 
Amon

by

Clay Mellsen

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

This is a work of Fiction. Names, characters, places,

and incidents are products of the

author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual persons,

living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2014 Clay Mellsen

I.S.B.N. 978-0-9936652-0-2

### AMON

### (Peace)

Chapter One

"GO, GO, GO, CHALO, CHALO, CHALO, JALDI, JALDI, they are not the police they are Taliban!" Dan's driver, Kareem had been slowing down for one of the numerous police check stops that dotted the roads in this violent area of North West Pakistan, but something did not seem right. It was early evening and dark, and as they got closer Dan saw that these men all had long hair and beards. The police often wore beards, but never long hair. That one word, Taliban, was all the inspiration Kareem needed. He was a Shiite Muslim and he had heard many times what the Taliban did when they got a hold of you. He jammed the accelerator pedal to the floor and aimed the truck around the vehicle sitting sideways in the middle of the road blocking their path. He hardly noticed the man standing in his way, lifting his AK 47 in their direction.

The man was too slow in his response, confident that no one would have the nerve to think about resisting them. People cowered and begged for their lives when they showed up with guns and rocket propelled grenades, they did not suddenly speed up and head toward you with a truck that had previously been slowing as expected. His confidence was his undoing, slowing his response time. The bumper and grill of the truck hit him hard, throwing him first onto the hood and then up over the cab. The truck slipped and slid in the dirt, the tires biting for traction on the softer ground at the side of the road as Kareem tried desperately to manoeuvre it around the one blocking the road. He managed to get past it and swung back onto the pavement. He heard a strange noise from the engine and suddenly realized that in the excitement of the last few seconds, he had forgotten to change to a higher gear. The poor motor was screaming at him that it did not want to spin any faster. He quickly shifted into third, his eyes darting, trying to decide whether to watch the road or the mirror. The Taliban would only take a few seconds to react and give chase with guns blazing. He could see them in the lights of their truck running to jump on as it turned and came after them. They had to reverse and turn again to get enough room to get back onto the road, giving Dan and Kareem a few precious seconds to get further ahead. He could see the bright flashes from their guns as the men realized that their quarry was trying to escape.

Dan's mind raced. He had noticed enough of the truck to know it was an older model than theirs, a Toyota double cab 4x4, as they called it here in Pakistan, commonly used by the Taliban in the mountainous areas around Tank. It would have the 2.4 litre engine and likely at least six heavily armed men. Theirs was the same type of truck but a newer model with the 2.8 litre engine and only he and Kareem in it. They could outrun their truck but not the bullets, and definitely not the rocket propelled grenades he had seen at least one of the long-haired, bearded men carrying. Sure enough, a moment later they were almost blinded by a huge flash and an explosion thirty yards ahead and to the right. He heard the slap of something hitting the truck, but it kept going with no noticeable unwanted noises, raising his hopes of getting away. They had to do something quickly , as they were not far enough ahead to dodge the bullets and grenades. They were only ten kilometres from Tank, but that distance seemed to be almost infinite to his racing mind. It was a long way to go when death was just behind you.

As he looked back at the pursuing truck, there was just enough moonlight to see something bouncing around in the back of the their own truck that should not be there. Crawling over the front seat to the back of the double cab, he looked through the rear window into the box. The man they had hit a minute ago must have gone right over the roof and now lay crumpled on the floor of the truck box. Dan opened the rear sliding window of the truck, poked his head out to get a better look, and noticed that the man's machine gun was still attached by the strap to his body.

Dan crawled through the window far enough to reach the gun, hoping the pursuers were still firing blind. He was grateful that vehicles in Pakistan did not have the day time running lights required by law back in Canada. It meant that they could turn theirs off and be a little harder to see and that there was just enough ambient light to be able to stay on the road. He couldn't imagine that the man laying in the back would still be alive and to tell the truth he wasn't sure he cared. He just wanted his gun. Maybe he could use it to warn the truck that was chasing them, to back off. He knew it was a dream, because nothing short of death would keep them from coming, but hope springs eternal sometimes. He had learned how to use the common AK 47 , better known as the Kalashnikov in Pakistan, because he was in charge of the guards at the hospital and they would never have listened to him if he knew nothing about how to use firearms. There were few things that were more important than knowing how to use a gun in this area of the country and his gopher and duck hunting when he was a young farm boy back home had held him in good stead. He had even managed to outshoot most of the guards in practice. They never questioned him on his abilities again. He was their equal in that important area at least.

But this was a slightly different matter. Could he shoot at another human being even to defend himself? Could he shoot to kill? He had wondered about that on occasion, hoping it would never happen, but now it looked like he might have to find out. If they lived long enough. He grabbed the gun, got the strap unhooked from the fellow's uncomplaining body and quickly pulled himself back into the cab. He noticed the weapon was not the familiar AK 47 most of the Taliban used, but a different style the army often employed. A much more accurate gun as he understood it, but he had never used one and now was not the best time to learn. He pointed the gun out the rear window, searching franticly for the lever he knew would inject a shell into the chamber. He felt something protruding out the right side of the gun and pulled it back, knowing right away it was now ready to fire as the previously installed cartridge ejected out the side. He yelled at Kareem to go faster, realizing as he said it, how foolish that sounded. Then he pointed the gun above the chasing truck and pulled the trigger. In his panic he held the trigger tight and it fired off several rounds before he realized it was set for rapid fire, and let his finger off the trigger. He knew how to change the magazine on the AK 47, but didn't have time to even think about how to do it on this type of gun, and in machine gun mode the magazine would be empty in seconds. Suddenly the rear widow exploded, showering him with glass. Ok, the adrenaline was really kicking in now as if it needed more prompting. Instinctively, he pointed the gun directly at the truck chasing them and pulled the trigger again, holding it until, surprisingly quickly, the clip was empty. No it can't be he thought, not now. He looked at the empty gun in his hands and then up at the chasing truck, his eyes widening in surprise as it suddenly veered to one side and rolled over onto the driver's side For some reason it did not continue to roll, but slid along the road before finally coming to a halt with the headlights still shining.

Dan next did a second surprising thing. Later it would make him wonder about the human mind and how it did not always respond the way most people thought it would. He turned to Kareem and told him to stop. He found out later from Kareem that his first thought was that there was no way this side of paradise he was going to stop this truck, and his second thought was that sahib had got hit on the side of the head and had gone crazy on him. He did as he was told though and stopped the truck. They waited a few moments, ready to take off at the first sign of a shot, before finally starting to relax just a bit.

Dan said "I'm going to go back through the trees and see if any of them are alive. I'll signal you with my flashlight if it looks safe, and if any are alive, we can put them in the back of the truck and bring them to the hospital."

"Yes Sahib ," said Kareem . "But you better reload your gun first." Kareem got out, raced to the back of the truck and opened a pocket on the vest of the man still laying in the box. He grabbed a clip and gave it to the sahib making sure he knew how to replace it first before turning to check the pulse of the guy he had taken it from.

"He is still alive!" he said to Dan. "I will get the first aid kit and look after this one. You go and check on the other ones if you insist on being a martyr."

Dan turned without a word and disappeared into the jungle. He could see quite well. The moon shone almost full and with the Taliban truck lights still on he had no difficulty working his way to the carnage ahead of him. He was halfway to the truck, moving cautiously, staying behind trees as much as possible, when he noticed a shadow move just a few meters ahead of him. He raised his gun, but started to shake. He knew he would not be able to pull the trigger this close to another human being. The man was moving in his direction so he grabbed the gun by the stock, and hid behind the tree until the man was even with him. Swinging the gun like a bat, he hit the guy in the head just above his eyes. His feet went out from under him and he slammed to the ground, laying there unmoving. He didn't make a sound as he went down. Dan quickly bent down, grabbed his gun, slung it over his shoulder and checked him over making sure he was still breathing. The top of his chemise had lifted up and he saw a gun holster strapped to his waist. Dan undid it and quickly put it around his own, just to keep it out of the way. Then carefully standing up again, he looked slowly around to see if there were any more shadows to contend with. He saw nothing, so he bent down again, and undid the man's rope that kept his shalwars up. He pulled on the one end and worked it out of the tube that was sown into the top part of the loose fitting pants. Turning him over, Dan tied his hands behind his back. Then he carefully stood up and started toward the mess he had caused. He found five other men, all of whom seemed to be alive except the one driving the truck. He reached in through the missing windshield and felt for a pulse, but found none.

These fellows must have been planning a mission that would keep them away from home for awhile. There were smashed boxes filled with grenades, bullets, extra magazines for the automatic rifles, and several rounds of R.P.G.s. Cooking utensils and baskets of various kinds of food items had also spilled out. He turned on his flashlight and shone it at Kareem until he saw the backup lights come on and the truck start to reverse toward him.

While he waited for Kareem, he opened his cell phone and called his wife asking her to warn the guards to be ready to open the gates immediately when they saw them coming. They would be coming in fast with wounded and they needed to get the emergency staff ready to go. They would be there in just a few minutes.

Dan was grateful for Kareem. He was a hospital driver, but had also been trained as a nurse. He had not been able to find a job in that profession though, so through a friend had found driving work at the hospital. Even with his training he could only work as a ward boy in the Christian hospital because of the policy of only hiring Christian nurses and doctors. His training came in very handy here though, as he quickly and efficiently checked each man, then telling Dan how to help as he bandaged and splinted what he could with the meagre first aid kit that was always carried in the truck.

When Dan finished what he could do to help Kareem, he went around the scene of the crash and collected all the guns and ammunition he could find and loaded them into the back seat of the truck. He counted eight AK 47's, two more army rifles besides the one he had, one heavy machine gun that had been mounted to the top of the truck and still seemed in good shape, about three dozen grenades, and three grenade launchers with a couple dozen rocket propelled grenades to go with them. In other words these guys had meant business.

They had just loaded the last casualty into the truck when they heard another vehicle approaching at high speed. Not good, not good at all. He could hope it was the army coming to their rescue but knew that to be a long shot. Likely these guys had got off a call before they crashed and their buddies were coming to save them. Dan jumped when he heard a voice behind them start to scream something. The guy they had tied up in the back of the truck had woken up and even though he was tied up hands and feet, he still looked ready to kill and that is exactly what he was threatening to do. No fear there at all. As Dan and Kareem jumped into the truck and raced off, the man was trying to wiggle his way out of the back of the box. They had no time to worry about him right now. As they hit about 40 kph he managed to lift himself over the side of the box and rolled off into the ditch. His move likely saved their lives as the chasing truck wasted precious time to stop and pick him up. He must be a very important person for them to do that. It gave Dan and Kareem a bit of a head start, though only seconds later they were being chased again. He had figured out how to fire his gun on single round while Kareem was bandaging the wounds, so he pointed the gun at the truck and started firing hoping to disable it enough so they could maintain their advantage. It seemed to work. The truck pulled back a bit, and he only saw the occasional flash of a gun. He kept shooting at what he hoped was the grill until the clip was empty again. Both trucks were bouncing and weaving far to much to have a hope of hitting anything. He grabbed his cell phone again and hit the speed dial for his wife's cell phone. He praised the Lord when she answered right away and didn't ask any questions as he told her they were coming in fast and were being chased by the Taliban. He told her to make sure the gate was open and as many guards as they had were ready to shoot at the pursuing truck. He was sure they would try to ram the gates when they closed to gain entry to the hospital. He decided once again that he truly loved that woman he had met so long ago and it was the best decision he had ever made to ask her to marry him. Well, the second best. The first was giving his life over to the Lord when he was young.

They were only about two kilometres from the hospital now, almost to the town limits. Dan was beginning to hope they might make it, though when another explosion lit up the ground, not far to one side, his optimism became somewhat subdued. They must have been having trouble getting the grenade launcher into play for some reason, but now were obviously in action again. He changed clips on the rifle and started firing at the truck again, not caring what he hit anymore as long as he could keep their aim off kilter. The other truck swerved just as he saw another flash and another explosion a second later but well ahead of them and off to the side. His wild shots seemed to have some effect at least, as the truck fell back a little. Then he had to suddenly hang on as Kareem screeched around a corner, driving like he did this kind of thing all the time. Two more corners and then the gate of the hospital. Maybe they could make it around the next one and not be seen by the wildly following pickup. At least it would be harder for them to send a grenade in through the back window, but he saw the pursuing truck just as they turned, so no luck there. They slid around the last corner and saw the welcoming gates of the hospital, open and waiting for them. They flew through and Kareem hit the brakes immediately. Dan saw the guards close the gates as Kareem backed up so the bumper was right against them. Then they both dived out of the truck and raced off to each side. The theory was that if the following truck tried to slam its way in, the mass from their own truck would stop it. He saw two of the guards standing on stools on each side aiming their guns over the gate, but they did not fire. That must mean the truck had stopped. But why? That was not the way these people operated. Finesse was not in their vocabulary, only brute force. He looked back and saw his wife standing in her white uniform and several other nurses ready with the stretchers by the hospital front entrance fifty feet away, and God bless her heart she was not coming close until he gave the word.

"They are getting out of the truck now Sahib and aiming guns at us," one of the guards yelled. As if to back up his words the sound of a couple of Kalashnikovs firing single rounds started up and bullets could be heard hitting the heavy steel gate and the cement around it. He yelled at the guards to fire back at will, but they only had two rifles and three very old single shot shotguns which were not that effective. Abdul, the senior guard came running up, and Dan yelled at him to look in the back seat of the truck and give everyone a gun that could use one. Then he told him to send someone up to the roof of the hospital to watch in case they tried to come in that way. He couldn't imagine what his wife was thinking now as he darted into the guard house by the gate and raced up the ladder to the picket on top, but he had to know what was happening. He got there just in time to see one of the attackers fall as he fired off an RPG. The shell went almost straight up and then came down a few feet in front of the gate, bowing it in a little, but the truck bumper held it tight. One of the guards had shot at him just in time. Then he saw three of the attackers head off to each side of their truck, one tall slim one climbed over the wall on his side and the other two went in behind the new government building on the other side. That was bad news. If they could get on top of the building they would have a good view of the hospital grounds and still be protected by the raised edges of the flat roof. He could not get a wide enough view through the tiny slits in the picket, so went outside and quickly climbed to the roof. It had a raised edge around it, so he knelt down, went over and crouched behind it. Sure enough he saw one man stick his head over the edge of the next building but quickly put it down as a bullet ricocheted off the edge just beside him. Good! Ashaq was doing his job well.

He peeked over the edge on the outside wall that overlooked the Political Agents compound to see if he could see the other attacker. He had already come close enough to throw a grenade and that was just what he was trying to do. Dan was about to fire a shot in his direction when the fellow tripped over a tree root sticking out of the uneven ground, and the grenade fell from his hand. "Oh crap, not good, not good!" he said in perfect English which Dan heard as the man turned to run the other way. He ran a few steps before promptly falling down again face first into a small depression in the ground. The grenade exploded showering the area with shrapnel, dirt, and rocks blown away by it's explosive power.

He did not move after that so Dan turned his attention to the action at the entrance. From his high vantage point he could see at least two of the attackers hiding behind the truck. One of them was trying to get another grenade launcher into action. He aimed his gun at them and started to fire single rounds. He was going for accuracy this time. Enough was enough. He knew he would likely regret what he was doing but he said a quick prayer asking for forgiveness knowing he was trying to protect everyone in the compound and not just himself. He kept on firing. He saw at least one of the men behind the truck get thrown back a split second after he had fired. He didn't move again. Dan was amazed and saddened at how little remorse he felt, though he took comfort in knowing that he did not enjoy it at all either. He felt almost like he was a machine doing a job with no feelings at all. He was a guy that had given up hunting when he was young because he just could not stand to cause harm to any living thing anymore, a guy whose wife smiled at him with amusement when he would carefully walk around an insect on the ground instead of stomping on it. But this was different. These attackers would happily kill everyone in the compound, including his beloved wife. They'd dance on their bodies thinking they had done God a great service by killing all these infidels. That made his blood boil, that someone could be so callous about another's life even if in their eyes, they were an infidel.

He had never felt his mind working so fast, almost like a computer as he quickly checked in every direction to see where everyone was. He carefully looked over the edge on the hospital side and was appalled to see his wife and the other nurses gently lifting the wounded out of the back of the truck and putting them on stretchers. He didn't know if the gate was thick enough to withstand a bullet, but he quickly looked around to see what other targets might pose a danger. Another one, or maybe the same attacker poked his head over the edge of the neighbouring roof again, just as a shot ricochet beside him showering his face with bits of cement. Ashaq was still doing a good job.

Seconds later, though it seemed like hours, it was all over. The shooting stopped. The sudden silence was deafening. He looked all around, but could not see anyone moving. Even the man who had dropped the grenade was still not moving, so he knew he must be dead. He waited a few more moments and looked over the edge at the guards below. They were waiting for something else to happen but all continued to be quiet. Dan crawled off the roof and down the ladder and began to access the situation. Now he was not sure what to do. Should they just batten down the hatches and wait until the police arrived or go out and try to bring the wounded in and fix them up to fight another day? Akaram, one of the on site policemen was there, so he asked his advice.

He gave him his crooked little grin and said, "The police and army will not show up for at least half an hour after the shooting is over. They don't want to get involved in a tribal dispute until most or all of the shooting has ended. Let them kill themselves off first, then they will pick up the pieces, is their motto, and a smart one at that, don't you agree sahib?"

Dan smiled. "I see your point, but we need to go out there and see if we can help any of the wounded right now."

Akaram looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"No just leave them, they just tried to kill you, why would you want to save any of them? They are scum whose greatest joy is to kill infidels and anyone who gets in their way, even us Muslims!"

"I know Akaram, but our job is to heal, not kill, even the bad guys." Don't you Pathans have a code that you have to help even the enemy if he asks for help?" Dan asked.

"Of course, but not someone with a gun to your head, and besides, they are not asking!" he said.

"Well these guys don't have a gun to our head now, so let's get the truck out of the way and get organized to go out and check them all. Besides I want to look at that truck, we need another one here in the hospital, maybe we can 'borrow' that one for awhile if it's not too badly damaged. We have a saying in English that 'possession is nine tenths of the law' which means if you have it, you own it."

Akaram smiled and said "OK Sahib, as you say, who wants to grow old anyway. I hear it is quite difficult and painful."

Dan smiled at the comment as he had said it on occasion to Akaram himself. He got into the truck and pulled it away from the gate. The guards pried the badly bent gate open and they stepped out slowly, guns ready.

The truck was sitting about seventy-five yards away in the middle of the street, not running but with its lights still on. They got to the corner of the building that the two men had run behind and began to slowly walk along the side while some of the guards went to check on the men behind the truck. They shone their flashlights into the dark narrow alley ahead of them and soon saw two large dark lumps that turned out to be human. With guns poised and ready they slowly approached them. One of them was moaning softly holding his hands to his face, while the other did not move at all, even when Akaram nudged him with his foot. Dan bent down and could hear ragged breathing, so both were still alive, for now. They quickly checked them over for weapons and found a pistol, two grenades and a nasty looking knife on each of them besides the AK 47's they carried. Dan carried the weapons out while Akaram waited for the medical help to arrive. He went back to the truck and several of the male nurses had taken courage in seeing them walk down the street, so had decided to come themselves to help Dan. He had to admire them, because they had no guns to protect themselves. They were working on three more wounded behind the truck and two still inside.

"We just could not stand by and watch without doing something," Sadakat said. "Not when you were out here. " He said it with a big smile on his face.

Dan could have hugged him for that, but suddenly remembered there was one more man out there. He was sure he was dead, but they needed to bring him in anyway.

"There is one more on the other side of the wall," he said to Akaram who had just come up beside him. "Lets see if he's alive."

By this time others were coming out of the compound to help, so four of them went over the wall with their flashlights and guns to find the guy that had managed to blow himself up.

He was laying where he had fallen, but when they checked he still had a pulse, so they quickly found his weapons, three grenades another pistol, ammunition belt and his rifle still wrapped around his body by the sling. He started to moan as soon as they went to lift him up, and mumbled something incoherently. Dan could have sworn he said "Vancouver's the best." But that was ridiculous. No one in that bunch of madmen would even know about the place. He knew he must be hearing things in his own seriously over-extended state of mind. They carried him to the wall where by now several had come to help lift him over and onto a stretcher. They had to be careful as he was seriously wounded all along the back of his legs, buttocks, back, and the back of his head. His arms and hands were fine as he had them out-stretched when the grenade went off. As Dan looked quickly at him he did appear to be very light skinned and tall, but both traits were not totally uncommon in the Pathan people, so there was nothing to be learned there. His ragged beard and greasy hair were dyed red as well which was also very common, so no help in that area either. He wouldn't have even thought anything of it, but there had been reports of quite a few foreigners who had come to help the Taliban. There was just something about him that didn't seem right, but his tired mind could not connect the dots. Maybe tomorrow he would be able to think more clearly.

They soon had everyone into the hospital but no one knew what to do with the truck. Leave it for the police to deal with was the general consensus, but Dan could not stand to see it go to some police auction. Besides the Taliban owed the hospital something after breaking their promised agreement to never attack as long as they continued to look after their wounded. His shop foreman, Shakir, had shown up, so he asked him to help him tow the truck in. There was a water leak under the front of it, so he expected to find a bullet hole or two in the radiator, indicating the engine was probably seized and that is why the truck stopped when it did. Once again it occurred to him how God had looked after them and protected them. If that truck had not been damaged, it might have caught up to them and finished them off long before they ever got to the hospital.

Dan ran to the hospital truck and backed it up to the damaged one, got a rope out of the toolbox and hooked the two vehicles together. Shakir got into the other one and steered as Dan pulled it onto the compound and around to the workshop. They quickly unhooked the rope and he turned the truck around and using the bumper pushed it into the garage leaving their own truck outside.

They walked back to the hospital and checked on the guards, but they were all still high on adrenalin. Smiling and laughing and telling stories like they had been on a fishing trip instead of almost getting killed. As soon as they saw him they all gathered around and started shaking his hand and hitting him on the back and telling him what a great job he had done. He asked what they had done with all the guns, and they took him into the guard shack and he could see nothing out of the ordinary. Then they pointed up and he went up the ladder again that he had just come down an eternity ago. There in the picket were the guns and ammunition Enough for everyone here and then some. All they wanted to know was if they could keep them, but he did not think the police would go for that. He asked Akaram what he thought, and he figured the police would take everything they had unless.....

Chapter Two

"That's all that was there?" the police superintendent asked incredulously? "Two army rifles, five AK 47s, eight grenades, a rocket launcher and a few rounds of ammunition?"

"Yeah," Dan said, wondering why it was so easy to 'forget' what had really happened "I guess someone must have stripped the crashed truck before you got there and somehow the second truck just disappeared while we were all busy tending to the wounded. Everything must have been in that truck."

Finally, still shaking his head, the superintendent told his men to gather up what they had here and take it to the police station. "Well the army will be glad to get at least these guns back. The Taliban have taken an awful lot of theirs in the last few weeks I'm afraid. It would be nice to get some of the captured soldiers back as well. I think we may be able to do a trade with some of the prisoners you have tied to the beds. You realise we will have to have a twenty-four hour guard on that ward with at least a dozen men guarding them?"

Dan nodded. "We need to get them out of here as soon as possible. The Taliban may try and rescue them before you get them into your own hands. We don't want any more violence here."

"I don't think that will be a problem" the superintendent said. "They have already contacted me and want to make a deal immediately . I don't know how they found out so fast that we had them, but it turns out that one of these guys is the son of one of the most important commanders in Waziristan and another one is his uncle. Sounds like they were either being naughty boys needing a little extra cash, or were trying to impress dad. They had no idea you were a foreigner when they tried to grab you. With your beard and shalvar chemise they would not likely have believed you if you had said so. You people are "Hands Off" right now with them, but of course that could change in a heartbeat if someone thought of a way that it would pay off."

"Comforting words Janab Ji. I will keep that in mind."

He went to check on the patients after the superintendent left, and much to his surprise, they were all alive. Even the one with the red hair and beard was still breathing, though pretty beat up from his wounds to the back of his head and body. There was just something not quite right about that boy. Praise the Lord, he was not such a good shot after all, or more than likely the Lord was just having mercy on him as well as them. He was still on an adrenalin high like the guards, but he knew when that subsided, he was going to be one very sorry boy. He saw his wife racing around getting everything organized around the doctor's wishes and just thought about how beautiful she was. She was going to be awfully mad at him for getting into all this trouble and bringing it to the hospital even though to his eyes, he could have done nothing to prevent it. She was really going to be upset with him for taking a gun and going into battle with it. He hoped she could forgive him for that, but figured it was going to be pretty cool in the house for awhile.

The thing was, he agreed with her, but just didn't know what else he could have done. Maybe he should have just let them kidnap or kill him. He knew others that would have willingly taken that route, and even considered it an honour to die in the name of the Lord, but for now he was glad to be alive and free. Tomorrow things will likely look much different than they did right at this moment. Better just to wait a bit and let things settle in his heart, and then deal with it, hopefully with the Lord's wisdom.

He went home and a few minutes later his wife followed him in, looking like she meant business. Her whole stance said he was in for it, but a second later her composure broke and she came running into his arms. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes and said

"You are the biggest fool I have ever known you big dummy! I could have killed you myself when I saw you with that gun running up to the roof. What were you thinking? You could have been killed!"

"I'm sorry Honey, I've always wondered what I would do if I had a choice whether I would take a gun and use it, or lie down and let whatever happens happen. I guess I found out, and I sure pray you and the Lord won't be too angry with me. I didn't even think, it just sort of happened. I sure am glad I didn't kill anyone though, that would have been too hard to take I think."

"I'm just so glad you are alive and well." his wife said, giving him a big kiss.

It was just starting to get interesting when he suddenly felt an incredibly blinding pain and the next thing he knew, he was looking up at his wife from the floor and she was looking down on him like he had suddenly died in her arms. "What happened?" he said.

"I don't know, I just moved my arm and you gave a big moan and collapsed." She said.

Without thinking he moved his left arm to grab his right arm where he felt a pain. The world almost went black again.

"We have to get your coat off and look at that arm." his wife said. "Here let me help you up. Careful now!" as she helped him sit up.

He found he couldn't move his right arm at all and so his wife got out her nursing scissors and cut the sleeve up to the elbow and then to his shoulder. The shirt sleeve was covered in blood, and he was gasping in pain as she cut it off.

"Blood all over the place!" he said to a friend later. "The trouble was that it was mine! We hadn't noticed it at first because it was a black jacket and had kind of a water proof coating on it. It sure was blood proof though," he laughed. "I guess I must have fainted again, because the next thing I knew I was laying on a stretcher and they were putting a mask over my face in a very bright room. Just as I was about to ask what was going on, the lights went out again, and later, which turned out to be the next morning, I woke up in my own bedroom wondering what all the hospital equipment was around my bed."

He was propped up in a hospital bed that his wife had managed to get the staff to bring over to the house. There was a drip on a stand with a tube ending at a needle taped to his wrist, a couple of machines on a stand over to one side, but no noises or flashing lights coming from them. His beautiful wife came in the door and she was all he wanted to look at. She was scowling at him, but he knew it was put on.

"So sleeping beauty finally figured it was time to get up and join the world again did he?" she said.

"What happened, how long have I been here?" he croaked, and stopped there because he knew his voice would not handle the strain if he said anything else, it was so dry.

"Well my not so smart little commando," she said, "You have been sleeping for two nights and a day. You got away with your little escapade the other night, but not unscathed. One of the bullets hit you and took out a little bit of your arm as it went through. You aren't going to be hugging me too hard with that one for awhile, that is if I ever let you hug me again you big dummy."

"I could sure use a little hug and kiss right now, even though I don't deserve it Honey. It's amazing how beautiful you look right now with that cute frown on your pretty little face."

She came up and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him and reached down to give him a little peck on the end of the nose. He put his good arm around her and gave her a gentle hug.

"You are really blind with pain if you think I look cute right now." She said, "I feel like I've gone through the wringer. You should see what we are having to deal with at the hospital. All the little friends you brought in, have brought more friends and the police sort of backed off a little bit. They are trying to keep a very low profile."

"I've got to get out there then and help get things sorted out!" He exclaimed as he started to reach for the needle in his arm to pull it out, then realized he couldn't even move his right arm.

"Don't even think about it!" she said. "You are not going anywhere for a day or two. You lost a lot of blood, and if you try to get up, you won't make it to the door."

"But this could blow up and destroy the whole hospital and everyone in it if things go wrong!" he said.

"You're right" she said, "but they won't. I sent out a prayer e-mail as soon as I knew you were going to be alright, that was a little more detailed than normal for me, and you should see the responses! Thanks to you now, I'll be on my death bed before I ever get to answer all the replies I got. Good thing we finally got high speed internet, or the system would never have taken them all. Do you know what most of the ones I've read say?"

"No, what?" he replied.

"They almost all have the common theme of the angels protecting us and surrounding us and this hospital. I can feel them. Almost like they were standing right beside me. Some of the others have mentioned the same thing. One of the nurses insists she saw a man in bright clothes with a long sword lit up like the sun, standing in front of hospital entrance. It's incredible, awe inspiring and actually quite scary, but most of us can sense His peace here right now. We have an army of people praying for us from all over the world, and I just know that somehow God is going to bless what is happening here. Whatever it is."

All he could do was look at her wide eyed, not able to comprehend what she was saying. Finally he said, "I guess the Lord must be inviting a lot of people to help us out and they are being faithful to that. Wow, I don't know what to say."

"Well you better think of something, because if you think I am going to answer all those e-mails by myself this time, you have another think coming!" she said with a smile that he knew meant business. "As soon as you can use your other hand, I'll just plop your laptop in front of you and you can get to work. But you won't be using it for a couple of days at least and likely won't be doing anything constructive for three or four weeks. Anyway, I've got to get back to the hospital. Can you behave yourself for an hour or two until I come back for lunch?"

"Of course." He said with a smile, "You know I always behave myself."

"Yeah riiiggghhhttt." she said, "And that is why you are laying there now, and I am working my tail off. I don't think even your saintly mother would believe you this time honey bunch. Now try to get some rest and I'll be back in a bit to feed you. Love you." She got up and walked out the door.

He tried to rest for a bit, but his arm was starting to throb, so after half an hour he gave up and looked for something else to do. The computer was just a few steps away, but he didn't think he would be able to bring it back to the bed to work. He really wanted to look at some of those e-mails though, so he gingerly started working his way out of the bed. His legs and other arm seemed to still work fine, so very slowly he got out and, pulling the drip stand with him, walked over to the computer desk and carefully sat down. It was a good thing the mouse was on the right side so he could at least use it to operate the computer and open e-mails. He started reading and reading and reading, and then he started crying and crying and crying. The responses were beyond what he thought the human race was capable of. He had gotten a little hard in his years here, and not just a little sarcastic at times, but here he was seeing that there is hope after all.

"I prayed twenty four hours straight for you people there," said one. "God told me it would be nice if I would help out these nice people in Pakistan. I didn't eat, drink or sleep for the whole time. I didn't even think that was possible. I want to thank you so much for giving me the privilege to hear God and obey."

Another one said "I read your letter just before bed and prayed for six hours straight. Never done that before in my life. It was such a joy and blessing to me. I could feel God's presence so close to me the whole time."

A lady only identifying herself as Charlotte wrote, "I couldn't stop praying for you. Everywhere I went I would try to spend a minute or two. At a stop light, as I zipped into a bathroom in the store, or waiting to cross the street. It was just like an angel was whispering in my ear that you needed help and I could give it. May He protect you as He has blessed me this last couple of days!"

He was still reading and crying, wondering how all these people could feel blessed with fasting and praying, basically suffering just to help people out that most had never even heard of let alone met, when his wife came home two hours later.

"What are you doing out of bed? You promised you would be good for once!" Then seeing the look on his face, her voice softened. "Hard to believe isn't it?" she said. "I cried most of yesterday and half the night as well."

"What's happening here?" he said. "Something is happening, but what is it? All these people giving up so much just for us here at the hospital, people they don't even know and they all say it's a privilege." He let her lead him back to bed, unable to put up any kind of a fight, barely even able to stand up, feeling the weight of all those people on his shoulders. His wife brought him some soup and a sandwich, but he didn't feel very hungry. After she left, he just couldn't stop thinking about the responsibility of it all. He was no saint, he had just tried to kill people. Yes, for a good reason perhaps, but that is not what saints do. He got angry all the time, argued with his wife, berated his kids, everything a good man shouldn't do. And here were all these people saying what angels everyone here at the hospital were and how blessed they were to be called to pray for them. He shook his head, "It just doesn't figure!" he said out loud. "God does not work that way, at least not for ordinary people like us. Maybe his wife was worthy, but not him. He had come out here almost twenty five years ago with great and wonderful ideas about serving the Lord and bringing dozens of people to the heavenly gates, but had found that in this place at least, most of his time was spent in helping keep the hospital running, trying to get finances, fighting with patients to pay their bills, figuring out how to get a tube well dug, and his favourite, dealing with the local, usually corrupt, politicians.

Then he started to cry again. He sobbed and sobbed, and suddenly realized he must be breaking down. The strain had been too much and he just couldn't handle it anymore.

Laura came in a little while later to check on him and found him curled up in a ball on the bed still crying. She quickly came up to him and got him sitting up, then crawled onto the bed beside him and put her arms around him and just held him. She knew the signs and had been even expecting something like this. Though it pained her greatly to see her man in such pain, she knew he would recover. He had to. What he needed now was her comfort. She sat with him for half an hour just holding him and talking gently to him. He said nothing and finally calmed down some and drifted off to a blessed peaceful sleep. She held him for awhile longer as she prayed, asking that his heart would be able to bear up to the strain of what had happened. He had been working incredibly hard the last few months trying to work with the church to turn the hospital over to them as they had wanted, and it had not been an easy job. Some of his fellow workers had strenuously objected to the idea from the beginning, and had fought the administration all the way. The church had been doing a lot of fighting amongst themselves as well, so it had not been an easy road. He had been the main go-between and had been classed as the "bad guy" by all sides, so even though he had a thick skin, this last little episode had been the breaking point.

Now he was "out of action" for the foreseeable future. She wondered what the backlash was going to be to all this. She hated confrontation and being in the public eye, and this event was likely to bring both. Well she was used to bucking up under the load, and this was just going to have to be one more time. She hoped her beloved was not out of action for too long though. Once more she thought of going home for good, back to friends, family, back to her own three kids and the grandchildren they had left behind. Back to being able to go out the door of her house and have no one look twice at her. Back to blue jeans and tee shirts. She'd been thinking a lot about that lately, but hadn't said much to her husband. She knew that he wanted to get this takeover done and that could be years at the rate things were processing. Of course he could be out of commission for quite awhile if this was an actual mental breakdown he was experiencing. Then what would everyone, including her, do?

