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by Robert L. Wise

“I’m sorry, Graham, but these people would have discovered something if Mary was in Rhinelander.”

  “She’s right, Dad,” Matt added. “I walked a dozen blocks this afternoon. Nothing.”

  Graham’s entire body sagged. “I simply can’t make any sense out of where she’s gone.” He ran his hands nervously through his hair. “We’re at least one hundred and seventy miles from the Illinois border and seventy-five from Michigan. She can’t drive a car, and surely no one would pick up a child.”

  “She’s not a child,” Jackie insisted. “Mary’s become a young woman and could pass for someone much older than she is. Dressed right, she might look close to twenty. No, Mary’s capable of traveling a significant distance alone.”

  “Let’s sit down,” Alice suggested. “Everybody grab a chair. We’ve got to think together. Let’s start by praying.”

  Without any more being said, they started to pray. After ten minutes, someone said, “Amen,” and the praying was over.

  “We’ve got to be even more careful these days,” Alice said. “You can’t tell who’s watching. Graham, think it over again,” Alice instructed. “Where was she most likely to have gone?”

  Graham looked at Jackie for a moment. “The only place that Mary knew anything about was Chicago, but that’s simply too far away.”

  Alice grabbed his arm. “I hear something,” she said in a low, quiet voice. “Listen!”

  “Could be those people from that new Restored Church,” the man in the overalls said. “I heard they was on the prowl.”

  Alice slipped next to the basement window and peered out for a moment. “Someone’s out there circling the church building,” she whispered. “We’ve got to get out of here. Graham, I’m sorry we couldn’t do better. Time for us to run.”

  Graham nodded. “Sure. Thanks for the help.” His heart felt heavy.

  “Just get out and go to your cars or wherever,” Alice Masterson said forcefully. “Try not to let anybody see you.”

  Graham took a deep breath. He could feel his anger building, but he didn’t know what else to do. “Okay.” He reached for Jackie’s and Matthew’s hands. “Let them get out and then we’ll make a break for it. Matt, shut the door behind us.”

  Alice and her friends left in a single file, scampering up the back steps and disappearing down the alley. Everyone tried to make as little noise as possible.

  “Follow me,” Graham said to his family and dashed up the stairs with Jackie and Matt behind him. The basement door flew open and he trotted across the backyard. “Let’s go.” He started around the side of the church.

  Two men suddenly stepped out from around the front of the church. “Where you people think yer goin’?” the larger of the two men said and crossed his arms defiantly over his chest.

  “Just looking at your church building,” Graham said. “Is it for sale?”

  “He’s interested in buyin’ a church,” the second man chided the first. “Now, ain’t that somethin’. You goin’ in the religion business?”

  “No,” Matthew said firmly. “Restaurant.”

  “In this old church? Now, ain’t this young man got a smart mouth,” the first man said. “I think you people is alyin’ to us.”

  Graham studied their faces. Each man’s eyes had a mean glint, and they were clearly looking for trouble. Maybe there were other people; maybe there weren’t. The Pecks needed to get out of the area, and these men weren’t to be toyed with.

  “We’re leaving,” Graham said to the family and started walking.

  “Now, I wouldn’t be so fast,” the smaller man said. “We didn’t even get your name.”

  “Without your name, we can’t sell you the building.” The larger man reached for Graham’s arm and gripped it firmly.

  With everything he had, Graham swung for the man’s stomach. He felt his fist sink into the man’s fat belly. With a low groan, the large man went crashing into the weed-filled flower bed.

  The second man stepped back. “Hey! Ya better not hit me!” he yelled and started scurrying toward the back of the church.

  “Let’s get out of here!” Graham said urgently under his breath. Grabbing Jackie’s hand, he started running for the street.

  “Man, you punched him out!” Matt said as he trotted alongside them. “Great hit!”

  “We’ve got . . . to get . . . to the car and out of here,” Graham said, gulping air. “We’re not safe in this town.”

