Peculiar Treasures

by Robin Jones Gunn

  “Of course, I tend to be competitive, so not to be outdone, I took a kiss right back from him. It was all strange and awkward without any meaning. We spent the next day at the San Diego Zoo, and Rick pretty much ignored me. It was all a bunch of high school stuff.”

  “But it still hurts,” Julia said. “And it stays with you a long time.”

  “Exactly.” Katie went on to tell Julia about the letter Rick sent her a year ago and how he had apologized for the way he had treated her. “I forgave him after reading the letter. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.

  “Then last fall I was at the Dove’s Nest the night Todd proposed to Christy, and Rick was there. I hadn’t seen him in a long time, and we started to hang out. Since then, we’ve been . . .”

  Katie realized she was stuck and not sure how to continue.

  Julia waited for her to find the right descriptive phrase.

  “We’re not exactly dating. Not officially. We do stuff together. But we’re not boyfriend and girlfriend. But up until last week we saw each other just about every day because we worked together.”

  Julia nodded her understanding.

  “In so many ways our relationship has been amazing, wonderful, and just right. But now I’m flipping out because I don’t know what’s going on. And the thing is, I shouldn’t be worried. I mean, Rick has proved over and over that I can trust him. We agreed to take our relationship as slow as can be. And believe me, it’s been going about as fast as an old lady driving with a flat tire in the slow lane. I mean, if Rick wants to hang out with other people, that shouldn’t bother me. I could hang out with other people if I wanted to. We’re just floaty, you know? We’re not committed.”

  “You sound pretty connected,” Julia said, “what with seeing each other every day for so many months and being romantically interested in each other. May I ask a question?”

  “Sure.”

  “Are you and Rick involved with each other physically?”

  Katie shook her head. Julia looked surprised. Pleasantly surprised.

  “I mean, we have a few hugs and snuggle moments here and there, but we haven’t kissed yet. Or, I guess I should say, we haven’t kissed since high school.” Katie sighed. “When I hear myself talk, the way Rick and I relate sounds so bizarre. I don’t know any couple that has a relationship like ours.”

  “That’s part of the Peculiar Treasure theme in your life, isn’t it? You’re unique, Katie, and so is your relationship with your almost-boyfriend. I think you’re doing well.”

  “You do? Really?”

  “Yes, really. It sounds like the two of you have chosen to take your time and to let your friendship become your foundation. That’s wise.”

  “It can also be boring.”

  Julia laughed.

  “I told Rick at the beginning of the summer that we were in a rut, and he said ruts can be good. So if ruts are good and you’re saying our relationship is good, then I guess I don’t need to freak out about the movies. Even if he did take Carley on a date or something, it’s not my place to make demands on his social life.”

  “Is it the sort of relationship in which the two of you don’t feel peace about moving forward yet you don’t see a reason to pull apart and go your separate ways?”

  Katie thought a moment before nodding. “Sort of. This RA position has become a natural kind of parting for us. Rick actually was ready to ask me to be his girlfriend earlier in the summer.”

  “And you weren’t ready?”

  Katie nodded. “I thought I was. I told him I wanted to move out of the slow lane. Then, when he was ready to talk about it, I closed up. I didn’t want to take that next step. I don’t know why exactly.”

  “Did it have anything to do with your not trusting him?”

  Katie looked surprised at Julia’s question. She quickly spouted, “I trust Rick.”

  “Okay.”

  Katie gazed out at the ocean and thought about her comment. “Well, I guess I mostly trust him. I just realized you and I wouldn’t be having this talk about his going to the movies with Carley if I trusted him completely.”

  Julia grinned.

  “Are you going to tell me to work on my ‘hot on God’s heels’ theology so I’ll be close enough to the Lord to hear what he’s trying to tell me about Rick?”

  “Sounds like I don’t need to tell you that one again. You already have that lesson down.”

  “Are you going to give me any advice?”