No, she was pretty sure he would be fine in a day or two.....

Chapter Three

It was more than a day or two, but two things brought him out of what could easily have been months of recuperation far exceeding even her expectations. The first thing was the Taliban's truck that he had towed into the compound. As soon as he was able, and after everyone had gone home from work, he got out of bed and went to look at it. It didn't look good at first with its windows shot out and several bullet holes in the grill and hood. The two front tires were flat as well. But he lifted the hood and started checking to see what damage had been done to the motor. He was pleasantly surprised to find that none of the bullets had hit the actual motor. There were two holes in the radiator, but one had spent itself on the alternator bracket, and the other had gone right past the motor, through the firewall, and through both front and back seats, then into the truck box. He went to the workshop and carried his small toolbox out to the truck and slowly and carefully, using mostly his left hand, got the radiator pulled out. It weighed very little, so it was no problem to lift out with one hand.

Now came the interesting part. Would the engine turn over? It had been overheated, but if it had made it almost to the hospital before running out of water and only seized while the bad guys had been trying to decide whether to attack or not while the engine was just idling, it might still be usable. He selected his half inch swing-arm with a seventeen millimetre socket, and carefully put it on the crankshaft bolt. Then bracing himself carefully to protect his very sore arm, he started to apply pressure to the wrench. To his great relief the engine broke free almost immediately and started to turn over with the wrench as he continued to put pressure on it. He removed it from the bolt and realigned the wrench so he could get good even pressure on it and spun it some more. He kept doing this until the engine had made half a dozen complete revolutions. It took far longer than he would have thought by the time he was done and he was beginning to have a new appreciation for the difficulties many handicapped people had to go through.

Finally though, it seemed like it might not be too badly damaged, so he started checking other things in the engine compartment. He put a load tester on each of the twin batteries and they held up well. He checked all the other fluid levels and again found everything in order. Even the engine oil was right up to the high mark and looked like it may have just been changed. Two days later, he had the repaired radiator installed and filled with water. Then after checking everything else he could think of, with the entire workshop watching him, he slowly got into the truck and inserted the key into the ignition. He turned it one notch and waited for the glow plug light to go out. Then he turned the key to off and back onto the first position to recycle the heaters again. With baited breath, he turned it to the start position. The engine started immediately and settled into a steady idle. He touched the accelerator lightly a couple of times, and found no hesitation at all. Then carefully getting out, he checked to see if there were any leaks anywhere, but could find none. He let the engine run until the temperature gauge came up to operating temperature. Everything seemed perfect, so he shut the engine off and finally turned to his staff with a big smile on his face.

Turning to the crew that was watching him he said, "Think I could get someone to take the tires off to get fixed? It looks like it might be a keeper."

Everyone started smiling and saying "Mubarak Hoe, Mubarak Hoe, sahib." In no time at all the front end of the truck was jacked up and the tires taken off and loaded into the back of the old hospital pickup truck. He came back to look at the truck later after everyone had left work again and found the tires on and the truck ready to try to drive. He desperately wanted to take it out now to see how everything would work, but knew his guys would want to be involved as well..

The next morning when everyone was there Dan got into the truck again and went through the starting procedure. It started right up again, so he put it in gear and slowly letting out the clutch, drove out of the garage. He drove it around the hospital grounds for a few minutes with half his workers loaded on and it seemed to work perfectly.

After that he spent the next few weeks patching up the holes, getting the windows replaced and getting it ready for paint. He knew the Lord must have let him have it here just for the therapeutic effect it was having on him. It was hard work even when he was able to start using his left arm again, but he kept at it and when it was finally done in its fresh bright red paint, it looked like a new truck. His crew insisted it looked good enough for him to provide them with a customary sohabat meal. Any excuse was a good one. Sohabat meant 'fellowship' and was a meal of chapattis, ripped up into small pieces with a spicy meat dish poured over top and served in a large pan with everyone digging their fingers in communal style to eat. The truck had turned out so well, and they had all helped to some degree or another, so he was happy to oblige.

The other thing that helped Dan regain his sanity and challenge him was the one Taliban they still had in the hospital. He had been hurt pretty bad and they thought they would lose him on more than one occasion, but he pulled through and was slowly healing. The others had all been taken away within the week, much to everyone's relief.. But as the last one was being gingerly lifted into the back of a Toyota pickup truck, Laura went up to the Taliban commander and asked when they would be taking the one away that was still in the hospital.

He just laughed and said, "We don't want him, he's a foreigner that just showed up to fight for our cause one day a few months ago. I think he's from Tajikistan or somewhere up there. I don't think he has killed one soldier in the whole time he's been here. Rifle always jams or some weak excuse like that. He's just a coward that eats our food and talks a lot. He's always talking about philosophy, and the high ideals of Islam and how we should be doing this and that because it is in the Holy Koran. As if any of these men care anything past where their next meal is coming from and how they can die a martyr for the cause of Islam. I'm the only one in our whole group who can even read, and look where it got me. No, we don't want him. Hand him over to the police and let them have fun with him. Then see how well he can philosophize after they have "explained" a few things to him. We just kept him around for entertainment, otherwise someone would have shot him long ago just to shut him up. He sure learned our language fast though, I have to give him credit for that. He speaks it better than most of us now. If he does get better however, tell him not to come back to our land. Bullets are expensive and I'd hate to waste one on his worthless skin."

And with that, he jumped in the truck and gave the order to go.

The police had been coming every day to check on the bad guys, and make sure none were discharged without getting some captured soldiers in return. There had been at least a dozen guards around the ward and even on the roofs the whole time, but twenty minutes after the last guy left, so did the police.

Laura grabbed the sergeant just before he left and asked "What about this last guy, aren't you going keep some guards around for him?"

He laughed almost the same way the commander had and said "We tried to do a deal for him, but the Taliban just laughed and said "We don't want him, he's yours." Well we don't want him either. He's a foreigner and if we take him in, the paper work will take years. Just pray that he will die and then the problem for everyone is gone." He saluted her, turned around and walked out the gate behind his men.

Just great! she thought Now we're stuck with a philosophizing foreign Islamic extremist. That's just what we need to make this place a joy for the patients. She knew they would not want to hand him over to the police anyway, but hadn't thought they had much choice. Well they would not have to think about it for a few days, as he was still in pretty bad shape. The damage to the back of his head had been severe and he was still in a coma. No telling when or even if he would come out of it.

She went back to check on him and decided that it was time to move him. So she told the nurses to get one of the private rooms ready at the back of the hospital. The rest of the patients in the ward had dealt with enough confusion for the time being. They did not like being around these people at all. As soon as he was moved, the atmosphere in the ward changed remarkably. You could see the relief on their faces and some even smiled at her through their pain. It was bad enough to have an operation and be in pain as you lay there helpless. Then to be put beside one of these guys and not be able to sleep at all wondering if one of them might stick a knife between your ribs because they looked at them the wrong way, was not appreciated.

The prisoner came out of his coma two days later, wondering what had happened to him. He couldn't remember much and didn't care. All he knew right now was that he hurt all over, especially his head, and he could not move. He finally got up the courage to lift his head a bit and twist it around to see why. It took him a couple of tries before he could see enough to know that his wrists were tied to the bed with straps and when, with supreme effort, he tried to move his legs without success he figured he must be tied up down there as well. He wondered what he had done to warrant such extreme care and then began to wonder where he was. Looked like a hospital room, but where? Finally after drifting in and out of consciousness several times he began to remember something about a chase, and a grenade and then it hit him. He started to smile to himself, but then that hurt too much, so he just thought about how clumsy he had always been. This time it had almost cost him is life. Well his dad would just say, "I'm not surprised son, you never were the sharpest knife in the drawer."

Jeff explained that his dad was a macho man, big, strong and loved the outdoors. He had tried to teach his son how to survive in this tough world, both in the city and out in the wilds, but he had not taken to it at all. He never seemed to kill anything when he took him hunting even though he was an excellent shot when the target was stationary. .

And when his dad tried to teach him about high finance and how to move around in the business world he was not any better. What he really liked to do was sit in his room and read. He liked school and did well enough, so his father was a little surprised when he was not at all interested in learning about business. He finally figured out he just did not like competition. Hated it in fact. The more he thought about it in those days, the more he figured the world would be a lot better place if people tried to help each other instead of trying to beat each other in almost every aspect of life. What was the point of racing? You had one winner and many losers. One person who knew he was better than anyone else and several who realised they were not as good as the winner. It would be a lot nicer if people helped each other to the finish line of death instead of trying to be the boy with the most toys at the end. He always hated that t-shirt that used to be so popular, "The boy with the most toys wins." As if more status symbols were going to help when you crossed that line from life to death.

He knew that was part of what had attracted him to Islam. The people that had discipled him had seemed to care about him and took him in when his dad had finally kicked him out of the house after finding him praying on a prayer mat in his bedroom. He felt a strange kind of freedom when he walked out the gate and into the "real" world. They let him stay in the mosque in a tiny little room with no more than a bed, a small desk and a dresser. It was quite a change from the luxury he had come from, but he enjoyed it right from the beginning. He now had a sense of purpose, and he poured himself into studying all he could about the great religion of Islam. There was a lot to learn, and although much of it did not make sense, especially the so called holy war that was going on in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and other Muslim countries, he tried to keep an open mind about it all. What he read about the reasons for a holy war, did not fit into what seemed to be going on in those countries. Weren't Muslims supposed to love and support one another? Why did they so often fight against each other? Why were they constantly killing each other? It seemed to him that it was just different sects, almost like Catholics and Baptists fighting. It would be chaos in Canada if such were to happen. He was mildly disconcerted that these Sunnis at the mosque he attended seemed to badmouth the Shiites on occasion. After all, weren't they all Muslims?

For the most part Islam made good sense especially when he studied the holy Koran. There were many good things in that book. His teachers were pleased with how he was learning, and he would sit for hours discussing different aspects of the religion with the teachers and Mullahs, trying to discern how he fit into all this. He even started to learn Arabic, the original language of the Koran, and found he had a gift for the language. In just a few months he was almost as fluent in Arabic as most of the Mullahs he studied with.

Most of the people he worked with here in Pakistan spoke Pashto with a little Urdu and Saraiki thrown in. They always spoke to him in English though, so it was harder to learn what they were saying. But within a year he could easily understand them in whatever language they spoke though he never let on that he knew as much as he did.

Finally a nurse came into the room and saw that his eyes were open. She said in English, "So my red haired little friend, you are awake!" Then switching to Urdu, she said "How are you doing? Can I get you anything?"

She was white, middle aged and wearing a white nurses uniform. Had they shipped him home? Without thinking he replied in Pashtu the language he had been speaking exclusively for the last few months, "I want water!"

She was not great in that language, but understood that sentence easily enough. She poured a glass of water from the cooler in the corner and put a straw in it. Putting the straw up to his mouth, she held the glass there so he could drink.

Again he was shocked. If she spoke Urdu, he must still be in Pakistan. Nothing made sense, but when he took a sip of the water through the straw he couldn't remember anything tasting as sweet. He greedily sucked at the straw until the glass was empty, half expecting her to say like they always did in the movies, "Just take a little bit." But she didn't and he loved her for it. She asked if he wanted more, but he shook his head no. Instead he asked, "Where am I?"

"You are in the Christian Hospital in Tank, Pakistan, and before you ask why you are all tied up it is because you tried to kill us, and almost killed my husband. So you are not very popular with me right now. I don't like it when I come half way across the world to help you people and then you try to kill us. It doesn't seem right to me somehow. Now despite that, we are going to try our best to get you healed up and out of here, because quite frankly I don't like you. If it wasn't for my strong belief in our risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I would have kicked you out of here and let you die! So don't mess with me and we will get along just fine!" She said with a not so nice smile on her face.

That was the last outburst he heard from her. After that she was always professional and treated him better than he ever could have expected from someone he had apparently tried to kill. He still wasn't quite sure how, as his mind was still pretty fuzzy about what had happened.

Chapter Four

About a week later, he was still laying face down and still tied up when a bearded grey haired man walked into his room and sat down on a stool beside him. Speaking in Urdu, he said "A salaam-a-lekum, Kia hal hai?"

"Vo-alekum-a-salaam, Mai Thik hu," he replied

"You don't look too good to me actually, but glad you feel well." He said in English

"I don't understand English," he replied in Urdu"

"I think you understand quite well in fact, Mr. John Doe. You gave yourself away while you were trying to blow yourself up a week ago. Not the smartest thing in the world you have likely done, but a blessing for us to be sure."

"I did not try to blow myself up!" he started to yell in English, caught himself and switched mid word to Pushto, but realized he was too late. "Oh crap! I guess I just blew that didn't I? How did you figure it out?"

"A few things I'm afraid. I was up on a roof just above you when you tripped and dropped the grenade. Let me quote "Oh crap, not good, not good!" just before you turned around to run away and tripped again. I figured you were done for after that, but it probably saved your life, because you fell into a small depression in the ground. If you had kept running, you would be six feet under instead of just tied to a bed face down."

"So being clumsy was a good thing for once in my life eh? How about that. So what else tipped you off?"

He was talking freely now, aware that he didn't really have anything to lose.

"When we were trying to get you onto the stretcher, you yelled out "Vancouver's the best!" I thought I was hearing things in the excitement of the moment, so kind of forgot about it, but then when I noticed the last point, it came back to me."

"And what was the last point?"

"Your tattoos."

"My tattoos?" he asked "What do those have to do with anything?"

"My good wife mentioned that you had a small tattoo on each arm, so I came down and took a look one day when you were sleeping. I don't know much, but I know no one in this country would have one that said "MOM" with a heart on one arm and another one that says "Harley Davidson" on the other. That's a dead give away that you are from either the States or Canada, and the word Vancouver would tip the scales strongly to the Canadian side. Besides I just heard you say the word "eh?" and only us Canadians say that. Am I right?"

"Ok Ok you got me. I'm Canadian all right and proud of it, from William's Lake B.C. originally, but I moved to Vancouver about four years ago and just loved it. How about you? You definitely are from the same country, I can tell by your accent."

"You must have a pretty fine ear if you can tell that, but yes I'm from Central Alberta, don't really know where home is, as I've been out here almost twenty five years now and we usually live in different places when we go home for furloughs. Now what's your name?" Dan asked.

"Abdul Mohammed," he replied.

"Gee that's original." Dan's sarcasm was thick. "Couldn't do any better than that eh? Now what is your real name, when you are back home? What did your folks call you?"

"Stupid mostly, at least dad did. He didn't like me much. I didn't measure up to his standards. My real name is Jeff Christianson. Somehow I didn't think a Muslim with the work "Christian" in his name would go over real well, so when I came here I just picked a common name for myself. So what's going to happen to me, are you going to hand me over to the police?"

Dan replied, "Well that's a bit of a problem. They said to keep you. They didn't want anything to do with the paper work involved with arresting a foreigner."

"So I don't suppose that means you will let me go back to Waziristan again?"

"I wouldn't choose to do that if I were you. Those guys don't much want you either. They said something about not wanting to waste an expensive bullet on you. So unless you want to commit suicide, you better not head back there. Do you still have your Canadian passport and visa?"

"I do, but not here. They are in a safe place in Islamabad, but I don't want to go home. I'm a failure at anything I've ever done there. My dad is right, I really am stupid."

"I wish I could argue the point, but with what I've seen of your actions so far it's a little hard to dispute. What would ever possess you to take up a gun and try to kill people? Especially me I might add? What did I ever do to you to deserve that kind of action against me?"

"First of all, I've never killed anyone, and I am sorry that I almost hurt someone. I didn't cause that bandage and sling on your arm did I? I know I didn't hit you with a bullet, because I always aim a long ways away from anyone when I am forced to use the rifle. I didn't want to go on this trip, but I was promised that we would never have to use our guns. We just needed some more vehicles and your four by four was just what we wanted. We certainly did not expect you to run over one of us and take off. That made them pretty mad, otherwise they never would have chased you all the way into town like that. Then you have the nerve to shoot back. That has never happened before. That's just not how it works."

"I don't know who hit me or even when. I didn't even feel it until it was all over, but I know it wasn't your grenade because I was well hidden when it went off. Doesn't matter anyway, I'll survive at any rate. My wife was not too impressed though. She doesn't like it when someone tries to kill her beloved husband. And I might add she was not that happy with me for getting into a gunfight. It's not something missionaries are supposed to do. It doesn't look good on their resume."

"Is that the lady that comes in here all the time to look after me? She seems to know what she's doing, but never talks. I guess I know why now. So you're a missionary eh? What are you doing shooting at someone? You sure blasted our first truck off the road and made sure the second one did not make it into the hospital."

"Yes, that would be her alright, quite the lady I have to say. I'm not really sure why I didn't stop for you guys. I didn't have time to think, I saw the long beard and hair on the one guy, realised that you weren't the real police and that my driver was a Shiite, and we would both be dead if we stopped. I didn't think, just acted which is very much out of character for me, but I guess people do strange things under pressure."

"We weren't going to kill anyone, I told you we just wanted your truck."

"You really don't understand that much do you?" Dan replied, "You think your buddies were going to let a Shiite live? Not only would they have killed him, they would have done it very slowly and painfully. Then the police would have found his mutilated body in a ditch somewhere. As for me, I doubt very much they would give up a chance to grab a foreigner if they had one handed to them on a silver truck. Our mission does not pay ransom and none of my family or friends has the kind of money they would demand for me, so likely I would have ended up in a ditch as well. It just would have taken a little longer. So it was kind of a no lose shot in the dark to run. I'm still a bit surprised we did it though. But like I said, people do strange things in unusual circumstances."

"So where did you learn to shoot like that?" Jeff asked, "Not something I would expect a missionary to know how to do."

"My dad was a farmer." Dan replied "He taught me how to use a gun for hunting. We used to shoot pheasants, ducks, geese, and even deer sometimes, but we always ate what we killed, so it didn't seem like a bad thing. After I left the farm though, I got away from it, and then I met someone, and knew that I would never want to use a gun again. At least till now that is."

"Was it your wife, that you met that caused the change of heart?" Jeff asked.

"No it was the Lord Jesus Christ. He made me realize that there were other more important things to do in life. I sure don't have anything against hunters. I just couldn't do it any more myself. I still enjoy a good deer steak, or roast goose, but I'll let someone else bring it to the table. Jesus made my life worth living, and after awhile I couldn't even imagine living without Him in my heart. I don't know how you guys do it."

"Do what?" Jeff asked

"Live with all your rules and regulations, and not the love."

"Of course we have love, we love God and He loves us!"

They talked back and forth for awhile, discussing this topic they both called "love", but they both had very different ideas of what it actually entailed.

Chapter Five

Dan went back every day after that, even after he had almost completely recuperated, and talked with Jeff. He found him to be highly intelligent and very insightful. His dad had seriously underestimated his son as far as Dan could tell.

After a week, he untied Jeff and let him try to move around a little bit while he was there. He didn't mention that there was a guard outside the door with an AK 47 ready to use if anything happened. Another week went by and he decided Jeff did not need to be tied up anymore. He was convinced that he would cause no harm to anyone here, and his wife, who could read people like no one he had ever known, concurred that he posed a danger only to himself. It wasn't long before he could move around well enough, and he started to fit in with life around the hospital. Soon he was helping the nurses do dressings, counting pills in the pharmacy, and even helping the cleaners on the wards. It didn't matter to him what he did, if he saw someone that needed help, he just did it. By the end of the second month, most people had forgotten his bad deeds, and just enjoyed having him around. He loved to talk, and could speak Urdu and Pashto like a native, and was soon badgering people to teach him Saraiki, the other main local language in the area.

He and Dan continued to talk every day. Dan found he had more time on his hands than he had had in years, because the merger with the church and hospital was finally finished. The missionaries had decided years ago that it was time to let the local people administer the hospital themselves and handing it over to the church was the only real alternative. Money was the main issue, as much of the hospital budget came from overseas, and the church was afraid that if the missionaries left, so would the funding. The hospital had brought a group of experts over who examined all the aspects of running the hospital and after a few months, came up with a plan that seemed to satisfy both parties. Dan had been heavily involved in the process, and it had taken a heavy toll on him that had precipitated his mini break down. He probably would have made it ok, but shooting at someone and being shot had been the breaking point. His already overloaded mind, had said 'enough!', it's time for a break. I can't handle anything more for awhile.

Talking all those hours with Jeff had been an awakening. The young man was sharp when it came to religion and he continually asked penetrating questions that forced Dan to analyse why he was a Christian and why he had spent all these years here. It was almost like being back in bible school, and having to answer questions from the depths of your soul, instead of by rote. He also learned a lot about what real Islam was supposed to be about, not the twisted version most often seen in the western world. It was unfortunate they could not understand that God loved them the way they were, not because they obeyed certain laws. But then only the Holy Spirit could really teach you about that sort of thing. It was beyond our human capacity to recognise God's love on our own.

Dan always tried to impress upon Jeff that God did love him just as he was, and as a father loves his son, so God loves us even through all our weaknesses.

Jeff had snorted and said, "I'll tell you what Dan, you get my father to love me or even just to say he loves me once, and then and only then will I even begin to believe that God can love me for who I am, as I am. Now THAT would be a miracle!"

It was the first time Dan had ever seen Jeff show any real signs of anger.

"Why don't you e-mail him and let him know where you are and that you are ok?" he suggested.

"Like he would care, he'd be much happier to get a letter from you saying I had tripped and been killed with my own grenade. I can just imagine him saying I finally got what I deserved."

"Would you mind if I wrote him a quick note then? Maybe he has changed and would like to see you again. Remember the story I told you about the prodigal son?"

"Yes but you forget, that father loved his son before he took off and spent all his money. My father never loved me, and mom always sided with him, so I don't even know how much she loved me. But I don't want you to do my dirty work for me." They talked back and forth for over an hour before Dan finally convinced Jeff that he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

"Would it be ok if I came over for a few minutes and send a note on your computer?" Jeff finally said

"Of course not. After you send it, it will be time for a cup of coffee and some of Laura's homemade cookies."

"Bribery will get you somewhere, sometimes, and your wife's cookies are some pretty strong bribery." he said with a smile.

So he came over, and sent a two sentence e-mail to his folks, just saying he was fine, and was just helping out in a mission hospital in Pakistan.

As soon as Jeff left, Dan sent out a prayer e-mail to all their prayer supporters, explaining what had happened and asking for fervent, and very specific prayer; that Jeff's dad really would exhibit his love for him and would accept him back with joy in his heart. Jeff had said that his dad was a "so called Christian" but his actions had totally turned Jeff against the church. He appeared to be such an upstanding pillar of the community, and was an elder in the church, but at home he was nothing short of a tyrant. He never hit anyone, but he loved the role of dictator. Jeff hated it that his mother seemed to always defer to her husband in all matters, whether it was something as trivial as to how to set the table or what kind of clothes she should wear. He vowed never to enter a church again once he left home.

Chapter Six

"We're coming home Dad."

"Yes I know you are Dan, you already said you will be home this summer in June."

"No, I mean we are coming home for good this time." Dan said.

" You've said that before son, a couple of times, is this different?" his dad asked.

"Yes it is Dad, this time we really feel the Lord is saying it's ok. You know Eve graduates this summer and we have always had it in the back of our mind that this might be the time to stay home. It's been a pretty tough couple of years, the hardest we have ever had to endure and it's taken its toll on us. The church merger with the hospital has not been all that "Christian" and one or two other things have happened in the last while that I can't talk about right now. But most of all we feel the Lord is saying it is time."

"Well it sure would be good to have you guys home on a steady basis. Any idea where you would live?"

"No not really. I think Laura will come home a little bit early and try to find a place for us. It sounds like jobs are no problem with the oil economy going crazy like it is, so I think we'll look for a small town somewhere where we can have a little peace and quiet for a change. Close to the kids, but not too close. We don't get much time to ourselves here, and we are just getting too old to keep up this pace and remain sane much longer."

"And what about Eve?" his dad asked, "what's she going to do?"

"She wants to go to bible school first Dad, before she thinks about any other options, and we have some good friends of ours who have offered to pay for, boarding and tuition, so that's a load off our minds. It's going to take awhile for us to get set up after all these years, as we just don't have anything at home as you know. We might have to get you and mom looking at garage sales."

"Gee that would be pretty tough for us son, you know what we think of those time wasters." Dan could almost see the smile on his face.

"Yeah I know Dad. Well we may have to rent for awhile, as it sounds like property is pretty expensive there right now."

"It is" his dad replied. "Sorry we can't help you out in that area too much son. It would be fun to just buy you a place. We might be able to help out a little with a down payment though, if you need it. You know that you can likely take over our farm here when we are ready to move off but that won't be for a few years yet."

"I know" Dan replied. "We wouldn't want to push you off, fifty some years is a long time to be in one place. I guess we are too old to ever have a chance to find out what that is like eh?"

"I'm afraid that's the truth son, but I guess I'll never see a fraction of what you have seen either, so we both have our pros and cons."

"Yes, but right now your pros look pretty good compared to our cons."

"It sounds like you have more on your mind than you are letting on Dan. Are you sure you have to wait till you get home before you can talk about it?"

"Yes I'm afraid so Dad, but we're doing ok for now. It's less than three months before we see you and the time will go fast. We have an awful lot to do in a short time. We haven't even booked tickets yet, so we need to get busy."

"We sure look forward to seeing you guys get off that plane I have to say, but I better let you talk to your mother she's chomping at the bit."

"I'll be chomping at your bit pretty soon if you don't smarten up." Dan heard her say as she grabbed the phone from her husband. "So how are you doing Dan, are you really coming home for good in three months?"

"Looks that way Mom, twenty five years is about all we can take. I sure hope the Lord is happy with that."

"You know as well as I do that He doesn't care how long or where we serve as long as we are obedient to what He asks of us."

"Yes, I know Mom, but it's pretty hard not to feel like we are ducking out here. I know most of our co-workers understand, but there is one or two who are trying to make us feel guilty so we will come back."

"If the Lord wants you back there He will make it clear, so don't worry about what the others say. It is far better to be in His will even if it doesn't seem right sometimes than to try to follow man's guidance. Those people don't know your heart or your walk with Jesus, they just want you to fill a position that needs to be filled and are afraid either that they will have to do it, or that someone much less competent will come along. Very short-sighted of them, but we humans do tend to do that. You don't worry, the Lord will send someone to take your place if he is calling you back here."

"I know Mom, I've seen it time and time again. Someone thinks a place won't run without a certain person, but it always seems to. Sometimes others have to take up the slack and other times the whole emphasis changes, but we all die sometime, and things seem to keep on going with or without us in this old world."

"I'm sure things won't run quite as well there without the two of you, but I expect they will keep moving along. So are you excited about coming back, or do you still consider this place home?"

"I'm still a Canadian first mom. I love this country and the people a great deal, and will miss it incredibly, but Canada is still what I call home. Laura is the same way. We have so many good friends here, it's going to be pretty hard to leave them. But right now we are tired, worn out, burnt out, frustrated beyond belief, and just ready for a change. Small town Alberta looks pretty good to us right now. That may change, but I don't think so. I feel pretty strongly that it is the Lord's hand in this, so we are quite excited right now. I just feel right about it aside from all the obvious benefits of holding my grandkids, hamburgers and of course getting to ride my bike again. Oh yes and it will be nice to see you guys as well."

"Don't worry Dan, we have known for years that not too much ranks above your motorcycle, at least when you are home. Nice to hear you mention the grandkids first in the sentence though, maybe you are maturing a little bit, eh?"

"Now mom, you know you wouldn't like it if I grew up too much, think of how boring I would be," he said with a grin on his face.

"You have given me a lot of grey hairs, son," she said. "But by the way, before I forget, I had an awful sense of dread a few nights ago and it seemed to centre around you. Any idea what that might have been about? You weren't in trouble were you, because it was a pretty powerful feeling. I had to get out of bed right away and pray for whatever it was. Are you causing me more pain in my knees as well as extra grey hair again?"

"Sorry mom, yes there was a bit of an issue going on here, but it is all good now, and I'm afraid I can't talk too much about it right now. But thanks for your prayers, they were likely a huge part in everything turning out okay. I'll tell you about it when we come home. Thanks so much for doing what you did. But tell me, when we come home and settle down, how are you going to keep your prayer life in practice? Don't you know your white hair is a "crown of glory"? It might get tarnished a little bit if you don't have to work so hard at praying for us."

"Don't you worry about my crown of glory, smart-alec. I'd be glad to have it fade some just to have you guys home safe and sound. I don't like what I'm hearing on the news one bit, about your part of the world."

"I don't care for it much either mom. I won't say it didn't influence our decision to come home for good. It's just not fun here anymore. It's time for some new blood to get involved and the church here should be just about strong enough to handle it on their own now. They know they have a lot of trouble with corruption, but are working hard to try and follow the guidelines from the bible now instead of each other. We have been working hard to teach them that they need a standard to follow, because every man has his own idea, just like it says in Judges. If they follow the methods of man, they will fail and all will lose. If they follow God's standards as laid out in the bible, they can do almost anything."

"Good for them. I hope it works out for them. We could use a little bit of that teaching here in our own country these days. It seems like most people have their own agenda and we all know where that leads. Down the rosy path of destruction for all.

"That is true but, we just want some peace and quiet. We are both worn right out from constant fighting, deceit and strife. It will be so nice just to talk with people we know and love and know that they aren't always angling for something from you."

"You do realize that those traits are not necessarily common only to your part of the world don't you?" she asked. "Most people do it here as well, though I suppose it is unconscious for the most part."

"Yes I know mom, but somehow it seems different in your own culture and language. And I think Canadians take things at face value for the most part. Anyway, enough philosophising for now. I better let you go and we'll give you a call when we know our plans for sure, okay? We'll try and get everything finalized within the week."

"It will be so nice to sit down with a cup of coffee with you three. Seems like forever since we have done that."

"Almost," he said. "It has been four years, and Eve drinks coffee now. She sure isn't a child anymore. She's taller than you now and of course smarter than all of us combined. It will be another few years before that idea wears off in her pretty little head I guess. It's kind of fun to have the other kids talk to us like normal adults instead of us having horns out the top of our heads, and I know she will get to that point as well."

"So how are they taking the news of you coming home? I don't suppose that made them too sad?" his mom said.

"No they were pretty happy. They all have plans for us babysitting already. They think they are going to make up for lost time, but we really do need some quiet, so maybe we will move to some place not quite within easy commuting distance" he said with a laugh.

"I understand, but it would have been nice to have you guys around a lot more than you were. We sure missed our grandkids all those years you were gone."

"I know and they missed you guys a lot, but they sure enjoyed all the presents you sent over the years. There is nothing better to put a smile on a kid's face than a parcel from their grandparents. But I better go for now. I will talk to you later mom. God bless you and Dad too."

"Same to you Dan, we will be counting the days. Bye for now."

Chapter Seven

Dan and Laura were sitting outside on the veranda a few weeks later. They had decided that Laura would go home first and try to find a place for them to live while Dan finished up turning the hospital paper work over to the church. He still needed to do a bit more training for the young fellow that would be taking over his office.

"I still think you should go home first instead of me, Dan. I don't want to be responsible for finding a place to live and buying a house." Laura said.

"You know as well as I do that you are the wheeler and dealer of the household and you have always loved to look at real estate, honey."

"I know, but this is serious, we don't have much money to play with here and we don't even know if we will have enough to buy anything with the prices the way they are in Alberta."

"Well we may just have to rent for awhile, much as we both dislike the idea. We keep forgetting that the Lord is in charge of all this. I sure don't feel like we have earned any special favours, but I think He will have something for us. We just need to have faith."

"Easy to say when you're letting me do the hunting, Honey. Plus you are still not a hundred percent in mind or body yet, so I will be worrying about you."

"I've never been a hundred percent in mind, as you like to point out on occasion," he said with a smile. "And my arm is working well right now. Most of the time I don't even notice that I hurt it. Anyway Eve will be done school in five weeks, and we will follow you home and whatever you find for us we will be happy with it. Eve doesn't care because she is going to live with her aunt right away anyway. She sure jumped at the chance to spend the summer in the city instead of the country where we want to be."

"Yes she really likes the hustle and bustle and lots of people around. She has had too long in a boarding school I guess. Anyway I better finish packing as I leave in less than a week. I can't believe how empty the house looks now that we have sold almost everything that we didn't send home."

"It looks pretty bare alright, but it is only for a few more weeks and it will be fun to have all that stuff for our new home wherever that may be. What a blessing it was to be able to share a container with our friends working with the U.N. when they found they did not have nearly enough stuff to fill it. Otherwise we would have had to leave most of it behind. What's really going to be bare is not having you around for a month. That is going to be a little hard to take."

"I'm sure going to miss you too honey," she said. "But you're going to be so busy you won't even have time to think about me. Just pray lots for me, that I can find the right place for us to live, okay?"

"I will beautiful, and don't worry so much about it. You have talked to the real estate agent several times, narrowed down where we want to be, talked to the bank, and even have friends and relatives looking out for us. Something will turn up. I just know it."

A week later Laura was on the plane, wishing her hubby and daughter were with her and thinking about all they were leaving behind. She agreed with her husband that it was right for her to go at this time, but she did not seem to have quite the same amount of almost blind faith that he did. She had indeed checked with their real estate agent, who was a friend, and she hadn't been too hopeful. The limit that the bank appeared to be willing to lend them with their missionary wage was not going to get much on the present market. There were so many people coming in from other parts of the country and from overseas that the house prices had risen to astronomical heights. She so much wanted a place that was quiet, where she could go for a walk without having a thousand people around her. Both she and Dan had grown up on farms and had loved the quieter country life instead of the hustle and bustle of the city, and her heart yearned for some of that peace again. Amon was the word. It meant 'peaceful' in Urdu and was talked about almost every night by the guards and police when they talked to Dan. He would come in each evening after checking on them and say either amon or masla which meant there was some kind of problem going on outside the compound walls. All she could do was pray, so that is what she spent a good deal of the two day journey home doing. She loved reading the bible too, but kept seeing verses like the foxes have their holes, but the Son of Man had no where to lay his head. They needed a place to lay their head. They hadn't had much back at Tank, but it had been comfortable enough. At least they had a solid roof over their head, and the last few years had even managed to get a real toilet installed. They hadn't quite got as far as getting a bathtub though, which was what she would really enjoy after a long day of work. Very short showers and only what they could heat on the stove for hot water were the best they could manage, so the thought of a real bathroom with a tub and lots of hot water cheered her up immensely. It had been so long, almost a life time.

