Free Sold Out by Melody Carlson Page B

her head again. “I guess we don’t really know too much about her.”
    The policewoman frowned. “Maybe you should be a little more careful in how you choose your friends.”
    Laura chuckled now. “Yeah, that’s what I’d been trying to tell them.”
    “But Jesus wants us to love everyone,” said Allie.
    “Well, that’s nice,” said the policewoman. “But I’m sure Jesus doesn’t want you to get into trouble doing it.”
    “Are we in trouble?” I asked.
    She closed her book. “Not today. But let this be a lesson to you.”
    “You mean we can go?” asked Laura.
    The policewoman nodded. “We’ll check out the videotape to make sure it matches your stories. Then we’ll try to track down this mysterious Marissa chick, but for now you’re off the hook.”
    Allie sighed loudly. “Thank God!”
    Once again, I realized that she probably had the most at risk here, since she’d been caught stealing before. And for her sake I was hugely relieved.
    “Hey, are you the kids who did that concert at the festival a while back?”
    “Yeah, mostly,” I said. “Laura missed out on it.”
    “But I’ll be at the next one,” she said.
    “When’s that?” asked the policewoman.
    I grinned. “Well, these two haven’t exactly heard about this yet. But the pastor at our church wants to have sort of a memorial concert for his brother and the other kids who were shot at McFadden two years ago. He asked us to play. If all goes well, it’ll be at the park on Memorial Day.”
    “I’ll try to make it,” she said. “In the meantime, you girls stay out of trouble. Okay?”
    We promised we would do our best and then thanked her and got out of there as quickly as we could without drawing any further attention to ourselves. And I cannot even begin to explain how good it felt to get out of that stuffy old mall and breathe the clean, fresh air again.
    I’m not sure what we’ll do about Marissa. Right now I’m trying not to be too furious at her. After all, we are supposed to love our enemies—and forgive. And God did step in and rescue us at the last minute. Whew!
    FREE INDEED!
Like those three in the fiery furnace
we awaited our fate
unjustly charged
framed and persecuted
and then You joined us there
and You comforted us
You brought us joy
and hope and light
and finally we were set free but
freedom only comes through You
Your life, Your truth, Your spirit
are what set us free
and we are free indeed!
Thank You for showing up
again and again and again
amen

Nine
Monday, May 19
    Marissa hasn’t been at school for two days now. I wonder if she fled the country or is just waiting for us to cool off. Or maybe she’s just lying low because she thinks the police are on the lookout for her.
    “You think she’s afraid to face us?” asked Allie as we sat down to lunch at our old table.
    “Yeah, she probably thinks we’re going to beat her to death with our Bibles.” I took a sip of soda.
    “Who’re you talking about?” asked Jake.
    “Aw, nothing.” The three of us had agreed not to talk about this to anyone.
    “Are you talking about Marissa?” asked Spencer suspiciously.
    I just stuck my fork into my salad.
    “I saw her yesterday,” said Spencer, using this piece of information like a baited hook and waiting for us to bite.
    I glanced at him, trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not. “How’s she doing?” I asked nonchalantly.
    He shrugged. “I dunno. She seemed a little nervous to me.”
    “How’s that?” I focused my attention on stabbing a cherry tomato before it leaped from my plate.
    “I think she’s freaked about something.” I looked up at Spencer. “What did she say exactly?”
    “She asked if the cops have been at school looking for her.”
    “What’d you say?” asked Allie.
    He shrugged again. “Haven’t seen any cops around.”
    “So?” This came from me.
    “Then she asked if you guys had said anything about her.”
    “And?”
    “I said not that I recalled.” He