  Julia crunched up her freckled nose. “I don’t think so. It sounds like you’ve already given yourself a lot of solid advice. With such a long-term relationship as this one, you need to give yourself time and that’s what you’re doing. Good for you. But I would like to hear the updates on how things go for you guys.”

  “Okay. Thanks for listening. It helps to just get everything out.”

  “Anytime.”

  Katie and Julia rejoined the others from the Crown Hall group.

  Katie was surprised to realize that she felt the situation with Rick was sort of resolved after talking it over with Julia.

  The power of one understanding woman who opens her ears and her heart to another woman should never be underestimated.

  Katie loved having Julia in her life. Especially now.

  The ferry slowed as it approached Catalina. Ahead of them, the crescent-shaped bay of Avalon Harbor came into view. Katie stood beside Nicole at the railing, drinking in the quaint view of the small buildings that dotted Avalon’s landing. She remembered how Rick had said on the phone earlier that he missed her. She couldn’t remember his ever saying anything like that to her before, at least not in the tone of voice he had used this time. That memory convinced her things would be okay with Rick once she returned home.

  17

  As soon as the huge ferry docked at Avalon, the Rancho Corona teams shifted into high gear, gathering their belongings and congregating in the parking lot where two compact, chartered buses waited for them.

  Craig gave directions, and the RAs boarded the buses, holding their trash bags on their laps. The buses rambled up the hill away from the bay. The views expanded as they continued on through the arid landscape. Catalina, despite being an island, couldn’t claim inland bodies of water as one of its plentiful natural resources.

  “Okay, listen up,” Craig said to the group, as the bus slowed down. “If you have a cell phone, pull it out and hold it up.”

  He waited while nearly every person on the bus went for his or her phone.

  “Here’s the first rule. No calls in or out. No texting. No podcasts. Some of you will see that your service doesn’t work here. The rest of you will either have to turn off your phones or, on your honor, leave them off. If you need a little intervention on this, hand over your phone to Julia, and she’ll return it at the end of the training.”

  Phones clicked off everywhere and were put away.

  “Next, we need all of you to leave your trash bags in the bus but take your backpacks and anything else you carried on with you. When you exit, gather by dorms and we’ll give directions from there.”

  They shuffled off the bus, and Katie gathered with the rest of the brown T-shirted RAs. The view from the top of the island was astounding. The Long Beach Harbor, which they had departed from, no longer was visible because of the smog and costal haze. All they could see was the unfurled Pacific Ocean shimmering in the early afternoon sunlight.

  “It looks like a field of stars,” Nicole said.

  “A field of stars?” one of the guys echoed.

  “You know, like this is where all the falling stars land when they drop out of the heavens. It’s a corral for fallen stars. This is where you can come to view them in the daytime.”

  Katie smiled. Nicole was definitely an artist. Katie liked being around artistic people, mostly because she always hoped their lyrical fascination with life would rub off on her.

  “Okay.” Craig walked up to their group. “Gather closer, you guys. We’re hiking into c
amp, and this is where the trail begins.” He nodded toward the road that turned from paved to dirt and gravel. “Whatever you have chosen to bring with you in your backpacks, you will need to carry with you the rest of the way.”

  “How far is it?” Jordan asked.

  “Not far.” Craig grinned.

  A few of the people in their group groaned at the mystery of being sent off on a hike but not knowing how far they were going. Katie didn’t groan. She was ready to stretch her legs. All summer she spent most of her days on her feet at the Dove’s Nest. Sitting a lot wasn’t something she was used to.

  “We have some boxes over there with bags of trail mix, some cheese sticks, and bottles of water. As I’m sure you’ve noticed by the surroundings, this is an arid island, and we’re going to be in the sun for nearly the entire hike. Everyone receives two bottles of water. I’d advise you to take small sips as you go so you stay hydrated. Everyone ready?”