For the thousandth time she wondered what it was going to be like trying to fit into the western culture again after so many years. She had heard many stories about other missionaries trying to fit back in, and some had not been able to do it, opting instead to retire in their adopted country. The odd one had even gone to the extreme of gaining citizenship in that country and losing their own. She couldn't imagine doing that. She loved the people of Pakistan and the country, but she was still a hometown girl. She hoped that wasn't a sin. Some missionaries she knew considered it so. If you did not give up everything, even your homeland, it was not enough and you were not really "holy." Both she and Dan figured that these people were getting pretty close to the Pharisees' way of thinking, but knew it was not up to them to judge. And praise the Lord for it. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was judge others for their ideas. She had too many of her own sins to worry about. It was a good thing Jesus died for us all, she thought, and was greatly comforted by that as she dozed off again.

Laura was greeted at the airport by a good portion of her family and many friends. She didn't know where to turn. People kept grabbing her and hugging her and telling her how nice it was to see her again and thrusting babies into her arms. It was so much fun to see the grandchildren again, but most of them did not have any idea who this strange woman was and were not too interested in spending a lot of time with her. She knew that would change in time so was not concerned. What fun to see her own kids though. They all seemed so mature now.

The next couple of days were just a whirlwind of activity, drinking coffee and talking until she was beginning to wonder if coming home was such a good idea after all. She loved it all though and was constantly being reminded of how many wonderful people had been a part of their time in Pakistan, through prayers and letters and even the odd phone call. But where was all that peace and quiet she had been craving so much? She felt like she was drowning in a sea of love and emotion. She needed time to think, and time to look for a house would be nice too, she thought ruefully. The way her mother was cooking for her, she was going to gain weight as well. It all just tasted so good, that she was having a hard time saying no to anything.

Finally after five days, things began to settle down to a dull roar, and she had time to make another phone call to her real estate agent.

"I have a couple of places that you may be interested in if you're desperate. They aren't much, but within your price range. One is a trailer in a trailer court and the other is a small house on the edge of town that needs some tender loving care. Your husband is a handyman isn't he?" she said.

"My husband likes to build things but he absolutely hates fixing anything, so if there is too much to do, I'm afraid it isn't going to happen. And the trailer court is out. We might as well stay overseas for all the privacy we will get. Where is the house at anyway?"

"It's in a small town called Bashaw, about a half hour drive from Lacombe."

"We know it well" she said, "We used to camp at the lake not far from there. What do you know about the house?"

"It's small, about eight hundred square feet on the main floor and two small rooms upstairs. The basement is full but unfinished and it is on a large lot. That's all I know right now, but if you are interested I will get a hold of the real estate agent that has it listed and have her e-mail you all the information on it."

"Okay, why don't you do that and I will look it over and get back to you."

"Just to remind you again, even though I know you realize it, there is almost nothing out there in your price range that is liveable, and things get snapped up quickly so don't wait too long."

"Now June, you know I don't sit around and twiddle my thumbs on anything, let alone something as important as this. I'll be pushing you to get going, not the other way around I'm afraid."

June laughed and said, "I guess I do know that don't I? Okay, well I'll call right away and see if the girl can get the information to you immediately and then you can call me when you are ready. But start praying for a miracle. I sure would hate to see you in a dump after all you've done for so many people."

"Don't worry June, we have a great number of people praying for us. We have received so many e-mails from people we don't even know, that it's hard to comprehend. When Dan got so sick there a few weeks ago, I got over five hundred e-mails in one week. I never did get all of them answered by the time I left. Now a lot of these people are praying for a place for us to live, so I know the Lord will find us a good one."

The house was not a good sight. The yard hadn't been cared for in three years since the previous owner had died and was badly overgrown. It had been willed to his son who lived in Vancouver and he had not been out once to see it, just had a real estate agent from Camrose list it for him. But he still wanted to make a good profit on it. It was fairly private, with the nearest house being about fifty yards away and lots of trees and carrigana bushes to hide the large yard behind. The view wasn't bad either, she figured. There was no lake or creek to look at which is what she and Dan really wanted, but the open fields across the road wouldn't be too bad. The house needed a new roof and it had been a few years since it had seen a paint brush. The inside wasn't much better. It stunk of mildew and she saw several mice roaming around, which made her skin crawl. They would have to find another place to live while they worked on this one and the seller still wanted one hundred and eighty five thousand for it. It would take at least another fifty thousand to make it presentable. The real estate agent said he would not even consider a lower offer.

"I'm afraid we will have to think about this one for a bit. You don't have anything else in this area do you? It is quite pretty around here with the rolling hills and lots of small sloughs around. We always kind of wanted a place with some water to look at, either a creek or river or even just a big slough."

"Well a strange thing happened a couple of days ago. I was checking around for some properties for you and one popped up that I thought may interest you. I printed it out thinking I might show it to you and see if you were at all interested after we looked at this one, as it's only a few miles away. But then this morning before coming here I called it up again and the listing is gone. No sold sign or anything to show it had even been there. If I had not printed it out, I would have thought I was imagining it all. The other odd thing about it is that anyone interested is to reply by e-mail directly to the main office of the Royal Bank in Toronto, and not through the real estate agent. So I e-mailed asking about it and all I recieved was a note saying to go ahead and look at it with a code to the gate lock . Very odd to say the least. So if you would like, we can just drive over there right now and see what it's like. "

"So what is it, an acreage?" Laura asked.

"No, it's a farm, with three hundred and twenty acres, but apparently it doesn't have much usable farm land on it. Mostly brush, and some trees. Only a quarter of it has been cleared for farm land. The ad said, "Great place for a few horses". It said that there is an old farm house and a barn on it, but nothing else."

"That doesn't really sound too hopeful, but we are in the area and I'm starting to feel slightly desperate, so I better at least get a look at it. My husband comes home in less than three weeks so it sure would be nice to have at least the promise of a place to live in. So how does the bidding work on something like this?"

"You just decide how much you are willing to spend on it, we write up a contract and I'll e-mail it in. If you're the high bidder, they will reply and you have to go to any Royal Bank and deposit the money in full. You are not allowed to borrow through the bank, but because you have a pre- approved loan through a financial company you should have no problem. You will have to fill out a few forms and write a check for the full amount and that's it. Easy. Of course if you decide for some reason it's a bad deal, there is no recourse. You cannot back out of the deal. Once they have your money, the place is yours. The advantage of it is that it is immediate possession, so you would have a place to move into right away. Another problem though is that I have no idea when the bidding is finished though they don't usually go more than a month or two in cases like this. The bank usually just wants to get what it can out of the sale as soon as possible. That's money that can be put to work lending to someone who is going to pay interest on it."

"That would be such a blessing. Okay, well let's take a look anyway. As I just told you my husband is not much of a handyman around the house, but maybe if we can get it cheap enough, we can move in a trailer or something."

"Good, well you follow me in your car and I hope we don't get lost," she said with a smile. "At least being women we will stop and ask for directions, though there might not be too many around to ask out here."

So off they went , with Laura praying all the way.

"Please Lord," she prayed. "Help me to make good choices and find us the place we need even if it is not the one we think we might want. You know who we are and what our needs are. We want to be obedient to your will, and to be a blessing to those around us wherever you put us. Please open my eyes to the glories You have for us and help me to keep my eyes on you as we travel this new road. And please keep Dan and Eve safe and bring them back to me soon. I miss them so much already. I pray You will make it plain to me if one of these places is the one you desire for us. Thank you so much for your love for us and all you have done for us too this time. I praise and worship you in Jesus name, Amen."

A minute later June turned right onto another paved road and went about another five miles before she pulled over on the shoulder and stopped.

"I guess I must have missed it she said, it's only supposed to be three miles off of highway 21 and we have gone five miles now. Let's turn around and drive a little slower. We are looking for a driveway on the south side of the road," June said.

"I'll just keep following," Laura said. "Lead the way."

They turned around and drove about forty kilometres per hour looking for any sign of a driveway. Finally Laura thought she saw what looked to be a stone driveway that went over a slight rise and she stopped. June saw her stop and turned around again pulling up beside what appeared to be a little used driveway made of flat rocks imbedded into the ground. They both got out of their cars and Laura said "This looks like it used to be a driveway at one time, what a lot of work someone put into it."

"I think you're right" June said, "Let's just walk over the rise and see if we can see anything."

This side of the road was covered with trees for at least a mile on both sides of the driveway, but there was an opening that threaded its way through. Sure enough just a few yards over the rise they could see what looked like a tree across the path, but as they got closer realised it was a gate made to look like a fallen pine tree. It was even painted the right colors and likely anyone in a car pulling up would not even notice it was not a real tree, but was made of steel.

"People see what they want to see," was the phrase that came to Laura's mind.

The driveway curved to the right so nothing could be seen through the mini forest, but now they needed to figure out how to open the cleverly disguised obstacle. They both looked around and then Laura noticed that what looked like a broken off stump about four feet high on the left side didn't look right. She put her hands on it and ran them around pressing here and there until she felt a large knot on the facing side give way. Sure enough it was on a spring, when she let go it slipped back out again. She pressed it again and it went in about four inches. She slipped her fingers up into the opening and could feel what appeared to be buttons.

"What was that code you had there June?" she asked.

"One, two, four, three," she said. "Did you find something?"

Laura put her fingers on the four buttons and pressed them in the sequence that June had explained and immediately the false tree started to rise up and kept going until it was standing up and looking like a real tree.

"Amazing," she said. "You'd almost think someone didn't want this place to be noticed at all wouldn't you?"

"Wow, you're amazing yourself Laura, how did you figure that out?" June said.

"I have been known to be persistent when I need to be." She said with a smile. "Just ask my husband and my kids."

"Well let's get the cars and see what other interesting things we can see."

"You go ahead June, I think I will just walk in if you don't mind, I think my car is off the road far enough to not cause any problems."

"Okay, be there in a flash"

Laura started walking down the heavily grass covered stone drive and as soon as she went past the gate she felt it. Almost like the Lord himself had smiled on her. A sense of peace came over her, something she had not felt in many years. She smiled, really smiled for the first time in what seemed like years. She was surrounded by trees, with the birds singing and just for a few moments the sun broke through the thick layer of clouds that had covered the sky for the last few days. The warmth of it seemed to engulf her mind and body. She stopped and just stood there, basking in the joy of it all. Too soon it was over, but she would remember that moment for the rest of her life. Was this the sign she was looking for she wondered?

It was hard to start walking again after the clouds took over, but now she was anxious to see what was around the curve in the road. She was brought back to earth quickly when the trees ended a few yards past the curve. There was the house and barn alright, but they made the last house she had just looked at appear to be a well kept gem. It was a very old two story log house that looked like it had never seen a drop of paint or stain since it was built. The grey cloudy day did not help, but the picture she saw of the house and yard looked pretty dismal. The windows had all been painted black and the black roof, there did not seem to be an ounce of color anywhere. The buildings were surrounded by tall grass that looked like it hadn't even managed to remember it was supposed to be green, but had decided to give up and join the house in its attempt to look as uninviting as possible. The old log barn looked even worse. It was about fifty yards from the house and all its widows were painted black as well.

June drove slowly past her and parked in front of what pretended to be a garage attached to the house. She got out and took a slow look around before she said anything. As June walked up to her she said, "Well ten to one the reason this is a bank repo is that the guy is in jail."

"What do you mean?" Laura said.

"Well this is a drug house if I have ever seen one. A hidden driveway, disguised gate, blacked out windows, and who knows if this grass has ever been visited by a mower. I'll bet the commission from my last three sales, that this is a grow-op and if we dare open the doors, it is not going to be a pretty sight."

"I guess I've been out of the country too long to even think about such things," she said. "What does that all mean anyway? What exactly is a grow-op?"

"It's a place where they grow marijuana in custom made plant pots that are watered and lit with special lights to make the plants grow quickly. They are usually found in the middle of nowhere, where the police would never think to look, and this is pretty well hidden. You can't see the buildings from the road with all the pine trees, and if you did not know the driveway was there, you would never notice it. Do you see the roofs on the house and barn?"

"Yes, they are black, and fit in with the dismal walls and black windows."

"Well notice that they look in really good shape. It wouldn't do to have rain getting in and wrecking the valuable crops inside would it? It's a perfect place to have that kind of an operation. Anyway, do you want to look around or should we just leave now?"

She thought about it and normally she would have just walked away, but the warm feeling she had felt at the gate was still with her, so, much to her surprise she said, "I think I would like to see more. Let's see what it looks like on the inside."

They went up to the front door and tried to figure out where the punch pad might be. There was a door handle but no place to put a key, not that they had one anyway. There was a mail box on the wall beside the door but try as they might, could not find a pad anywhere no matter how much they pushed and prodded.

"I guess we might as well look around the place a little bit since like we aren't going to get inside," Laura said.

"Might be for the best anyway," June said. "If the inside is as bad as the outside or worse, we will be better off not seeing it. Doesn't look like the kind of place you want anyway."

"Well let's walk around a bit. Does that look like a creek down in the coulee to you?"

"I don't know. We can go to the back of the house, maybe there's another way in with a key pad that would open a door."

So they walked around the side of the house and found a wooden sidewalk that led to a veranda at the back. There was another door there, but no key pad to be found, and even by putting their faces right up to the windows, they could not see a thing inside.

Something just did not seem right to Laura. The house looked dilapidated, but somehow did not feel dilapidated. She couldn't put her finger on it, but her instincts told her things were not what they seemed in this place. How could a drug house have such a sense of peace about it? She looked out over the deck and thought she could make out a bit of water down in the coulee. Maybe there was a creek down there. When she and Dan had been praying for a place to come home to, they had both wanted to be close to water. For some reason they were both drawn to it and always had been all their married life.

"Let's go around the other side of the barn," she said to June, "and see if there's any water down there."

They followed the stone driveway which went up to the barn door and contoured around the side of the barn. It ended just past the end of the barn but there was what used to be a trail that must have been used by tractors or something that headed a bit further west and then curved down into the coulee. They came to the end of it and sure enough, there was a small meandering creek just below them. It looked like there had been a small dam that had broken away between this side and the other. It was only about fifty feet across at this point although most of the coulee looked to be almost five hundred meters across. Maybe there used to be a small dam here. Then she noticed that the other side of the coulee was a slightly different color part way down the hills. So there must have been a nice lake here at one time. Not big, but she got quite excited about the thought. What a view it would be from the back deck if it could be made up again.

But then June said, "Oh no!! There's a big dog running toward us from the other side! I'm scared to death of dogs. Lets get out of here!" She turned around and started running for the car. Laura liked dogs, but only if they were friendly and this one was running full tilt toward them, not looking like he really wanted them there on his turf. She knew she could never get back to the car in time so just started walking slowly taking quick glances back to see if the dog would get across the creek. It hardly faltered at all, just jumped across it like it wasn't even there. It was a big dog and her knees were starting to get weak as it came bounding up to her. Then she saw that it was slowing up as it approached her and starting to wag its huge tail. She turned around to face it and it jumped up and put its huge paws on her chest, covering her blouse with dirt. She pushed it off her and began scolding it, but was more than a little relieved that it was friendly. It started whining and barking and trying to jump up to lick her face almost knocking her off her feet in the process. She realised it was a German Shepherd, her favourite dog and must have been close to a pure bred. She tried to keep it occupied long enough for June to get to her car, but the dog decided it wanted to inspect June as well, so went chasing after her.

June was only a few yards from her car when she turned around to see where the dog was and tripped, going down hard and knocking the wind out of her momentarily. It was enough for the dog to reach her, and it attacked her with a relish, whining and barking again, but not so loud this time and licking her face all over. June tried to fend it off, but the dog just got more excited. Finally the dog just laid down beside her and started pushing its nose at her trying to get his nose under her hands which were covering her face. She finally stopped cowering and opened her eyes to see it looking right at her with what she could only perceive was a goofy expression designed to make her laugh. Suddenly something broke inside of her and she sat up and looked at this huge thing that a moment ago she was sure was going to eat her alive. The dog sidled up to her and put it's head in her lap as if to say, "I sure would like it if you'd pet me right now, so I know I'm a good dog." She slowly and tentatively put her hand to its head and started to pet it and it lifted its head up clearly enjoying the attention. Slowly it moved in closer until finally it was almost entirely in her lap and she had no choice but to put her arms around it just to keep from being pushed over. Finally she gave up and just started hugging it and then she began laughing and giggling like a little girl. Laura finally caught up with her and couldn't believe her eyes.

June saw the quizzical expression in her face and said between breaths, "I was attacked by a dog like this when I was a little girl and have been petrified of dogs ever since, even little ones. I don't know what happened here. I thought I was going to die when I tripped and knew this one was almost on me. I've never been so scared in all my life, but just look at him now. How can you ever think this dog is going to hurt you? I have no idea what just happened here, but it's a miracle that's for sure. I can just tell I'm not going to be scared of dogs anymore. My kids have been begging me for a dog for years and I have always felt so bad that I could not bear the thought of having one in the house. I think I am just going to go right home and take them to the pet store and pick out a dog. They won't believe their ears. It's going to be so much fun.

She finally got up and the dog stood quietly beside them looking happy and peaceful. That was finally the turning point for Laura. The place looked like a dump but when miracles like this happened and with the peace she felt when the sun came through the clouds for a moment, there had to be something special going on here. Dan would not be happy with all the work he was going to have to do, and she herself might not be happy with all she would have to do, but her gut feeling was, it was worth a shot. Besides, she couldn't offer much and if they did get it for what they could afford, likely they could sell it for a profit anyway. But what she and Dan really wanted was a place to call home that could be theirs and theirs alone.

She said a quick prayer and then said to June "I think I would like to make an offer on this place. I know it looks pretty bad but something about it attracts me and I don't know what it is. What do you think is a fair offer?"

"Land prices here are high right now, though obviously the buildings are not going to count for much, especially if there are drugs involved here. Just figure out what you can afford, assuming you are going to have to build a house or maybe bring a trailer in. Did you notice that there are no power lines? And I didn't see any gas meter on the house either, so you will likely even have to bring the utilities in and that can easily cost forty thousand dollars for everything."

"I thought grow-ops used a lot of electricity for all the lights and things, wouldn't they have to have power?"

"They do, but if they use as much as they need, red lights start flashing at the power companies and they start asking questions about why a place like this would use so much electricity. I'm sure you will find a nice big diesel generator in the barn there that gives them all the power they need. That way they can stay off the grid and no one notices. You might even find some farm equipment in the barn that runs on diesel so they will have an excuse to use that much fuel."

"How do you know so much about this kind of thing?" Laura asked.

"Because I have been caught twice already, selling houses that looked good on the outside, but were not what they seemed on the inside. They were the same as this one, except the outside looked good on both of them, so we figured they would be good on the inside as well. Everything had to be redone, the walls, all the flooring and even the ceilings. What a mess they were. I lost my commission on both of them, so I'm a little more careful now. This one of course is different, because it is a bank selling it "as is, where is," so I will get my commission either way. I just hope you don't lose out on it."

"What are the chances of us getting it for what I can offer, which, by the way will be about eighty thousand?"

"You never know in cases like this. I've seen where people have offered almost nothing just on speculation and got it, and at other times, where they have offered full market value and lost out. That's why unless you have a good amount of money to play with, I suggest you only offer what you can afford assuming the house and barn will have to be torn down."

"What you are saying sounds fair to me. It's a long shot, though I am still confused as to why it was only listed for a day or two. Almost like someone already has it figured how to get it and they don't want anyone cutting into their pie."

June cocked her head. "So you want to offer eighty thousand eh? That sounds good. It will allow you room for building a house or even as you say, a trailer. The trailer would be a lot faster, though you will still have to do some pushing to get the utilities in here before winter. How do you like camping?" she said with a smile.

"That's what we have been doing for the greater part of the last twenty five years, so, not much, but you do what you have to do."

"Ok, well I have the contract on the computer, let's go to the car and write it up and I'll send it in right away."

"You can do that all from here?" Laura asked.

"I have to these days. I lost more than one deal because I waited to get to the office to file the offer. Now I fill it all in, print out a copy for you and myself and then e-mail the offer to the office or in this case to the bank right away."

So they got into the car and she set up the computer and started filling in all the spaces on the form. Laura signed everything on a computer pad that June had connected to the computer, and in a few minutes it was all done. She connected another cable, pushed some more buttons and a second later a printer in the back seat began spitting out the copies. June picked them up and gave one copy to Laura and the other she put in a file folder she had ready. She wrote Laura's full name on it and put it in her brief case. Then she pushed a few more keys on the computer and said "Well there it goes, now all we have to do is wait and see how long it will take them to reply. They will reply right away that they received the offer, but after that will likely only reply if it is accepted."

"Any idea how long that will be?" asked Laura.

"Usually they only leave the offers open for a month at the most, so likely we will hear before that."

"I don't know if that will work," Laura said. "We need a place to live in very soon."

"Well hopefully it will be much sooner. All you can do is hold off as long as you can and then look elsewhere. I'll keep looking anyway for something that would suit you until I know you have found something. The least I can do, for what you have done for me with the dog. I am just so excited to get home and tell the kids and my husband that we can get one now. You've made much more than just my day I have to say."

"But I didn't do anything at all, you can just thank the Lord for what happened."

"Well then, I can thank Him that He sent us to this place at this time. I've always been cynical about miracles, thinking they only happened back in the bible times and most of the so called ones that happen on TV were all faked, or at best a coincidence. What happened here is nothing but a miracle and I thank you for being a part of it."

"I guess you're welcome, but thanks for all you've done for me in looking at houses. I really appreciate it."

"It's my job and sometimes it's more fun than others. Do you want a ride out to your car?"

"No thanks. I think I'll walk, I love the fresh air here and this dog looks like it needs some more petting."

Laura got out of the car and June headed out the driveway. She walked over to the porch and sat down on the edge As she petted the dog that had followed her over, she looked out at the place. It really was incredibly peaceful here. She began praying again, for her husband whom she missed so much especially at times like this when major decisions had to be made. He trusted her in things like this, and she worried that her "gut feeling" was wrong. Again she said to the Lord, "We just pray for your guidance and blessing in finding us a place Lord. We have been away a long time and we really need your help in getting adjusted back to this country. Thank you again for all your wonderful blessings that you have already given us - good kids, grandkids that we will be able to finish watching grow up, and even parents, still alive and doing fine.

Well, no sense worrying too much, as there probably wasn't much chance of getting it anyway. It was too bad because a log house is what she had always wanted and the double car garage that was attached would please Dan to no end. Her as well if the truth be told. She really hated getting into a cold car in the winter time. Oh well, guess it's time to quit dreaming and get on with life. She wondered what Dan would think of the other house she had looked at. Maybe she'd send him a picture of this one first and then the other one. Then the second one might look a lot more appealing to him.

Enough was enough. Laura was determined to find something before he came home, at least a promise of something. The thought of living with either of their parents for any length of time was not really inviting. They loved their folks to be sure, but all needed their independence. She got up and started walking to the front gate. As she paused in front of it and looked back, she could still feel that wonderful sense of peace. It left her feeling much more light hearted as she pushed the buttons to lower the gate and walked out to her car. Something still did not fit she thought, but could not put her finger on it. She all of a sudden thought of the dog, wondering if it would follow her, but when she turned around it had disappeared. That would sure be a nice dog to have here, she thought and wondered if she would ever see the miracle worker again.

Chapter Eight

"Mr Cook Sir," his private secretary whispered in his ear, "you asked me to notify you immediately no matter where you were or what you were doing if this red flag came up on the computer. Well it just came up, here is the message."

He looked quickly at what was on the pad, thought for a second and then wrote out a quick set of instructions to her, and turned back to the others present at the meeting he was chairing. His mind took a moment to get back into what he had been doing.

As soon as it was over he headed back to his office to think about what the red flag meant. It concerned the sale of a farm in central Alberta. He knew the piece of land well, as he had grown up next door to the folks that had lived there, Fred and Mary Jensen. They had been very nice people, always there when someone needed them and kind to a fault. He had spent many a fine afternoon drinking coffee with them and discussing everything from religion to engineering and politics. They took religion very seriously and loved to talk about God and Jesus. Fred could build anything in his shop. If he needed a special tool for something he would build it himself, and better than if it was bought in a store. He and his wife both took great pride in doing things carefully and right. Her baking was always the first snapped up at church bake sales. Yes they had been a little bit eccentric, which kept some people a little bit distant from them, but he always found them to be wonderful and kind people.

Their son was the same. He had tried university, but got bored quickly, as he often seemed to know more than the instructors. He never even realised his wonderful ability to think outside the box to solve a problem, but it often drove his teachers crazy when he would continually try to solve problems in different ways than they were familiar with. Especially when it worked, which was more often than not. He had almost no friends because of it, though that did not seem to bother him too much. Paul used to spend some time with him and was always amazed at the insights Jim, or JJ as most people called him, seemed to have.

J.J. and his folks were responsible for him starting to go to church and keeping him there. The pastor in those days tended to preach more on hellfire and brimstone than on the love of Christ and he had to admit it scared him a little . But then he would go over for coffee and they would explain what the pastor really meant. Yes the fire and brimstone was part of the Christian package, but the love of God was the real deal. He did not want any to perish which is why he sent His only Son to fix the problem. Paul figured that took "thinking outside the box" to a new level, beyond what was needed, but he was God, so he must have known what was needed for this poor human race.

Paul finally accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour in their kitchen not long after he graduated from university, years ago. After many talks with many people about religions of all kinds, and there were plenty to choose from in any university, nothing attracted him much except what Fred, Mary and JJ had not only talked about, but lived.

After much struggling about the reality of God, he finally knew what he had to do. It was a Tuesday, on a beautiful summer evening when he just hopped into his car and drove the hour and a half to their house, knocked on the door and said "Okay how do I accept Jesus as my Lord?" They went into the kitchen, and while Mary made them a cup of coffee, Fred explained it to him. He couldn't believe how simple it all was, and the wonderful peace and joy he felt flowing though his whole being as he said the sinner's prayer. He was only there for a couple of hours, but he had never spent a more joyful two hours in his life and it changed him. He had wanted peace in his spirit and he got it.

Even today in his high pressure job as head of the largest bank in Canada, with all the pressures it entailed, he was at peace, and it showed in his work. He loved his job and took it very seriously. People often commented on how he never seemed to get rattled no matter who tried to pressure him. He was a happy and contented man with one small exception. Well maybe not that small. For some reason he had never been able to find a wife to share his life . He had dated often, but none seemed to be the right one for him. He was forty three years old now, and beginning to get the idea that he would always be a bachelor. He didn't really think about it that much, but every once in awhile, after a hard day at work he wished, just a little bit, that he had someone waiting at home that he could talk to.

His mentor Fred, had died of lung cancer about two years ago, not from smoking, but likely from all the fumes he had inhaled working in the oil field, and his wife followed a week later. It was said she died from heartbreak, and Paul would not have argued the point. They did indeed love each other. He sometimes caught what he knew was a special wink, or a gentle touch that they gave each other when he would be around them. They just really enjoyed each other's company, and he had hoped to some day have that same kind of attachment to a woman. That's probably why he was not married yet. He simply had not found anyone that had that spark he was looking for.

He had asked Fred one day about why they seemed to have such a special relationship, and he had unexpectedly turned very serious. "I don't know how to explain it Paul, it just happens. Mary was working as a nurse in the hospital in Brooks when I came into the emergency. I had fallen off the deck of a flat bed truck when a boom went the wrong way and knocked me off. I landed hitting my chest on a pipe flange, and it hurt pretty bad. They hauled me in to the hospital, and Mary was the one that was on duty that day. I tell you Paul, I was in a lot of pain, but the moment I saw her, I just knew, and I think she did too, though she would never admit it. She was beautiful, and her hands felt like the hands of an angel as she worked on me, but that was almost a side issue. She touched something deep inside of me, and by the time I left the hospital two days later after having all kinds of tests for things besides the obvious broken ribs, I told her that I was going to marry her. She just smiled and said she would see me in a week when I came in to make sure everything was healing alright. To make a long story short, we were married a month later and have never looked back. God has just blessed us so much, more than we could ever deserve and when Jim came along, we felt like our cup of blessing could not get any fuller without overflowing. It was by His grace we met and by His grace we are able to continue in the love we have for each other. Sure we had our share of problems through our lives but nothing we couldn't handle with the Lord's help. I could ask for no more from this short time on earth."

Yes the farm had a very special place in his heart and he wanted to find out what type of people had expressed an interest in it. There was something very strange going on with this deal that did not smell quite right to him, so he had done something he had never done before and always promised himself he never would. He had become involved, though only a little bit he told himself. That was not something a man in his position should ever do and he had seen a few men fall because of it, so had strenuously avoided it.

He had been watching closely what was going on in the town in the banking side of it and even had a subscription to the local newspaper and had seen some things that, though not illegal, were maybe not quite so morally correct. In the last five years there had been an abnormally high rate of defaults on mortgages and bank confiscations of properties. As was usual in these cases the bank would advertise with the real estate agencies that a piece of property was up for auction and the highest offer would take it. What was strange was that most of the property that was sold went for almost nothing. He knew land prices in Bashaw were not that high, but twenty thousand dollars for a three acre plot with a house on it was pushing the point well past believable limits. He made sure that he was always notified when the bank repossessed something and he had access to all the local Royal Bank's records, so he had started going through some of them. He knew many of the people that had lost their homes and at least some of them did not fit the profile at all. Most of them were hard working and honest people with families and steady jobs. Usually in most of the cases he read about, he knew the banks would have been far more lenient than the manager of this one was being.

He had read his profile and he seemed to be pretty average, or had been until he moved to town just under five years ago. Was some one else involved? Bashaw was not a place that had a lot to attract anyone, so it sounded unlikely that anyone would be acquiring a lot of land for any real profit making.

So when JJ had been sent to jail for tax evasion, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth, and his place was confiscated by the government, it was the only bank in town, the Royal Bank that had been tasked with the job of selling the land. Come to think of it, Bashaw had grown quite a bit in the last twenty years partly because it was close to a large lake that was being developed. Why was there still only one bank in town?

Paul was really praying for JJ that he would get out of jail and that the land would not have to be sold. He couldn't believe that JJ owed that much money. He was pretty sure he had never even made that much in his life. So he knew he should not have been surprised when he never saw the land advertised in any paper or on any site on the internet. Then the red flag came up a month ago saying that a bid of sixty thousand dollars had been offered by a local business man by the name of George Banner. Was it just accidental that he found out about it, or did he know all along and was involved somehow?

When Paul got home that evening, he got down on his knees, which he did not normally do when he prayed, but somehow this seemed to warrant it.

"Ok Lord I know you are master of everything, but please help me to know what to do, if anything, about this. You know that JJ loves you and I am sure he should not be in jail. I know he would never do what he is charged with doing so help me to fix this problem even though I know I am not supposed to ever get personally involved. My heart is so heavy in this. Please show me what to do."

He prayed for almost an hour about his home town and then got up, cleaned up and got ready for bed. He was left with the conviction he was supposed to do something, but had no idea what. Maybe the morning would bring some insight into it.

It did. He felt it was the right thing to do, even though it went against everything he had trained into himself, especially about getting involved. He kept telling himself that it was just a little thing, and was almost more of a fleece than anything else. He arranged to have the ad for JJ's farm put on the real estate MLS for four hours only. There was nothing illegal about it in any way, and indeed was more than likely illegal that it hadn't been put on for the full month, but he still felt funny about doing it. He thought if the Lord was involved in this, and he was hearing what he thought God was telling him to do, then four hours was enough time for Him to do his work.

Maybe he shouldn't have been surprised when the red flag came up, but he was. Now the question was, what to do about it? The offer was twenty thousand more than the only other offer, so it only made sense that he accept this one. The Bashaw branch did not know about this offer yet and would not know in time to do anything if there was anything funny going on. He was not overstepping his authority at all in legal terms, though in practice going over the head of a bank manager was almost never done and it did not please him a great deal to do it. Sometimes however, you just had to do what you had to do, as his mother used to say. He felt strongly that the Lord was wanting this little thing from him. He did hope however that it would not lead into big things. He liked things to be normal and regular, and had no desire to get more involved than he was going to be in this.

He had told his secretary to hold off for a bit on the reply and to see if she could find out who it was that had put in an offer to buy the place and anything else she could find out. She came back half an hour later with a file on which was written, "Dan and Laura Thompson". He opened it and started reading. They had both dealt with the Royal Bank since their youth, so that made it a little easier to find out more about them. Married for thirty one years, four children, the youngest just graduating this year, six grandchildren, the three oldest immersed in marriages, mortgages, and trying to make enough money to pay everything off like most of the people in the country these days. They had been missionaries to Pakistan for twenty five years, she a nurse and he an administrator, working in a hospital in a place called Tank. Tank rhymed with honk was noted in brackets.. The couple sounded like ordinary people doing extra ordinary things. He had always admired missionaries and what they gave up for the Lord. He had listened to many as his church was quite involved in missions and he even helped to support some that he had become friends with over the years.

They sounded like the kind of people that he would be happy to see acquire the farm. He called his secretary and asked her to send a reply that their offer was accepted, but that they needed to pay for it within two weeks if possible. He knew they had a pre-approved mortgage, with a finance company, the CEO of which, he knew well. His name was Henry Cooper and was a good friend. He golfed with him almost every week when the weather was good enough. Paul also asked his secretary to include his personal congratulations and if there were any problems in any way they were to call him on his personal cell phone.

He put the matter out of his mind until a week and a half later. While he was golfing with his friend Henry, his cell phone rang.

Chapter Nine

"You bought a house? Cool, I knew you could do it Honey. Where? What? How much? I want to know everything," Dan said.

"I don't know where to begin Dan." she said "It all happened so fast, I'm not sure what to say. I told you yesterday that I went to look at that house in Bashaw I didn't really like. It was so old and in such bad shape, and I knew you would not want something that would take so much work to fix up."

"I thought it seemed not too bad compared to what we live in here Honey. It would just take us awhile to get it into shape that's all. Anything would look good right now as I'm sure you know."

"Not after you have been home a few weeks Dan, your perceptions change pretty fast I'm ashamed to say. Anyway, I actually went to look at another place just north of Bashaw, but I didn't tell you about it because I wanted to write down my impressions of it first. It was just such an odd experience that I needed time to process it in my poor little brain. I was just about ready to e-mail it to you when I got a phone call from the real estate agent saying that our offer was accepted. Good thing I was sitting down, or I would have fallen down. I'm still not sure just exactly what happened."