  Matthew grabbed the car door and jerked it open. Jackie tumbled in behind him. In seconds, Graham had the car started and pulled away from the curb. Without stopping, he headed for Highway 51 to get out of town.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on in that village, but the place has gotten scary.” Graham kept watching the rearview mirror. “I think we got away, but it’s still not clear where Mary is.”

  “You know,” Jackie said thoughtfully, “that town still remains the best place for her to hide.”

  CHAPTER 37

  THE PECKS WAITED a day after their hasty exit from Rhinelander before they made any further contacts. Graham finally drove down to the country store in Tomahawk and called.

  “We don’t have a telephone,” Graham told Alice Masterson over a pay phone outside the store. “Keeps us more secluded. No one can trace where we are. Sorry. I guess I’ll have to call you to make contact.”

  “I understand,” Alice said. “However, we must be extremely cautious. My friends got away yesterday because those two men were in front of the church, but those clowns spread word all over Rhinelander that two militia vigilantes attacked them. Said you knocked one guy into the bushes.”

  “They’re from this new Restored Church?”

  “Exactly! These people are turning the town upside down looking for people they call ‘the attackers.’ They mean you! You’re going to have to be doubly careful if you come back to this town.”

  “Hmm.” Graham rubbed his chin. “Things are heating up in Rhinelander, huh?”

  “That’s right,” Alice said. “Everyone in my group is concerned. We’re afraid to become identified as a target for the nut fringe. We’re not meeting at the church building for a while.”

  “I certainly understand,” Graham said. “These Restored Church members sound like they’ve gone on a rampage.”

  “It’s a witch hunt! They’ve turned all of their pent-up fears and anxieties loose on anyone who is different from them. It’s like that ancient communist fighter Joe McCarthy has ridden into our town with an army of hellcats, spreading confusion everywhere.”

  “We’ll pay close attention to them,” Graham assured her. “I wanted you to know that Jackie still has a strong suspicion that our daughter might be hiding somewhere in Rhinelander. Please ask everyone to keep their eyes open.”

  “We certainly will. You remain in our prayers. Be careful. Like I told you earlier, I have that cabin over in Prentice. The key is always left hanging behind the welcome sign on the door. If things get tight, please, please, use that place.”

  “Thanks, Alice. You have certainly been more than a friend. You’re a real sister in Christ.”

  “God bless you and your family, Graham. Good-bye.” Alice hung up.

  Graham slowly put the receiver back inside the telephone booth. Jackie sat in the car watching him. He walked back and told her what Alice had said.

  “I can’t believe Mary would do this to us,” Jackie agonized. “We’ve given her nothing but the best. The first time I even got wind of her belligerence was when Matt came home from college with insights about the Christian faith. Mary turned into an overprivileged brat. If Mayor Bridges’ men hadn’t chased us out of town, she’d probably still be lined up with her atheistic friends, calling us fanatics behind our backs. Everything about her behavior scares me to death.”

  “She’s had it too good,” Graham said. “While millions of Americans struggle to survive every day, Mary lives like a princess with her friends as her court-in-waiting. Affluence breeds apathy, and in her c
ase, it sparked hostility and defiance.”

  Jackie ran her hands nervously through her hair. “We can’t give up looking for her.”

  Graham started the car and turned back in the direction of their cabin, driving slowly up the dirt road. “It’s going to be tough to return to Rhinelander for a while. Sounds like my punching that country clod exploded into a lynching mob. We can’t be seen on the streets.”

  “But we can’t simply let her take off like this,” Jackie objected.

  “Really?” Graham raised an eyebrow. “And what control do we have over her right now?”

  Jackie didn’t say anything more. The car pulled up in front of the cabin and they went back inside. Matt, George, and Jeff were sitting around the breakfast table with Adah talking to them. They immediately stopped the conversation when their mother and father walked in.

  “Things have heated up in Rhinelander,” Graham told them. “The Restored Church leaders have turned into vigilantes, and we can’t let ourselves be caught in town,” he explained. “Your mother and I aren’t sure what to do next.”

  The conversation around the table slipped into silence, with each person lost in their own thoughts. Even little Jeff looked worried.

