Madison didn’t move from her position. She kept staring out the window.
“I was running away.”
I sat up. “Really? Why?”
“Oh, come on, Allie. You should be able to figure it out. I’m a terrible person. I’ve done too many bad things. I figured that God could never forgive me, and that made me sad. I had to get out of there before I lost it.”
Now Madison was sitting up. She drained the last of her cocoa and set the mug on the end table.
“Madison, God forgives everyone who asks.”
“Yeah, but what if I don’t want him to forgive me? I feel like I deserve to be punished.”
“For what? What could be so bad?”
Madison huffed and puffed a couple of times. “I hurt you, Allie. Don’t you remember? ‘Frenelope’?”
Of course, I remembered. Frenelope was an anonymous girl who stole my cousin Lola’s phone at Madison’s birthday party. She downloaded a video of me doing a skit for my family that made fun of Miss Lewis—a teacher no one liked at school. She posted it on social media, and the video went viral. It almost got me removed as Student Project Manager of the year-end fundraiser and carnival at school.
“I’m Frenelope,” Madison admitted. Then she covered her face with both hands and rested her elbows on her lap.
That video going viral was one of the most humiliating moments of my life. How am I supposed to respond, Jesus?
Madison put her hand out.
“And that’s not all. Remember when Mr. Felix didn’t show up at the dog training event, and you called him, and he was in New Orleans and said that someone had called during the week to cancel?”
I was speechless. I knew what was coming.
“That was me too.” Madison started crying again. “Allie, I’m so sorry.”
So now I knew for sure what I had suspected all along. Madison Doonsberry had been trying to destroy my reputation and ruin the year-end school fundraising event.
But why?
It really doesn’t matter now. Just love her.
I didn’t say anything for a minute or two. I had to wait for my thoughts to catch up with my emotions, so that my emotions wouldn’t cause my body to do something I would regret. Love her? Why? She had shown NO love for me.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8
My Bible memory verses have a way of popping up when I least expect them. And I kind of wanted to ignore this one right now.
What she did to me was awful, God.
Madison jumped to her feet. “See! I told you! I don’t deserve forgiveness from you or from God! That’s why I ran away from the campfire!”
Madison threw her blanket on the sofa and wiped tears off her cheeks with the palms of her hands. Then she headed toward the door.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
She fumbled with the doorknob. “I don’t know. Just leave me alone.”
I grabbed her blanket off the sofa. “But you can’t keep running away, Madison.”
“Watch me.” She finally pulled the wooden door open and began to push her way out the screen door.
I had to stop her. And all I could think of was to throw the blanket! It landed perfectly, like a net over her head, covering her body down to her knees.
“ALLIE!”
Madison thrashed around and I grabbed her and pulled her down and back, onto the floor of the Prayer Barn. She kicked and punched but the blanket absorbed all the blows.
“Let me GO!” she yelled, and we wrestled around for a few seconds. I had an advantage since my arms and legs were free and I managed to wrap her up tighter in the blanket and sit on top of her so she couldn’t move.
“UGH!” Madison screamed. “LET ME GO!!!!”
“NO!” I yelled back. “I’m NOT going to let you go. Not till you let me tell you something.”
She stopped struggling and was quiet for a second.
“O . . . kay. But can you at least uncover my head?” The muffled voice made me giggle to myself.
“Only if you promise to hear me out.”
“I promise.”
I stood up, and released Madison from the blanket. Her braids were no longer nice and neat. Hair was sticking out everywhere, standing on end because of the blanket static. I noticed that her bruise from the David and Goliath incident was turning a new and exciting shade of . . . avocado green.
Madison stared at me. “Okay, I’m listening.”
I chuckled. “Come sit down, please.”
Madison rolled her eyes and slinked to the sofa.
I sat down next to her.
“Madison, I forgive you for everything.”
She shook her head. “No. You can’t do that. I won’t let you.”
