by J B Hawker
The bigger boys walked into the woods for the grand adventure of relieving themselves behind a tree.
When everyone had returned to camp, Hope banked the fire, policed the campsite, and did a bed check before crawling into her own tent.
Dawn was sitting up in her borrowed sleeping bag, wrapped in the voluminous folds of Hope’s over-sized sweatshirt.
“Are you warm enough?” Hope asked, sliding into her own bag and zipping it up.
“Yeah,” Dawn replied.
“Okay, then. Goodnight,” Hope said, shutting off the lantern.
After a few moments, Dawn spoke.
“Can I ask you a question?” she whispered.
“Sure,” Hope replied.
“How does God decide who gets to be happy and who doesn’t?”
Hope sat up, shocked by the question. This was just the sort of thing she’d dreaded when contemplating marriage to Gideon. Just because she’d married a pastor, it didn’t mean she had his wisdom and knowledge.
How was she supposed to answer the girl? She couldn’t side-step the question or give her some glib response. Hope could only imagine the courage it took for Dawn to ask, and how much she needed an honest answer.
Sending up a silent heartfelt prayer and hoping the Spirit would add eloquence to her inner groanings, she took a deep breath.
“That’s a great question. It’s one of the questions thoughtful people have been asking forever. I guess the easy answer is that God’s mind is not the same as ours, so we can never really understand how or why He does things.”
“So, you don’t know... that’s what I thought,” Dawn said, rolling onto her side, away from Hope, and pulling up the sleeping bag.
“Well, I don’t know everything about God and why or how He does things,” Hope added. “But I do know that He loves all of us just as if there were only one of us. And I know He is always true to His word and always just and fair. The Bible says that everything He allows works for our good if we are called to follow Him. So, even the unhappy times must be for our own good, somewhere down the road.
“Even though they love them, parents sometimes just have to let their little ones be unhappy for their own good, don’t they?” Hope asked.
“You mean like when they punish them?” Dawn asked from within the folds of the sleeping bag.
“Sure, if that keeps them out of danger or trouble. And when they take them to the doctor for vaccinations or need to give them nasty-tasting medicine. It makes the parents sad to see their kids unhappy, but they know it is for the best. I think God is like that, too.”
Dawn was quiet.
In the silence, thunder rumbled, again, sounding closer.
“How can it be for someone’s good to be abandoned by their own mother?” Dawn blurted out. “Or to be stuck with mean foster parents?”
Dawn’s obvious anguish pierced Hope’s heart.
“I don’t know the answer. That’s where the whole difference between what I can understand and what God knows comes into the picture. I just have to trust that eventually all the unhappiness will turn to good, somehow. As I said, though, I definitely know that God loves even the little abandoned baby and He wants to comfort her and strengthen her, if she’ll let Him.”
Just then thunder boomed much closer as lightning flashed, followed by a loud crash nearby.
Hope grabbed her flashlight and dashed out of the tent with Dawn right behind her.
Sweeping the light around, Hope saw the other campers crawling out of their tents looking bewildered and frightened.
A large tree had fallen dangerously close to TyVon and Colton’s tent, its boughs causing the tent poles to bend, but the boys were unhurt.
Rain began to pour down in sheets. Under the sound of the wind and rain, Hope detected a growing roar.
“Grab your packs, kids, we’re getting out of here! Run into the trees up the hill!” she shouted, turning to retrieve her pack with the cell phone inside.
Before she could reach her tent, a wall of water carrying broken branches and small boulders swept down on them.
“Run! Flash flood!” she cried, grabbing Jennifer and carrying her along, as she herded the rest of the children into the woods uphill from the camp.
She pushed the small girl into Colton’s arms just as a branch knocked Hope’s feet out from under her and she slipped beneath the rushing water.
Holding her breath, Hope fought to get to her feet, but she was repeatedly swept under by the strong pull of the current. Her lungs were burning when she felt hands gripping her hair and grabbing at her arms.
Her head broke the surface, she gasped, sucking in air, and clutched at her rescuers who pulled and dragged her onto the dry ground where she collapsed.
When Hope turned over and opened her eyes, she saw the frightened and worried faces of TyVon and Dawn looking down on her.
Strands of dark red hair were tangled in Dawn's fingers.
“Are you okay?” the girl asked, dropping down beside Hope.
Hope rolled onto her hands and knees and pushed herself to her feet, trembling from cold and shock.
“You guys saved me,” she said.
“You’re my heroes,” she added, rubbing her sore scalp.
“Sorry about pulling your hair,” Dawn said.
“That was quick thinking. A bald spot is a small price to pay for staying alive,” Hope said, looking around. “Is everybody okay?”
Chapter THIRTEEN
The frightened teenagers huddled around Hope in the trees above the still-rushing stream where their camp used to be.
Hope, sopping wet, fought to control her shivering and raised her voice above the sniffling and sobs, “Is every tent buddy accounted for?”
“But every tent is gone!” wailed a high voice.
“The tents and supplies are gone, but we are still here. Let’s join hands and say a prayer of thanks before we get down to the business of getting ourselves home,” Hope said. “I’m afraid this means the end of our camping trip for this year.”