"Can you give me an idea at least about what we just bought?" he said laughing, "Or do I have to wait until I come home before I find out?"

"No I think it would be better if I warned you before hand, so don't get your hopes up. It's a farm, well sort of, it is three hundred and twenty acres, but not much good for farming and the house is a log house, but probably not liveable and it has a big barn, but it looks like it's ready to fall down as well. Neither has ever been painted even."

"Hold on a sec Hon, did you say you bought a farm? How did you do that with the tiny amount of money we have, and what are we going to do with a farm? Are we going to start a new occupation?"

"It was a bank repossession and I made an offer of eighty thousand dollars, thinking it was a one in a million shot and not even sure I wanted it to go through anyway. The only reason I did it was because of what I wrote in the e-mail. It's much too strange to explain over this poor phone connection. Oh I miss you so much and wish you would have been here to help me. We think it was a drug house, so we will probably have to find a trailer and move it on for the time being anyway. The guy that owned it before the bank took over is in jail. After looking at the house, barn and yard, and the shape they are in, it's a pretty safe bet, there are a few other things wrong as well that I explained in the email I sent to you."

"Ok, well at least we have a piece of land, so that is a great start. If we have to we can borrow mom and dad's holiday trailer and park it there until we get something set up. Guess we better start looking for jobs in the area."

"I took a quick look on the internet already after I looked at the places and there are a few jobs open, so maybe that will work out. I just want to be quiet for awhile, and you know the doctor said you needed a no stress life for a few months at least."

"Yes, true enough, though I have to say that truck and Mr John Doe have done wonders for me, plus, not having to deal with the merger anymore. Looks like things are going well in that area, so hopefully when I come home I'll be back up to the challenge."

"You sure did make a faster recovery than anyone thought you would, but I know that's from the Lord and the constant prayer from so many people."

"They have been incredible, that's for sure. What a blessing they all have been. I still get more emails than I could ever hope to reply to everyday . We would have to spend twenty-four hours a day seven days a week for the rest of our lives, on our knees to even come close to paying back what people have done for us. Wow!"

"I have talked to the Annette at the finance company, and she will fax out the documents you need to sign, to get everything finished here. With such a low price, she said your signature is not really necessary for the financing, but it would be nice to have it anyway."

"Okay, he said I'll sign them and send them right back. Now I' m starting to get excited!"

"Well don't get your hopes up too much, especially until you read my e-mail. You may not be that happy when you hear what I wrote."

"I trust you and your instincts Honey. Don't worry, it will work out just fine, and it's only one week until I see you again. Five more packing days until Eve and I head for the sky and home. I can hardly wait and now we have something really cool to look forward to. I love you so much my beautiful angel, but I better get to bed, it's late here and you are just getting ready for lunch there. Bye for now my love."

"I'm too worked up to be hungry now, but better go anyway. I love you too." She said and hung up.

The next morning Dan read his wife's e-mail and was amazed. She was always such a practical woman. Her experience at the farm was not like her at all. He thought long and hard about what she had written, and could only come to the same conclusion that she had, that the Lord's hand was involved in this. It gave him goose bumps to think that He was guiding them like that. It had happened before a couple of times, once when they felt called to the mission field and another time about ten years ago, when they had all of a sudden been asked to transfer to the hospital here in Tank.

Each major change in their life had been difficult in many ways, but they had both felt such a peace about what they were being asked to do, and had never regretted it. Was this the same thing happening again? If it was God's hand in this move, then likely they would be just moving to another type of ministry. It gave him hope that he desperately needed right now. He was quite worried about moving home for good, even though both he and Laura knew it was what needed to happen. The kids all seemed to want them home now. "Our kids need grandparents!" was the common theme in their e-mails and the odd phone call. One of the spouse's parents were dead, the other divorced and the third lived on the other side of the country. So they each had a valid request that was about to be granted.

If they moved to Bashaw, they would be no more than four hours away from any of the kids, so that would be wonderful. How he missed his grandkids. The kids sent pictures on a very regular basis, but that was nothing to having one jump up on your lap just for a cuddle. The cost of serving the Lord was kind of high sometimes in ways that many people did not understand. He had been okay with leaving his parents behind, and even leaving the kids , though he missed them, but when the grandkids started coming, it hit home pretty hard. Every time he saw a picture of one in someone else's arms it just tore at his heart.

So he e-mailed his wife back and said "Sounds like you made the right decision, Honey. I agree that it sounds like His hand in this, and even a drug house can be made clean if it's His desire. Then he asked "Are you ready for a new kind of ministry my Love? because I don't think He is going to let us retire just yet from the sounds of what you have written."

She wrote a short reply, "As long as there is some peace and quiet involved. I'm too old to burn the candle at both ends anymore. Hurry home Hubby dear, I need you beside me. I don't like doing these things myself as you well know."

Chapter Ten

"I don't know if I can let you go Sahib Ji, the riots are getting pretty violent now, especially in Islamabad. It might be too dangerous for you there." Akaram the policeman stationed on the compound said.

"But I have to go, I have our plane tickets, and my daughter will be waiting for me. Please Akaram, the riots aren't near the airport and we don't actually have to go into the city, we can go around it and get to the airport that way."

"Aaaahhhh Sahib Ji, what am I going to do without you? Life is going to be so boring, I might actually have to experience that old age business that I hear is so painful. Maybe it's better to get shot or blown up early in life so one does not have to go through it, no?"

"Well first of all you know better than I do that a policeman's life in this part of the world is never boring, and besides, don't you want to live long enough to see your grandchildren?"

"That seems like an impossible dream these days with all the shooting and bombings going on, but yes, it sounds like a very pleasant idea. Okay, we will try, but no promises. We have several towns to go through and any one of them can stop us if we have to get through a riot. I'll have a police truck ready, but they will only be able to lead us to the Punjab border. After that it is just me, you and Kareem the driver, so if there is any sign of trouble, we turn around okay?"

"Deal!" Dan said, and prayed it would work out. The thought of having to wait another few days to fly out did not impress him. He really wanted to get back to Canada and his wife, though sometimes he found it hard to call that distant land home They had been out here so many years and loved the place, so the word "home" was a little harder to define now than it had been a few years ago.

They made it to the airport, with only two minor detours to go around the demonstrations, one being in Kohat that had blocked the major intersection they had to get through. It was a good thing they had taken the four wheel drive, as they were able to cut through some bush and fields to get around that one. The other was in Rawalpindi, but they managed to find some side streets to get around that one as well. Just as they pulled into the airport parking lot, he got a call from his daughter saying that they were being held up by a demonstration blocking the road and had no idea for how long. The demonstrators were letting people through, but not vehicles and she was getting a little scared. Dan told Akaram and Kareem what was going on, and after a short discussion they took off out of the airport and headed out to where the demonstration was happening on Murree Road, near zero point.

It was not hard to find the place, as cars were backed up for almost a kilometre, so they went as far as they could, and parked, but Dan was wondering if they were going to be able to get out even if they did manage to find Eve. Akaram started to get out of the vehicle and Dan said "Where are you going?"

He said "To get your daughter of course."

"I don't think that would be a good idea Akaram, what are you going to do, go through the crowd with your uniform and an AK 47? That crowd is not going to let you though at best and will start a real riot if they get a hold of your gun. I will do it, you always say I look like a Pathan with my beard anyway."

Kareem said "Did you remember you were now in the Punjab sahib, Pathans are not all that popular right now, and you are in western clothes, so I will go!" He jumped out of the truck before anyone had a chance to say any more.

Fifteen anxious minutes later, he was back with Eve in tow and her two overstuffed bags. "He wouldn't let me bring my other bag." she complained to her dad as she got into the truck.

"And good thing he didn't," he said. "I told you to only bring one piece of luggage and your hand bag. You know that's all you are allowed to carry on the plane. They have a severe weight and size restriction. You would never have been allowed the other bag."

"Oh, I guess I forgot," she said with a smile. Turning to Kareem she said, "Sorry to cause you so much trouble Kareem, but I figured it was worth a try."

"Not to worry miss Sahiba he said with a big smile on his face. It's not the first time you have tried to pull one over on your poor old innocent driver."

"The school will send it home, you know" Dan said

"But I wanted to take it with me," she complained. "And lots of times you can get away with doing things like that here."

He shook his head as he grinned at her, "You have been in this country far too long little one. Your smile isn't going to work so well at home, so you better get used to it. What am I going to do with you when we get there?"

"First of all, don't call me little one any more and isn't that why you are putting me in a boarding bible school to keep me busy elsewhere?" she teased.

"Oh yes that's right, but you aren't supposed to know that. How long did you say you are going to be there, twenty, maybe thirty years?" he teased back. "By the way, I'm a foot taller than you, so I can still call you little one. Besides it's my right as a father."

"Oh Daddy, I love you too."

"Okay let's get going, or we will both be sitting here a lot longer than we want." The traffic was backed up well behind them by now. So he took advantage of the four wheel drive capabilities and turned down into the ditch. It was a little steep, but within the limits of the truck and he just wanted one more chance to drive his beloved double cab before leaving it behind, probably forever. They bounced along for almost another half a kilometre in the ditch before they were able to pull back up onto the road again. Then they had to cross the meridian to get to the other side. It would have been impossible in a car or van, but was only mildly challenging in this truck. He had a hard time keeping the smile off his face. He was always looking for excuses to have a four by four, and even Laura was going to have to admit, this time he had a good one.

They made it to the airport late for the three hour advance check-in time that you needed to be there before your flight, but he knew it would not be a problem. They pulled up to the drop off zone, and got out and unloaded the luggage. Then he spent a few moments saying goodbye to his two dear friends, Akaram and Kareem. They had gone through a lot together in the last few months and he was sorry he had to leave them.

"Take care of my truck." He said to them, and they laughed.

"It will be waiting for you when you come back sahib ji." They said, "Don't worry. It may have a few extra marks in it for you to fix though, so make sure you come back soon."

"Just as long as they are not bullet holes this time, eh?"

"No problem, Khuda hafiz Ji, may God go with you!" Kareem said and they both got into the truck and drove away before the forklift came to lift it into the impound lot for overstaying the time in the unloading zone.

Eve and Dan were soon on the plane on the way back to a new life, with family and friends waiting to get re-acquainted with. Eve was uncharacteristically quiet most of the trip, which Dan knew was normal Eve's siblings had all gone through the same thing when it had been time for them to return to their home country. They had all lived more years in Pakistan than they had in Canada when they had gone home, so it had taken some time for them to adjust to being a part of a country that they hardly knew. Dan knew it would be hard for Eve in some ways, but the kids had all developed very good coping skills and were all married with children of their own now. He knew Eve would do well, but it would not be without struggles. He suspected that there would be many phone calls back and forth, at least for a few months.

Surprisingly, and thankfully the trip was uneventful and everything on schedule. Dan figured the Lord was having mercy on both of them just because they both needed it so badly. They arrived at the Calgary International Airport to be greeted by almost everyone they knew it seemed. His wife was at the head of the line, which meant that she really had missed him. He knew she was really bothered by the land purchase deal and even though he was not concerned at all, and in fact was extremely pleased with what she had done, she would not rest until it was all settled and everything fixed in place. He hugged her close and told her how much he missed her and loved her before they were inundated with children, parents and friends.

God is so good! he thought to himself as another grandchild was shoved into his arms. This one was not sure about this and Dan understood why. He had a rather long beard because of the culture of the area of Pakistan he had been in. He had just not got around to trimming it down yet. Besides he wanted his folks and kids to see what he had looked like the last few years. When they arrived at their daughter and son-in-law's place in Calgary, his mother came up to him, grabbed his beard and said, "When are you going to shave it off?"

"Maybe never mom," he teased. "It's cold in this country. You wouldn't want me to freeze my chinny chin chin off now would you?"

She turned to his dad and said, "Don, get the blow torch and let's take care of this overgrowth of brush!" Then she grabbed him and hugged and hugged him and said "I'm so glad you are home." And then started to cry.

"Does that mean I can keep the beard?" trying to lighten the mood.

"You keep what you want," she said, "Just don't go away like that again!"

"I'll try mom. I think the Lord has other plans for us here, though I have no idea what. I sure hope we can spend lots of time together from now on. Now, first things first, where can we get some real coffee instead of that instant we have been living off for the last few years? Is there a Tim Horton's around here?"

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, with hash browns, and too many cups of strong black coffee, all cooked up by their son-in-law, they headed North in their new old mini van that they had purchased from Laura's folks who just could not handle driving anymore. It had been a late night of visiting before everyone had finally gone to bed. Dan and Eve were suffering from jet lag, so did not sleep too much the night before. Dan didn't want to leave that fast, but they needed to get the papers signed for the farm they were buying as soon as possible and Red Deer, where the financial services office was located, was on the way to Laura's folks in Ponoka.

They got to the office just before lunch, in time for their appointment with Annette, their long time financial advisor and friend. They were ushered right into her office and she stood up and greeted them enthusiastically, before asking them to sit so they could get down to business. Annette had helped them out many times in financial matters, although it bothered them that she was not a Christian. Though her astute financial advice was the only reason they even had a small down payment available to buy the land.

"Well congratulations!" Annette said "First for coming back alive, and second for getting such an incredible deal on this land. You did well."

"Only because the Lord was guiding us Annette." Laura said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'd almost have to believe that statement on this one though. Even if the house and barn have to be torn down, if you can get any kind of jobs at all, you will easily get a loan to build a house on the land."

"We sure don't want to go into debt any more than we have to, Annette as you well know, so we hope that we can at least use some of the house to live in," Dan said

"Just the same, I know you will do well now, especially with me guiding you." She said with a laugh.

They talked for a bit, signed on all the dotted lines and then she passed them a piece of paper across the desk, saying, "As of now, the land is yours and these are the codes for getting into the house."

Laura looked at them and then said, "That's fine, but there are no instructions on how to find the key pad to use the code on."

Annette laughed and said "I don't know anything about that, you will just have to figure that out on you own. I'm sure your husband will be up to the task."

They left the office and headed north again for a little over half an hour and pulled into Ponoka where Laura's parents lived. They walked in the back door and immediately the wonderful smells of fresh baking made them realize how hungry they were. They all hugged each other and then mom ushered them into the kitchen and sat them down at the table. They too were so glad that they were going to stay home for good this time, even though neither of them said much. It wasn't until later when they began talking to some of mom and dad's friends in church that they realised just how much they had been missed, and how proud her parents were of them. Apparently mom and dad talked a lot about them when they were gone, but now that they were back the stoic Norwegian in them would not let them express too much emotion.

That didn't stop mom from putting so much food on the table that Dan was beginning to think either it was Christmas and he had missed the point or that there were half a dozen more couples coming for lunch. But they said grace and then dug in. His wife was a wonderful cook, but seldom had he tasted so much that was so good at one setting. He was desperately wishing he had a couple more stomachs so he would not have to quit eating, it was all so good. Mom had cooked roast beef that melted in his mouth, mashed potatoes and gravy, ham with her own special mustard sauce, carrots, peas, beans, all from her own garden, and at least three different salads. Finally Dan could not stuff another bite into his mouth despite the pleadings of mom to eat more, and wasn't it good enough, and what was she going to do with all that was left over. Mom was never happy unless you waddled and moaned out the door on your way home holding your bloated stomach.

They finally left at four in the afternoon for the half hour drive to their new home. But not empty handed. Enough food was loaded into the van to feed them for a week as long as they stuffed themselves for three meals a day. She sent a cooler with most of the left over meat, a huge basket full of fruit, dishes full of vegetables, milk, butter, eggs and even salt and pepper, because "There won't be a thing in the house if it has been empty that long."

Laura was sure glad they could not drive, or they would have been out there the first thing in the morning to help clean and get things set up. This way they could try and hold them off for awhile at least, until they got Dan's mom and dad's trailer set up.

"Nervous Honey?" Dan asked as they got close to their destination.

"You can't believe how my stomach is churning right now. I still can't believe I bought this place. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Well you seem to be the only one thinking it was not a good move and you did not even tell anyone how cheap you got it, so please don't worry, it will be just fine."

"Easy for you to say, you haven't seen it yet and all the work that is going to be involved and we don't have jobs yet and hardly any money, and.....I'm sorry Dan, I guess I'm not trusting the Lord too much. I know it will work out, but I so needed just to be at peace for a bit and the doctor said that you have to take it very easy for at least another three or four months, which is going to be difficult if we have to do all this work and....."

"Wow that's quite a load you have there on your mind my pretty little wife, but the Lord has always looked after us until now, so I don't expect He's going to stop. What happens, will happen and we can only do our best. We have tried so hard to be obedient, and that is all He asks of us....."

"Oh quick, stop, here is the turn," she said.

He slowed and turned right, down another much narrower paved road. A little over two miles and the road curved slightly to the south and then his wife said, "Slow down, the driveway is hard to see....There it is, see that open spot in the trees?"

It was not very obvious, he thought, as he turned right onto the stone pathway and drove slowly over a slight rise, then coming up to the gate that did indeed look like a fallen down pine tree. Laura had described the interesting key pad system and he could plainly see the knot that he knew he would have to push to access it. But he turned to his wife, seeing again just how beautiful she was and was sorry she was so bothered by it all. He said "Let's pray first Honey, before we enter our new life."

She smiled. "I'd like that."

So they held each other's hand and took turns praying, asking again that no matter what, they would be obedient to whatever He asked of them and that this place could be a place of rest and peace for all who entered.

He smiled at her, turned and reached out and pushed at the knot. He searched with his fingers and finding the buttons, punched in the code. The false tree slowly lifted up and seconds later, was standing up just like the rest of the trees growing around the driveway. He put the car in gear and drove past the gate. Rounding the curve through the trees, he got his first look at their new home. His first impression was that it didn't look nearly as bad as his wife had lead him to believe. He stopped as they reached the end of the trees and took a moment to examine it. It was a two story log house with a twin peak roof, the peaks going east to west. There was a large attached garage also with a peaked roof on the north east corner, and what looked like a tower that had been built into the south east corner of the house which had a spire on top like the old castles used to have. It looked like there was an opening all the way around the top part just below the spire that would enable an unobstructed view of three hundred and sixty degrees. It did indeed look like it had never seen paint as his wife had described. The wood was faded a light grey from the sun and elements attacking its unprotected surface. There was waist high grass covering the entire yard, as she had mentioned as well. It was not nearly as thick on the driveway though where the stone slabs were, but it had, in most places worked its way through the cracks between the slabs.

He pulled the van up to the front of the also unpainted and faded garage doors. They got out and he walked a bit away from the house to get a look at it from the outside first. Then he walked to one side for a bit to get a look from a different angle and then back to the other side. He turned to his wife and said. "Needs paint but it doesn't look so bad."

"But it looks like it's falling down doesn't it?" she said.

"Maybe, but I'm not so sure, there is something funny about the way it is built. If it is so old how come it has a double car attached garage. Those never even came into being until about thirty years ago. Anyway, let's see if we can get inside our new home and see what we can see. Think you can handle it?"

"No, but we have to do it, so lets see if you can find the key pad that June and I couldn't."

They went onto the front porch up to the door and he grabbed the brass handle and pulled. Nothing happened, so he looked into the mail box on the side and started pressing down and in different directions. Still nothing. He knelt down and looked up at the bottom of the box for a bit, pressing lightly with his fingers until he felt something give a bit on one side. While still gently pushing on the bottom left side he pushed up on the bottom of the box and sure enough it gave way. He could see a set of four buttons up inside there so he reached in with his hand and pushed the code that he had memorised from the piece of paper. There was a barely noticeable click and this time when he tried the door, it started to open. He turned to his wife and said "Ladies first Beautiful."

"Not on your life this time hubby dear. She's all yours, go for it."

He pulled it open all the way and they stepped in. Sure enough it did not at first glance look too good. The hallway that obviously went to the garage had the floor ripped up as did the hallway to the back of the house. As they turned down that hallway, there was a wide archway just to the left side that looked like it might have been a dining room at one time, but true to form most of the floor on it was gone as well with the exception of about a foot on the far side. Someone had started to lay a new floor but had been interrupted before getting too far. Then he looked out the window beside them and said. "This window hasn't been painted, it's one way glass. Look, you can't even see that it has any tint to it hardly. This guy must have had lots of money if he did the whole house with this kind of window. They cost a fortune."

The walls were in good shape. The logs had been cut on three sides, so the walls were flat and looked like they had been oiled up properly to give them a natural pine color. Even the ceiling was in perfect shape. They walked down the hallway and saw a doorway that looked like it lead to the basement as they could see the stairs leading up, just above it. On the right, was another door which led to what they assumed correctly was a bedroom. The floor in this room was not done either. Then they walked to the end of the short hallway and got the shock of their lives.

To the left was a large kitchen, that looked like something out of Good Housekeeping magazine. Laura could not believe her eyes. It had everything she had ever dreamed of in a kitchen. It was bright with lots of windows, it had an island with a built in stove and all the large utensils hanging from hooks just above it. There was an alcove in the far corner with a big stainless steel double kitchen sink and a window above it looking out onto the coulee below, and enough cupboard and counter space to satisfy even her super cook mother. She couldn't talk, but just walked through it touching things, a large side by side fridge that she had always dreamed of with a water and ice cube dispenser on the outside. A dishwasher, microwave, and convection oven. The stove was one of those smooth top ones that were easy to clean and all the utensils were placed neatly in the drawers. She turned to her husband and tried to say something, but nothing would come out. He went to her and held her, and she started to cry a little, her head on his shoulder.

"Well it's not quite as bad as we thought at any rate." he said softly, kissing her lightly on the forehead. "You should be able to cook up a storm in this kitchen. Looks like the living room is finished pretty nice as well," looking over her shoulder in the other direction. They walked over to the entryway still holding each other, which was wide and inviting. There was a couch underneath the south facing window that looked custom built to have a nap on. Angled toward the far corner, was a double easy chair assembly with a built in table between them. Dan went over and sat down in the far one and started looking at the buttons that were in profusion on top of the little table. He pushed one that said TV and a fifty inch plasma screen quietly lowered itself from a hidden niche in the ceiling and turned on to a local station.

"Hey what's going on, I thought there was no power in this place." He said.

She walked back to the kitchen and started turning on light switches and the overhead fan and everything worked. She looked in the fridge which was on and had food in it, TV dinners, frozen vegetables and several packages of wrapped meat. They weren't going to starve for the next day or two even if they hadn't brought all of her mother's abundant food gifts.

"Everything works here as well," she said. "Maybe I just missed seeing the power lines. Anyway, I don't want to leave this kitchen. I'm afraid it might disappear if I go away."

"I know what you mean. This living room is something we can actually relax in and be comfortable. I don't know if our bodies are going to be able handle all this softness after the furniture we had in Tank. Well do you want to see the rest of the house, or do you just want to stand here and drool?"

"Ok, ok, Dan, should we go upstairs or down first?"

"Let's go down, it's least likely to be finished."

They opened the door in the hallway that looked like it went down, and switched on the light. It worked as well, so they went down and were again pleasantly surprised. There was a family room that needed some furniture, but the walls and ceiling were mostly finished if not the floor. A few other things still needed to be done such as some baseboards and electrical sockets that were hanging open. There was a pool table in the other corner and they found two large bedrooms at the back, one with a bed and dresser in it. There was a bathroom with a large shower as well. The bathroom upstairs had a tub with no shower, so now they had both options.

Dan opened the last door to what looked like the furnace room and turned to her and said, "I know why there are no power lines, but still power now."

"What do you mean?" his wife said.

"I'm pretty sure this place has a geo-thermal heating system and some kind of solar set up as well. That looks much like the system I have seen on the internet when I was looking into alternative sources of power for the hospital. These batteries are for the solar power storage."

"What does that all mean?" she asked.

"It means that we are off the grid, but still have power and it should be almost free."

"I like the free part, but is it dependable?"

"If it is done right it should be, but I guess we will just have to wait and see. We will have to find someone to explain it all to us, but this place just keeps getting better and better. Should we check the upstairs now?"

"At this point in time, I don't need too. I have almost everything I want here already, but let's go!"

So they went up the stairs to the main floor and she almost stopped and went over to the kitchen instead of following her husband upstairs. She all of a sudden had an incredible desire to cook something. But she reluctantly followed Dan up the stairs and was not disappointed when she got to the top. The steps ended up facing the wall to the north and there was another wall on the right side. On the left was what looked to be a mini living room. There was an island with a small sink and fridge on it and a coffee pot hidden in a cupboard. Then another very comfortable looking double chair setup with the same small table in the middle, facing another somewhat smaller plasma TV. It was mounted on a wall that separated the room with the bathroom in the south west corner. The bathroom was an open style with no wall at all between the bedroom and the bath. It was good that they were not that private with each other. Laura loved her bath before bed and this one looked good enough to get into right now. It had room for two people with the taps in the middle and was set in front of a large window that overlooked the coulee and creek below. She was going to have to have it proved to her that this was indeed, good quality one way glass or she would be hanging a blanket before she used it. There was also a separate shower and a counter with two sinks built into the marble countertop.

In the bedroom side of the open room was a large queen sized bed with a head board that was perfect for sitting up and reading. The alcove that was below in the kitchen and family room extended to here as well. It had a nice cushioned bench all the way around with a very comfortable backrest. There was a small table in the center for your coffee cup and a book or two. Perfect for a quiet Sunday afternoon to read or snooze.

Behind the bed in the last corner of the room was a walk-in closet that was going to need some work before it was finished. It was accessible from either side of the bed, a his and hers set up. There was lots of room for hanging clothes on both sides and when you walked to the far end there was an open area with several drawers and a floor to rafter mirror. She would never lack for cupboard space or places to put things again as long as they lived in this house.

She heard her husband say, "Hey Honey, come try this bed, I've never been in one that is as comfortable as this. She came and sat down, then laid down, and said "Oh my, I think it's going to be pretty hard to get up and go to work after sleeping in this."

He turned toward her and, getting up on his elbow, said "Well Beautiful, still think you made a bad decision? I think the Good Lord must be smiling happily at you right about now."

"I guess I did worry when I shouldn't have didn't I? it needs lots of work still, but wow! She stood up. What do you want for supper? I want to try out that kitchen and see if everything works. I'm in operation overload now, don't think I want to see anymore until later."

"Ok, I'll do some exploring. I want to see what's up those stairs, and in the garage and in the barn. We'll see if there really is a grow-op in this place, but I'm betting not after seeing this," he said.

Dan went up the stairs that he figured must go up to the roof, and found the round balcony that he had noticed from below. It was open all the way around except for five supporting pillars and there was a bench all the way around so you could sit and enjoy the view from every angle.

Incredible, he thought as he looked out over the land they now owned. He was overwhelmed and just had to sit down for a few minutes while he thanked the Lord for what they had received. Then he got up and went down to the bedroom again, and walked out onto the small balcony that was tucked in between the bedroom and bathroom part of the floor. Incredible, he thought to himself again. He could see he and his wife enjoying many cups of coffee in this little spot.

He went downstairs and saw his wife happily going through cupboards looking like she was in heaven a little early. He walked down the hallway and then to the door that he was sure led to the garage. The first thing he saw when he opened it was a large pile of boards that were obviously to finish the flooring with. Well that's a relief he thought, won't have to try and buy them anyway, but what really struck his eye was the truck sitting on the other side of the garage. He knew immediately that it was a late eighty's Ford Ranger, four by four extended cab, because his brother had owned one and let them use it on occasion when they were home on furlough. It was charcoal grey in color, a truck he had always thought he would like to own. He went around the lumber pile and looked closely at it. The body had been lifted up about four inches and had oversized tires mounted on chrome wheels, but otherwise looked pretty ordinary. He looked inside and saw that the keys were still in the ignition.

He opened the door and saw that the interior light seemed bright enough so there was still some power in the battery, then turned the key on and all the dash lights came on plus one extra little red one that was not marked. I wonder what that one is, he thought and then heard a click from the engine compartment. He thought it sounded like the glow plugs from a diesel engine, but he knew these trucks seldom came with diesel, so it must be something else. He reached down and pulled the hood release latch and then went and lifted the hood. He knew quite a bit about engines, as he enjoyed fixing them and he used to drive some pretty fast cars in his youth, before God got a hold of him in a big way. He knew this was not a stock engine. It looked like a V-6 diesel engine to him but it seemed to fit right in. The engine compartment looked like it had just come off the showroom floor, it was so clean. He checked the engine oil and coolant level, then went around to the driver's door and got in. He turned the ignition key on again. Sure enough, the red light came on again and went out a few seconds later with an audible click. He turned the key to the start position and the engine turned over and started almost immediately. It was definitely a diesel engine alright, and it was a few seconds before he realized that it was getting smoky in the garage. He saw the garage door opener on the visor and pushed the button. The big door slid up and disappeared into the ceiling and the smoke started wafting out. He put the truck in gear and drove it slowly outside onto the garage pad, letting it warm up a bit. He got out and went around front listening for any unwelcome noises, but it sounded just like most diesel engines. It rattled a little as most diesels did, but otherwise sounded nice and smooth. He spent a few more minutes checking it over, then drove it back into the garage and shut it off.

He went back inside the house and found his wife happily cooking something that smelled delicious. "What are you making?" he asked, "Smells good!"

"Your favourite," She said "Meatloaf with baked potatoes and corn. Mom sent some sour cream with all that stuff and real butter, and there was lots of hamburger in the fridge that smelled ok, so I thought that would be the easiest."

"You do spoil me so," he said, and pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug. "But don't stop, ok? Bye the way did you say that when we bought this place it included all the contents of the house and barn?"

"Yes, I figured if the man that used to own this place was in jail, we would be stuck with everything he left. I was sure there would be nothing of value, but I wanted to make sure that we had the option of throwing out everything with out worrying about something coming back on us later. So I asked June to specify in the contract that we got everything. Don't you remember all the trouble we had with that first house we bought and the people had left half their furniture and junk. We had to store it all for six months before they finally came and even then we ended up hauling a bunch of it to the dump and had to pay quite a bit just to get rid of it. Why do you ask?"

"There is a truck out in the garage, that looks like what I could use around here, so if what you say is true, maybe we can keep it. It's an older one, but looks to be in good shape."

"I was wondering what you were doing with the van, it sounded a lot noisier than I thought it should, so it must have been the truck then."

"Yes, it's a diesel, so they are a little noisier. I wonder what we do about the insurance and registration then and getting it transferred to our name? I see it is still in his name and good for another three months into September."

"You better phone June tomorrow and see what we need to do. It would be nice to have two vehicles, living out of town like this and we are going to have a hard time affording another one unless we both get good jobs soon. Your motorcycle will do until fall, but even you will need something with four wheels then, I'm afraid."

"Yes it's not like Pakistan, where you can ride all year round even if I didn't dare drive one there. Well now I'm really curious about what's in the barn, I think I'll go take a quick look before supper if I have time?" he said.

"You do, but not too long please, it will be ready in about another twenty minutes. I'd like to come with you but I have to watch the meat loaf and potatoes, and besides, I'm still afraid you might find some not so pleasant things out there. I'm a chicken at heart as you well know." She said, smiling at him.

"I don't think twenty five years of living in Pakistan, some of them spent with bullets flying over your head would qualify you as "chicken" dear," he said. "But I'll be the brave warrior for you and beat a path to the door of the barn."

"Just no guns this time, eh, I don't want to have to patch you up again. You might not be so lucky a second time."

"It's only by God's wonderful grace that we made it over there, Honey and His grace is looking wonderful right now." Dan looked around the well appointed kitchen. "His grace is how we will continue to make it here. I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Me neither, but go take a look, then get back here, and see if my cooking is any better in this fancy kitchen than it was over there."

He almost did have to beat a path to the door of the barn. The grass was waist high. He guessed it must have been well over a year since it was last cut, if ever. The barn had a hidden key pad as well, and it took him a few moments before he figured out that it was hidden under the ledge of the blacked out window built into the door. He hoped it was the same code as the house and was gratified to hear a faint click as he punched in the numbers. He pulled the door open and was greeted by a very dusty room, what appeared to be an office with a desk and chair at the opposite end. The chair faced the door. There were several comfortable looking chairs scattered around and a well padded sofa as well as a fridge and microwave. It obviously had not been used in some time. Then he got to thinking that the house had not been very dusty at all. It looked like someone must have been cleaning it at least within the last month. Hmmm, have to talk with June about that as well, he thought.

He was curious about what was in the desk , but instead pulled open the door that led into the barn, and silently thanked the Lord when he saw it was full of machinery instead of plants. There was hardly room to walk it was so full. He went in and started wiggling his way between the equipment. He could see a one ton panel truck, an old John Deere tractor, a fork lift, a small caterpillar with a blade, all lined up along the center part of the barn. He had to go to the other side to get to the back, and on the side were several things of undetermined origin all hidden under tarps. He found a small Case combine, what used to be a silver coloured plough, with most of the paint missing, and various other pieces of equipment you would expect to see on any farm.

The barn had a full coverage ceiling which made him wonder if the upstairs was as full as the bottom was. He was thinking he was either going to have to start farming, or have an auction sale, though most of the machinery looked to be well past its prime. Then he got near the back corner and found something that really excited him. This was the workshop area, and it looked like the owner had spent a lot of time here. There was a huge Snap-On tool chest sitting against one wall. The owner must have been a mechanic as well as a farmer. When he started lifting tarps off the bulges, he revealed a variety of typical equipment that you would expect to find in any well equipped farm workshop - a welder, drill press, lathe machine, grinder, and even what looked like a milling machine. He was about to lift off some more covers when he heard his wife calling from the doorway.

"You in here Honey? Dinner is ready!"

"I'm over here Beautiful. I'll be right there," he replied.

He manoeuvred his way back through the equipment and found his wife waiting for him at the doorway.

"Find any green stuff there?" she asked, a little bit of anxiety written on her face.

"Yes, there was quite a bit of it." but quickly added, "John Deere green," when he saw the look of horror cross her face.

"Oh you! So there is nothing there that we were so worried about?"

"That 'you' worried about." He pointed out with a smile, "No, but I may have to take up farming. You should see the workshop. Are you sure that we own everything in this place?"

"That's what we wrote in the contract, and it was confirmed in writing, So it's your lucky day. Just don't get any ideas about getting too greasy until we get all the floors in the house done okay?"

"I'll try hard to keep my promise my wonderful, hardworking wife." He said as he smiled at her.

"But let's go try your first home cooked meal in our new home, I'm hungry!"