  They picked up their lunch items and hit the trail behind the white T-shirted group from Sophie Hall. Dust rose as the sounds of the happy campers ahead of them floated in the air. One of the girls behind them was saying how disappointed she was that the camp wasn’t located near the water. This journey over the ridge of Catalina and down the backside wasn’t the experience she had expected.

  Katie had the opposite response. This was one of her happiest sort of dreams, and she loved the adventure. Falling into step beside Nicole, she said, “I’m glad you gave me the reminder about the comfortable hiking shoes.”

  “I know,” Nicole said. “I saw one girl wearing platform sandals. I feel for her already. She is going to be miserable. I love that we’ll see a side of Catalina not a lot of people experience.”

  “I’ve been hoping all summer to get out and do something; this is my idea of a good time.”

  “Did you grow up camping with your family?” Nicole asked.

  “No. I wished we had. I only went to summer camp once, but that week changed my life. I think that’s partly why I get so excited about camping. Any sort of camping.”

  “If you like camping so much, why did you only go to summer camp once?”

  “My family didn’t exactly take summer vacations to Yellowstone. The only way I could go camping was with friends. My family didn’t go to church either, so when I was invited to go with some friends to a church summer camp, it was a big deal. My parents agreed I could attend because they wanted to go to Las Vegas without me. Sending me to camp provided a free week for them.”

  Nicole looked as if she didn’t know how to respond.

  Katie decided to keep going. “When I think about it, I guess it ended up being a ‘free’ week for me, too. Church camp at Hume Lake was where my heart got freed up.”

  “Do you mean that’s where you came to Christ? At Hume Lake?” Nicole asked.

  “Yeah, except it was more like Christ came to me because I didn’t even know I could come to him.”

  Nicole gave Katie a surprised look.

  Katie tried to explain. “That week at church camp was the first time I ever heard that God wanted me. That was pretty huge, you know? I can’t imagine where I would be or who I would be if I hadn’t taken God’s dare that week.”

  “His dare?” Nicole’s expression made it clear she still was puzzled by Katie’s odd choice of words. Katie thought she should shut her beak before another quirky peep came out. Then she decided she might as well lay it all out since she and Nicole were going to be doing life together for the next school year. So what if Katie didn’t know all the correct Chris tian terms for everything? She knew what had happened in her life. If Nicole was going to know Katie at the core of who she was, this was the starting place.

  “I know I’m not saying all this the right way,” Katie said as she and Nicole kept up their steady hiking stride on the gravel road. “For me, trusting God was sort of like a dare. If everything the speaker at camp said was true, which I now know it was, then to me, it seemed like a dare.”

  “I don’t know what you mean by a dare,” Nicole said.

  “God was holding out this free gift of forgiveness, eternal life, and entrance to his kingdom. All I had to do was believe and receive it. Like a gift. That’s what captivated me. I mean, that is a really bad deal on his part. It was as if he was saying, ‘Go ahead, Katie. I dare you to see if I’m real. Trust me. You won’t know unless you reach out and take what I’m offering. That’s the only way you’ll believe me when I say I love you.’ So I took God up on the dare.”

  Nicole kept walking, her eyes hidden from Katie behind her sunglasses. “You know what I’m beginning to appreciate about you, Katie?”

  “I’m going to guess it’s not the perspiration rolling down my arms right now.”

  Nicole laughed. “What I appreciate about you is your freshness and honesty. You say things I would never think of saying, and you say them in a way that makes me think.”

  “Think or shrink? As in shrink back in regret when you realize I’m the one you’re stuck with for the year.”

  “Katie, don’t say that!” Nicole gave Katie a firm expression without adding her signature smile. “You know how you told me this morning not to dis on my art of decorating my room? Well, I’m telling you, don’t dis on your personality. You’re one of a kind. You’re a work of art. You really are. You make life seem real and not an act.”

  Katie didn’t know what to say.

  Nicole smiled. “So, what I was saying before you so rudely tried to belittle my comment, is that you make me think about familiar truth in new ways. My childhood was probably the opposite of yours. Did you know my dad is a pastor?”