“Ha! You can’t decide that.” I pushed my thumb into my chest. “I get to decide that.”
“Then I won’t accept it.”
“THERE!” I pointed at her. “That’s your problem! You won’t accept God’s forgiveness either. You’re such a stubborn . . .”
Madison looked at me with wide eyes, hands on her hips. “A stubborn what?”
“A . . . a . . . stubborn SHEEP!” I crossed my arms. “You’re a stubborn sheep. Stop running away from love, Madison. God’s not going to stop going after you. And neither am I. So just STOP.”
And then something happened. I didn’t hear anything or see anything. But I felt something. I think it was Madison’s heart opening up.
Night had fully arrived so we sat in the dark, moon and starlight shining in from those upper windows. I kept my mouth shut, moved to the other sofa, and just prayed that this stubborn but loved, lost sheep would finally be returned to the fold so we could celebrate—like the guy in Jesus’ parable.
Jesus, she needs you.
A few quiet minutes passed—Madison laying on her sofa and me sitting on mine. Then, she finally moved. She stood up, turned around, got on her knees, bowed her head, and clasped her hands.
Then she looked over at me. “I don’t know what to say to him.”
I smiled. “Tell him that. And then whatever comes to your heart.”
She bowed her head again. “Dear God, I don’t know what to say. I have a hard time believing that you love me. But I want to. Will you please forgive me . . . for everything? I want to be your child. I want to follow you. I want you to be my Savior. So, please, will you help me?”
She knelt there for a while and tears streamed down both our faces. Then she finally got up, lay down on the sofa, and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
I did the same on my side of the room.
“Allie . . .”
“Yeah.”
“I think that prayer worked.”
I smiled. “I know it did.”
CHAPTER 23
Daytime Discovery
We slept for a long time. I know, because the sun was coming in the top windows when we finally woke up.
“Arrrgh. Blinded!” I covered my eyes with my forearms, and rolled over to face Madison. “Are you alive over there?”
Madison sat up and stretched. “Yeah. Barely. What time is it?”
I fumbled on the end table to find my sports watch. “Eleven o’clock!”
“What? Wow. I think this sofa is more comfortable than my bed!”
“It probably is. I come out here and sleep a lot.”
Madison put her clasped hands behind her head and looked up at the ceiling and then all around at the walls of the Prayer Barn.
“I can’t get over how they put those bookshelves in between each of the long windows. When did your grandparents build this place?”
“I don’t know. It’s been here as long as I have.”
“Did it always have the shelves? Because it looks like this room was designed for a different purpose. I can’t stop thinking about the unique window design.”
“I guess I never thought about that. I just know that I like the windows a lot. They give me a
nice view of the property and a lot of natural light for reading.”
“Hmmm.” Madison flipped the blanket off, got up, and walked around. She ran her finger up and down book spines and along the window ledges. She checked out some of the dents in the wooden walls and jumped up and down a couple of times. Then she stood on tip-toes and raised her hand to touch the top windows. Then she walked over to the door and opened it.
“Hey—you’re not going to try to escape again, are you?”
“Oh, no. I’m not interested in being beat down by a blanket again. It’s just . . .”
Madison opened the screen door next but then closed it. She turned and looked back inside the cabin for a moment, and then . . . .
“ALLIE!”
Her squeal made me jump to my feet.
“What?”
“Look around this Prayer Barn . . . carefully! Do you feel like you’ve been in a similar place lately? Like during this week?”
“The only place I’ve been all week is camp. Oh, and the hospital.”
“Yeah. I’m not talking about the hospital.”
“Okay, then camp?”
“Yeah. Think about our LIVING QUARTERS.”
I looked around. It was rustic, yet cozy. I walked over to where Madison stood by the door.
“I guess it seems a little bit like our cabins at Camp 99 Pines.”