They spent some time praying after a delicious supper, thanking the Lord for how gracious He had been in giving them this place. Both of them felt so much joy at what they had found inside the sinister looking buildings, that they could hardly contain themselves. They simply were not used to such luxury, even the kitchen chairs felt wonderful. And when they went to bed, they had a hard time believing a mattress could be so soft. They were starting to feel a little guilty.

"So, Laura, how do you feel about your decision now?" he asked, a huge smile on his face as he turned to her.

"I don't know what to say. I kept thinking about that, I think I would almost have to call it a vision now, that I had when I came through the gate. Then the business with the dog and June, it's just hard to believe the Lord could care so much. It was almost like having a private audience with Him for a few minutes. Even in all our years of service in Pakistan, I have never had anything like that happen. I'm a little bit ashamed that I was so concerned about what we would find here."

"Well you have to admit, it all fits the profile of what you thought would be inside these buildings. Just goes to show though, that just as in us humans, what we see on the outside is not always what will be on the inside."

Chapter Eleven

They got up late the next morning. Dan went over to the mini kitchen and made them a pot of coffee, pouring a cup for his wife and bringing it to her in bed to have while she did her devotions. He gave her a peck on the cheek and then grabbing a cup for himself, went downstairs to have his own quiet time. He came up half an hour later with a funny look on his face. "I just had the strangest feeling," he said, "while I was praying."

"What do you mean?"

"I got the strongest feeling that we are supposed to pay this place off as soon as possible. I'm not sure what that all means, but it seemed to be from the Lord, so I don't know what to say. We certainly don't have any money to do that, even the small amount we owe."

"Ok, this is interesting, I had the same feeling, and you are right, it really seemed like the Lord was talking to me," she replied.

"This sounds serious, like something not good will happen if we don't, but we have no money and none of our parents have that much to lend us."

"Something will turn up I'm sure," she said "if it is that strong a message. I guess our faith testing is not going to stop just because we came home."

"No, I guess not, although I was hoping for a bit of a break before we were tested again. Oh well, He has blessed us so much, let's pray we will be obedient no matter what happens."

Less than a week later, they got an inkling into why the Lord was telling them to pay off the mortgage as quickly as possible. They had left the gate open and a large Ford Expedition that looked like it had every option available on it from huge oversized tires to a massive chrome bumper that looked like it belonged on a train engine, pulled into the yard. A small, thin, and angry looking man got out and walked up to the front door, knocking on it with a strength that belied his small stature. Dan opened the door and even before he could say hello, was greeted with a livid, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Dan's first reaction was to pop the little guy in the mouth and sic Chomp after him. The same dog that had met his wife the first time she had come, had turned up their first morning there and had enthusiastically greeted them, jumping up and down, running around them and barking and wagging his tail in delight. He had not strayed since and they were really enjoying having him greet them every morning, even to the point of going into town and buying some dog food for him. That's when they decided to name him Chomp after the way he seemed to chomp on everything he ate. He wasn't wagging his tail now, but had come up on the porch behind the man, looking like he was ready to rip the intruder's leg off. He growled and the man jumped and turned around quickly, his face changing to a lighter shade as he saw what he was up against.

Dan said, "I think maybe it would be a good idea if you told me who you are and what you are doing on my property, asking me ridiculous questions in such a threatening manner."

The man was obviously used to getting his own way, as it took him a few seconds to realize that someone was actually questioning him. He started to open his mouth like he was going to yell again, but looked at the very large, angry dog on one side and the six foot almost two hundred pound man facing him on the other side and decided that maybe he should lower his bravado limit a bit.

"I'm George Banner and I am supposed to get this land next week. I put in a bid for it and was promised that it was mine! Now who the hell are you, and what are you doing in this house?"

"Well first of all, I will ask you to refrain from the foul language, thank you, or this conversation is going to come to an end real quick, and second of all," he continued, as George started to open his mouth to yell some more, "my hearing is not that great, but we are standing pretty close to each other and I think I can understand you quite well if you talk in a normal voice."

"I'll talk in any voice I want and in any manner I want, and what are you going to do about it, sic the dog after me? I'll just sue you for all you are worth!"

"Well I'm sorry about that, as I hardly have two nickels to rub together, so that would likely be a huge waste of your money. And about the dog? It's not mine and I don't know where it came from. So if you have something against it, I will just go inside now and leave you two to work out your differences," and he turned to go back inside, reaching for the door handle.

George's mouth opened wide as he took another look at the slowly advancing dog, his growling getting louder.

"No wait!" he said, his face now more white with fear than red with anger. "Stop the dog!"

"I told you, it's not my dog, but if I were you I would back up very slowly to your big fancy truck there and get in calmly. The dog looks pretty wild to me, and wild animals don't like sudden moves as I understand it."

He opened the door and went inside, looking out the window to see what would happen. He was pretty sure the dog would not attack, but wanted to be ready in case it did. He watched as the angry little man slowly walked backward to the door of his truck and reached for the door handle to open it, forgetting that he had locked it with the remote. He reached into his pocket, getting his keys out and fumbling with the remote to unlock the door before he managed to get back into the truck. He did find a little bit of moisture at his crotch just after the dog lunged at the door and tried to get at him through the glass, barking furiously and scratching at the glass. George hastily got the truck started, backed up quickly and spun his tires trying to get out of the yard as fast as he could. The back of the truck went sideways and almost hit a large tree at the edge of the driveway before he finally got it under control and sped out of the farmyard.

Dan went back out the door and called the dog back. Chomp stopped immediately and turned around and ran back to Dan who knelt down and started petting him and talking to him. "I guess you showed him who was boss eh Chomp? Wonder why you have so much distaste for the little fellow?"

His wife came out and said "What on earth happened out here, it sounded like a war going on?"

He told her what had happened and then said, "I think we may have just found out why the Lord is telling us to pay for this place as quickly as possible. That guy is big trouble with a capital "T". I still don't know how we can do it, but if the Lord wants it, He will provide so I guess we will just have to wait and see."

They got their first answer to what the Lord had asked that afternoon. Laura had decided to give the truck a good cleaning inside and out while her husband worked on the floor in the dining room. She felt a lump on the back of the driver's seat and reached into the pocket that was there. She still felt the lump further in and feeling around found another slit near the bottom of the pocket. She reached in and pulled out a plastic wrapped bundle. She unwrapped it, and her jaw dropped. It was money. Lots of money. She counted it slowly and found one thousand dollars in one hundred dollar notes. She wrapped it up and went inside to her husband who was working on the floorboards in the dining room.

She asked him "Honey, seeing as how I am working so hard to clean out your truck, does that mean I get to keep whatever I find?" she said with an innocent smile that he knew meant trouble.

"Sure!" he replied with a smile, "As long as it's not tools."

"No it's not tools, but you could probably buy a few with this." She showed him what she had found.

He was stunned as he looked at the package. "How much is it?" he asked and when she told him gave a long whistle. "I guess this looks like the first part of the answer to the prayer for the house mortgage. It looks like the Lord really means business eh?"

"We still have forty nine thousand left to pay even with this though," she said. "And that seems like so much money!"

"It is," he said, "but I'm betting if He provided this, He's not going to stop there. Maybe He's just telling us not to waste it on other things."

The next day was Saturday and it was busy. Their kids all showed up almost at the same time to see their folks' new home and to tell them that they better plan on staying in one place for awhile, a place that was accessible to the grandchildren. They had also gone by their grandparent's place in Ponoka and loaded whatever they could from the storage shed that Dan and Laura had put on her parent's farm. Her brother and his wife showed up an hour later with his truck and trailer loaded with what was left. There hadn't been a lot of stuff in the shed when they had left twenty five years earlier, but over the years they had brought quite a bit back from Pakistan, even some furniture one time when they had been able to share a shipping container with some people they knew. Then Dan's folks showed up with some more stuff that they had forgotten they even had.

"It's about time we got this stuff out of the basement," his dad said with a smile. "Now we can finally use that guest room for guests."

It was the middle of the afternoon when they finally all gathered around the huge dining room table that they had brought back from Pakistan, with others gathered at the kitchen table and wherever else they could find a place to sit and eat the feast the women had prepared. Dan kept watching his wife and knew she had seldom been happier than she was this day, to have all her family gathered around. As they all bowed their heads to say grace, he suddenly found himself unable to speak. He finally nudged his father-in-law who was sitting beside him, and with a look of understanding on his face as he glanced at his son-in-law, asked the Lord's blessing on the meal. It was a short, but heartfelt prayer as he praised the Lord for His goodness in bringing everyone safely together for such a joyous occasion. Several moments went by before someone finally cleared their throat and conversation began again. Everyone present had suddenly been made conscious of what a privilege it was to be here together like this. Even the children were quiet for a few seconds, before the chatter started again and the place came alive with noise.

Dan tried to spend time with each of his kids and parents, but there was too much going on and there always seemed to be someone else around, making it impossible to have a meaningful conversations with any kind of privacy. But no one seemed to mind, knowing that it was a time of fellowship for all, not one on one.

He was concerned about his oldest son Matt though. He had noticed that when Matt and his wife Shawn had driven up they were obviously not on the best of terms with each other. Their two kids had looked pretty down in the mouth as well. He desperately wanted to talk to him, but every time he got him alone someone else would immediately be there wanting to be involved in the conversation as well. He kept watching them through the day as best he could, and was glad to see some of the tension lifting off his son's face as the day progressed. Matt kept going to his wife for a few moments at a time, until finally they both left for a walk and it was at least an hour before they came back. But this time they were holding hands and actually smiling at each other. Dan didn't have any idea what had happened but he had been praying especially for them all day, and it looked like his prayers may have been answered.

When it was time for them to leave, the kids were loaded and Laura was standing beside the van talking to Shawn while he was waiting to say something to his son as he was about to get into the vehicle on his side. Suddenly his son took his arm and pulled him to one side, and asked in a low voice.

"What is this place dad? What's going on here?"

"What do you mean son?"

"I mean when we came here, Shawn and I were at each other's throats, and have been for weeks. The kids have been miserable, my wife has hardly spoken to me, and I was starting to worry that our marriage was in real danger. We couldn't seem to find any common ground anywhere any more. I didn't want to say anything, because I know you are not supposed to have any stress in your life right now, but something has happened here. I kept looking at Shawn today and all I could think about was why I loved her and what a wonderful wife and mother she is. Not a thought about all the hurts she has done to me, not that there have been too many of those I have to say. I couldn't stand it any more so I asked her if she would like to go for a walk, and we took off knowing that the kids were in good hands. I started talking about all the bad things that were happening and how the finances were getting me down, and how sorry I was that I was spending too much money and too much time at work and not enough with her and the kids, and then she started talking about all her anger towards me and with life and God, and soon we were hugging and kissing each other and talking about all the good times and how we don't want to lose that, and then we are sitting down praying and asking God to forgive us and asking each other for forgiveness and....wow. I don't think I have ever felt so light hearted and just plain happy in my life. And I think Shawn feels the same way. Look at the kids. They were fighting tooth and nail when we came and now they're sitting there telling each other what a great time they had and planning now what they are going to do the next time we come. I don't know what you have here Dad, but you better hang on to it for dear life. Your family needs it and I would be willing to bet it is why you are in as good a shape as you are now. I know you don't tell us half of what happened over in Pakistan so we won't worry too much, but I have some other sources of information and what I heard was going on over there was pretty serious. We are just so glad that you and mom are back to stay.

"Wow son, I don't think I have heard you say that much at one time since you were born. Yeah it was pretty rough over there at times but the Lord really did guide us and take care of us. He gave us this place and you are right, there is something about it that can only be from Him. I'm starting to feel a little more able to cope already, which is a miracle after what we went through the last few months. The docs said I would likely be at least a year before I started feeling normal again, maybe even a lot longer, but it has only been a week since we moved in and it feels like I have had a month long vacation already. I don't know why He has chosen to bless us so much, but I'm not complaining that's for sure.

"You never were much of a complainer Dad, but it sure is nice to see you and mom and Eve again. But we better get going, I think we may have a new life to start ourselves here, which I sure look forward to." He gave his dad a good solid hug, shook his hand and then got into the van and soon were gone out the driveway

After the van had disappeared around the bend in the driveway, Dan walked over to his beautiful wife and said, "Looks like they might make it after all." As he wrapped his hand around hers. "This place seems to be full of miracles doesn't it?"

"It does indeed," she replied, "I feel so blessed right now I could almost burst with joy. That cup runneth over verse in the bible just took on a whole new meaning."

"I know what you mean" he said, and smiled at her as they turned and walked back into the house hand in hand.

Chapter Twelve

The next day after church, Dan's buddies Jack and Herb came over for a visit. Jack had Dan's bike that he had been using for the last four years just to keep it from deteriorating. He had brought it back to him.

"Wow!" Dan said, "I don't think that bike has ever been that clean before, you must have spent hours detailing it."

"It was nothing but a pleasure after all the hours I've spent riding it," he said.

"Yeah right." Dan said, "I heard you have a new Beemer now, I'm sure you wanted to ride my old machine with your new one sitting in the garage. Anyway thanks for looking after it so well for me, I really appreciate it. It will be fun to get on it again."

"Well let's go for a ride!" Herb quipped, "Enough sitting around! Jack, you get on behind me and Dan you get your leathers out of the trunk and let's go!"

Dan laughed and said, "Ok, but just for coffee some place, I can't be gone for too long. I'll tell Laura we're going."

Two hours later they were back from a short but very enjoyable ride and Dan pulled around to the back of the barn to where the workshop was. They went inside and he showed them what he had found. As they talked, Herb went snooping around a little. A few minutes later he came back all excited and said "Have you looked under any of these covers yet?

"Nope, Dan replied, "I'd love to, but I've been working as hard as I am able to get the house done, so haven't been out here hardly at all. What did you find?"

"Did you say everything in here belongs to you now?"

"That's what I'm told." He said, "Why?"

"Well you are now the proud owner of a nineteen forty two Vincent Excalibur. That thing is worth about twenty thousand dollars if you can get it running. It looks like it's complete. Any chance we can get it out of there?"

"Well we can sure try," Dan said. Let's see if we can move some of this equipment outside."

So they set to work and got the forklift started, and with it pulled out the old two ton Ford grain truck that was blocking access to the motorcycle. Herb lifted the cover off the bike and they rolled it over to the workshop area. They all set to work dusting it off and checking it over.

"It looks almost new!" Herb said excitedly. "What I wouldn't give to own this! Look, the speedometer only has eight hundred miles on it!"

They loosened off the drain screws on the carbs and nothing came out, which might be a good sign as it meant someone might have stored the machine properly. They siphoned some fuel out of Dan's bike, then poured it into the Vincent. Herb got on it and started to jab at the kick start with his foot and play with the throttle and choke assembly. After half a dozen tries it gave a spit out the carb. The next kick, it fired once and the following kick it ran for five seconds before quitting. Herb kept at it and finally it started and settled into an uneasy idle. He blipped the throttle a few times letting it warm up, then slipping it into gear slowly drove out the door of the barn and down the driveway. He turned around and came back, the machine running smoother all the time.

"I want it!" he said. "It's a beauty."

"Well maybe we can make a deal." Dan said, "What will you offer me?"

"I know it's worth a good twenty thousand, maybe more to the right buyer, , but I can't afford that much. I hear you have quite a bit of work in the house that an old carpenter like myself might be able to handle. I can come up with about half the money, so I wonder if I could trade the other half of the value of the bike for some old Scottish labour?"

"That sounds wonderful to me. When can you get started?"

A week later Herb showed up with his truck and tools, and got to work on the floors in the house. They had decided he would stay over for the week as it was almost an hour drive away, so after supper on Monday night they went out to the garage to give the bike a closer examination. Herb was like a kid with a new toy that was better than anything he had ever seen before. Dan enjoyed watching him lovingly remove bolts to get the seat and fuel tank off, so they could clean it more thoroughly. He treated it like a newborn baby even to the point of talking to it like it was alive. He got the seat off and then said, "What's this?" Pulling out a plastic wrapped bundle, he handed it to Dan, saying "I guess it's yours seeing as I haven't paid for the bike yet," with a smile on his face. "Looks like money to me."

Dan took it and opened it and some hundred dollar bills fell out. They picked them up and found five of them. "Wow, he said, that will pay for a few groceries I think. How about that?"

"Thanks Herb, Dan said. "I'm glad we decided to work on this bike here instead of you paying for it and taking it home."

Herb laughed. "Yes I might feel bad, but I got such a good deal on this fine machine, that I don't think I'll complain too much. Next time though, I'll know to pay you right away. Speaking of which, I do have the money for the bike so I guess I better pay you when we get back into the house."

They stripped the bike down enough to give it a pretty decent cleaning job and then put everything carefully back in place again. It had obviously been well detailed before they got to it, so all it needed was a little dusting. When they finished they stood back to admire their job.

"It really does look like new Herb, almost a shame to put it on the road. I would say in a museum under glass would be the best place for it, but knowing you that's not likely to happen."

"Nope. I didn't buy it from you just to look at it, Dan. I bought it to ride, although I don't believe it will see too many miles underneath those old tires. Just enough for me to enjoy the sound and vibration of it once in awhile and show it off at some of the vintage clubs around here. By the way, have you checked out what else is in this old barn yet? I think I saw some more tarps further down that look like there might be more bikes under them."

"Can't say as I've had the chance yet, Herb. It seems like I don't have the energy to do it. The doc says I'm supposed to take it as easy as possible, and I can see why. It's been such a blessing to have you come and work on those floors. Laura just can't stand to see things unfinished like that, and it takes me half the morning just to put one board down. But this place has definitely been what the doctor ordered. I have never felt so much at peace as I have here, I can almost feel my body and mind slowly getting stronger. Even getting up in the morning is enjoyable now. After I had my little incident, it took most of the morning before I could even think about doing much more than putting my clothes on. It was not a good time. The doc says it will likely be up to a year before I can function fully again, although I feel pretty good most days now. I think however I am up to taking a look under a couple of the tarps now if you can tear yourself away from your new ride."

They manoeuvred their way past some of the other equipment further down, until they got to the tarps that were covering what they thought might be a couple of motorcycles. They pulled the first one off and sure enough, there was an old Harley sitting there. It looked to be complete as well and in very nice shape.

"Wow!" Herb exclaimed. "Maybe I shouldn't have bought the Vincent, this one looks nice as well! Keep this up and you'll have enough to pay for this place. I just might know someone who loves old Harleys and pays top dollar for good ones. Do you want me to ask him about this one for you?"

"That would be great!" Don replied. "I would love to get this mortgage paid off quickly."

"I wonder if there are any on the other side?" Herb asked. He went over to the one beside the Harley and pulled the cover off. "Oh not so lucky this time I guess, it's just a Honda."

"That's not just any Honda," Dan said, "That's a CBX. It's got an in-line six cylinder engine and used to be one of the faster bikes in its day. I think it might be a nineteen seventy nine model. Honda built this machine just to prove it could. Everyone else was building four cylinders, so Honda wanted to show how much more the company was technically advanced over its rivals. They didn't build that many of them, and they are getting to be a bit of a collector's item. I was always impressed with them. Sorry, I know you are not much into Japanese bikes, but at least you were sure you were going to get to where you wanted to go on them. Not like that Harley there. You had to almost have a toolbox full of tools with you on every trip and know how to use it."

"Yes I won't argue with you on that point, but half the fun of owning one of these old machines is working on it."

"I'm glad you think so, but I would much rather enjoy the ride than fix the thing. I guess that's one of the neat things about motorcycles, we all seem to have different reasons to ride."

"Yep. Some of us like to add a little protein to our diet from the bugs we swallow. You know us Scots, anything for free." He laughed. "Others would rather enjoy arm chair comfort with something that has almost as many options as a Cadillac. Not my idea of a good time, but some of us get old before our time." He smiled at Dan.

"I guess we all have our likes and dislikes," Dan replied. "I was so glad I was a missionary in Pakistan, where the food was hot and spicy but most of it was normal. In places like China or Africa, you never know what you might find on your plate. I never liked the idea of eating bugs for breakfast or snake for supper. Anyway, speaking of food, it's almost my bedtime, so why don't we go in and have a cup of coffee and some of Laura's famous spice cake. Maybe tomorrow we can check further in and see what else is hidden in this old barn."

"Sounds good to me," Herb replied. "Lead the way and I'll get that money for you in case I find something else interesting on the bike before I get it paid for."

Dan told his wife about the five hundred dollars they had found in the bike, and she said, "That's pretty sweet, now we are down to only thirty eight thousand, five hundred on the mortgage with what Herb is paying us. Maybe you should check all the vehicles out there. The man who owned this place might have something in every one."

"If I find something in every vehicle, I'd be suspicious that the guy is in jail for bank robbery instead of growing drugs. I don't really want to look too much until Herb is done here. I'd feel strange if I started finding money all over the place with someone watching. Anyway, I'm ready for a bath and bed, how about you?"

"I could spend a good portion of my life in that bathtub, I'm afraid," she said. "I've never felt such soft water come out of a tap, and that tub was built for relaxing. It's hard to get out sometimes, it feels so nice."

The next morning, Dan decided to try and figure out the geo-thermal and solar system and see if he had to do any maintenance on it. He was carefully checking all over the equipment, behind, above and below, when he found another package taped to the back of one of the batteries that was almost against the wall. There was just enough room to put his hand back there and pull the package out. Again it was plastic wrapped and again it was money. He counted five thousand dollars this time. He couldn't believe his eyes. Maybe this guy was a bank robber, as unlikely as that seemed. The first thing the police would have done would be to check his house and barn if they had put him in jail on that charge. This was getting stranger all the time, but he closed his eyes once again, and thanked the Lord for what was happening. He still had the strongest feeling that this was alright, so he took the money to his wife who was upstairs in the kitchen. He could hear Herb banging away on the top floor, so knew they wouldn't be bothered.

Her eyes went wide when he showed her his find, and she said, "What's going on here, why are we finding all this money?"

"I don't know Honey," he said, "but I hope it is the Lord answering His summons to us to pay this mortgage off as soon as possible."

"Well if this keeps up, we will be able to do it in a week or two. Wouldn't that just be something? But I wonder why He wants us to pay it off so quickly? There has to be more to it don't you think?"

"It sounds likely, but I wonder if we will ever find out what it is."

Two weeks later, they found out what was going on, or at least part of it. Dan had found more money in the vehicles that he could get to in the barn without moving everything. He still could not believe how much equipment this guy had managed to stuff in that old barn. Then his wife found another five thousand dollars taped behind the fridge when she pulled it out to clean behind it. When they had finally checked in every nook and cranny that they could think of, they were still $15,000 short, but when Dan talked to his Dad, he said that he would be able to come up with that much money to lend him. Dan gratefully accepted saying that he hoped he could pay him back when he sold some of the machines in the barn. They now had exactly fifty thousand dollars needed for the mortgage. They called Annette and arranged to meet with her. She was shocked, but pleased for them, as she had always admired their dedication in helping the poor on the other side of the world. She promised that she would have all the papers ready to sign when they came in the next day.

They were in her office promptly at ten o'clock the next morning, and chatted for a bit before signing the papers in all the appropriate places. Then Annette asked for the check for fifty thousand dollars. Instead Dan lifted up his briefcase and put in on the desk. He opened it, smiling, and said, "I hope you don't mind cash instead." There in the briefcase was five hundred, one hundred dollar notes.

Annette laughed. "I don't think I have ever had anyone pay off a mortgage in cash, before, even one as small as yours. Ok, I'll take this to the manager along with the papers that he has to sign and we'll be done. And congratulations."

She walked out the door and was back in a minute with a very puzzled expression on her face accompanied by a sombre looking well dressed man who introduced himself as the manager, and then said "I'm afraid there has been a terrible mistake. You see there is some problem with the paper work on your mortgage. Because the owner was sent to jail, there were some irregularities with how things were handled at your local bank. They never should have allowed bids on the land, so I'm afraid we are going to have to give you back your money and ask you to vacate the premises."

They sat there in stunned silence for a few moments not having any idea what to say.

"How....how can this happen? We did everything right, didn't we?" Dan stammered.

"Oh yes, it's nothing you did, it was strictly an error of judgement on the part of the Bashaw branch manager. I'm afraid that any other expenses incurred by you will not be covered though, so I hope you have not wasted too much money on it. I'm sorry for what happened, but it's just one of those things."

He didn't look that sorry to Dan. As a matter of fact he looked like he was enjoying this. He started praying in his heart, while he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and hit a pre-programmed number while looking over at his equally stunned wife.

Paul thought about not answering the irritating noise on his belt. He hated to be bothered on the golf course, but he only gave this number out to people that he knew would only call in a real emergency. He looked at the name, and was puzzled when he didn't recognise it. He flipped it open and said hello. He listened for a minute saying nothing, then said, "just hold on a second." He turned to his golf partner and said, "Henry, I have a little problem here with one of your managers. I wonder if you could help me out a bit?"

He explained what was going on and Henry was not too pleased. He said, "Let me talk to him for a moment, I think I can solve this problem real quick!"

Paul handed him the phone and listened to the one way conversation for a few moments and then started smiling.

After Paul had told Dan that someone else wanted to talk to him, Dan's fears were not dispelled in any way. This doesn't look good at all, he thought. But the man only said 'hello, how are you doing?' and without waiting for an answer, said, "Sounds like you're having a bit of a problem there. Don't worry, we'll get this solved right away and I'm sorry you had to have this happen to you. Now would you mind handing the phone over to the manager please? I would like to have a word with him if you don't mind."

Dan said "He wants to talk to you" and offered his phone to the still smirking manager.

"And who is that? I'm not interested in talking to any friend of yours."

"He's not my friend. I don't know who he is, says his name is Henry Cooper."

The manager's face turned an interesting shade of grey all of a sudden and his smirk slowly disappeared as he took the phone from Dan's outstretched hand. He put it to his ear and said "Hello sir, how are you doing today? It's an honour to talk to you."

After that the only thing he said for the next couple of minutes was "Yes sir, no sir, but I, I don't...., but that's going to cost...., no sir," and finally, "yes sir, I will see to it." His face was quite white by the end of the conversation and there was no sign of the previous arrogance. He looked at Annette and said in a very quiet, low voice, as he handed her the phone, "He wants to talk to you now." He sat down very slowly in her chair.

She took the phone from him and put it to her ear. Her responses were not quite the same as the managers, as she said "yes sir, no sir," and finally, "thank you sir, you won't regret it." She was smiling as she grabbed a pen and quickly started writing something down while she listened. By the time she closed the phone and handed it back to Dan she looked like she was about ready to giggle. She turned to the manager and said, "I guess you are getting transferred, you have till the end of the day to clean out your office. Make sure you don't steal any paper clips on the way out."

He got up from her chair and mumbled something about "Whitehorse", and "the Yukon," before slowly walking out the door.

Then she turned to Dan and Laura who had dumbfounded looks on their faces, and said, "It's all settled then. The farm is yours with everything you might find inside, outside, or even underneath, except of course what the government claims, just in case you find oil or some such thing underneath it all."

"You mean it?" Laura asked, "It's really ours?"

"It is and there is more. Because of our manager's little indiscretion, you will also receive a small gift to recompense you for what he did, which by the way was quite naughty. Henry Cooper, the gentleman we all just talked to is the CEO of this financial company, and he has little tolerance when his employees misbehave, especially in things like this. So he asked me, as the new manager of this branch by the way, to inform you that you are to receive a six day, five night all expense paid stay at the Fantasy Land Hotel in the West Edmonton Mall, which as you likely know, is the largest mall in the world. And you get your choice of which style of room you want. Plus you will each receive one thousand dollars to spend on anything you want during your stay there. She went on, but neither of them heard much of what she said.

They walked out of the office a few minutes later, absolutely stunned.

"What happened in there?" Laura asked her equally astounded husband.

"I don't know, but I think we better go find a place to sit down and have a cup of coffee, or I'm going to fall down."

They found a Tim Horton's down the street and went in. Laura went to find them a table while Dan went to the counter and ordered two large black coffees and two bowls of soup with accompanying sandwiches.

"So it's settled then. We own the farm and everything in it?" she asked, still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened.

"It sounds like it, I Guess that means I can keep the truck and do what I want with all that equipment in the barn. Maybe we should have an auction sale. Up until now I've been cautious about claiming any of the contents of the house and barn for ourselves in case it came back to bite me. I even drove the truck like it was borrowed. I guess I better see about getting a hold of the fellow that used to own it, and get everything transferred over to our name. I wonder if he will do it, or if we will have to do it through a lawyer?"

They drove home, not really saying much, as they tried to think through what had happened and why the Lord would bless them so much. He had always taken care of them and protected them while they were in Pakistan, but they never dreamed He would bless them like he was doing now that they had returned home to Canada. Things like that simply did not happen, at least not all at once.

Then almost like a final confirmation that it was God's will that this place be theirs, when they drove through the gate and rounded the curve Dan had to stop the van and stare open mouthed at the sight. It had been a rainy and cloudy day, but there was their new yard all lit up with rays of sunshine coming down through a break in the clouds. It bathed the house and barn and yard in its warm, bright glow while everything around it just sort of faded into a grey background. They both got out of the van and stared. It was such an incredible sight, and they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they now had a real home to call their own. They joined together in front of the van and Dan put his arm around his wife's waist and pulled her close. They didn't need to talk. The scene before them said it all, and the joy and peace they felt in this moment brought tears to both their eyes, and warmth to their hearts that would never be forgotten for as long as they lived.

Chapter Thirteen

The following weekend, Mike showed up with his wife on their BMW motorcycle. Mike had been Dan's mentor and teacher when he had been working at a garage, way back in the days before heading out to the mission field. Mike was a little rough around the edges, but had a heart of gold, and liked nothing more than to solve problems that no one else could solve. When Dan had used up all the time he figured he was allowed to fix something and just couldn't seem to solve it, he would go to Mike. Mike would reply with "So you need some 'Mikey magic', eh?" and would always be able and willing to help so long as he knew you had tried your best first. He did not suffer fools quietly. They became good friends over the years, and finally Dan got Mike to start coming to church even though the first time was a bit unorthodox. Mike kept insisting that Dan come to the bar with the boys every Friday night, until finally Dan had replied jokingly "I'll tell you what Mike, I'll go to the bar with you tonight, but you have to go to church with me on Sunday."

"Deal!" Mike replied and was as good as his word.

Dan didn't drink, but went to the bar and spent a couple of hours drinking coke while the others polished off one beer after the other. He finally left, and prayed all the way home that the guys would all make it home in one piece. He was so glad he could go home to his beautiful wife sober and be able to enjoy her company. The other guys often talked about the fun times they had at Monday morning coffee and how drunk they had been, but then would complain about how restricting their wives were. They didn't seem to get it. What wife would enjoy having her drunk husband try to lavish attentions on her after she had spent the evening trying to explain to the kids that dad would be home soon, knowing they would go to bed without seeing him until morning. And then he would be hung over all day Saturday and not want to have anything to do with them.

Mike told Dan that he had been pleasantly surprised with the church service, especially with the sincerity of most of the people he met. Dan knew he was very astute and could spot a fake a mile away and hoped the congregation would not turn him away. They didn't. Dan was proud of them as he knew Mike had been expecting people to look at him like he had horns and a pointy tail, but most of the congregation of course did not even notice him and the ones that did welcomed him with open arms. Mike soon became a regular and became involved in many of the activities. After about a year, he came to Dan one night and started talking. The evening ended in tears, and a new joy on Mike's face that surprised all who knew him. He didn't really change on the outside so much other than a noticeable decrease in extra adjectives in his average sentences, but people observing his face would have seen a small smile on it, like he knew something that they didn't. It infuriated some of his co-workers, and when he stopped going to the bar with them on Friday nights, they were not impressed. The odd one would try to pressure him into swearing or drinking until they saw the look on his face when they pressed the point. They all of a sudden found other things to interest them, knowing that look meant they better back off or those big fists of his would be getting close and personal. One or two had been at the wrong end of them and most had seen others that had been in the bar at one time or another and none wanted to be there again. After awhile they figured out he was still a good guy to have around, especially when a difficult problem presented itself, but they better behave themselves as well. He was not shy about telling them to mind their language or attitude when they needed to be told.

After a fine lunch of moist cold turkey and juicy ham sandwiches on home made rye bread with some of Laura's famous potato salad, the men went out to the barn to explore while the women stayed in the house and cleaned up. Mike was in his element as soon as the big barn doors were opened to reveal all the machinery and the well equipped workshop. Dan showed him around, but when he got to the small caterpillar Mike got quite excited.

"That's just like the one my dad used to have!" he said. "I was upset at him for selling it when I left for college. I told him I wanted it if he ever wanted to sell it, but when I came home that first summer it was gone. He said something about needing the money and he never used it anymore. I never pursued the matter, but I always wanted to find another one someday and restore it. This one looks to be in pretty good shape . Have you tried to start it yet?"

"Nope, I haven't had time or energy to do much of anything. We can see if it will fire up if you want."

Mike was a heavy duty mechanic, so while he started checking all the fluid levels, Dan went and got the booster batteries that had been set up on a small cart. He had already used them several times and kept them charged, so when they hooked them up to the Cat batteries, the engine turned over well enough to give it a hope of starting. Sure enough after a couple of tries, it started spitting black clouds of smoke out the exhaust pipe on top of the engine and on the third try started belching it out in earnest. Mike was sitting on the operator's seat and started playing with the controls. Moments later it started to back up and soon he was running around the open area of the land behind the barn raising and lowering the blade as he regained familiarity with the controls. A few minutes later, he drove it up to where Dan was enjoying the show, shut it off and climbed down.

"It runs nice," he said. " It has more power than I remember dad's having though."

"I wouldn't be surprised. It seems like everything here has been modified in some way so I have no doubt the little Cat has seen some work done to its motor."

"It's not just the motor though, the controls seem to work far quicker and more accurately, and everything seems to be quieter and smoother, almost like someone had gone over every inch of it and improved it. Do you have any place here that I can try and do some digging with it? I'd like to see how well it does when it has to work for a living."

"Well I guess you could go down to the coulee with it and try to dig a hole. I do have visions of having a body of water down there someplace within sight of the house so we can watch the wildlife from there."

"Cool. Lets go take a look first and you can show me just where you want it."

They walked along the top of the coulee, going all the way over to the house and Dan showed Mike where he would like to see a dugout. Mike in his characteristically analytical manner looked down at the proposed site for a few moments and then around the area before saying anything.

"That's just about where the old creek bed used to be. Look. You can see the grass is a different shade of green along that curved line. It probably found a new route during one of the spring runoffs and that's why it moved to the other side of the coulee where it is now. I'll bet if I dug a trench there, next spring the creek would come back to this side where you could watch it all summer."

