Free Nicolae High by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins Page A

you have a brain? Can’t you think for yourself? Do you need to hide behind some rule about the separation of church and state, so you don’t hear something that might mess up your mind?”
    â€œVicki!” Mrs. Waltonen said. “That’s enough.”
    â€œCan I ask about the separation thing then?” Vicki said.
    â€œIt depends.”
    â€œIt’s just a question about the history of it. Where did it come from?”
    â€œI’ve heard different theories,” Mrs. Waltonen said. “I know it’s not in the Constitution, but I believe it came from those who wanted to protect citizens from having their religious freedom threatened by the government. One of our freedoms is the right to believe and to worship without the government telling us what church we have to belong to.”
    â€œThat’s what I thought,” Vicki said, knowing she had heard something about this, maybe from her dad, whom she had ignored. “So when did it get turned around to protect the government from religion?”
    â€œI’m sorry?”
    â€œYou said the separation of church and state was designed to keep the government out of the church. Now it’s used to keep the church out of the government.”
    Mrs. Waltonen raised her eyebrows, but several girls said things like, “That’s the way it should be!”
    â€œEven if it was a law, which it’s not,” Vicki said, “it would be no good if it violated the right to free speech. I have the freedom to say whatever I want, except here.”
    â€œGood!”
    â€œYeah, shut up!”
    â€œLet her talk!”
    â€œShe’s talked enough! And when did she start talking anyway? I don’t even remember her from this class!”
    â€œYou do too! That’s Vicki Byrne!”
    â€œWell, when did she start caring about anything?”
    â€œWhat’s happening to us?” someone said, tears in her voice. “I thought we were supposed to discuss this to start coming to some closure.”
    â€œClosure? You sound like a talk-show host! How are we going to have closure on something like this?”
    â€œThat’s right,” Vicki said, “especially when certain theories are out of bounds?”
    The bell rang, and the gym quickly emptied, but Vicki noticed that Mrs. Waltonen was gazing at her. When Vicki returned the glance, the teacher said nothing but did not look away. Vicki felt as if Mrs. Waltonen was trying to communicate something to her—exactly what, she did not know. The quiet girls in the back were also some of the last to leave, and they peeked at her too.
    Was there something here, some core of a group that might agree with her or at least be willing to listen? Vicki decided to spend the rest of the day bringing these issues up in every class. Maybe she wouldn’t be as aggressive as she had been in gym class, but she would say enough to get people arguing about freedom of speech and whether God had anything to do with the disappearances. Somehow she would get an inkling of how many believers or potential believers there were at this school.
    Vicki didn’t want one more person to die before she at least had the chance to tell them what she believed.

TEN
The Big Idea
    O N the way to his last class before lunch, Judd saw the two senior boys whose Bibles had been confiscated during the assembly. One was tall and blond, the other stockier and dark-haired. He didn’t know their names, but if his memory was right, they were smart kids—science club, honor roll types. “Hey,” he said, approaching them, “are you believers?”
    They looked wary. “Why? Are you?”
    He had to take the chance. “I am.”
    “How do we know you’re not playing us, trying to get us in trouble?” the blond said.
    “You don’t.”
    “Well,” Dark Hair said, “how did you become a believer?”
    “Lost my family,” Judd said. “I knew the truth all along.”
    “Then you should