Free Blue Heart Blessed by Susan Meissner Page A

their mother was the church organist. They had never thought of any career other than one in music. Owen and Warren were identical twins, red-haired and hazel-eyed, and sounded so much alike that Chloe and L’Raine had a very hard time distinguishing one from the other. After they met at the campus parking lot on the day of the concert, Owen said he’d wear one of Chloe’s clip-on earrings for the rest of the evening so that there wouldn’t be any confusion. This was the 1950s, before men wore earrings, so when Owen clipped one on and said, “Let’s go.” Chloe and L’Raine couldn’t stop laughing.
    The roads were icy and slick that night, and neither Chloe or L’Raine or the Murien brothers had ever been to the place where they were headed. They found the town where the church was located but couldn’t find the church. Owen, who was driving, stopped at a jewelry store just off the town’s main street to ask for directions. It was one of the few stores that still had its lights on. It was cold in the car, so Warren, Chloe and L’Raine got out, too, and went inside with him.
    They were talking loud and stomping their feet when they went inside and didn’t notice at first that the store clerk had his hands up and that tiny beads of sweat shone on his forehead. An instant later, it became very clear that they had stumbled in as the store was being robbed. Directly in front of the store clerk was a man in a dirty brown parka, aiming a gun.
    “Go back outside!” Owen had said and he moved his body to shield the girls behind him. Warren dropped back, too, covering the girls with his body.
    “No—no you don’t!” the man yelled and he stepped back a little so that he could see all of them, the store clerk and the four choir members. “Get over here! Right in front of me. Get on your hands and knees!”
    Owen moved his arms protectively around his back, and Warren did the same, shielding Chloe and L’Raine.
    “Go back outside,” Owen whispered to the two women.
    “I said get over here!”
    “Why don’t you let the girls go?” Owen said to the man.
    “Why don’t you shut up and do what I tell you!”
    The store clerk started to inch his way out from behind the counter. He was eyeing the door behind the college students, judging its distance, probably. The man with the gun whipped his head around to face him. “I didn’t tell you to go anywhere!”
    “Go!” Owen whispered again.
    Chloe and L’Raine took a step backward and Chloe put her hand on the doorknob.
    “Get over here!” the robber screamed.
    “Take it easy,” Warren said and he and Owen pressed their backs against Chloe and L’Raine.
    “You wanna be dead? Shut up and get over here. Girls first. On your knees. You!” he cocked his head toward the store clerk. “You empty those shelves like I told you. And the cash register. And the safe. Move!”
    Chloe and L’Raine held hands and inched their way from behind the brothers and toward the man with the gun.
    “Get away from that door or I’ll send you both to kingdom come, I swear it,” the man yelled to Owen and Warren.
    As the women made their way to the empty space in front of the robber, and as the brothers edged away from the door, the store clerk chose that moment to spring free. He darted out from behind the counter and dashed toward the front door.
    The robber yelled and aimed his gun for the fleeing man, who was now partially hidden by Chloe. She was technically more in the line of fire than the fleeing store clerk. Owen screamed “Get down!” and threw his body in front of Chloe. The gun went off and Warren dove for the robber’s legs, sending them both to the ground. The gun flew out of the robber’s hands.
    “Get it!” Warren yelled to L’Raine as he fought to contain the robber.
    Chloe, who had been knocked down by Owen, scrambled to her feet to see if he was okay. He lay on his side next to her.
    “Are you hurt? Are you hurt?” she yelled, searching his body with