"That would be nice, but it looks like a job for a major company to tackle, not that little Cat. If I did that, I would have them build a dam at that narrow section there and see if we could get a small lake going here."

"Ok, now you're talking. Lets go see that spot over there, maybe we can do something."

They walked back over and Mike immediately started looking around, especially down the creek to where the narrow spot was. He soon came to the conclusion that there had already been a dam there at some point in time in the past.

"Look," he said. "There, about fifty yards down you can see a culvert laying in the grass. And on both sides of the narrow spot, you can see lumps of grass and dirt." He spent half an hour wandering around with Dan in tow explaining as he went.

"There definitely was a dam here at one point in time. You can see the sides here where it's more jagged than the rest of the sides. I thought at first that the dam must have broken during a flood, but now I would be willing to bet my next motorcycle that this dam was blown up."

"What makes you say that Mike?" Dan asked

"See all those lumps of raised dirt piles on both sides of this spot? Even on the up side of the creek. Those are chunks of dam. Some have cement in the middle of them and some have rocks. If the dam had just collapsed everything would be down creek, but there is no doubt in my mind that this one was blown up."

"You're right Mike, I never would have noticed that. But why would someone blow it up I wonder? Now that you mention it, if you look on the side of the hills here, there is a definite difference in the color of the grass again along the whole length of the coulee. I noticed it, but never really thought much about why. I guess that answers my question."

"So would you like to rebuild the dam?" Mike asked with a smile on his face

"That would be great, but my training is in mechanics and administration, not dam building, though seeing that smile on your cherub face, I'm willing to bet you do."

"Been there and done that my man!" he replied. "I built two of them on dad's land and another couple on a neighbour's, so yes, I do know a thing or two about it."

"And I suppose now you are going to tell me you can take time from your busy schedule to do it for me and you are going to do it out of the goodness of your heart, just so this worn out old missionary and his lovely wife can enjoy the fruits of your labour?"

"Of course I would, but now that you mention it, I could maybe just find a use for the little machine next summer if you would be willing to lend it to me. My wife is telling me it's time to move out of town as she wants some privacy, so she said if I want to build an off the grid house, I better get started on it. I could save a small fortune if I had my own little Cat to play with, especially with all the extra attachments I've seen that come with it, like that oversized sky hook. That thing would easily lift the trusses up on a roof when I needed them. There is even a backhoe attachment for it. I tell you I would like to meet the guy that built all this stuff. He really has a gift for inventing."

"Ok you have a deal, but first I want to talk to some people to find out why the dam was blown. I'll call J.J., the fellow that used to own this farm and see if he has any ideas as to what happened to the dam. Maybe there's some legal reason, or some complaints from down stream or something."

"That sounds like a plan, but in the mean time, do you mind if I go work on digging a hole for an hour? Even if for some reason you can't build the dam, at least you could have a dugout with some water in it next spring. And even if we can build the dam, it will provide a deeper place for the fish I know you plan on stocking it with and inviting your good buddy Mike over to enjoy catching the waiting food for the frying pan."

Mike got onto the machine, started it up, and five minutes later, was happily tearing chunks of dirt out of the ground and pushing it to the centre of the floor of the coulee. Dan had said that in case they did build the dam, he liked the idea of an island in the middle so the birds would have a place to make their nests safe from predators.

Later that week, Dan started asking around town trying to find out if anyone knew anything about why the dam was destroyed. All said they had no idea why the dam would have been blown. As far as they knew it had broken apart in a spring thaw when too much ice had built up.

He called Paul in Toronto to ask about it as well. Paul had mentioned that he was good friends with J.J. so Dan thought that perhaps he might know or be able to find out more information. A couple of days later Paul made a call to J.J. and talked with him for a bit in prison. He had kept track of his case with his lawyer so was able to encourage him that his papers were looking good and they hoped to file for a retrial next week. If granted, J.J. might even be allowed out of prison if the judge was reasonably sure he had been incarcerated on false charges. He finally asked about the dam, and J.J. told him they never really knew what happened. He and his folks had all been gone one night and when they came home, the next morning they woke up to no water in the dam. No one had any complaints about it, so they assumed that the ice had just put too much pressure on it, though dad complained that it survived all those years before with even heavier ice and never broke. He knew it was strong enough to stand up to anything that little creek had to offer.

Dan called Mike and told him it was ok to build a dam if he wanted, and Mike said he would be there early Saturday to start and that he should keep the Cat at the back of the barn so he would not have to disturb him.

He hadn't been exaggerating. Six o'clock Saturday morning, Dan and Laura heard the engine of the Cat working down in the coulee bottom.

"He wasn't kidding when he said he would be here early!" Laura said. "It's a good thing we don't sleep in too much. How would you like to make some coffee while I run myself a nice bath?"

"I'll do more than that," he replied "you just stay in bed and I'll run the bath for you and make the coffee and bring it too you in the tub. It's not hard with that tub, all you do is set the temperature and push the button and the thing fills up automatically."

"Hey you are still the sick one, you're not supposed to do anything for at least another couple of months. The doctor said nothing until at least after Christmas."

"I somehow don't think pushing a couple of buttons and lifting a cup of coffee constitutes difficult or stressful work Honey. I'll come back to bed and pray for my forgiveness while you have a bath and I think maybe the Lord will forgive me for the little indiscretion. You've waited on me hand and foot since we came back and I love you for it, but I miss running your bath and bringing you coffee like I used to do almost every night in the good old days."

"Do you really think those were the good old days, Honey?" she asked suddenly turning serious. "You often looked like you had lost your best friend, especially the last few years after you agreed to work on the turnover of the hospital to the church. I don't recall you having too many good days then."

"No, I suppose you're right, but we did have quite a few fun times, especially when the kids were young. We had some bad times as well, but for the most part we enjoyed the years there. I think because we knew we were in the Lord's will, made it much easier to bear.

Mike showed up at ten o'clock wondering if there was any coffee on the go and quickly gobbled down the bacon and eggs Laura made for him.

"I thought I would just dig a trench first in case we did not get the dam built in time, Dan" he said. Then you would at least have some water to look at next spring."

"Why don't you start on the dam Mike, and during the week when I have nothing to do I can putter away at the trench. I think it would be good therapy for me if I could work at something like that."

"Sounds like a good idea. I'll start on the dam right away then. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun, and that Cat has a considerable amount more power than Dad's did. What a dream to operate."

Dan spent a couple of hours each day down at the bottom of the coulee taking dirt from the outside around the coulee walls and pushing it toward the centre trying to build up a small island the way he wanted. He really enjoyed the work. He knew his wife was watching him like a hawk after his times on the machine, but seemed satisfied by the end of the week that it was doing him good. When Mike came for his breakfast the next Saturday, he commented on how much work Dan had done, and Laura replied that maybe it was time for Dan to start looking for a job if a little work was going to do him so much good.

"Good idea Honey, I think I must be ready. You've been paying the bills for the last couple of months now with your job at the hospital, so must be about time I contribute some. I really am getting bored now."

"Hold on now Dan, I was only joking. There is no way you are ready to go back to work yet. It's only been three months since we came back and the doctor said a minimum of six months and maybe even a year. I want you completely healed before you start working again. I want no chance of a relapse, because if that happens, it will be years before you will be good for anything."

The subject was quickly changed, but two weeks later an opportunity came up that was too good to miss and sounded very easy and completely lacking in stress. Laura had been talking to a doctor at the hospital about her husband's desire to start working again, and he had told her of a part time job at the school doing what he called 'light administrative work'. She talked to her husband about it and he readily agreed. A week later he was working two days a week at the school and after a couple of weeks, Laura had to agree that it had really started to bring the spark back to his eyes. He continued to run the Cat for a couple of hours a day when he wasn't working, and couldn't think of a time when he had been happier. He spent much of the rest of his free time puttering in the workshop, and thought that this was about as close to heaven as you could get on earth. He started pondering on God's goodness and soon was in tears again, only this time they were tears of joy at being so fortunate to have a God that loved them so much and had made it this obvious. Many people who came mentioned how peaceful it was here and that the Lord had certainly blessed this piece of land and whoever came on to it. It was then he realised what he and Laura could do to continue to serve the Lord. The more he thought about it, the more he got excited. He could hardly wait until his wife came home from work to share his idea with her.

Chapter Fourteen

Three weeks later Mike finished the dam. He had found two four foot diameter culverts, twenty feet long and welded them together in the shop. He carefully lifted it up with the crane attachment mounted to the front blade of the cat and placed it on the packed down dirt and rocks that would constitute the dam. It had been easy enough to figure out how high to put the overflow culvert from where the water marks were on the coulee wall. Mike suggested they make it about three feet higher, as it would provide a decent amount of depth for the trout that Dan wanted to stock it with. If they could get the bottom dug out enough, there should be more than enough depth for the trout to survive even the coldest winter. He also made the dam almost twice as thick as it had been before and was quite confident that no amount of ice was going to knock it down. The creek had quit flowing so it had been no problem building the dam because of water build-up.

Between Mike and Dan, they had gone through a lot of diesel fuel and even a couple of engine oil changes, but the bottom of the potential lake was looking good. If it filled up to the culvert overflow it would be at least twenty feet deep for much of this end of it and a fair amount of it would be over thirty feet. They had lots of dirt from what they dug up so decided to make two smaller islands with about a thirty foot stretch between them. The little lake should take up close to one hundred acres which was not really a lake as such, but enough room for a few trout. Maybe some grandpas with their grandsons could enjoy a peaceful Sunday afternoon here.

Mike had a couple of hours left before it was time to quit, so he headed up to the east end of the coulee to start making a third small island in the shallow end. It wouldn't take much to move the dirt, and the ducks and geese would love what would likely become a reed infested area full of all kinds of things that the birds loved to eat. He played around there for awhile then figured it was getting time to head home for supper. He had promised to take his wife out to a movie tonight in town, and it was an action flick, so he was looking forward to it. He drove along the bottom of the one trench he had made and thought he might as well put the blade down on the way just to make it a little deeper. He thought it was a little odd when he noticed the tracks were picking up some mud as they went around. There hadn't been rain for a couple of weeks at least, so why would the ground be muddy? He looked back and immediately stopped and put the cat in its highest gear. By the time he let the clutch out and had revved the engine to full throttle, it was almost too late. He must have broken a line or something because water was gushing out of the ground and gathering around his tracks. He finally gave up trying to outrun the torrent, realising he would never make it out in time, so instead, made the cat turn right and headed straight up the side of the coulee. Fortunately it was not quite so steep here and before the machine started to power out, he managed to get it into a low gear and slowly crawled up the side of the hill easily outrunning the approaching water. He could swim, so he wasn't too worried about coming close to drowning, but the thought of having his beloved, correction, Dan's beloved cat sitting underneath the water did not bear thinking about.

He calmly brought the machine to the back door of the barn and shut it off. Then he walked over to the house and knocked and went in without waiting for an answer like he always did. Dan and Laura were sitting down having a bowl of soup and bread and invited Mike to join them, but he declined saying he had to go back and get ready for the date with his wife. Then he said, "You know how bad you wanted to have water to look at from your house?"

"Sure" Laura said, looking a little puzzled. "That's the whole idea of the dam, why?"

"Well it looks like you might get your wish a little sooner than you thought. Look out the window."

So they got up from the table and went out to the back deck to look upon a small body of water that seemed to be getting bigger by the minute.

"What happened?" Dan asked his mouth wide open.

"I think I must have hit an underground spring with my last pass. I thought at first it was a pipe line, but there would not likely be anything like that there, and it's clean water. So I think I'll just go home now and call it all a job well done." He said it with a great big grin on his face. "You might have your lake before spring if that water keeps coming as fast as it is now. Have fun with it." Without another word, he turned around and walked out the door to his truck.

A few weeks after paying the house off they decided it was time to call Annette and she arranged for their stay in the fancy hotel. They had planned on driving up, but Annette said "No, it was implicitly specified that there is to be no cost to you in any way. A car will pick you up at ten o'clock, Wednesday morning, and take you to Edmonton, and will be there for you at any time day or night, if you would like to travel around. Then it will bring you back Monday afternoon when you are ready. Have a great time up there and thanks again, for doing what you did for me. I hear the former manager and his wife are not enjoying Whitehorse too much. It sounds like he got put into a hornet's nest in the office up there, aside from being so far away from everything. His biggest complaint though was reserved for the size of the mosquitoes. He was seriously worried that they were so big they were drinking too much of his blood and that he was getting weaker by the week because of it. I had a hard time putting the phone down before I burst out laughing."

The car was there promptly at ten but they thought there must have been a mistake. It was not a car, it was a house on wheels. The driver pulled up to the house, got out, and knocked on the door.

"Is this the residence of Dan and Laura Thompson?" he asked.

"Yes it is." Dan replied, "How can I help you?"

"I'm here to take you to Edmonton." He said, "Are you ready to go, or should I wait in the car for awhile?"

"You are kidding." Dan said, "You really came to pick us up in that? I figured it would be a yellow taxi, not the hotel itself."

The driver smiled, and said "Yes it is a bit large, but it rides nice, and if you are embarrassed then you don't have to worry about anybody seeing you. The windows are blacked out as you can see, so no one can see you inside, but you can see out just fine."

He was true to his word. Visibility and a smooth ride made it seem like they were on a moving couch. There was even a TV to watch while they traveled. It was a pleasant ride and the driver was knowledgeable and considerate. He explained things about the areas they drove through and some of its history. They learned more in an hour than either of them had learned their whole lives about the surrounding district.

He parked at the front entrance to the hotel and made sure that the porters had their bags and that he realised that these were important people he was dealing with. He then explained to Dan and Laura that there was to be no tipping at any time during their stay, either at the hotel or whatever restaurants they might care to eat at. It was all included, and he again specified that they were not to spend any of their own money on this holiday.

They followed the porter up to the front desk, and were quickly checked in and led to their room. It was huge, more luxurious than either of them had ever seen, let alone stayed in. The porter pointed out a large envelope on the coffee table, in front of the large and very soft leather sofa, and then left promising to send up a pot of coffee and a snack right away. They sat down and Laura opened up the envelope. She pulled out two credit cards, with one thousand dollars on each and a note with their finance company's letterhead on it. She read it out loud to Dan.

"Dear Mr and Mrs Dan Thompson, Thank you again for doing business with our company and we are very sorry recently back from many years of low financial income although I am sure your hearts are rich for your self- sacrificing time overseas helping those in much greater need than we have in this great country. Please use the money in anyway you wish, and if there is any left over, it will be given to you in cash when you check out. The gold cards are for any meals or things that you might want to do while you are our guests. It also includes the water park, theme park or any of the theatres if you would like to see a movie or play. Please also be informed that I will call you tomorrow morning after you have had breakfast to make sure everything is going well. It is very important to us that you have an enjoyable holiday. And thank you again. Yours sincerely, Henry Cooper.

"He is quite a guy, I think." Dan said. "So, what should we do today, go spend our free money?"

"We do need some clothes. I'm getting tired of seeing you in blue jeans and t-shirts all the time. We need to find some nice casual clothes for both of us and then something that we can wear for weddings and funerals.

"Dan looked a little stricken, "Does that mean we have to spend all our money on clothes?" he asked.

She looked at him and then smiled, "Now Honey, you always tell me that your dad says that Christmas and birthdays are for getting what you want, not what you need. I don't recall you saying anything about out of season free gifts being spent that way."

"I know, but it's been a long time since either of us have recieved what we want even for Christmas. Actually now that I think about it, I'm not sure what I want anymore, it's been so long. Okay lets go and see what we can find for clothes." He said it with a sigh of resignation but with a smile on his face.

They looked and looked, but all they found was culture shock. It had been too long since they had bought anything in Canada, and the prices were so high, they could not bear to buy anything. Their thousand dollars each was not going to get them nearly as much as they had hoped. They didn't realize at the time that they were shopping in one of the most expensive malls in the country, and the prices were sometimes double what the same thing would be in a regular store. There was little available of the "lower priced" clothing that they were used to wearing. They ended up not buying anything that afternoon. They decided to think about it and look around some more the next day. The next morning they had breakfast in the room, and even though Dan ordered an omelette and toast, and Laura ordered porridge with croissants, what came was more than they would have eaten in a week at home. Besides what they ordered they got six different types of fruit, five different styles of bread, three different juices, and a few other things that kept them pecking at the food on the table even after they had finished two cups of wonderful black coffee.

"I guess we won't need lunch the way we ate here." Laura said

"Speak for yourself," Dan laughed. "If this is all free, I'm going to eat enough to last me into next week."

Laura was about to reply when the phone rang. Dan reached over and picked it up.

It was Henry Cooper calling as he had promised. He asked Dan to get a pen and piece of paper. He quickly went over to the side table by the door and grabbed a pad with the hotel logo on it and started writing. He said, "Thank you sir, I don't quite know what to say, but we sure appreciate what you are doing for us, have a great day."

"What was that all about?" his wife asked when he had hung up the phone.

"It's a good thing we didn't buy any clothes yesterday. You are not going to believe this one." he said. "That was Henry Cooper and he said we are to go down to the front desk and tell them that Henry Cooper sent us, and someone will take us to some store and have us outfitted for some clothes.

"You might get your wish after all," she replied with a smile, "so what are you going to buy with your money if you don't have to buy clothes with it?"

"I have no idea, but I guess we'd better get dressed and go down to the front desk."

A short while later they were brought to a large and very expensive looking ladies clothing store by a bell boy from the hotel who asked to see the manger. They spoke with each other for a moment and then the manager came up to them and said, "Hi, my name is Janice Weaver, and I have been asked to help you choose some clothes. Apparently you have been out of the country for a number of years and don't really know what is in fashion right now, is that correct?"

"Yes that's right" Laura replied. "We have no idea at all but we tend to be on the conservative side, so would rather not get anything too extravagant."

"Don't you worry at all Mrs. Thompson, we will get you outfitted in a style that you will be comfortable with. I was told that price also may be a concern for you, but rest assured, there will be no cost incurred by you, it is all taken care of. Now according to my instructions you are to receive two pairs of slacks and two blouses, five pairs of socks, five sets of underwear, and then I will take you next door where you will be asked to pick out two pair of shoes. How does that sound?"

"It sounds expensive to me," she said, her face displaying her surprise.

"I was told you would likely want to be conservative in price even if it was paid for, but don't worry, we want you to walk out of here looking like you are proud to be who you are. So now, where should we start?"

She was never able to find out what anything cost, as the manager always removed the price tags before the clothes came to her, but she was pretty sure one set of slacks and blouse would have cost more than her entire present wardrobe. Even the shoes looked like they belonged under glass instead of on her feet, though she did have to admit, they were the most comfortable ones she had ever owned.

After she was done it was Dan's turn. Janice took them to another part of the mall where there was a row of clothing shops for men. He too was fitted with two full sets of shirt and pants, socks and shorts and belts. Then off to get two pairs of shoes for him as well. He ended up with a pair of trainers and a nice pair of leather casual shoes.

By then they were getting hungry, so after being assured that their purchases would be sent to their room, they wandered down the mall until they came to a pizza place that had lots of choices in pasta as well. They were too overwhelmed to say much as they munched on their meal. They then went to pay at the desk and were assured that it was all taken care of, and even the tip that they had left was quickly scooped up and given back to them with a stern warning not to do that again while they were here for the weekend. They both had completely forgotten about the gold card that they were supposed to use, but apparently someone was watching out for them.

Friday, it was the same thing, a note saying that they were to go to the front desk and they would be taken for some more shopping, all paid for. This time they each got a complete outfit suitable for any fancy function they might wish to attend.

Saturday was a little different. They were taken to the front door where their limo driver was waiting again, but were not told where they were going this time. He took them across town and pulled into the BMW motorcycle dealer.

"What are we doing here?" Dan asked, but all the driver said was that he was instructed to take them to see the store manager and he would explain everything. So they went inside and were led to a large comfortable looking office with many BMW memorabilia placed on the desk and several shelves built into the wall.

The manager got up to shake their hands. Laura was still having a hard time getting used to shaking men's hands as that simply was not done in Pakistan. The manager introduced himself.

"I'm Wolfgang Schmitt and before you say it, yes it is a good German name," he said smiling. "I must say you must have friends in high places. I was asked to make sure you were outfitted with a complete set of gear for riding your nineteen eighty six K100RT, right from top to bottom."

Dan looked at him in surprise, "How on earth do you know what kind of motorcycle I have?"

"Like I said, you have friends in high places, I even know that you like to do long distance riding and your good wife here, does not think your bike is very comfortable. We can't do too much about the bike other than sell you a brand new one, but we can do our best to outfit you for your style of riding. So let's head over to the clothing section and see what we can find for you and your lovely wife."

By the time they were done, Dan knew that they were going to be wearing hundreds of dollars worth of equipment each. He hadn't realized that clothing could be so comfortable on a bike. The people knew how to fit a person with the right clothes and they gave both Laura and himself very personal attention, not being happy until they were completely satisfied that everything fit perfectly. New boots, pants, jackets, and heated everything to go underneath for those cooler Alberta days and nights. Even the gloves and socks were heated and could be all joined together so only one plug had to be attached to the bike. The helmets were top of the line BMW with the flip up front and intercom systems installed so he and Laura could talk to one another with ease as they rode down the highway. He knew some bikers didn't want such a system because they just wanted to be quiet with their own thoughts, while riding, but he really enjoyed having that contact with Laura. He had even had one guy tell him that riding on the bike was the only peace and quiet he got from his wife, so "There was no way I'm going to have an intercom system installed!"

While they were waiting for everything to get packed up they wandered over to the bikes for sale and looked at the big touring bikes. Some of them cost over thirty thousand dollars, so he knew he would never be able to afford a new one, but maybe some day, a good used one. He went to look at a beautiful cherry red one that had a matching tent trailer attached to it. It was huge, but when he sat on it after asking permission from the salesman, he got such a wistful feeling and dreamed about what it would be like to ride something like this around the country. Laura saw the faraway look in his eyes, and immediately wished she could write out a check for it and let him take it home right now. They had been blessed beyond anything either of them could ever have dreamed, so something like this was not even in the ballpark.

The salesman said that even though it looked new, it was actually six years old. The guy that owned it had used it very little. It had less than ten thousand kilometres on it, had heated seats and handgrips, GPS, stereo with a CD player and other options too numerous to mention. He explained it came with the tent trailer for only twenty thousand dollars. The season was almost over for sales, so they wanted to get rid of as much as possible off the showroom floor. It cost them quite a bit in interest to have something like that sitting over the winter.

Dan got off and turned to the salesman. "Maybe someday, but for now, my old one will do just fine." Turning to his wife he said, "Think you could ride a little ways on that one?"

"The heated seats sound pretty nice and it does have a lot more room than yours, so maybe I could last an hour or two." She said as she smiled at him. "But I'm afraid it might be awhile before we can afford something like that."

So they headed out to the car with their load of clothing and got in.

On the way home they passed the Subaru dealer and on an impulse, Dan said "We still have most of the day to kill, why don't we go and dream about a car for you?"

Normally she hated looking at cars at the best of times, but it had been such an unusual few days, that she said "Sure why not, doesn't hurt to dream, although I'm starting to feel like life is a dream after all that has happened the last few weeks."

"I know what you mean. It does not seem real somehow. It's actually starting to bother me some. I'm kind of wishing we could go home." It's too much for my poor little brain to take in right now. It's in operation overload. Remember when we came home a few years ago when the kids were smaller? We took them into that store that had a small aisle of toys?"

"How could I forget," she said. "They stood there staring and staring at all the toys and pretty soon they were all just sobbing. They could not comprehend that many toys in one place. But we didn't do much better. We went through the whole food store and came out with two items in our cart. There was so much choice and it all cost so much. We were too overwhelmed to make any decisions at that time."

"Well maybe we should think about leaving early. I wonder if Mr Cooper would mind?"

But they went in and looked at the cars anyways. Dan was having a hard time thinking about a new bike when they could buy an almost new car for not much more money. They found a used Forrester, that Laura fell in love with, which was very unusual for her , and he wished all of a sudden that he was rich so he could just buy it for her. Then the dealer said, "why don't you take it for a drive, it's pretty dead around here today. I'll be happy to get it out for you and you can go for an hour or so."

"You do that sort of thing?" Dan asked, looking slightly puzzled.

"Sometimes, he said. "I can tell that I can trust you somehow so go ahead. I'll put a plate on the back and open the showroom door for you. It has a GPS in it, so I'll program a short trip for you and it will tell you where to go and how to get back."

So, just because it was one of those strange surreal type of days that just seem to happen on rare occasions, they got in and drove it out. It was nice all right. Laura really enjoyed driving it, though it took a little bit of getting used to, to have a female voice telling them which streets and roads to take. It was an all wheel drive which would be nice on the country roads they would be on all the time with all the snow and ice they would have to deal with during the coming winter. It was also rated as one of the best fuel efficient small SUV's on the market. They drove it back to the dealership and parked it outside. The salesman was waiting for them and asked how they liked the car, mentioning that it had been sitting here for awhile and the boss was anxious to get rid of it. It was almost five years old and even though it looked like new and had very low mileage , the new cars were a lot easier to finance, so most people went that route instead. Dan said they would think about it, but really did not hold out much hope of having that kind of money in the near future.

Chapter Fifteen

Sunday morning found them with another envelope delivered with their amazing breakfast. They were again to go to the front desk and they would each be taken to have a "Full Make Over" whatever that meant. But that was not until early afternoon, so they found a church close by and walked over. They had to almost fight with the limo driver who was waiting for them even though they had told no one they were going. He was pretty determined that he had to go everywhere with them, but they finally pointed out that having a limo pull up at the front of the church was not the way they really wanted to portray themselves as it was only borrowed and didn't belong to them.

They thoroughly enjoyed the service, but it was a good reminder to them of what was really important in life. It wasn't fine clothes or nice motorcycles or cars or fancy hotel rooms, but things like the people they met that had been so kind, their family and friends and for the most part the simple things in life. The most important thing was the love that God had shown them through all the trials and tribulations they had been through. Dan had loved the meals, but was really ready for his wife's good home cooking. They had enjoyed the shopping, not because they liked it, they didn't really, but because of all the people that had been so nice to them, and because they really did need the things they had been able to purchase. Luxury was fun for a short while but it did not suit them too well. It was getting to be time to get back to reality.

They went for their makeovers after lunch and when they came back almost didn't recognise each other. Dan had always thought his wife was the most beautiful woman in the world and now his estimation went even higher if that was possible. He had never seen her done up like a movie star and seeing her now kind of reminded him of the first time he had met her. The only thing he had been able to say that time, was Wow! This time the same thought came to his mind. They had not seen each other all afternoon and the staff had brought their new clothes and fitted them into them. They even took some pictures of them as they met each other, and led them off to the restaurant where they were to eat at that night.

"You clean up pretty good my handsome hubby. We should have done this years ago."

"You look pretty incredible yourself, my little Cutie, like a queen on the way to survey her court, but of course your natural beauty just makes it easy for you. All I can say is wow and wow again, did I pick a winner, or what? I always wondered about those people who told their wives that they just keep getting better looking all the time, but with you, it is so true. God has truly blessed me in giving me you."

"Oh shut up and behave yourself," she said. "Enough of that."

He just smiled and looked at her with adoring eyes until she grabbed his arm and said "Let's go I'm hungry!"

The meal, service and entertainment surpassed anything either of them had ever had before, but when they got back to the room that night, Laura said, "That was one of the most incredible evenings I have ever had, but do you think we can go home tomorrow? I'm going to die if I have to buy one more thing and I just want to go home and make a plain meal for us."

"I'm with you there Honey. It's been nice, but way too much. I think we found out what happens when our cup of blessing overflows, some of it gets wasted."

The next morning they got up much earlier than normal and called down to the front desk asking for a checkout. They packed and had a quick breakfast and were ready to go by nine o'clock. They had considerably more luggage this time than when they had come, but with the size of the car it was no problem to get it all in. Neither of them had spent much of their thousand dollars on themselves. They had found Christmas gifts for each of the kids and grandkids, which took up a good portion of it, but would save them having to try to come up with money for presents, so they were happy. They had brought gifts back with them from Pakistan, but these would be used for birthdays instead, so that all worked out very well.

They were happy to get home finally, and Laura got to work almost immediately, bustling about in the kitchen. Dan went to check for e-mails and then found the riding gear they had obtained and put it in the hallway closet by the garage door after trying on the helmet one more time. He was really looking forward to going for a ride. He loved the bike he had, but just wished it was comfortable for his wife. Maybe some day.

He rode with the Christian Motorcyclist Association when he was able, and was looking forward next year to getting more involved in their rides. Their main focus was in evangelism to other bikers, many of whom had never even heard of Jesus, and were sometimes considered to be the dregs of society. There were many other groups of riders as well though, that had rallies and were just normal people like himself who had a love of motorcycling for one reason or other. Some liked the machines themselves and would spend hours polishing them, others just enjoyed the feel of the wind in their face and the freedom that two wheels gave. For others it was just to be a little bit different, maybe just a slight snub at society that tended to often treat bikers as if they were a slightly lower class of people, even though some of their bikes cost more than many cars on the road. Biking had become quite popular among the new group of younger, higher income people looking for a way to spend their hard earned money, and also amongst the "baby boomer" generation, many of whom had had bikes when they were young, but gave them up for wife, family, and busy jobs. Now the kids had flown the coop and they had a little bit of spare cash, so they started thinking about all the fun they had had when they were young on the bikes.

Whatever the reason for riding was, many did not know the Lord, so the CMA tried to get to as many of the rallies as possible, often helping with cooking and cleaning duties, or organising kids programs or wherever else they could do to be of assistance. They regularly held church services on Sunday and it was frequently the first time many of the bikers had heard the name of Jesus in the context of something other than a swear word. The CMA group worked hard to maintain a squeaky clean moral standard while at the rallies and over the years had grown to be a highly respected group from all aspects of the biker culture. On occasion, if one of the members broke one of their own rules, other bikers would take their prized jacket away from them and send it to the CMA headquarters with a note explaining what sin the member had committed. Things like this were rare, but when they happened they were treated seriously, sometimes resulting in the "colors," as the insignia on the back of the jacket was called, being taken away and the right to wear them denied.

The problem was that most of the rallies required a fairly long ride, and camping, neither one of which was high on his wife's list of enjoyable things to do on a weekend.

"We spent all those years camping in Pakistan, sleeping on hard beds and either being too cold or to hot. I think I will just leave that up to you here. Have fun." She would smile.

He thought about that big Beemer and how she would likely be able to handle the seat on it, and with the tent trailer that folded out into a queen size bed with a porch and stove even, she might not even mind the camping. But he sighed inwardly, knowing that it was not likely to be. And he knew complaints were not something he better be doing these days, with all they had received in the last few months. Enough for a lifetime he thought and smiled. It was just so peaceful here, he could feel God's gentle spirit, warming his heart and he knew his wife felt the same way. Even his kids had all at one time or another mentioned how nice it was to have them home where they could be at ease when they came to visit. Arguments just seemed to not happen here. Their one son and his wife tended to yell a lot, but when they came here, they always left arm in arm and the grandchildren smiling. Things like that were from God and God alone, through His precious Holy Spirit. Not much more a man could ask for, and his heart for the first time in years, was starting to know feeling of contentment. He felt guilty sometimes about that, but knew it was the evil one trying to destroy a beautiful gift from the most Holy One.

A week later Dan called Herb to come over, and when he showed up a couple of hours later, they went out to the barn and began taking stock of what was stored there and what Dan could do with it all. His thought was that if he could find enough of value that maybe he could find a better vehicle for his wife. He knew that Herb had a lot of contacts in the biking world and might be able to sell the old Harley and the Honda they had found. They started pulling equipment out of the barn with Herb's truck and soon the open area out back was cluttered with old farming equipment. They finally got most of the centre area cleaned out and were able to see what was on the other side. There were four old motorcycles, and three old cars, all of which seemed to be complete though maybe not in the best of shape.

"This must be where the owner kept his 'to do' projects." Dan said. "There does not seem to be a lot of value here."

"Don't be too sure," Herb replied. " Those bikes may not look like much, but there's one old Harley and an Indian, that I think are worth something. Let me get my camera and I'll take some pictures to send to a friend. Maybe we can drum up some interest through him. I'll take some of the cars and that old truck as well. I know someone who lives and breathes those old machines. He should be able to give us some advice on what they're all worth."

"I really need to get a hold of the previous owner of this place and see about getting some titles transferred to my name. I don't know if I can sell any of this equipment without his permission." Dan said.

"These machines won't be a problem, I'm sure." Herb said. "They have not likely been registered for many years, but I will talk to my wife. Being in the insurance business, she will know what the regulations are."

"Thanks for all your help Herb, I really appreciate it."

Dan thought it was just about time that he went to meet the fellow that used to own all this everything. He had to try and get a hold of him anyway and see if he would be willing to sign the transfer papers for the Ranger and the one ton panel truck that was stored in the barn. He had thought about selling it, but the kids had mentioned that perhaps it would be nice to have when they had one of their seemingly endless moves. He decided to phone the real estate agent and see if she would be willing to set up an appointment. He didn't really have any desire to go to a jail, but the bible was pretty clear that this was a good thing to do, so best do it and not complain.

Chapter Sixteen

A little over a month later, Dan and Laura headed off to Lacombe. It was their thirtieth wedding anniversary coming up. Jack and Jolene had found out about it and wanted to give them a nice dinner. It would be fun to do something with their friends on such a special day and all the kids were busy, so they decided to accept the invitation. It was a beautiful fall day when they pulled up in front of their friend's house and found them waiting at the front door. They came down the front step and greeted them. Jack and his wife were pleased to see them and they gave everyone a hug and stood there for a few moments talking.

Finally Jack couldn't stand it any longer and said, "We have a small surprise for you people and pushed the garage door opener he had hidden in his pocket. They watched in expectation, Dan knowing exactly what was going on, or so he thought. The door opened to reveal all of their children, grandkids, parents, and some friends gathered around the used car he had bought for Laura.

Dan turned to his wife and said,

"I think someone has pulled the wool over our eyes."

Everyone was gathered around the car and a motorcycle parked in the garage. "Happy anniversary, Honey" Dan said. He turned to Jack and Jolene and asked, "Where did they come from? I thought they were all too busy to come over for our anniversary."

"They were too busy to come to your place, because they were setting things up here. We had a lot of fun pulling one over on you guys. Now go show your good wife her new car before one of your kids takes off in it."

Dan took his wife's hand, enjoying her look of surprise as he explained to her that the car was her gift. It was almost impossible to pull one over on her but this time he had succeeded. They walked up to the car to have a look. Their daughter opened the door and gave them both a big hug, before allowing her mom to get in. Everyone was having a good time seeing her in shock and then tears as she looked around at all her loved ones and her husband.

