Free Into the Storm by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Page A

to say.
    “What could they possibly want with us?” Lionel said. The large boy in front of Lionel turned.
    “They’ll have to give us a bathroom break before long,” he said.
    “We’re jumping them when they do. Got it?” Lionel nodded as the driver and Tom got back in the van.
    The driver pulled over to the side of the road, opened a cooler, and passed bottles of water to the boys.
    Lionel thought it was the best thing he had ever tasted.
    Ryan asked Buck to drive to the church. Buck’s eyes widened when Ryan opened the secret entrance to the Bible hideout.
    “Bruce had this built at the same time ... as the other construction.”
    “I got you,” Buck said.

    Ryan knew Dr. Tsion Ben-Judah was probably only a few yards away in his under ground shelter, but he didn’t dare bring up the subject. He didn’t want to endanger the rabbi or Darrion by revealing it. Still, he wished he could sit and talk with the man. It seemed dear to Ryan that the rabbi was destined to preach the gospel to thousands in the next few years.
    Buck ran out for fast food and brought it back. Ryan and Darrion ate hungrily as they planned their next move.
    “I think I should stay here,” Ryan said.
    “Can you find a place for Darrion that’s safe?”
    “We can use Loretta’s apartment,” Buck said.
    “I don’t want to hide,” Darrion said.
    “I want to help my mother.”
    “Hang tight,” Ryan said.
    “We’ll do our best.”
    Judd was on-line atmidnight. Through the video link, Pavel said he did not go to a conventional school but had teachers come to him.
    “I am alone for another hour,” Pavel said.
    “But I need to tell you something.”
    “What is it?” Judd said.
    “Here,” Pavel said. He reached toward the camera and positioned it lower. Judd saw a wheelchair.
    “You may not want to talk to me any longer,” Pavel said, “but I feel you should know the truth.”
    “You’re in a wheelchair,” Judd said.
    “Big whoop.”
    “What did you say?” Pavel said.
    “I said it’s not a big deal,” Judd said.
    “It doesn’t make a difference to me.”
    “It makes a big difference to most people I know,” Pavel said.
    “I cannot do what others do. When some find out, they no longer want to be my friend.”
    “Their loss,” Judd said.

    “You’resmart, you ask questions, you think things through. You may never win the one hundred-yard dash, but there are more important things in life.”
    Pavel beamed.
    “You sound like my mother,” he said.
    “Your mother’s a sharp lady,” Judd said.
    “Was,” Pavel said.
    “She vanished.”
    Judd felt a chill go down his spine.
    “Pavel, do you know why she disappeared?”
    “I do not know,” Pavel said.
    “She never complained, but I thought it might be because taking care of me was so difficult.”
    “I’m sure that wasn’t it,” Judd said.
    “Did your mother ever read the Bible?”
    “My father would not allow it,” Pavel said.
    “He says religion is for those who are weak, and I do not want to be weaker than I already am.”
    The boy paused and reached beneath his desk.
    “I found this on my mother’s bed the morning of the disappearances,” Pavel said. He held up a small black book.
    Judd told Pavel why his mother had disappeared. Jesus Christ had come back for true believers. His mother had to be one of them.
    “She tried to talk with me about God, but I wouldn’t allow her to,” Pavel said.
    “My father can be a very stern man.”
    “Don’t wait any longer,” Judd said.
    “You can be sure right now that you’re a true follower of Jesus.”
    “How?”
    “You’ve read the material I sent,” Judd said.
    “Do you believe what those verses said?”

    “Yes,” Pavel said.
    “You know you can’t work your way to God or do enough good things to get you into heaven, right?”
    “Before now I didn’t even believe in heaven,” Pavel said, “but yes, I do believe.”
    “If you know you’ve sinned, you can pray right now and ask for