked back at me. I looked at Ginnette and even she was smiling at this. Suddenly Bert piped up excitedly, "What do I do? What do I do?"

Marc hit him on the shoulder and said, "You have to 'save the day' by going for the cavalry. You'll have to get into your truck and 'ride' for help. Do you think you can do that?"

Bert just saluted.

There didn't seem to be anything left to do or say. The plan was good. We each had a role to play and a path to follow. There was a certain amount of risk, but in order to get Sarah away from these men, the risk seemed small.

And so we all stood up from where we had been squatting and conferring. We did a spontaneous group hug and Ginnette said,
 "I don't know how I'll ever thank all of you."

There were tears on her cheeks, but she was actually remarkably calm and in control. More than most people would be if they were in her shoes.

"Thank us when we are all home safe and celebrating because your precious daughter is back in your arms again." I asserted.

Ginnette looked directly at me and whispered, but with much ardor,
 "Oh, and what a celebration that's 'gonna' be!"

LINK to Next Part # 14 "Plans and Pleas"



"FINALLY FINISHED: Church Lady P.I." from Laura-Lee Was Here Blog (COMPANION POST)

CHURCH LADY P.I.: Introduction





Copyright 2015 "The characters and events in this story are not meant to represent any persons living or dead and are entirely a product of the imagination of the writer." LR