Then she got out of the car and said to Dan, "Alright smart-alec, you got me here, so how did you do it?"

"I'll explain later Beautiful, but it's paid for, insured and registered, so enjoy."

"Well I guess I better show you your present now that you have managed to fool me so well. Turn around and see if it is what you wanted."

"What?" he said and turned around. All he saw was Jack's bike sitting there with a new tent trailer behind it. "Hey Jack, when did you get the new trailer?"

"It's not mine." He said. "Show him Matt."

Matt had been sitting on the bike and he handed a paper to his dad. "Read this dad." Dan took the paper which was the registration for the bike. He still had a look of puzzlement on his face until Matt said, "Look whose name is on the registration dad."

He did and saw his own name. He looked up at his wife who had come up beside him and said "What's going on, this is Jack's bike isn't it?"

"My but you are naïve sometimes my beloved. No, this is the bike we were looking at last month along with the trailer. Jack's bike is out back. This one is yours. It looks like we both fooled each other pretty good this time eh?" Everyone started laughing.

"But how....??"

"I'll ask you the same thing later, though I suspect I know the answer already. Well, are you going to kick your son off and sit on your new bike?"

Matt said "Dibs on first ride dad."

"I don't think so son, this bike is a little big for a beginner. If you behave yourself though, I might let you take my old one out when we are together."

"Alright!!" he said, "That bike is cool."

After everyone had admired the materialistic pleasures, Jack and Jolene invited them all downstairs, where they had a ton of food set up. Everything from chips and crackers and cheese to roast beef and potatoes, pieces of fried chicken, shrimp, ham and all the fixings to go with them. Most people had brought something so there was more than enough to make everyone groan as they got up from where they were sitting. After everyone had eaten their fill, Jack got everyone's attention and asked if anyone had anything to say about the long married couple especially if it was funny and embarrassing. There was no shortage of takers once things got going, some serious, but much of it just good laughter medicine, and it was well into the evening by the time everyone started to leave. No one wanted to, as they knew it was unlikely they would all be together again for some time under one roof. Matt offered to drive the van home and his wife would follow in their own car so Dan and Laura could bring their new gifts home, and they would stay the night if room could be found for them. Then Dan's mom and dad decided they might as well stay, then the other kids figured they should be able to find room on the floor as well. Soon they had a caravan heading east down the highway, with Dan in his new machine leading the way, his wife following and four other vehicles behind. Laura was trying to figure out where she was going to put everyone. Leave it to her family to all show up at the same time. She loved it, but it was hard work sometimes.

Number one son went into the biggest downstairs bedroom, with their two boys sleeping on the floor, mom and dad went into the other one, number two son went up in the small room above the garage as they had three girls to try to get to sleep and there was a little more room up there, and number one daughter and her hubby were set up with a mattress in the family room with their boy and girl beside them. Then number two daughter slept on the couch in the living room. It was early morning before they all got the lights turned out, but everyone had a good time.

Early the next morning Laura was busy in the kitchen getting breakfast made for the crew. Her daughters soon joined her and then the grandkids made a noisy appearance, and soon it sounded like a party was going on. Laura was in her glory, reigning over all the chaos going on in the house. They had brought quite a bit of food from the party, so she put out several types of cheese and sausage, she had taken out some of her popular cinnamon buns from the freezer the previous night, and they went like hotcakes, which she also made along with bacon and eggs, toast, and lots of coffee.

Later that night, before they went to sleep, Dan turned to his wife, and asked. "Well Beautiful, was it a good day for you?"

"It makes me wonder why we spent so many years away from them, but they seemed to have turned out not too bad despite it all. It's so much fun to see the little ones, playing the way our kids used to. It makes all the trouble they gave us seem worth while after all."

"Yes, but it is nice to be able to give them back to their parents when they cry now instead of being the parent that has to try to calm them. You are right however, it does give you a warm feeling in your heart. The Lord has truly blessed us, more than I thought was possible. I do wonder what He has in mind for us though, because my heart tells me we are not quite finished with His work yet."

"I know what you mean Honey. Guess we will just have to pray we will be willing and obedient when it's time. Now I'm tired so let's turn out the lights and go to sleep. Don't spend the whole night thinking about your new bike eh?"

"I have a problem Henry, do you have any advice for an old friend?"

"I always have advice Paul, you know that, but not always good as you know as well." Henry laughed, "How can I confuse you today, besides by beating you in this probably final game of the season?"

"I think I have a rogue banker on my hands and I don't really want to fire him, because I know it will be a long court battle that he may just win."

"Is this to do with that guy you were talking about back in your old home town?"

"That's the one all right. He has been doing a number of questionable, if not illegal things and I am convinced he is up to something. He has foreclosed on more than one or two mortgages that he should not have in normal circumstances. One just the other day, for example on a twenty five year mortgage on an acreage that the guy had never missed a payment on until last month. He only had three years left, and he had broken his back about seven months ago on the job, when he fell off a roof while re-shingling it. His compensation is coming, but you know how those guys like to cover every angle before they pay up. This guy used his savings for the payments for six months, but then ran out of money. When he went to the bank to see about getting a loan to live on until compensation pays up, he was told, that things are tough right now, and was served with his eviction notice. The doctors said he will likely be able to do light work again in a couple of months and should almost heal completely in a year or maybe a little more. Any other manager would have happily lent him the money with the collateral he had, not take the whole thing."

"And you say he has done this before?"

"I have had three complaints now in the past year, but as you know, I try hard to let my people run their own show without much interference from the top. The problem is that these complaints seem reasonable, and they all mentioned other instances that they thought were incredibly unfair."

"Well," Henry said "Do you have any holidays coming up?"

Paul laughed, "I've think I must have a least a couple of years saved up now. I just never seem to get around to taking them."

"It sounds to me like you have a problem that's going to take a personal touch this time. I'd say there's more than one person involved and that they are up to something alright. "I suggest you take some of those hard earned holidays, get rid of your trouble maker for awhile and take over his job for a bit, preferably without him knowing what you are up to."

"How do I do that? If there is more than one person involved, he will find out right away and kick up a real stink."

"I think I might just have a solution for you my friend. I have done this on two occasions myself and I know others who have had success with it as well, though it is a bit unorthodox. It either makes or breaks the person, but usually makes them."

As Henry explained his plan, Paul's eyes got big, but before long he was agreeing to it. He was really extending his envelope of comfort, but it seemed right somehow, so much so, that he wondered if this was one of the things the Lord was trying to impress upon him. He hoped he was up to the challenge.

Chapter Seventeen

It had been a long trip for Herbert and Marge from Bashaw to Havana in Cuba. Marge did not like flying and she was not in a good mood, especially after having to wait for six hours in Toronto while the plane had been repaired.

"How much longer?" Marge asked, "We have been on this stinking bus for nearly two hours already."

"I wish I knew" Hebert replied, "Neither the driver or his helper speak any English, so we are pretty much at their mercy."

"Are you sure we are on the right bus? This doesn't seem to be what a five star resort in Cuba would use to deliver their guests."

"The name was on the side of the bus in big letters in English and they seemed to know who we were. When I showed them our passes, they just said si, grabbed our luggage and put it on the bus. Then they practically shoved us on. It is a peculiar name for a resort though, 'Forget-it-all Resort' I guess it must mean that we are supposed to forget all our problems and have a good time."

It was another three hours before they finally turned off the paved road and onto a very dusty trail that led them into the jungle. Ten minutes later, they drove under the sign that said they were at the right place and pulled up to a nicely maintained brick building. They were met by a heavy-set light skinned man with a big smile on his face who greeted them in passable English.

"Welcome, welcome" he said. "My name is Jose, and I am the manager of this fine establishment. How was your trip?"

Herbert was about to explain just what he thought of the trip, but was not given the chance. The big fellow grabbed their bags in his huge arms and told them to follow him. They went after him into the building and saw the ocean through the big plate glass windows on the other side. It was beautiful, but not as appreciated as the air conditioning was after the long hot ride. They both sat down gratefully on the rope strung couch and asked if they could have a drink.

"Of course," the big man replied. "What would you like, water, juice, or maybe some coffee or tea?"

"I would like a rum and coke, and my wife will have a pina-colata please."

"Oh sorry, we have no liquor here. It's not good for the children to see that side of society, so we don't keep any on the premises. Now what can I get you? You must be very thirsty after your long trip."

"Tell me I'm dreaming." Herbert said to his equally shocked wife, "Did he just say there is no liquor here?"

"I think that is what he said." she replied. "That sounds more like a nightmare than a dream. I think we had better get right back on the bus and go home."

Just at that moment they heard the bus cough and start, and begin to drive away. They were not quite fast enough to get outside to stop it and all they could do was helplessly try to wave it down. They walked slowly back inside and asked, "When does the next one come, tomorrow?"

"Oh no senior, I'm afraid that bus only comes once a month. You see, you are our only guests for this month, so unless we have some more show up unexpectedly, you are here for the whole time. Do not to worry though, we will keep you so busy, the time will go by very quickly."

"Busy? Busy doing what?" Herbert demanded. "I came here for a holiday and this is a resort. I didn't come to keep busy. I can do that at home all I want! What kind of place is this anyway?"

"Was it not explained to you Sir? This is a resort, that is correct, but it is not a holiday resort." He laughed. "It is a resort for children, a very special kind of children. And it is not a holiday for them either, though they seem to enjoy it like it is."

He looked at their open mouths and wide eyes and had a hard time keeping a straight face. It was always the same when they came, these big shots. They came expecting the world to be handed to them on a silver platter. Most, but not all left with a different attitude. What they had somehow got themselves involved in was a very special school. Many believed that Cuba would be free someday, but also realised that when that happened, there would be very few to help put the country on the right track. More than likely some other dictator would rise up and continue to crush the people, unless there were some who would be able to take charge quickly and efficiently.

So for several years a certain group of people had worked at finding "special" children, usually from friends in orphanages but several had come from off the street. They were carefully tested, and if they passed the intelligence, attitude, and aptitude tests they were snuck away through various methods and brought to this camp. It was set up for the sole purpose of training intelligent young girls and boys to become leaders and politicians in a country that was going to be seriously short of them, if the country ever became truly free again. There was a large gap in that area, that would need to be filled quickly for the country to survive, and these kids were part of that hope. A few of them were "adopted" into western families especially picked to continue their training and teach them what they would need to know to succeed in their designated professions. There were many Cuban areas in the U.S., where the culture was carefully maintained to remain proudly Cuban. Canada and one or two other countries also had strong communities that took pride in their heritage. Each adopting family had to be not only proudly Cuban, but also moderate. The backers saw little use in raising up more dictator prone protégés.

Most of the graduates stayed in country and when they had completed their training, were sent to areas that were considered safe. They were trained to keep a low profile, and to never let anyone, even their wives or families know what their hidden agenda was.

Some of the backers had friends in the States and one of them had come up with the idea of using professionals from the western world to train the young people. Someone else jokingly said that to attract people to the school they should be call it a resort. Someone else mentioned he had an employee that he would like to send away for awhile to learn a little humility, and the next thing everyone knew, the first "humblee" was being sent to his 'reward for hard work' place in the sun. He was an economist and much to everyone's surprise, did a wonderful job. He came with an 'I'm the best there is' attitude and six weeks later left promising to come back for two weeks every year to mentor the students.

A few had threatened to sue when they got back to civilisation, but none had ever gone through with it. After the reasons they had been sent to the camp had been explained to them, along with the amount of jail time they could expect if anything was mentioned, they kept quiet, not wanting their indiscretions brought out into the open. They usually ended up finding jobs in another profession after they had thought about it for awhile.

Most of them went home changed people. After seeing the poverty and misery that the tourists never saw, and the hope in so many faces, they realised at worst, they had it good and at best, they were sitting on top of the world. They better enjoy it while they had it. The physical work they each had to do to help in maintaining the camp also had a way of calming people down once their muscles got used to the idea of being used again.

Herbert would be spending time teaching banking techniques to groups of all ages. Unlike most schools in the west, this one taught the kids practical skills that would help them function at a higher level than the average kid their age. How to manage daily money and how the banks worked to try to take it from you were important things taught here. Even the small ones learned basic things. Each child was paid a pretend wage, and had to learn how to live on it. Herbert found out later that the older kids came over from another camp about a mile away to learn more advanced things when there were qualified people present. There was no radio, no TV, not even a stereo to listen to music with, except in the main office building, so evenings tended to be quite quiet. Each Saturday night, everyone got together on the beach where there was dancing and singing for hours, along with roasting hot dogs.

Poor Herbert didn't take too well to the "jail" as he called it, for awhile. It wasn't until he was refused food the second day at lunch, for not being willing to work, that his conversion slowly started. He was used to good food and lots of it, so the thought of not being able to eat until supper time was not too pleasing to him. After lunch when everyone went to their assigned tasks he grudgingly trundled along behind them and with half hearted effort, began to hoe a row of potatoes. When supper time came he got into line ready to fill his tray with as much as it would hold he was so hungry. Again he was not impressed when the kid handing out the food only gave him half of what had been given to the ones in front of him.

"What's this? I worked. Give me some more food, I'm hungry!" he yelled.

The student who was half his size but not intimidated, replied, "You worked half speed at best sir, so you only get half portions. Now move along please so the others behind you can eat."

Herbert was hungry and angry, but he was well practiced in dealing with difficult people, so knew immediately that he was going to get nowhere with this guy for now. He held his tongue and continued on, hoping maybe his wife would share some of hers with him. She sat down beside him, and was about to pass him a bun, but a hand suddenly appeared between them and a tinny voice said, "Sorry ma'am that's not allowed. Wouldn't do to reward someone not pulling his load while you go without."

When they looked behind them, they saw a little man not much over four feet tall, but with a look that said, don't even think of messing with me. So she put the bun back on her plate and whispered, "Sorry Herbert."

It was awhile before stubborn Herbert learned his lessons, but he finally did and it changed him completely.

Chapter Eighteen

"Oh this is going to hurt, big time!" was all Jerry had time to think about just before his body slammed into the hard ground, and rolled a few yards before coming to rest in the grass at the side of the road. His helmet was long gone, as he never bothered to do up the strap, so there was nothing to stop his head from having direct contact with the ground. He woke up to find one of his friends hovering over him.

"Ok, he's alive, lets get out of here. I don't want to miss the wet tee shirt contest."

He couldn't believe it. They wouldn't take off on him like that would they? The sound of Harleys starting up and roaring away down the road gave him his answer. He was about to utter several choice expletives, but the pain in his head made him think that one of the guys had stayed behind and was hitting him with a large hammer. He tried to lift his hand up to feel his head, but that hurt too much right now, so he decided to wait and carefully examine the condition of the body he was the owner of. He had tried his right hand and that hurt too much, so how about the left. It seemed to function and he managed to bring his hand up to his face. That was it though. He tried moving each leg, one at a time, but no go. As soon as he did more than even think about moving either one, his level of pain increased more than he could bear.

The thought came to him all of a sudden that he could die. Then he thought of his wife and two boys sitting at home. They weren't likely waiting for him. They had given that up a while ago, when he started going to the bar almost every night, often coming home too drunk to even make it to the bedroom.

He knew exactly when it had started. He delivered fuel for the local Co-op fuel depot and had fallen off the fuel truck when he slipped in some diesel fuel that had spilled on the ladder going up to the tank. He had landed at a bad angle, breaking his collar bone and shoulder. It had not healed properly so he had been unable to work for several months. The compensation had not agreed with the doctors about his needed extended treatment so had cut off his payments, leaving him unable in turn to make the payments on his acreage. The bank soon repossessed it, even though he had been promised another job to start that week and knew he could start making payments again within a month.

"Yes I realize you only have two and a half years left, and yes you have never missed a payment in thirteen years, but rules are rules. If I let you get away without making payments for a few months, then everyone would want the same thing, and that would not do. I already have two others wanting extensions like you do. But I tell you what, I do have a little place in town you can rent very reasonably if you are interested."

Like he had a choice.

He was sure his wife would not stick with him through this new mess, assuming he lived through it and that did not look promising right now. He wondered how happy she would be when she heard he had died. No doubt he would deserve it if she danced on his grave. He knew he had been pretty rough with her and the kids. He just hoped his boys would not follow in his footsteps.

He realized he was falling asleep and but knew that was not a good thing to do. In all the movies anyone who fell asleep when he was hurt this bad always died. It felt so good to close his eyes and let things be. It would serve him right for riding when he was drunk. He was about to give in and close his eyes, maybe for good, when he heard his buddies coming back on the bikes. He couldn't miss the sound of a piped Harley, that was for sure. It cheered him up to know that they cared at least that much for him. He heard voices coming towards him as the sound of the bikes quit and then an unfamiliar face appeared above his.

"How are you doing brother?" The unfamiliar person asked and then yelled, "Call for an ambulance Walt, quick, he looks like he's hurt pretty bad!"

"Who are you?" Jerry croaked, "Where are my buddies?"

"I don't know my friend, we just happened to be heading down to a rally and saw you and your bike laying here. What happened? Hey John," he yelled, "Do you have any water in your saddle bags? He looks like he could use a drink."

John quickly opened up his bag and grabbed a plastic bottle full of water and ran down into the ditch. He gave it to Richard who carefully began dribbling it slowly into Jerry's mouth. After a few cautious swallows Jerry said, "Thanks man, you're a life saver. I think I just fell asleep. I was riding with my buddies going to a rally in Big Valley and the next thing I know, I'm in the ditch laying here with maybe most of my bones broken. How bad do I look?"

"Probably better than you feel, but I don't think we better try to move you until the ambulance gets here. By the way, my name's Richard, what's yours?"

"Jerry, Jerry Brandon from Bashaw. Where are you guys from?"

"All over central Alberta I guess, Ponoka, Lacombe, Red Deer, Innisfail and other places."

Just then Walt came up to them. "The ambulance is going to be about half an hour. Think you can hold out that long?"

"Sure. It only hurts when I laugh," he said. "Ok, that's not really true. It's starting to hurt pretty serious. I just got over a broken shoulder and collar bone less than a year ago and this hurts worse than that did."

"We don't have anything in our first aid kits that would help much with the pain except some strong aspirins, but when the medics come they'll want a clean slate to work with, so if you can hold out a few minutes, that would be better."

"If you have a drink, that would be about the best for now I think. How about it fellow?"

Richard chuckled, and said, "Sorry Jerry, you ran into the wrong bunch of guys if that's what you want. We belong to the Christian Motorcyclist Association and we don't do much in the way of drinking. Especially when we ride!" He emphasised. "Besides it smells like maybe that's what got you into this situation in the first place. Did you have a few drinks before you started out?"

Oh just great! Jerry thought, I get saved by a bunch of religious crackpots. Now they will probably want me to get religion and join their holy group. He should just give this guy a piece of his mind even if he was trying to help. Who was he to judge whether he had drunk too much or not? That was none of his business, but somehow the words wouldn't come out. He knew he had screwed up big time, and if this guy was going to help, maybe he had better keep his tongue in check. So instead he just said, "Yeah a couple but I'm not drunk, I've just been up too much lately, you know, not getting as much sleep as I need. The rally in Big Valley is such a big bash though, I just couldn't miss it."

Richard and the others kept him talking until the ambulance showed up and promised they would come visit him as soon as they could. They also promised to take care of his bike for him but not by calling a tow truck. If it sat at the wreckers for very long while Jerry was in the hospital, he would never be able to afford to get it back.

Richard called Dan on his cell phone, because he knew he had a truck with a ramp. He knew Dan had wanted to come to this rally, but had people coming the next day, so had decided to stay home.

"Sure," Dan said. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Twenty minutes later he showed up in his Ranger and drove it right down into the ditch, then backed up so the end of his tailgate was almost level with the road. Richard and Dwight had stayed behind while most of the others headed for the rally. Two of the members had offered to go home and get a car to pick up Jerry's wife and bring her down to Red Deer, as they thought she would not be in much shape to drive. She had been quite frantic when they called, so they insisted she wait until they got there, encouraging her that Jerry was in good hands, and it would be awhile before she could see him anyway. The medics had been careful and knew what they were doing, but it was obvious that Jerry was in bad shape.

The bike would still roll, though one tire was flat, yet with some manhandling they got it onto the truck and tied down with no problem. They didn't worry too much about where they put the tie straps, because the bike had landed upside down when it hit, so most things on the top part were demolished anyway.

"Do you need any help getting it unloaded Dan?" Dwight asked.

"Na, I have a place to back the truck up to that is almost level with the back end close to where I will put it, and my son and his family are coming tomorrow, so he'll be happy to help. Too bad, it looks like it was a nice machine. Almost looks familiar somehow."

"It may," Richard said, "The guy said he lives in Bashaw, so maybe you have seen him there."

"Of course!" he replied. "I've seen this bike parked at the gas station. I think the guy that owns it is named Jerry."

"You got it first time Dan, that's what he said his name was," Richard replied

"He seemed like a nice guy, even if he did mock my Beemer on occasion. He couldn't figure out if it was a car or a space ship, but he was sure it wasn't a motorcycle even if it did have two wheels. He kept asking where I kept the kitchen sink. Ok, well I better let you guys get going to the rally. I sure wish I could be there with you."

"Yes that would be nice, but I bet you won't miss the smell of the beer and pot and unwashed bodies," He said.

"You got that right Richard," he laughed. "That can be a little tough to take, though to win a soul for the Lord makes up for it, don't you think?"

"Hallelujah, brother," he said. "It makes the angels in heaven sing, and that's good enough for me. We promised we would visit Jerry tomorrow, but his wife is going to have a hard time getting back and forth. Any chance you might know some people there who can help transport her and baby sit and maybe cook a meal or two to help them out?"

"Sure, I'll try to talk to some in church on Sunday. We haven't been here long enough to know too many people, and we just got a new pastor, but I'll feel him out and see if he can announce something. The church seems friendly enough. I'll get back to you as soon as I find out anything. I'll give the pastor a call when I get home."

"Sounds good. Well we better get going or it's going to be dark before we get there. Thanks again for coming down for the bike. He was quite worried about it. Talk to you later." He watched as Dan put the truck in four wheel drive and slowly backed it up the steep incline onto the road. Then he got out and unlocked the front hubs, got back in, waved goodbye and was gone.

Chapter Nineteen

Dan phoned the pastor as soon as he got home, and was pleased to hear him say, "Of course, I'll be happy to announce it in church. I'm sure some of the congregation will be glad to help with travel, and meals and babysitting. I know there is one couple here that travel back and forth three times a week already because her dad is in the hospital quite sick. Let me call around and I'll let you know. Will you be in church this Sunday?"

"I hope so Pastor, it's nice to hear a sermon in English again for a change, I have to say. You tend to forget what it's like after so many years of hearing God's word in another language."

"The name is Luther by the way, not pastor. I heard you spent some time overseas, Pakistan wasn't it? I was wondering if you would consider sharing some of your stories with us some time Dan? Most people here have almost no idea of what missions are or what goes on outside their own world. I think it would be good for them to hear what you have to say, and that way they could get to know you and your wife a little better. I hear you are almost as new here as I am."

"Yes we just retired from the field two months ago, and have been busy getting settled in. People here have been friendly and helpful. I'll be happy to say something, though I don't know what they would like to hear."

"We'll discuss that later, but let me get on the phone and see what I can dig up for help, and I'll let you know as soon as I find out something."

"Good enough, talk to you later Pastor, uh, I mean Luther, and thanks again for your help." He hung up.

Laura and he had gone to every church in town looking for a place they could call home, but nothing seemed to fit just yet. They had gone to Luther's church first, but it had been pretty stodgy with a pastor that looked like he belonged in an old folk's home and talked like it as well. One visit was enough. Shortly after however, the old pastor left, being as he was a retired pastor that had been filling in until the congregation found a full time one, and a new, much younger one arrived. It was obvious right away that he enjoyed his work, people, and loved the Lord. He had made it quite clear apparently on his first visit, that he was not so interested in saying the prayers the correct way as he was in saving people the right way. Or 'any way' as he put it, just as long they found the way to heaven. He believed strongly in what Paul had said when he preached that we need to be all things to all people.

They had gone again, liked what Luther had said in his sermon, and especially enjoyed his candour and sense of humour when they talked to him after church. Since then, they had really enjoyed the few Sundays they had been attending. He very much seemed to care about people, not just the ones that came to church on Sunday, but everyone he met wherever he met them.

His wife Nola was much the same. She spent many hours on the phone and drinking coffee with people that needed an ear to listen. She soon became an indispensable part of church committees, and was appreciated by most for not wanting to control everything. More than once she had surprised someone in a meeting by asking their opinion on something. That didn't often happen with the last full time pastor who had been there for twenty- one years, before he retired. She had a gift for being able to bring people out of their shell and find out what gifts they had.

For example, nobody knew that Jane, a young girl in the church loved to play the flute, and was very talented at it. Soon though, Nola had her playing once a month in church and the people loved it. Jane could somehow pull the audience into her music, and more than once tears had to be attended to on the rapture filled faces. When she was asked once why she had that effect on people, she was quite surprised.

"I don't really know what I do when I play, I think of Jesus and what he did for me. Sometimes I see him on the cross full of pain and agony and I play sad. Sometimes I see him playing with little children with a smile on his face and I play joyfully. I try to look at his face and play what I see."

The church was lacking in some color, so Nola found someone who loved to do quilting and talked them into organising people to make banners. Most of the women and a few men had one or two special meals that they like to cook, so the pot lucks got to be one of the more popular things that happened in the town.

Nola did however, have one small fault for a pastor's wife, or so she thought. She could not play an instrument, or sing on key if her life depended on it. So she did as she had always done in previous congregations, and that was find someone who could. She talked to someone who knew someone and soon found a young lady named April, who had never had a lesson, but if she heard it once or twice could play it perfectly. After she played it a few times, she always ended up adding more to it, making it even more of a pleasure to listen to.

The congregation was almost unanimous about their new Shepherd and his wife. They had their faults, but no pastor and his wife in recent memory were so well thought of in the church and surrounding district.

Jerry was beginning to wonder what was going on. These Christian bikers kept showing up every day to visit with him, and people from the church back in Bashaw kept bringing his wife Cindy down every day to be with him. What was it with these people? The least he expected was to hear fire and brimstone preaching from them and how he better mend his ways or else, but it never happened. They talked about God all the time, but like he was a friend, not some high and mighty being that never really cared who you were as long as you tried to live a half decent life. He had always tried to do that until he got hurt and lost his acreage. He was angry at his so called friends though. Not once did any of them ever come to visit or even phone. It was like he had fallen off the end of the earth and they didn't even care enough to check to see how far he had fallen.

He had to admit that he appreciated the visits and the people bringing his wife down all the time. He was happy that she was sticking by him through all this. It was quite a while later that he found out she had been seriously considering moving out and going to her parents place in Saskatchewan after getting over the immediate shock of his being hurt again so soon after the last time. Only by the encouragement of some of the people that drove her down to Red Deer, did she decide that she needed to give him another chance.

Once he got out of the hospital he would still have to sit at home for months before he would be able to get back on his feet again and be able to work. So Pastor Luther asked Dan if he would be willing to let Jerry come out and tinker with his bike once in awhile to get him out of the house. He thought it would be good therapy to maybe get him on his feet a bit faster. Dan was happy to do that, so a few weeks after Jerry got out of the hospital, Pastor Luther and Jerry showed up on Dan's doorstep with Jerry looking like he wasn't convinced this was a good idea. Jerry was in a wheel chair that he was able to push along by himself.

He said, "I don't really know why I'm here, I can't afford to fix the bike anyway."

"Well," Dan said, "sometimes with a little perseverance a fellow can fix a lot more on his own than he thinks he can. Did you do any of the work yourself on that thing? It looks like someone knew what he was doing."

Jerry's face got a little softer at that comment

"I did most of the work myself." He said with a touch of pride in his voice. "I found it relaxing and I was able to use the tools at the shop for free so it didn't cost that much."

"It's not in very good shape I'm afraid, it must have done a loop and landed upside down, but let's go take a look at it and see what we can see."

"Ouch," Jerry said when he saw it, "I really do know how to do a good job don't I?" Your space ship looks good compared to this machine now I'd have to say."

"I think it looks worse than it is," Dan said. "If we start taking things off it piece by piece, it may not be so bad. The motor doesn't look like it got hurt too bad, but we will have to pull it to check the frame. If those two things are ok, maybe you can get it running for next summer."

"What's this 'we' business? I don't expect you to help me on this thing. If anything gets done it will be me doing it. I built it once, I can do it again."

"Fair enough." Dan replied. "You are welcome to use what tools I have here and come out any time you feel like it."

Jerry realized that he had opened his big mouth again against some nice people, but they always seemed to respond in a matter of fact manner instead of calling him an idiot as his former friends would have done.

"Sorry." He said, "I have no business talking like that when you're only trying to help."

"Hey no problem," Dan said. "You've been through a lot in the last year or so. No offence at all. Like I said though, come when you can and if you can stand a helping hand from a Beemer owner, let me know. I learned a lot about fixing things cheap and modifying with a few scrap parts during my time overseas."

Jerry came out often after that, and once he got out of the wheel chair, he would sit on a chair beside the bike or on the floor and work at taking the bike apart. He was a natural at repairing things, so even the smashed in fuel tank and the badly ripped seat did not discourage him too much. He cut the tank apart and redid it, taking days to get it just right, and the seat he reupholstered himself as well. He changed it completely, adding a section for a passenger in case his wife or kids wanted a ride. He hoped they would. He had never let anyone near the bike before, but now for some reason it seemed natural to want one of them on the back with him. He knew though that he had no money for some of the needed repairs. The handlebars and speedometer could not be fixed by any amount of magic, and he could not afford to buy new ones so there was no way it would be ready for spring. Maybe the next year though, if he could find a job.

His wife had started going to church and had been gently asking if he would go with her. He knew he should, just because she had stuck with him and he knew she deserved it. He asked her one day, why she went, and she said she didn't really know. It was just kind of a peaceful place and what the pastor was saying was starting to make sense to her. It was a change in routine, and besides, the women had been so good to her the last few months, feeding her and the kids, driving them to the hospital, watching the kids.

"One time I came home after visiting you at the hospital, and they had completely cleaned the house from top to bottom. It seems like going to church is one small way I can repay them for all the kindness they have shown us." She said.

He had to think about it for awhile, not quite so much that he wasn't willing to go with her, but that he worried what people would think if this half cripple, alcoholic, biker dude showed up. It was a small town and everyone knew all about what had happened. Finally he screwed up his courage one Sunday, got up with her and the kids and asked if they would be willing to take him to church today. The kids yipped and yelled yeeehhh, and his wife smiled up at him, and took his arm in hers. "Only if I can sit beside you handsome," she said.

He found it strange the first time going into church. He had gone when he was a kid, but soon gave it up for more exciting things, so he remembered a little of what was involved, but this service was not what he thought it would be. They didn't even touch the old prayer book that he used to find incredibly boring, and the songs they sang had some zing to them. Then when the pastor gave his talk, it actually made sense to him. He didn't talk like a preacher, he talked like a friend who was trying to tell you something he felt was important.

He also noticed that no one seemed to look at him in a 'what are you doing here?' kind of way, and when church was over, several came and shook his hand and welcomed him. He was bewildered by the experience, but in a way that made him want to find out more. Dan came over and they talked for awhile which he appreciated. He didn't know Dan that well yet, but any familiar face in a storm was appreciated.

A month later he was the one wanting to get ready for church and the pastor had been over three times at Jerry's request to answer some very basic, but important questions, such as what is a Christian, what do you have to do to be one, and why does God let us suffer so much if He really loves us? Pastor Luther and his wife were fun to have in the house when they came and they had three kids that were similar ages to his two boys. They knew each other from school, and got along well.

It was hard to justify his lifestyle for the last couple of years, and that held him back for awhile, but Pastor Luther explained about God's love for him and how much He did, so we wouldn't have to pay for our sins.

The Christmas concert was a week before Christmas and his boys were both in the play, so it was easy to justify going. One of his old buddies had invited him to the bar for a beer that afternoon, but he declined. He was still very angry at what they had done, leaving him in the ditch to die, so he didn't feel much like having anything to do with them. He asked them why they hadn't helped him out or come to visit him in the hospital, and they just shrugged their shoulders, and laughed it off. "We didn't think you were hurt that bad," one of them said. "And you could call for help on your cell phone if you needed it. Come on. Forget it guy, just come on and we'll buy you a beer."

Jerry replied with, "I'm busy tonight, maybe some other time." And walked away.

The Christmas concert touched him in a way he had never been touched before. He had seen it a hundred times in countless TV shows and movies, but somehow seeing his own kids up there on stage, one of them playing Joseph and the other a shepherd, brought a lot closer to home what God had done in sending this little baby to save them all. He had quit drinking and smoking as hard as it was, but his mind was clearer than it had been in years. He knew he was about ready to accept all this for what it was, but something still held him back. He knew if he said those words in the sinner's prayer that Pastor had talked to him about, he would have to abide by them. He knew in his head he had nothing to lose. His life was a mess and he had caused his wife and kids a great deal of embarrassment, pain, and suffering the last couple of years. He didn't even have money to buy his wife or kids a Christmas present this year and that bothered him terribly.

The next week was Christmas Eve and they all went to the evening service. It was a beautiful night, cool, with a gentle snow falling as they walked to the church. Gas was getting hard to pay for and the church was only three blocks away. It was painful for him, but he made it and no one complained about the snail's pace they had to travel with him on his two canes. They got to the church which was packed to the gunwales as it always was on this special day. Seemed like half the town was there. .

The service was joyful, and he felt so at ease, that it made him wonder what was happening. He had never felt at ease about anything. The pastor started his sermon and Jerry could think about nothing else. It seemed like every word was directed at him from God himself. He completely forgot about all his problems, all the bad things he had done over the years, all the old aches and heartaches along with the latest ones and felt nothing but God's incredible love for him, for who he was, not who he should be. By the time the sermon was finished he was in tears, and when he glanced at his wife she was in the same condition. When the service was finished, they waited until most had gone, before catching the pastor's eye. Jerry had turned to his wife when the last song was being sung and said, "I'm ready", and she had whispered back, "Me too."

They walked up to Pastor Luther, and when they explained what they wanted, he invited them to the front of the church with Dan and his wife along with one of the other elders. He asked his wife who had just come up, to entertain the children for a few minutes, and she knew immediately what was going on, so ushered them downstairs to find a game to play. When they had all sat down on the front pew and the steps at the front, Luther asked what he wanted to talk about . Jerry blurted out, "I know I am not worth anything and I am one of the worst sinners there ever was, but I want to ask Jesus into my heart. I need Him and His forgiveness and His love. And I know he died for me on the cross."