Madison raised her eyebrows. “A little bit?” Madison grabbed my cheeks and turned my head in different directions. “Look again.” Then she moved toward a side wall. “Let me help you. Imagine that instead of a bookshelf, you have a bed here, right next to this window. Then imagine you’re climbing a ladder to a top bunk—oh, look at that. It also has a window. And then imagine blinds on all these windows. And right here—” Madison jumped to the middle of the room and pointed to a place in the middle of the floor. “Right here, imagine a pink, fluffy rug that says, ‘Welcome to the Palace’.”
My heart started to pound and my head got a little light.
“What are you saying, Madison?”
Madison crossed her arms and stuck out her right hip. “I’m not going to say a thing until I go check something.”
She ran for the door, but I got there first. I threw open the screen and we elbowed each other going down the stairs. Then we tore around to the back of the Prayer Barn, which happens to sit on blocks on top of a concrete foundation. We knelt next to the left back corner of the familiar wood building. I put my hand out to feel for a little carved circle.
Sure enough, there it was.
We both pulled our heads in close to look at the circle.
And yes, it had a G6 in the middle of it!
“Okay,” Madison got a rascally grin on her face. “Now I’ll say it. Allie Carroway, we have found girls’ Cabin Six!”
CHAPTER 24
Fishin’ For Answers
Our amazing discovery pumped enough adrenaline in our systems to give us energy to get dressed, do our hair, and get over to the main house to eat breakfast. Then we asked Mamaw to take us to the hospital to visit Parker and then back to camp.
“Well,” Mamaw said from the driver’s seat in her Jeep, “it was sure nice seeing Parker sittin’ up and eatin’ with some color back in his cheeks. I told you God was watchin’ out for him.”
Madison and I sat in the back seat, gesturing wildly to each other and even writing notes on some old church bulletins we found in the pockets on the backs of the seats.
Madison wrote and handed me a paper.
Are you gonna say anything?
I nodded and then said something.
“Mamaw, I just realized we’re gonna be late for your alumi tour. I’m sorry.”
Madison rolled her eyes at me, and scribbled.
That’s NOT what I meant.
Mamaw looked back at me in the rear view.
“Allie-girl, I don’t need a tour. I practically built the place.”
“Did you help build the cabins?” Madison blurted out.
Mamaw laughed. “No. I didn’t actually build anything, sweetheart. I just meant I was around when a lot of this camp was built up. Remember, I was here the first year it opened so I’ve seen a lot of changes.”
“You were in high school that first year, right, Mamaw?”
“Yeah. Summer after tenth grade. And I met two very nice boys that year. Their names were Saul and Ray.”
“Uncle Saul and Papaw Ray?”
“Yep. We had some fun competin’ against each other for cabin champs that year. We beat them out by one-million points. And our cabin got to sleep in the tree house on the last night. I love how traditions pass on from generation to generation.”
Madison glared at me and scribbled.
ASK HER!
I kept silent. But Madison didn’t.
“Mamaw Kat, what cabin were you in that year?”
Mamaw flipped on her right turn signal.
“Oh, look, girls, here we are! Isn’t it great to be back at Camp 99 Pines?” She pointed to a group of women near the nurse’s hut. She moved her head closer to the windshield.
“Oh, my heavenly days, I know those old ladies!”
Mamaw screeched the tires and pulled into a parking place. “Come with me, girls, and I’ll introduce you to some real characters!”
Madison and I piled out and had to jog to keep up with Mamaw. She had both her arms spread out to her sides as she ran toward the circle of ladies.
“Heeeeeeeey! Emma! Betsy!”
The group turned toward Mamaw. The one with the green glasses yelled, “Kat Clark? Is that you?”
Then the squealing and hugging began. A few other names like Pearl, Sandra, and Bonnie got thrown around. I couldn’t tell which one was which.
Madison and I stood there just outside the squealing circle.
“Clark? Is that your Mamaw’s maiden name?” Madison had to scoot back so she wouldn’t get knocked over by the hugging ladies.
“Yeah. I have a hard time thinking that she wasn’t always a Carroway.”