  “I still have trouble understanding my sister,” Matt said. “Sure, she and I have had our fights through the years, but I’ve never seen Mary hold out so long about anything.”

  “Perhaps we should turn on the television and see what the news is this morning,” Graham concluded. “I’ll pick up that NBC news station from Chicago to see what’s happening locally.” He punched the remote and the screen instantly leaped to life. Graham started buttering a bagel.

  “Looks like another summer day in Chicago,” the weatherman concluded. “We hope none of those spontaneous strong storms that caused so much damage return. If the weather stays on an even keel, we will have a scorching July 4 and good picnic weather. Back to you at the anchor desk, Larry.”

  “Thank you for that update,” Larry Daniels said. “We have one more item that has just come in to us. The Chicago police have picked up one of the members of the Graham Peck family attempting to enter the family home in Arlington Heights.”

  Graham dropped his knife on the floor. “What!” he shrieked.

  “Apparently, teenager Mary Peck was trying to enter the back door when police posted in the trees saw her and apprehended the teenager today. She is being held incommunicado, since her father is now considered an armed and dangerous suspect.”

  “It can’t be!” Jackie cried. “No! NO!”

  “The police caught her at our house,” Matthew moaned.

  “Details are sketchy, but police have increased their search in the Chicago area for Graham Peck.” Graham’s face appeared on the screen. “If you’ve seen this man anywhere in the metroplex area, please call the police immediately, as he is armed and considered dangerous.”

  Graham dropped into the chair at the end of the table. His heart pounded like a drum. “God help us!” he cried out loud.

  Adah grabbed Graham’s arm. “Since they now have your daughter, will she talk?”

  “Talk?” Graham looked at her, not comprehending.

  “Will she tell them where we are?” Adah pressed.

  Graham blinked several times. “I—I don’t know.”

  “Mary can’t handle pain,” Jackie blurted out. “She’s obstinate around us, but she will crumble in a hurry under police pressure.”

  “Absolutely,” Graham muttered. “Yes. We’ve got to get out of here immediately.” He suddenly stood up and blurted out, “Whether she intends to or not, Mary will probably reveal our location. Bridges’ men could descend on us like hornets. Grab your things. We must run as fast as we can!”

  CHAPTER 38

  AT LINCOLN PARK, not far from Belmont Harbor on Lake Michigan, a blue hydrogen-powered family van pulled up to one of the picnic sites where a wooden table and a rock fireplace promised a good setting for a family outing. The car doors quickly swung open, and the six members of the Rice family hopped out.

  “Come on, Mom and Dad,” Donna Rice chided her parents. “Let’s see who’s first to the picnic table.”

  “Oh,” Donna’s father groaned. “I’m an old man. Just get me out, Mother.”

  Donna’s mother helped her husband slide out of the car as she always did, but the two children were gone in a second.

  “Hey!” Robert Rice shouted at his sons. “You boys cool it. Get back here and help us carry the food to the picnic table.”

  “Rats,” Ryan Rice growled. “We want to play softball.”

  “Yeah!” his brother Randy chimed in. “Carryin’ stuff ain’t our style.”

  “It is now,” Donna insisted. “You boys come back here and help your grandparents.”

  Grumbling under their breaths, the boys slammed their large mitts to the grass, but returned to help.

  “Put that six-pack of soda over there on the table,” Robert told Ryan, “and make sure you don’t drop it.”

  “I’m not a klutz,” Ryan mumbled under his breath and picked up the drinks.

  “Sure feels good to sit down out here in this nice breeze blowing off Lake Michigan,” Donna’s father said. “Certainly helps cool me off.”

  “Well, I’m hoping we don’t have any more of those horrendous storms like the one that blew through the other day,” Donna’s mother added. “Scared me to death. Never seen anything come on so fast and furious. And the hail? Heaven help us, don’t you know!”

  “Yes.” Donna set a cake on the table. “No one expected it when the sky started turning black. I wouldn’t want one of those surprises tonight.”

  “Play ball with us,” Ryan begged his father.