  “No.”

  “He’s been a pastor at the same church in Santa Barbara for more than twenty years. I’ve heard the gospel a thousand times. My whole life. I went to a Chris tian school, and now I’m at a Christian college. In a lot of ways I’ve gone numb or immune or something. But you! You infuse all your conversations about God with a rush of freshness. Being around you is like being by a waterfall. You’re refreshing. All the spray from your freefall wakes me up.”

  Now Katie really didn’t know what to say.

  “Like yesterday.” Nicole picked up the pace with her feet and her conversation. “When you used the term ‘Peculiar Treasures,’ I didn’t know what to do with that. I mean, I grew up being told I was a princess in God’s kingdom. My job is to be his sweet and loving daughter. That’s a lot different from being ‘odd’ or ‘peculiar.’ Especially when you tie the word ‘peculiar’ with ‘treasure.’ ”

  “I hope I didn’t mess with your theology,” Katie said. “I just never really fell into the princess category.”

  “Oh, yes, you do!” Nicole said. “Every woman who is a follower of Christ is a daughter of the King, and that makes her a princess. But what you said about being Peculiar Treasures makes so much more sense for where we are now. We’re living in a broken world. We’re unusual when we’re compared with most people. I’m not saying this clearly, the way you did, but I get it. We’re valuable. That’s the ‘treasure’ part. But let’s face it; we’re peculiar. I love it.”

  “ ‘Peculiar Treasure’ honestly is a term from the Old Testament. I didn’t make it up.”

  “When we reach camp, I want you to show me where it is. Did you bring your Bible?”

  “Of course. It was on the list.” Katie didn’t know exactly where the Peculiar Treasure verse was. She hoped she had underlined it so it would jump off the page when she went hunting for it.

  “Katie, I want you to know that I meant what I just said. I love your fresh take on life and God, and I’m so glad we get to be RAs together this year. You have no idea how glad.”

  “I’m glad too,” Katie said.

  Nicole’s welcoming comments helped more than Katie at first realized because, when they stopped to rest about halfway through the hike, Katie started to slide back into the margins again. The RAs that had been together the previous year had an inside joke about something Jo
rdan had done on the hike into camp last time. Even Craig was joking and laughing with them, which was great, of course. But it kept going on, and Katie was lost. If the sweetness of Nicole’s welcoming words weren’t in her heart, she would have felt more left out.

  Katie realized in that moment the challenge she and Nicole had ahead of them for the coming year on their floor. If half the women were returning to Crown Hall North, half of the women would have formed cliques, developed inside jokes, and established preferred routines. And so they should. That was the fun of being in community. Yet the newbies could have many moments like she was experiencing now, when they felt marginalized simply because they were new.

  Katie stepped away from the other team members as they enjoyed their joking-around time. She pulled her bottle of sunscreen from her backpack and reapplied some to her nose, arms, and back of her neck. If she could have put it on her hair, she would have. The midday sun felt so strong, she was sure that rubbing two strands together would start a fire.

  Craig announced they needed to get back on the trail. One of the other groups already had gone ahead. Competitive Crown Hall picked up the pace.

  The trail narrowed through an arid and rocky place. The stones they kicked from the trail took off skittering down a frighteningly steep cliff.

  “Take it slow,” Craig called out. “Keep to the inside. Single file.”

  “I feel like we’re the children of Israel walking through the Red Sea on dry land,” Nicole said.

  “I’d prefer to think of us as the children of Israel when they crossed through the Jordan River.” That comment came from Jordan, as he emphasized his favorite word in the sentence.

  “Well, Jordan,” Craig said, “if you want to go with that crossing on dry ground, then we’ll have to take twelve stones and pile them up where we camp tonight as a memorial. You want to pick your boulder and start carrying it?”

  “I prefer sticking with the retelling rather than the re-enacting of the Old Testament accounts,” Jordan said.