Madison smiled. “She kept the same initials when she got married? KC, right? Very helpful when you own monogrammed items.”
Figures Madison would think of that.
“Allie-girl and Madison, I want to introduce you to some of my best friends in the whole world.” Mamaw beamed as she gestured to the sweet, older ladies who all seemed to have the same spunky grin as Mamaw.
“We were cabinmates the first year here at Camp 99 Pines. This is Patsy, Bonnie, Lily, Pearl, Rose, Sandra, Emma, and . . .”
“AUNT BETSY!” Bliss yelled that as she came flying over toward the nurse’s hut. The lady who hadn’t yet been introduced turned around and Bliss wrapped her up in a big hug.
“I’m guessing that’s Betsy?” I said to Mamaw.
Betsy had to push Bliss off her so she wouldn’t get strangled. Then, with a strong, but out-of-breath, voice, she introduced her great-niece.
“This is my lovely Elizabeth. She was named after me. Don’t we look alike?’
Well, they didn’t really look alike now, but I remembered that scrapbook picture, and they were identical when they were the same age.
“Elizabeth?” Madison grinned. “That’s your real name?”
Bliss shrugged. “Yeah. But I’m Bliss at camp. Remember that, girls.”
“Oh, that’s such a wonderful camp name,” Betsy said. “I would have picked that one for you! Elizabeth brings such joy and happiness wherever she goes.” She pointed an index finger in the air. “But . . . she has a rascally side.”
“Yeah, we know,” Madison said.
“She sounds a lot like our Goldie.” The lady, who I think was named Pearl, went over and gave Bliss a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you, finally.”
“Goldie?” I looked at the circle of women. Their smiles faded a bit.
“Dear, sweet Goldie,” Pearl said. “I miss her.”
“Who’s Goldie?” Madison asked, before I got a chance to stop her.
The la
dy with the denim jacket and cute red sneakers—Emma—spoke up. “Goldie was our counselor.”
Emma then spied something behind us, and her dimmed smile turned to a scowl. “Don’t look now, but here comes the scoundrel himself.”
We all turned to see the now notorious threesome—Ellen, Stan, and Patterson Gables—approaching our circle.
“Well, hello, Patterson.” Mamaw stepped into the middle of the circle, which had now become more like a horseshoe. “It’s so good to see you.”
Ellen and Stan took off toward the mess hall but Patterson came and stood right next to me.
“Katherine Carroway, to what do I owe this unfortunate meeting?”
Mamaw laughed. “Oh, Patterson. You have such a gift for sarcasm! Your sweet mother invited me to the 50th year anniversary gala. I’m here to celebrate all the amazing things God has done on this property. I’m sure you agree, don’t you, that God is in charge and has plans for this place?”
The older women all stared him down.
Patterson’s shifty eyes worked hard not to look at any of them.
He took his glasses off and rubbed his right eye. “Oh, yes, I agree. And it seems that God is closing the door on Camp 99 Pines. But, you know, I bet many Christian families will pay good money to build their dream houses here. Perhaps some of them will be our camp alumni. I can see it now. You can buy a house on the same block as some of your old cabinmates . . .” Patterson put his glasses back on and smirked.
“Patterson Gables! You used to be fun and adventurous. When did you become a stuffy old goat?”
Whoa, Aunt Betsy has a little bit of snark to her.
“Patterson,” Mamaw interrupted. “I’d like you to meet my granddaughter, Allie, and her friend Madison.”
Patterson raised one eyebrow. “Yes, I have met your granddaughter. She’s just like you, Katherine.”
Mamaw smiled. “Yes, I know. And it thrills me to no end.”
“And speaking of ‘ends,’ I’m afraid I must end this conversation. I have a meeting with my buyer. But, please know”—Patterson put his hand on his heart—“my heart is breaking to leave you, ladies.”
“Oh, you’ll see us again,” Aunt Betsy said. “You can bet on that.”
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