Seeking Refuge

by Alana Terry

  “Yeah, baby. He was a real bad guy.”

  “Is that why you had to shoot him?”

  Jade tried not to show her surprise. “What makes you think I shot anybody, baby?”

  “Because I heard the bang when I was outside running away. And I can feel the gun you’ve got in your pocket.”

  Jade squeezed her daughter more tightly. “You’re a smart girl. Has anyone ever told you that before?”

  “You had to do it, right, Mama? Because he was such a bad guy?”

  Jade decided she couldn’t avoid her daughter’s questions anymore. “Yeah, baby. Mama had to do it.”

  They sat in silence, a silence that reminded Jade of everything she’d done at that cabin. Everything she’d risked to save this precious little girl, a little girl who might freeze to death overnight zipped up in this oversized sweatshirt.

  “Hey, Mama?”

  “What, baby?”

  “Is God gonna be mad at you?”

  “For what? For shooting that bad guy?”

  “No. I mean about the demons.”

  At first Jade didn’t know what her daughter was talking about, then she let out her breath. “Oh, baby, that was just a whole bunch of nonsense. That woman was crazy. I don’t want you to think about a single word she said, okay?”

  “Yeah, but did you really have demons making you do bad things?”

  “No, silly. Of course not.”

  “Are demons real then?”

  Jade would have loved to talk about nearly anything else, but she knew Dez was stubborn enough she would just keep on asking until she got her answer.

  “Yeah, baby. There’s demons. But the Bible says God’s stronger than all of them, so it’s not something you need to spend a lot of time worrying about.”

  “Do you think demons make me do any of the bad things I do?”

  Jade was surprised. “What kind of bad things are you talking about?”

  Dez lowered her voice and leaned into her mom. “Well, once at daycare I told one of the Cole twins she was stupid. I know it’s a bad word, Mama, and I felt really sorry for it afterward and even gave her my Twinkie at snack time. I don’t even know why I said it. We were just playing together is all, and I wasn’t even mad, but I looked at her and said that. Think it was a demon in me making me say such a bad word?”

  “No, baby. Demons can’t live in people that way, not people who belong to the Lord.”

  “Do we belong to the Lord?”

  “Of course we do. Remember when you were down in Sunday school with Mrs. Spencer and you asked Jesus to forgive all your sins and teach you how to live a good life?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well, that means you’re a Christian, baby, and demons can’t live in Christians. So I want you get all that nonsense out of your mind. It was just crazy talk from a crazy woman.”

  “Do you think Auntie Sapphire has demons, Mama? Is that why she did all those bad things to us?”

  “I don’t know, baby. I don’t know. Now I want you to try to get a little rest okay? Give Mama a chance to think and figure out what we’re gonna do next.”

  Dez turned and nestled against Jade’s chest. Her body relaxed, and her breathing slowed down.

  “Hey, Mama?” she said sleepily.

  “What, baby?”

  “Do you think God really talks to people in dreams like Auntie Sapphire said?”

  “I’m sure he does, but I want you to stop thinking about that woman now, you got that?”

  “Okay, but I was just wondering, what if we pray and ask God to give us a dream to tell us how to get out of the woods?”

  “You go ahead and pray that, baby. Mama’s too tired.”

  “But if I pray it, do you think he’ll answer?”

  “You go ahead and pray, and I’ll listen in, okay?”

  Jade shut her eyes and listened to her daughter’s confident prayers. Her five-year-old trusted God to give her a dream to lead them out of the woods. But all Jade hoped was to stay warm enough that they’d both be alive when morning rolled around.

  Chapter 28

  “MAMA! MAMA! IT WORKED!”

  Jade forced her eyes open. Had she been asleep? “What worked, baby?”

  “My prayer. When I asked Jesus to give me a dream.”

  Jade waited for her brain to snap to alertness. “What are you talking about?”