Still shaken by the sudden disaster, none of the children complained about this announcement.
The youngsters formed a circle and Hope gave thanks, adding a request for guidance and a safe return to their van.
“How are we going to get back to the van, Mrs. H.?” Colton asked. “The path is on the other side of all that water.”
“Could we maybe spend the night here, wait for the water to recede, and walk out in the morning?” Aleeshia suggested, peering into the deep shadows beyond the sheltering trees.
“We could, but it’s really cold and Mrs. H. is all wet. If she just sits there, she could freeze to death,” Ty’Nisha said. “We need to keep moving. There must be another way to the parking area. Right, Mrs. Hopkins?”
“I’m sure there are many ways down this mountain in daylight, but we might not find our way in the dark. I think we should stay here and wait. It might be a long cold night for us all without our tents and sleeping bags, but don’t worry about me. I’ve experienced much worse in the Marines. It will be better to be uncomfortable for a few hours than to get lost in these woods,” Hope said through chattering teeth.
A few grumbled, but they all began to look for rocks or dry patches of ground to sit on while waiting for sunrise.
“I’m hungry,” Jennifer moaned.
“I’ve got some snacks in my backpack,” Aleeshia offered.
A few of the others started rummaging in the packs they’d snatched up when leaving their tents.
“Thank you, Aleeshia, but we’d better hold off on eating. We’ll be here all night and it’s only been a couple of hours since we ate dinner. It’s a good idea to take inventory of what you managed to save, though, in case we need any of it, later,” Hope advised.
The children sat close together for warmth and were gradually falling asleep when the wind rose again, thunder rumbled, and the rain poured down with renewed energy.
“The creek will rise!”
&nbs
p; Abruptly awakened and still half-asleep, Jennifer screamed and ran off into the trees.
Hope leaped after her but soon lost sight of the panicking girl.
“Does anyone have a flashlight?” she called over her shoulder as she peered into the trees.
“I do!” TyVon shouted, pulling it out of his pack and switching it on.
“Over here, everyone. Stick together! We’ve got to find Jennifer,” Hope said.
They stayed close to Hope, sometimes stepping on each other’s feet, as she swept the light back and forth through the rain.
“Jennifer! Jennifer! Jenny!” everyone yelled as they crept through the maze of trees and undergrowth.
“Jennifer! Come to the light!” Hope shouted, hoping the girl would be able to hear over the howling storm.
Hope led the way, while Colton and TyVon urged the cluster of bedraggled searchers to keep together as they hunted for their friend.
In a brief lull in the wind, Hope thought she heard a cry.
“Quiet!” she told the others, straining her ears to hear the sound, again. “This way! I think I heard her!”
“Jennifer!” she screamed out. “Where are you?”
“Look!” one of the children cried, pointing to a large fallen log balanced on a clump of boulders.
Her flashlight illuminated a patch of bright orange, the same orange the children wore, in the gap under the log.
Hope ran over and dropped down to shine the light under the log, fearing the worst.
A small hand reached out and grabbed Hope’s wrist.
“She’s here!” Hope called out as Jennifer, filthy and wet, slithered from beneath the log.
“You came!” she sobbed, clutching at Hope.
Hope pulled the girl close, willing her own heart to return to normal.
“I got lost,” Jennifer said, sniffling. “I hid under the log so the bears wouldn’t eat me.”
“You’re safe, now, so everything’s all right,” Hope comforted Jennifer as the others clustered around them, smiling in the driving rain.
“Uh, Mrs. Hopkins,” Colton said. “Which way is the van from here?”
Everyone strained to see into the dark woods.
Frowns soon replaced their relieved smiles.
They had absolutely no idea where they were.
All eyes turned to Hope to point the way.
She was at a loss. She’d gotten completely disoriented in her desperate rush to find Jennifer.
There was a break in the rain and the wind parted the clouds overhead just long enough for Hope to get a glimpse of the stars before they disappeared once again.
“This changes things, gang. I was comfortable with us sitting tight beside our flooded campsite until morning, but now that we’ve gotten ourselves well and truly lost, I think we’d better do what we can to find shelter in this storm. When morning comes, we’ll be able to find our way down the mountain,” she said, trying to sound matter-of-fact.
She couldn’t let the kids know how frightened she was or they might all panic.
If her quick view of the stars could be depended upon, she would at least lead them in the right direction.
What they might encounter in the darkness and rain was a mystery.
“Okay, everyone buddy-up. No running off, okay?” she added, looking at Jennifer.
Jennifer nodded, teary-eyed with the realization that getting them lost was her fault.
The group moved slowly through the woods, ducking under the wildly waving branches and wiping rain off their faces as they walked.
The flashlight’s beam pierced the blackness a few steps ahead, helping them to avoid drop-offs and fallen branches underfoot.
Everyone was cold and scared, but there were few complaints. The young people seemed to recognize the seriousness of their situation despite Hope’s attempts at reassuring them.
They had been tramping through the murky night for what seemed like hours when a lightning flash revealed the outline of a building silhouetted against the trees in a clearing ahead. It looked like a small hut or outbuilding of some sort. If the roof was intact it might be the shelter they so desperately needed.