  “I will after we eat,” Robert assured him. “Why don’t we cook some hot dogs first, and then we’ll have a ball game with all six of us playing.”

  “Hey, wait a minute,” Grandfather protested. “I’m not sure that I’m up to one of those rip-roarin’ battles.”

  “Come on, Dad,” Donna encouraged him. “You’ll do fine.”

  “What is that?” Donna’s mother pointed up to the sky. “It looks like sand, little gnats or something.” She kept tracing the hazy air with her finger. “How peculiar.”

  “I don’t see anything,” Donna said.

  “I do.” Robert shielded his eyes. “One minute it’s there, and the next it’s gone, but it’s like a slight discoloration sailing through the air.”

  “Come on,” Donna chided her husband. “You been nipping on more than a soda?”

  “Look!” Robert pointed at eye level. “It’s changed course and isn’t far from us . . . maybe twenty feet at most.”

  “Y-yes.” Donna squinted. “How unusual. Like mosquitoes swarming, but lots smaller.” She pointed. “Hey, it’s gone!” She looked again. “No, it’s back.”

  The boys pushed in around their grandparents, staring at the strange discoloration hovering in the air.

  “What do you think it is?” Robert asked.

  “Never seen anything like that,” Donna’s father said thoughtfully. “Bizarre. Looks more like . . . maybe . . . it’s a gas of some kind.”

  Suddenly the cloud surged at the six people, swarming around their faces. The grandparents began coughing violently.

  “My eyes!” Robert cried. “Something is burning in my eyes.” He rubbed his face fiercely.

  “I can’t breathe!” Donna gasped. “M-my mouth feels like it’s filling with s-sand.” The normal healthy pink in her face faded, and Donna’s lips began turning purple.

  “A-a-ah!” Ryan screamed. “Help me!” He grabbed his throat. “I can’t get any air!” Ryan fell backward.

  Robert tried to reach out for his son, but he could hardly move his arms. At that moment he realized that Donna’s mother and father had fallen facedown on the picnic table.

  “R-Randy!” Robert gagged. “Wh-ere a-are you?” He felt himself losing breath and becoming uncontrollably light-headed. His vision
blurred and he couldn’t see. Only then did he realize that Randy was lying on the ground on the other side of the table.

  “R-obert,” Donna groaned and then slumped to the ground in silence.

  “P-Please.” Robert kept reaching, but he could no longer move. He forced his eyes open, and realized the entire family was sprawled unconscious around him. With his last ounce of energy, Robert fell to his knees, and then plopped facedown in the grass.

  In less than five minutes they were all dead. Only after twenty minutes did anyone realize that the six people were lying motionless around the picnic table. A passerby finally noticed them and called the police, but of course it was far, far too late.

  CHAPTER 39

  AL MEACHEM WALKED BRISKLY into the mayor’s inner office. “I’ve got something you should look at,” Meachem said. “An incident happened at Lincoln Park yesterday.” Wearing a faded black shirt and suit, Meachem looked more like a backroom operator than an officer of the city.

  “I’m busy right now,” Bridges said in a gruff voice. With his casual pullover T-shirt and khakis he wore when not making a television appearance, the mayor looked considerably laid-back.

  “We’re completing a letter to Washington, D.C.,” Connie Reeves said with a hint of indignation in her voice. As always, Connie had a slightly seductive air to her appearance. “Is this really urgent?”

  Meachem glanced back and forth between the two of them. He didn’t think much work was actually going on here today. “Look,” he said demandingly. “We’ve had six people killed in a park, and the circumstances are too suspicious to put this one on a back burner. It needs your immediate attention, boss.”

  “Your Honor!” Frank Bridges corrected him. “Can’t you get that straight?” He held out his hand. “Okay. Give me the story.”

  “We’re talking six people here,” Meachem said. “Does that ring any bells?”

  Bridges’ eyes narrowed. “Six?”

  “Yeah. They were found dead around a picnic table—like something strange swooped down on them from the sky. An initial examination indicated they suffocated in broad daylight with no apparent cause.”