  “Remember when I prayed that God would tell me which way we’d have to go to get out of the woods? Well, he did. I was just falling asleep, and I remembered. I remembered looking out the window when I was in the car with Auntie ... with that mean lady. When we got to the place where the road turned real bumpy, the mountains were behind us. I could see them behind us in the little mirror on the side of my door. I just thought it all of a sudden while I was starting to feel sleepy.”

  Jade glanced around to see if there was enough moonlight to make out the mountains from here. If Dez was right, then Jade had been walking the wrong way. The Glenn would be in the opposite direction.

  “How long have we been resting here?” she asked, still slightly disoriented.

  “Just a minute. I stopped praying, and then I shut my eyes and felt tired. Then all of a sudden, I pictured myself sitting in that car and looking at the mountains behind me.”

  Jade still wasn’t sure if they should try to rest a little more. Without any coats or proper shelter, it was probably safest for them to keep moving, and Dez seemed energized from her answered prayer. Jade, on the other hand, wasn’t sure she had the strength.

  “I may just need to rest a little more,” she muttered.

  Dez squirmed in their shared sweatshirt. “But, Mama, I think if God answered my prayers like that to let us know which way we’ve got to go, then we should follow him and go that way, right?”

  Jade sighed. “Yeah, baby. You’re right. Let’s go.” She hated to think about how far they’d headed in the wrong direction and prayed that it wouldn’t take them nearly as long to get back to the highway.

  “Wait a minute.” Dez tugged at Jade’s sleeve. “We can’t go yet.”

  “Why not, baby?”

  “Because God answered my prayer. Don’t you think we better thank him?”

  “Yeah, you’re right. You go ahead. You pray, and I’ll listen, and then we’ll start walking.”

  A familiar voice from the woods answered, “I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”

  Jade jumped up, spilling Dez out of her sweatshirt. She pushed her daughter behind the trunk of the spruce. “How’d you find us?”

  Sapphire shrugged. “Your tracks are all over. It only took me this long because you’ve walked yourselves in circles. But I knew my persistence would pay off. God honors the patient, right?” She took a step forward. “Now, about my husband’s daughter.”

  “You’re not going to lay a hand on her.” Jade pulled Gabriel’s gun out of her pocket.

  Sapphire let out an undignified snort. “You think that will frighten me? You may have turned your back on my husband’s church, but you’re still a child of Morning Glory whether you acknowledge it or not. And you’d never go against me. I’m your pastor’s wife, the first lady of ...”

  Jade pulled the trigger. The snow muffled the worst of the echo.

  From behind the tree, Dez screamed.

  “Stay there, baby,” Jade shouted back at her. “Stay right where you are and keep your eyes shut or you’re grounded off the TV for three whole months. You understand me?”

  “Yes, Mama.”

  Jade’s body was trembling. She ran behind the tree, scooped up her daughter, and ran. She kept Dez’s face covered with her hand until they were far away from Sapphire’s body. When she got too tired, she set Dez down and they raced together toward the mountains.

  Chapter 29

  “OVER HERE! WE’RE HERE!” When Jade saw the search lights in the distance, she scooped up her daughter and started running. Dez had gotten lethargic, and Jade tried to pass on her enthusiasm.

>   “That’s the search team. They’re looking for us. Come on.”

  She followed the light, nearly choking over her joyful laughter. A few minutes later, her daughter was wrapped in a heated blanket, carried in the arms of a search and rescue paramedic. They were a little less than a mile from the highway, and Jade was positive it’d be the easiest hike of her life. Adrenaline propelled her forward. Adrenaline and the need to get her daughter to safety. She begged the man carrying Dez to run on ahead instead of waiting for her. She nearly collapsed into the arms of the other paramedic when she stepped over a major snow heave and the Glenn Highway came into view.

  “The ambulance is right down there, ma’am. We’ll get you checked out and warmed up.”

  “I’m not worried about that. I just want to make sure my little girl’s all right.”

  A man in a trooper’s uniform stepped up toward her, wearing a familiar smile. “Well, look who finally decided to pop out of the woods.”