Hope didn’t alert the children. She wanted to determine if this was really the oasis they sought and not a mirage.
Hope guided the group forward, straining her eyes to get a closer look.
When they were only a few yards away, the clearing was revealed to be a derelict graveyard.
What she’d supposed was a shed or an abandoned hunter’s cabin, was, in fact, a mausoleum, a masonry burial vault; not anyone’s idea of a cozy haven from the storm. She couldn’t ask these already frightened children to spend the night in a cemetery.
She was shaken by another spasm of chills, reminding her that they couldn’t stay out in this storm, either.
Cautioning her little band to remain in the woods, Hope crossed the uneven burial ground and crept up the slope to examine the crypt, hoping its previous tenant was long gone or turned to dust. No one could be frightened of a little dust, could they?
She apologized to the headless angel statue guarding the tomb and shone her light on the entrance.
She lifted the broken padlock from the hasp and pulled on the door. Scraping across the concrete, it opened more easily than she expected. With mixed feelings, she pointed the flashlight into the interior and discovered a small room with a casket on a platform in the center. There appeared to be enough empty space around this rather unappealing amenity for them to crowd in out of the weather.
Graveyard or not, this crypt was a shelter. It would keep them out of the wind and rain, and they could dry out and rest. As cold and tired as she was, Hope was aware that her charges were even more miserable and at the end of their strength.
“Good news!” she called out. “We can shelter here. Come on! Hurry and get out of the storm.”
The cluster of young people stumbled blindly between the unseen tombstones, hurrying through the driving rain to join Hope.
Aleeshia bumped into a crumbling gravestone. Bending down to see what she’d knocked into, she shrieked, “This is a graveyard!”
The others milled around, confirming the lumps and dips they walked among were indeed the overgrown graves of a neglected cemetery.
“We can’t stay here, Mrs. Hopkins!” TyVon shouted.
“Come on, you guys! It’s our only shelter. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Hope replied, trying to convince the reluctant children to join her at the ancient sepulcher.
Some of the kids were turning to go back into the woods when a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree and the rain intensified.
Desperation conquered superstition as everyone ran to Hope’s side and squeezed into the dark vault.
Hope decided not to shine the flashlight around inside for the kids, hoping to downplay the nature of their emergency lodging.
“At least it’s dry,” Colton said, feeling the stone walls as he groped his way across the small, musty room.
As the children jostled against each other in the gloom, a loud crash echoed in the small chamber.
Someone screamed.
“What was that?” Ty’Nisha cried.
“Is anyone hurt?” Hope asked.
When she determined that no one was hurt, she had the children join hands and count off.
“Okay, good. Everyone is accounted for,” she said.
“You didn’t ask who’s holding my other hand, Mrs. H. It’s all hairy with sharp claws and scales...” TyVon began.
“Stop joking around, Ty!” his sister interrupted. “This is scary.”
Hope shuffled across the floor to the far wall, hoping to find a clear space for everyone to sit and rest. Her foot crunched down on something. She reached down and felt what seemed to be a cluster of dried twigs, perhaps the remnants of a long-ago floral arrangement.
She continued her slow progress by sliding her feet along and stubbed her toe against what felt like a bag of flour. This time her f
ingers encountered a plastic-wrapped package. She shrugged, pushing it out of the way.
There were more of these mysterious bundles strewn across the floor. Sliding them aside, Hope found the wall and cleared a space of broken pottery, rats’ nests, and other unidentifiable detritus on the floor, making a seating area, before leading the children over.
Feeling her way to the end of the wall in the far corner of the vault, she discovered an old rucksack on the floor and pushed it out of her way before sliding down with a soft moan of relief.
She’d had some low points in her life, but this night was well on the way to being one of the absolute worst.
She’d been so cocky about being able to handle this camping trip on her own and look where they were! Babes in the woods huddling in a tomb.
Hope felt sick at heart for her failure to take care of the kids and said a silent prayer for their rescue, despite her mistakes.
Outside the cramped space, the storm continued to rage. The moans and howls of the wind increased the children’s unease at being in a burial chamber, but the rain slashing against the outer walls kept the little group from thinking of leaving this shelter to search for more congenial accommodations.
“Does anyone still have your backpack?” Hope asked, remembering their snacks. She thought eating might help to calm the kids.
She prayed for a loaves-and-fishes-type miracle to make whatever they could cobble together be enough.
Amazingly, most of the youngsters had managed to cling to their packs during this traumatic night. Several candy bars, some bags of rather crushed chips, and even a couple of water bottles were produced and shared. As there were no other takers for a bag of partially melted cheese curds from their local cheese factory, Hope was able to eat, too.
“Let’s make a fire and tell ghost stories,” TyVon suggested. “We’ll never have a better location. If we could see anything in here, I’ll bet the atmosphere would be really creepy.”
“Yeah, that’s if we had some light,” Colton said, pointedly.
“I’m afraid there isn’t enough ventilation for a fire, even if we had dry firewood, and ghost stories might not be the best choice, under the circumstances,” she said. “I’m trying to save the batteries in the flashlight, Colton.”