  She tried to match Ben’s grin even though she felt ready to die from exhaustion. He wrapped an arm around her, and they walked together to the ambulance where paramedics were already getting Dez warmed up.

  “I’m glad you’re all right,” he said.

  Jade didn’t know what else to say, and so she lifted up her silent prayers of thanks to God who had delivered her and her daughter once again.

  Chapter 30

  JADE SAT IN THE BACK of the ambulance next to her daughter’s gurney. The paramedics had covered Dez in blankets, and everyone seemed excited that her body had finally picked up its cues to start shivering.

  “She’s going to be fine,” one of the men assured Jade.

  The road to the hospital was paved with ice and frost heaves. Jade figured it was probably a good thing that the driver wasn’t rushing. He hadn’t even turned on his sirens.

  “Mama?”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “What time is it?”

  Jade looked to Ben who was sitting across from her.

  “Time to get some sleep.” He gave Jade a soft smile.

  “Mama?”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “We didn’t miss Christmas, did we?”

  “No, we didn’t miss Christmas.”

  “Good. Because I’m ready to do my lines for the play at church.”

  “You are?”

  “Uh-huh. And the angels said, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.’”

  Ben burst into applause. “Very good job. Are you sure you’re only five? I know some teenagers who couldn’t learn their lines that well.”

  Dez beamed.

  “Thanks again for all the time you spent looking for us.” Jade didn’t know what else to say. Ben wanted to ride with them in the ambulance so he could talk with Jade about the case, but so far the entire conversation had been focused on Dez and keeping her warm and happy.

  Jade couldn’t believe their trouble was over, couldn’t believe the extent Sapphire had gone to in order to steal her daughter.

  “Mama?”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “How long we gonna be at the hospital?”

  “Not long. We just want to get you all warmed up and make sure you’re all right.”

  Ben leaned forward. “You, too. You’re getting checked out just like she is.”

  Jade shrugged. “I’m fine. The doctor’s probably going to tell me all that exercise was good for me.”

  She caught Ben’s eye. When she met him last night, she would have never expected to feel so thankful to have him looking out for her safety. Thankful to have him by her side.

  You really do have a sense of humor, don’t you, God?

  Ben continued to stare at her then cleared his throat. “Well, I guess we should make the best use of the time we’ve got and compare notes. Let me tell you what I know first.”

  Jade was happy to let him take the conversational lead.

  “We checked out Keith Richardson’s car. Someone cut through the brake lines, not all the way but enough to get him to that icy pass and let gravity take care of the rest.”

  Jade was thankful he spared her any further details.

  “We found a letter in his pocket where he talked about how he feared the pastor’s wife was the one behind the kidnapping. Said something about her having a dream about her husband’s kid ... real woo-woo stuff, just like you said. But we compared the handwriting with the note you got earlier. Seems he was trying to help you. Give you some kind of warning. I can show you if you want.”

  Jade shook her head. “Not now.” In fact, she wasn’t sure a letter like that was something she’d ever want to see. “How’d you know where to look for us in the woods?”

  “Well, I got back to the car after checking things out at the crash site. Saw a blood splatter on the head rest. Pretty amateur move. We figured Sapphire had you, and we also figured she had someone to help, so we looked into it. Guess there was this Elder Gabriel, some guy who recently moved to Palmer to help run the church. Keith mentioned him in his letter. We looked into it, and it turns out he’s got a little cabin near the Sheep Mountain area. We went to check it out, found Gabriel shot and a few kiddie toys in the back room. That’s when we brought in the search and rescue team.”

  He glanced at Dez resting on the gurney. “I’d really like to hear your side of it now, but maybe we should wait.”

  Jade nodded. There was no need to make her daughter relive every horror and trauma she’d endured.

  Dez blinked her eyes open. “You should tell him about the dreams, Mama.”

  Ben glanced at Jade. “What dreams?”

  Dez grew animated. “All kinds of dreams. You should have heard them. Like one about how that lady was supposed to turn herself into my new mom because my dad was the pastor at this church, only Mom says it’s not a church church, just some weird fake thing. Have you ever been to a fake church?”

  Ben shook his head. “Can’t say that I have.”

  “Me either, but if it’s got people like this lady, I wouldn’t want to go either. I think Mama had the right idea shooting her.”

  Ben raised his eyebrows, and Jade nodded. So much for trying to protect her daughter from frightening memories.

  “Where was that?” Ben asked.

  “I couldn’t say. Somewhere in the woods. We got turned around.”

  Dez nodded her head enthusiastically. “Yeah. It was scary. Mom thought we were going to have to spend the night outside even though I’ve never been camping before because Mom refused to take me last summer when I really wanted to go, and all we had was one sweatshirt for both of us to share, and it was really dark, and Mama got us lost in the woods. It was kind of my fault because I was awake when that bad lady drove me out to the cabin place, only I couldn’t tell Mama if the mountains were behind me or to the side or what, so she didn’t know how to get us back to the road. And she was getting kind of tired and even a little grumpy.” Dez stole a glance at Jade who sat there wondering where her daughter’s sudden burst of energy came from.

  “Well,” Dez went on, “Mama said it was time for us to get to sleep, only I didn’t want to spend the night in the cold, and I was hungry too, so I asked Mama if maybe we should pray and ask Jesus to send us a dream to tell us which way to go. Because I figured if that weird church lady had dreams and God talked to her except she didn’t even go to a real church, God would definitely talk to us if we asked him nicely, so we did. And then Mama was already starting to snore a little bit, but I wasn’t asleep quite yet, only I was about to fall asleep, and I remembered where I saw the mountains in the car, and I knew they were behind me when we were driving. So I told it to Mama, and she said that meant we’d been walking the wrong way, but there was enough moonlight we could see the mountains by then, and if we went toward them we’d find the highway. Which we did but not until we found you guys first.”

  Ben reached out and ruffled her hair. “You’re a good story-teller. Did you know that?”


  Dez pouted. “It’s not a story. That’s how it happened. Tell him, Mama.”

  “I know it happened,” Ben said. “I meant you tell the story in a really exciting way.”

  “It was a compliment,” Jade explained.

  Dez glanced at the trooper. “Oh. Well, thank you, officer.”

  “You’re welcome. And on top of being very smart and a good storyteller, you’ve got excellent manners.”

  “Oh, that’s because Mama says that when I meet a police officer, especially if he’s white like you, I’ve got to be extra polite and make sure ...”

  “Okay now,” Jade interrupted. “I think maybe you should let the grown-ups talk a bit.”

  “Why? Are you gonna tell him how you shot that big scary guy when that church lady was tying a rope around your neck?”

  “Is she making this up?” Ben asked.

  “I wish.” Jade rolled her eyes. “No, it happened pretty much like she said.” Jade started from the point when Sapphire tied her up and explained how they escaped the cabin and ended up in the woods, where eventually Sapphire caught up with them.

  “Mama was really brave,” Dez inserted. “I don’t know if I would have known what to do with a gun because Mama’s always telling me I can’t go near them or touch them or if I see one lying around I’m never allowed to pick it up and I have to tell someone right away.”

  “Those are very good rules,” Ben said approvingly.

  Dez shrugged. “Nah. It’s just good sense. Guns are tools, not weapons.”

  Ben chuckled, which forced Dez into an exaggerated pout. “I wasn’t making a joke.”

  “I know you weren’t. I just wish every kid in the state of Alaska were as smart as you are.”

  She shrugged again. “It’s not smart. It’s just common sense.”

  “That’s probably because you have a very good mom.” Ben glanced over at Jade again, and this time the approval in his eyes was directed at her.

  Chapter 31

  “SEE YOU LATER, KIDDO.” Ben gave one of Dez’s cornrows a playful tug. “Don’t you be giving that doctor a hard time, you hear me?”