His wife said the same thing, so Pastor Luther led them through the sinner's prayer and a moment after finishing it Jerry felt the most incredible joy flow through his entire body, more than he even dreamed was possible. Nothing mattered any more, he knew without a doubt that he was forgiven for everything he had ever done, an unimaginable relief. He looked up and turned to see his wife in tears as well. They hugged each other and he felt such fantastic gratitude for her, that he could hardly bear it.

He looked at Dan, the pastor and the other elder through his tears and stammered out "I...I....I don't know what to say. I...I've never cried like this before...thank you so much, it's so incredible, He really does love me doesn't He? He loves us all."

Jerry and his wife walked home on air that evening. It was slow going again with his legs, but he barely noticed his physical body, now that he had found a spiritual side to himself. There was more snow on the ground now and it was still gently falling, in big white flakes and the boys were having fun throwing snow balls at the signs and each other. They walked into the house happier than any of them had ever been before and it was not because of the few unopened presents under the tree.

On Christmas morning the boys came and jumped on them in bed before it was even light and yelled "Santa came, Santa came, come on get up, let's open the presents, pleassseee?"

"You know the rules boys, no presents until mom and dad have had their first cup of coffee."

"We'll get it, we'll get it, come on Tommy, quick, let's go!"

After having a somewhat rushed cup of coffee in bed, they went out to the living room and Jerry sat down in the chair closest to the tree and said. "Ok Bobby, how would you like to hand out the presents this year?"

His eyes lit up and he said, "Really? Cool!" and dived for the first one. There wasn't much, but they had managed to scrounge enough money for a remote controlled motorcycle for Bobby and a science kit for Tommy, plus a few small stocking stuffers.

Cindy knew that Jerry had had no money, or even much of a chance to buy anything, so wasn't expecting anything. What had happened last night had been the best Christmas present she ever could have imagined getting, so she just sat there and smiled, happy and content that things were turning out so well. She looked at Jerry's smiling face as he watched the kids rip into their presents, and her joy felt so complete. She was surprised when Jerry got down painfully from the chair onto his knees and reached underneath the red blanket she had put under the tree to give it some more Christmas color and pulled out a small parcel and handed it to her. "It's not much Honey, I wish I could do better, but maybe next year if I can get a job, we will be in a little bit better shape."

She got tears in her eyes, as she took the little parcel and carefully opened it. It was a pair of earrings with a small cross on each one. She got down on the floor and gave him a big long kiss and then grabbed his arm and put it around her and snuggled in against him.

"What we got last night far surpasses any Christmas present we have ever had I think," She said.

He kissed her again and held her tight, afraid that he was going to cry again.

Then Cindy said to the boys, "Why don't you get Dad's present for him now."

"Okay, cool, you are going to love it dad!" and raced into their bedroom.

He came out a second later with a parcel about two feet long and six inches square. Jerry was surprised, but he took the present and carefully opened it. The picture on the box had the Harley Davidson insignia and when he opened it a pair of handlebars came sliding out along with another smaller box. His mouth opened wide and then he opened the smaller box and saw a speedometer for his bike. He was in shock. "These are expensive, Honey. How did you manage?

"Now don't get your hopes up too much Jerry, they are not new, some of those Christian biker guys knew where there was a used bike that had been totalled when it got hit from behind, and they said they thought this stuff might be of some use to you. They said they should fit right on, and if they don't then you are to let them know and they will see if they can find something that will fit. Richard, I think his name was, said many of the group knew what it was like to be without a bike for awhile, so they really felt for you."

He would never be able to describe the emotions he felt that day. It was like God had opened the door to heaven and given him a glimpse of what lay ahead. He had to head to the tissue box on a regular basis that day and the kids kept asking mom if their dad was alright. "He's fine." She would reply and smile, this time meaning it with all her heart.

That evening after the kids had finally gone to bed, and they were sitting side by side on the old worn out couch, Jerry turned to his beautiful wife and said, "I think it's time to call dad and try to make peace with him."

She looked up at him and asked, "Do you think you can handle that already? You two were almost ready to get into a fight the last time we went up there."

"I know, and I also know that it is mostly my fault. Sure dad expects too much of me, but I got a kick out of baiting him. When he called you a lazy housewife that one time, it put me over the edge. I don't know if he will accept my apology, but it seems that the Lord wants me to work on fixing up some of the messes I've created, and after you and the kids, mom and dad are still pretty important to me."

Without another word, he got up and hobbled over to the phone and punched in their number from memory. His mom answered and said "Hello Jerry, Merry Christmas."

"Hi mom" he said. "Same to you, is Dad there?"

"Of course Jerry, he's in the basement working on his ship model. Just a second, I'll get him for you."

"Mom, before you go, I've got something to say to both of you, so could you put the phone on speaker , so I can talk to both of you?"

Sounding puzzled, she answered, "Ok Jerry, just a minute, I'll be right back."

Thirty seconds later she came back on the line and said, "Ok Jerry we are both here now, what's so important that you have to have both of us here? Are you going to have another baby or something?"

"No mom," he replied, "I just want to ask your forgiveness for all the trouble I have given you over the years. I've been a lousy son and I know I can never make it up to you, but I would like to see you again and this time in peace. No more fighting, I promise."

"How much is he going to try to wheedle out of us this time?" he heard his dad say from a distance.

"Shush now Rip", she said. " He can hear everything you say on the speaker phone."

"Let him hear, I've never held back my opinion before and I'm not about to start now."

Jerry should have been hurt and swore and slammed the phone down, but this time, he smiled, and was actually having a hard time not bursting out laughing, his heart was so relieved that they had actually taken his call. His dad was a self-made man, and had expected his kids to work with the same degree of energy to do well. Only one of the three kids had shared his desires though, and had become a high powered executive in a large oil company in Calgary. Jerry's sister had left the day after graduating from the University of Alberta with a degree in business management, and became involved in some environmental group trying to find ways to lower the pollution levels in the country, without actually blasting the energy and pollution producing oil companies. This group was working hard to find ways that everyone could work together instead of instigating protest marches and other such antagonistic processes. They didn't want to fight, they wanted to solve the problems.

That did not sit too well with Dad either, but she was his beloved daughter, so had not let it become an issue. Jerry had always been the rebellious one, and though he knew his dad loved him, he also realised his dad wanted him to be tough so he could make it in a hard world. Jerry knew that losing his acreage last year had reinforced his low opinion of Jerry and his lack of wisdom in almost everything he did.

Jerry didn't say anything to his mom and dad about what had happened to them. He wanted to see them face to face and see what their reaction was when they saw them. They agreed to come down for New Years Eve and stay the night, which was more than they would usually do. It was only an hour and a half drive to Edmonton, but it might as well have been across the country for all they saw of each other.

The visit was hard, but not completely without its joys. Rip wasn't happy when he found out there was no beer in the house, and he didn't say much when Jerry told them about his conversion, but by the time they left the next day, the atmosphere in the house had turned almost pleasant. Jerry and Rip did not fight, because Jerry had refused to bait his dad and to be baited by him. Rip kept expecting him to ask for money, but he never did and in fact never would again, not because he didn't need it, but because he did not want his dad to have that burden of having his son owe him something. Jerry and Cindy would do it on their own this time, well not alone, but this time with the Lord in the driver's seat.

A few weeks later, Jerry had the strangest feeling that the Lord wanted him to go to the bar one last time. Not to have a drink, but to talk to his old buddies. He talked to Cindy about it, and prayed about it for a week before he finally got up the courage to go. Cindy promised to stay home and pray while he was gone. She put a movie in for the kids, went to the bedroom and got on her knees staying there until she heard her husband come back forty minutes later.

When she went out to see him, she saw some disappointment in his eyes, but some fire too.

"Well what happened?" she asked

"Not much that I could see," he replied. "But it still felt good, like it was the right thing to do, so all we can do is leave it up to the Lord."

He had gone into the bar with only one cane, still hobbling, walked up to his friend's table and said hello. One of them said, "Hey, Jerry's back, come and have a beer buddy!"

Jerry had said, "Not this time Ricky, I just have something quick to say and then I'll go." He told them about how disappointed he had been with them when they didn't stay to help him, and they got a little uncomfortable about that, but listened as he continued. Then he told them about what happened and how the Christian Bikers had helped him out so much when no one else would. He talked about the church people and what they had done for him. But most of all he talked about what Jesus had done for him and how He had turned his life around and made it worth living again. He talked lastly about their families and asked what they were doing right now. He asked if they cared about them at all and if they did, they needed to do something about it before it was too late. If it had not been for all the good people who loved the Lord, who had helped him, he would be dead at worst, or divorced and without his family at best. He told them that Jesus loved them all no matter what they had done, but they needed to check Him out for themselves like he had done. Then just before he turned away to leave, he said "God bless you guys and I forgive you all completely."

They sat there in stunned silence for a moment and one of them said. "That bang on the head really screwed him up didn't it?"

They all went back to their beers, not saying much, until a few minutes later, Shane got up and said, "Well I think I'll go home, not much in the mood for drinking beer right now."

It was only ten o'clock when Shane pulled into the driveway of his acreage, or rather the bank's acreage, he corrected himself. He was lucky they had been able to stay, although at almost twice the rent that his mortgage payments had been. Only five years left on it too. He had had a good job working the rigs up north every winter and bought pretty much what he wanted for himself and his wife and five kids. But the company began random drug testing and over half the crew had been fired on the spot, including himself. He had always managed to keep a job even after that, but had missed one payment when he had spent most of one check on going to a big beer guzzling motorcycle rally in Kelowna B.C. instead of going to the bank and depositing it. His friends had told him that banks always let you get away with a few missed payments before they kicked you out, and he knew they were right, but this bank manager had said, "No exceptions, if I give one to you then everyone will want one." And that was it. Just like that, they went from being homeowners to renters.

Shane's wife had said they should complain to the head guys back east and had written a letter to them. They sent a nice note back saying that they would look into it, but that was the last they heard. So now Shane had made sure they had the rent payment every month, but had gotten into the habit of doing what Jerry had done. It had cost him too, he knew. His wife was very distant, although she still treated him okay. He didn't seem to have any interest in the kids or what they did any more like he used to. Just as soon watch the ball game on television with a beer than go out and play baseball with them.

His wife had started going to church a few months ago, and had on occasion asked Shane to go, but he preferred sleeping his usual hangover off instead of going to listen to some boring preacher spout off about God and how he was going to hell. He did have to admit though that she had been a far better wife since then. They still fought, but not the all out brawls they used to have.

What Jerry said had really bothered him, so instead of getting out of his old truck and going inside, he backed out of the yard and drove down the road for awhile until he could find a quiet spot to think. He knew he was in bad shape. He fought with his wife and kids, which bothered him. But what had really set his mind to thinking the past few weeks was when they had left Jerry in the ditch that day. Even now he couldn't figure out why he had not turned around to help and it bothered him to no end. He loved to help people, and the thought of what he had done and how Jerry would have died if those other bikers had not helped him was eating away at him. When Jerry had walked into that bar tonight, it was the most embarrassing time in Shane's life. He wanted to crawl under the table and hide. But then Jerry had said he forgave them. How could he do that after what they had done ? His so called friends just laughed it off, saying that Jerry had lost it, but that was not Shane's style. He believed in calling a spade a spade, and what Jerry had done took a lot of guts. He knew Jerry was a decent guy, but a quiet sort who liked to live and let live. He wasn't the kind to get up and preach to a bunch of half drunk friends, that's for sure.

Shane knew that it was time to make a decision. Enough of this sitting on the fence. He had gone to Sunday school enough to know a little about what Jerry had talked about, but never dreamed it might actually be real. If Jerry could do it, why couldn't he? Right there he decided he had to change, and hoped it wasn't too late to make the last couple of lousy years up to his wife and kids. He wasn't even sure how. They used to have dirt bikes and quads, and a boat that they all loved, and would go fishing and swimming at the lake, before he lost his job. He even had a nice four by four pickup to pull the boat and a camper that they would use to go further away. He had bought his wife a new mini van that had room enough for all the kids. Now they had nothing left but the house, and it was starting to fall apart pretty bad. He used to love to tinker on the toys, but had no tools left either to speak of. His twenty thousand dollars worth of tools, had gone the way of the other toys, back to the bank, or sold to buy needed car repairs. His truck and van were gone as well, being repossessed by the local Ford dealer when he couldn't afford to make the outrageous payments.

After thinking for some time, Shane started the truck up and headed back home. His wife was just turning the television off as he walked in, getting ready to head off to bed.

"You're home early tonight Honey, what happened, the bar burn down?" she asked, with a bit of a smirk on her face.

"No my witty little wife, it's still there, but I won't be spending much time there anymore. I'm going to quit drinking." He announced it with an air of finality.

She looked at him like he had just announced that he had cancer and was going to die tomorrow, but then recovered quickly. "And to what do we owe this fine change, may I ask?"

She knew when her husband made up his mind on something, he did it, but this was almost too much to hope for. She had been praying for months for her husband's salvation and had even included the kids in getting them to pray every night for their dad. Could it be that it was happening?

"Jerry came into the bar tonight, not to drink" he quickly added when he saw the upset look appear on her pretty face. "He gave us a little sermon about what Jesus had done for him and that he forgave us for not helping him on the road that night. You know how much that bothered me to leave him like that, and I never would have forgiven myself if he would have died. I still can't look him straight in the eye, and if I see him before he sees me I'll go the another way to avoid him. Well I guess I just kind of realised what the booze had done to me and is still doing. So before I throw every thing out the window, I thought that I better give this Jesus a chance. Mind if I come to church with you tomorrow?"

She wanted to throw her arms around him and shout it to the world that her man was finally going to change, but knew there was no guarantee of that, so instead, said, "That would be nice. Do you think you can handle getting out of bed before noon?"

"I will not only get out of bed before noon, I will make you and the kids breakfast. How about that?"

"I'll believe it when I see it," she replied. "Now I'm going to bed. Are you coming now or you going to stay up and watch the sports news?"

She was shocked, happy, worried, with a big side dish of hope in her heart the next morning as she lay awake thinking about getting up for breakfast. She could hear Shane out in the kitchen preparing it like he said he would. It had been years it seemed since he had done that. She had prayed so hard for so long that her husband would be saved, and this at least could be the first step. If he could only stay away from his friends in the bar somehow and get involved with some of the church guys, he would have a much better chance at making it. He opened the bedroom door and the smell of pancakes and fresh coffee wafted in, making her realise that she really was hungry.

He said, "Are you getting up lazy bones, or do you want breakfast served in bed?"

"I'll be right there hubby dearest. Smells pretty good out there for an old cook. Just close the door so I can get dressed, OK?"

There hadn't been much in the kitchen to cook as she was running on a shoe string budget, sometimes even going without meals because there was not enough for her and all the kids. She sometimes wondered how much Shane spent in the bar in an evening, but had never asked. It was up to him to supply most of their needs as she was pretty busy with the five kids, and because he didn't always work, or get paid much for what he did, what she got for groceries was sometimes a little slim. But he had made a big pan omelette and some toast that did taste pretty good.

After church, which as far as she could see was not going well for Shane, he took them home and then said he had an errand to run and would be right back. That scared her because when they had driven by the bar on the way out of town, he had stared intently at it, and she could see a couple of his friends vehicles parked out front. Never could figure out why they allowed bars to be open on Sunday at all, what a stupid idea that was. But now she was pretty sure the bar was where he was going. She had a hard time controlling her tears as she quickly fried up some hotdogs and had the kids look after themselves. There were only enough for one each if she didn't have one, but she just wanted to do one thing right now and that was to pray. And to think it was Valentine's day. She had bought him a coffee cup that she had found on sale for three dollars that had a picture of two little red hearts riding on a motorcycle with the passenger hugging the rider, and underneath, the caption read, "I'll always be your valentine!"

She went into the bedroom and locked the doors, telling the kids to put on a movie and to not bother her for a few minutes. Then she got on her knees by the bed and prayed and prayed. She was still there almost an hour later when she heard the car pull into the driveway. Then the car door slammed and she could hear him coming up the steps and into the house. She quickly got up off her knees and went out into the kitchen where Shane was unloading what looked like grocery bags.

"What are you doing?" she asked, and a very heavy burden lifted off her shoulders as she saw that it didn't look like he had been drinking and was pulling food out of the bags. "Where did you get all this stuff? The stores are all closed in town."

"Aw but I have connections here in this old town. I saw Joe's car in front of the bar when we drove by, so I went in and talked him into opening his store for one very bad man. I had no idea it was Valentine's day today, and when the pastor started talking about the love of Jesus and how we should be remembering that it was God who invented love and that we should be thanking Him that we can celebrate this day, I finally remembered how important it used to be to you. It's not too fancy, but it will save you having to cook today at least. I'm so sorry that I can't offer you much more though, cause you are beyond worth to me and to the kids."

"But where did you get the money for all this? I know Joe won't give us anymore credit and you must have at least three hundred dollars worth of food here."

"Well let's just say I saved a little by not spending all night in the bar, and Joe owed me quite a few drinks. Plus, he owed me a little bit for some poor card playing he did one night. So I called him on it and he fixed me up with this. Now I want you to go sit down with the kids and I'll make you a lunch, cum supper fit for the queen you are.

"Let me help you put this stuff away at least," she said.

He gently grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her on the forehead then turned her around and said "Go. I'll handle it."

So she went down to the basement where she kept her sewing equipment and sat down at her desk. Then she started crying, only this time she was praising the Lord through her tears, instead of questioning. An hour later she ventured upstairs and the smell that reached her as she went made her mouth to water. She had completely forgotten that she had not eaten anything since breakfast, but now her stomach was demanding some attention.

"You're just in time," he said. Have a seat and we'll serve you your Valentine's day meal."

The table was all set in red and white, with what looked like red Christmas wrap paper with white, hand cut table settings. There was red juice on the table and each setting had a small bowl with a few red and white jelly beans in them. She sat down and a moment later Shane placed a platter filled with roast chicken in front of her. Next came some corn, carrots and peas came, then the mashed potatoes, and a large salad big enough for all of them, with real salad dressing in bottles instead of the homemade stuff she always used..

She would have been happy with soup and dry bread just to see her husband in church this morning and to see that mischievous smile back on his face again. She could hardly remember a happier moment than when they all sat down to eat. Shane said as the kids were about to dive for all the wonderful food, "Hold it a sec kids, we need to give thanks for the meal first." He started to pray, in a fumbling but humble manner, thanking God for the meal they were about to eat. The kids dived in like they hadn't seen food in a week, and she hated to admit it, but it had been awhile since they had had a full course meal, especially one with as much food as this. After lunch they presented her with a red heart shaped box of chocolates, which she opened and happily shared. Then Shane insisted that she sit down while the kids and he did the dishes and tiding up.

That night, as they lay in bed reading before turning out the lights, Cindy turned to Shane and asked "What happened Honey? What made you want to come to church and cook us a meal and basically overnight, change back to the husband I knew when I married you?"

He smiled as he leaned over and gave her a kiss. "I guess sometimes a man deserves a kick in the behind. If he's lucky, he gets it, realises what is happening to him and to those around him, and does his best to fix the problem. As I told you before, it bothered me to no end that Jerry could have died if those Christian guys hadn't shown up when they did. I avoided him at all costs after that, and he used to be one of my best friends. When he hobbled into the bar that night and starting talking about forgiving us, even though we had almost killed him... well I guess that was my kick in the nether regions. I couldn't continue on the way I was, knowing I had almost caused him to leave this natural world, and knowing that I was continuing to cause you and the kids so much pain. I figured if this Jesus thing could work for Jerry, then maybe it could work for me too. That pastor talks like he has a lot of common sense, not like some high and mighty, holier than thou type of guy, so I wonder if maybe we could have him over for a visit soon. I'd like to hear more from him. Maybe he can explain to me what God wants out of me, because I'm sure I don't know."

Chapter Twenty

He walked up to the teller at the Royal Bank of Canada in Bashaw Alberta and said, "Hi, my name is Paul Cook and I believe that I am to be the new manager here for the interim while your regular man is on holidays for a few weeks."

You could hear a pin drop for a moment before she said, "Just a minute please, I'll get the assistant manager and she'll look after you." She scurried off to one of the offices and a moment later a very attractive woman in her late thirties or early forties walked out to greet him. She was wearing a bright red skirt that went to just above the knees and a white button down the front blouse. His first thought was that she would make an excellent Miss Canada with her good looks and well thought out attire. His first impression of her was good. She greeted him with a firm handshake and a smile that just improved his first impression of her.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Mary Siemens, the assistant manager for this branch, and I guess you are the new temporary manager. She put a very slight emphasis on the word temporary, he noticed, a good sign that she must have worked well with her previous boss. Maybe there was hope for him after all when he was done his "holiday." He wondered for a second how he was doing in his "training session". The last report he had received yesterday, was that he was not impressed so far, but it appeared he might, with the help of his wife, take a shot at trying to work at it. Paul was sure that Herbert had a bit of an idea of why he was there right now.

Paul could tell that Mary was giving him a quick and unobtrusive check over as well and wondered how he stacked up. He kept in shape with regular workouts and running, but his looks were more objective. He had heard comments ranging from 'average, to rugged', though he was never bothered about what people thought of how he looked.

"Yes Ms. Siemens, that would be correct. Would you care to show me around your lovely bank here? It appears that you take pride in its appearance, it is very nice."

"Thank you." She replied. "I think you will find most of the people here take pride in their town. It's a small town, but we all like it here and anyone who wants to go has already left because of the abundance of jobs all over the province."

She showed him around and after explaining everything, she took him to his new temporary office as she insisted on calling it. She tried asking some leading questions about where he was from, what he did before he came here, etc. but got little info out of him. He seemed to know his way around a bank at any rate, so maybe she would not have to have that much to do with him. She gave him all the codes for the computers he would need as per instructions from head office. They had basically said to give him anything he wanted , which made everyone think that maybe he was checking up on them for some reason. Now that they had met him, their doubts were not dispelled. He asked far too many of the right questions to be just a normal banker.

It wasn't until a couple of days later that they really began to wonder what was going on. He seldom left the office and even then it was only to ask more questions. Later, Joe Baker came in and happened to see Paul when he was asking a question from one of the girls sitting at a desk. He was sure that guy looked familiar, and when he stood up and faced Joe, he knew immediately who it was.

"Hey Paul!" he said. "What the heck are you doing here?"

Paul looked at him for a moment then started to smile. "I was wondering how long it would be before someone recognised me. How you doing you old goat?" Paul gave him a firm handshake across the counter.

"Not bad for a miserable old codger. What are you doing in this part of the woods? I thought you were some big shot financial guy back east? Did you get tired of the rat race and decide to settle down?"

"No not yet Joe, the boss asked me to come back and fill in for a few weeks while the manager is on holidays, seeing as this is my old home town."

Just then Mary came up and stood beside Paul, and said "Hello Joe, how are you doing. Came to make another deposit did you?"

"Yep. Ain't much as usual, but better to keep it safe in the bank than at home in my mattress I guess. At least it keeps the wolves from the door. So do you remember Paul here, or has he cleaned up too much since the last time you saw him?"

"It took me awhile Joe, but I remember him, though I can see he doesn't have a clue who I am. Much like when we were in high school." She said with a grin on her face.

Paul was surprised. "I'm sure I have never met you before Mary. I would never forget such a pretty face. And besides I know we never had a Mary in any of my classes," he said with a serious look on his face.

Mary's face began to turn a red at the unexpected compliment. "You didn't seem to notice girls all that much in those days, Paul Cook and especially not a wall flower like me. You were too busy with sports and studying to do much of anything else."

"Aw she's being hard on you Paul. She didn't even go to the Bashaw school. She was just far enough west of town to end up in the Mecca Glen school instead. But the two schools did get together a few times a year for sports competitions, and such like so you for sure would have seen each other at least."

"Ok Joe, enough chit chat, lets get your deposit done, so we can go back to work." She said it a little more aggressively than she would have liked. She sure didn't feel like explaining any feelings she might have had, or maybe still did have, at this point in time. It was obvious to her that Paul was strictly business and that was just fine with her. As far as she could tell he was still a stuck up snob, even with his fancy clothes and polished manner.

She had been quite puzzled at some of the questions he had asked the last couple of days though. He spent the first two days going through many of the bank's accounts and then had started asking her questions about different people, most of whom she noticed had been having financial troubles with the bank, some of whom had lost their land or houses. He was really beginning to intrigue her a little, making her wonder if there wasn't a little more to him than what he led on or wanted people to think. Then Joe's comment about him being a big shot just added a little more to the mystery.

The next day he was asking again about one of the customers that she knew had lost everything when he had been hurt and had not been able to make his payments. She knew this family well, and had been very sorry, but knew she could do nothing to help. Even now a year after it had happened, he still had not been able to get back on his feet again, though she had been surprised and pleased to see him in church last Sunday with his wife and kids.

Finally she went into Paul's office, sat down and said, "Ok, what's up?"

"Sorry?" he replied looking up at her.

"You know, what's going on? Why are you here? It's not only to take over Herbert's place while he's on holidays. Speaking of which you wouldn't happen to know anything about why no one can get a hold of him do you?" she said, looking at him with suspicion in her eyes.

He looked at her for several seconds before replying and she got the idea he was looking much deeper than she was used to being examined. His next question surprised the heck out of her.

"How much do you know about the mortgage side of things here?" he asked

"Only the basics really," she replied, "Herbert was adamant that he do all the work in that area. Why?"

"For example, I'm looking at one here now. The gentleman had made all his payments for over twenty years with less than five left, gets confused somehow on his accounting, and ends up losing his house because he missed two payments. He received no notice that he was missing them, and as far as I can see, it is a bank error that caused the problem. Herbert called out his loan, and now the bank owns the house he lives in, one hundred percent and collects rent from him instead of payments. And the monthly rent is almost fifty percent more than his payments were. It seems a little irregular to me."

"I had no idea that's what had happened." She said, a concerned look on her face.

"There are more examples here of similar things happening I'm afraid." He replied. "There were quite a few people in Bashaw or the surrounding areas that were nearing the end of their mortgage payments and for one unexpected reason or other, lost everything."

"But weren't they all given warnings? I thought it was standard practice to let them go without payments for about six months before the sheriff was called in to do something about it?"

"Yes you are correct though we try not to advertise that too much. They should have been sent a letter each month and then asked to come in to meet with the bank people to see if something can be worked out. As far as I can tell, none of that was done. Maybe these poor folks could have found some help from some other quarter if they had known in time."

"I don't know what to say," she said. "Is that why you're here, to check into whether or not we are doing things right ?"

"More or less, yes. After checking the accounts here, it seems plain that there are some discrepancies going on in this nice little town. Things that need to be straightened out. So, now I'm going to ask you a question. Can I trust you?"

"Of course you can trust me!" she replied with more force than she wanted to. Why did this guy always seem to bring out the worst in her? "I love this town and the people in it. I don't want any harm to come to it. Why, what do you want me to do about it?"

"I've seen a few cases like this in my time, and it usually runs in a pattern, which is easy enough to spot if you can do it from the right angle. I'll be willing to bet that there is a small cartel going on here, likely only four or five people but possibly more, who openly run things, with maybe one or two that are more behind the scenes. It would be nice if I could get your help, if you are willing, to help me find these people and then we can see if it's possible to talk them into "leaving Dodge" either on their own, or if they fight, then in the back of a police car. The problem is they have likely covered their tracks well, so it's unlikely that we will be able to do too much in a strictly legal sense. There are however, a lot of good honest, hardworking people here that through no fault of their own, or at least not wholly their fault have had a great deal of grief placed upon their shoulders.

So there are two things that need to be done. One, I think I can help fix with my contacts out east, but the other is a little harder. As I said we need to strongly encourage the ones causing the problem to go away and not get any ideas about messing around with people again. That's a tough call."

"Now the first thing I need is a list of people that you think might have been wrongly deprived of their property - either land, vehicles or other valuable things. Then I will see what I can do about repairing the damage. Some will be too far gone, but we will try. Can I count on you to help Mary?"

"What makes you think I am not involved in all this? Why do you think you can trust me?" she wanted to know.

"That's a little hard to quantify, I'm afraid. I'm not really sure, but my gut feeling is that you are honest and really do care about people. I've watched you work, and you do things that most people would not even think about. Remember that little old lady that came in yesterday right at closing time? Not only did you let her in the door though you had already locked it, you brought her a chair to sit on while you did her banking. It was only twenty dollars she wanted, but you treated her with respect, even though she was a bit cranky about the whole thing. You spend half your time just being nice to people and trying to give them that extra touch. If I was really one of those inspectors ready to give you marks on your performance, you would get about as high as I could give."

Of course it's always possible that you are only putting on a show, but I usually know how to spot those kind, and besides, I have asked around. You have a good reputation with everyone I talked to. In the long run though, I can't do this alone, just like the cartel needs several people to work, so do I if I am going to succeed."

"I do feel I need to point out one thing about the way I work though. I am not a hero coming out with guns blazing. I'm not going to solve everyone's financial problems, only the ones that I see have been unjustly treated. I do it by the book and I make sure my "i's" are dotted and my " t's" crossed. I want no chance of being on the wrong side of the law, even if it is the so called "right" thing to do. I know that it's frustrating to see a wrong and know how to correct it, and not be able to do something about it, but if it is not completely legal, under no conditions will I be involved in it."

He looked at her with those piercing eyes again that seemed to be examining her inner most thoughts, which she found somewhat disconcerting. She still managed to look him right back in the eye and say,

"I hope you are as good as your word sir, because if this does not work, I'll be out of this town on my posterior mighty quick. Then my reputation won't be so clean anymore."

She wondered if she could or even should go through with his crazy idea, but she had seen the town starting to go down hill in the last couple of years and she was knew Paul was right, as much as she hated to admit it. She even had some ideas of who might be involved, and her boss was one of them. He seemed like a decent enough guy, and was doing a good job, except for the mortgage business. No one was allowed to have anything to do with any of them, which was not normal protocol as far as she understood. Her friends that were involved in banking in different towns usually said that their managers never had much to do with mortgages until the final stages of an application. Herbert even managed all the automotive loans, which was also unusual.

Paul smiled at her and said, "I hope I am as well, because it is not only your reputation that is on the line here."

"Are you finally going to tell me who you really are, or are you going to leave me in limbo while we both stick our keesters out on a limb?" she asked with a hopeful tilt to her voice.

"There's not much to tell actually. I am with the bank from out east and have been asked to come to try and clear things up here as much as is possible within the boundaries of the law. The reputation of the bank is important and they thought because I grew up in this area, I might have a better time understanding what's going on. As you well know, the west does not have a lot of respect for those easterners, so I got elected. Maybe I can do something, and maybe I can't, we'll see."

"So I can safely presume that our beloved boss, and I use that term loosely, did not have much to do with his own sudden vacation, then?"

"Let's just say he got an offer he could not refuse, and he and his wife will have some interesting stories to tell, when they get back. That is, if they do get back to this area," he replied.

"Now, I'm guessing that you have an idea of who might be involved in this mess, so would you be willing to put some names down on paper? And maybe you know some of the more obvious people that have been cheated that I may have missed. I would also appreciate it if you don't let anyone know what's happening, even the ones we are going to try to help out, okay?"

It's now or never, she thought, but she knew now that she was hooked. Maybe Paul could get her a job out east if this didn't pan out. She was hoping that she would survive to even do that though. It was a redneck area out here, and some people took that reputation very seriously.

Chapter Twenty One

There were five other men sitting in Tyler Shipley's second floor office overlooking the showroom floor of the only Ford dealership in town. Actually it was the only real dealership period. There was another wannabe Dodge dealer, but he was always struggling to keep the doors of his business open. Of course it could have something to do with all the problems he kept having. Many of his vehicles broke down much more often than normal, and there always seemed to be some costly legal difficulty, usually encouraged by Larry Baxter, owner of the only law firm in town and sitting in front of Tyler in his office. There had also been several spates of vandalism, such as having almost every tire on all his new vehicles slashed one night. It had cost him a small fortune to replace the tires and then have a fence put up to prevent further unauthorized entries.

Of course the materials for that had been provided by George Banner, the owner of the largest hardware store in town at a slightly higher cost than most would have had to pay. He was one of the men sitting in front of him enjoying a cold beer from his well stocked fridge hidden behind a door in the wall behind him. This was a drinking town and Tyler usually found it much easier to lubricate a tight wallet with a drink or two. The other two men in front of him included Warren Boyle, the head constable for the local RCMP detachment, who also owned two sections of land not far east of town. The forth man, Brad Banner, George's younger brother, was like a huge bear, about six foot four, and must have been pushing three hundred pounds. He was not the cylinder with the most compression in the engine of life, and had a nasty temper. People had a way of crossing the street when they saw him walking down the sidewalk toward them.

"Where is Herbert?" he was demanding in his powerful bass voice that matched his size perfectly. "He's the only one that can help us figure out what happened to JJ's place. How did we lose that deal? It was supposed to be cut and dried, and how did those blasted missionaries manage to get a hold of it? It wasn't even listed anywhere. We need that place for the plan to work out."

"Now hold it down just a minute there Brad. First of all, no we don't really need the place. It would have been nice, but we can manage without it. It's likely going to be right on the edge of the park anyway. The second thing is, Herbert decided to take a sudden vacation for reasons no one knows, and no one has been able to get a hold of him through either his cell phone, his wife's cell phone, or the travel agent that set up the holiday package. All I know is that he called me from the airport and said that it was some sort of "enforced vacation" and that he would be back in a couple of weeks. It has only been a week and a half so we'll just have to put most things on hold for a bit until he comes back. I am a little concerned about this new banker they put in Herbert's place. It makes me wonder if someone didn't get a little suspicious about what he was doing, and took him out of action long enough to check things out. If that new guy starts snooping through the bank's books too deep, he may find some things that are a little irregular and try to find out what's going on," Tyler said.

"Herbert promised us that he was doing nothing illegal though, so that shouldn't raise any suspicions" Larry said. "We had a hard time getting him on board, but after we showed him how much money we could all make, and all legal, even if it is somewhat immoral, he was not so hard to convince. The only thing that is a little dicey is that most of the pieces of land are being held in trust through the bank, so it is essential that Herbert gets back before too long. Even at the cut rate prices we bid on the land we could not afford to buy it all until we start selling some to the government at above average prices. Since then we are sitting here owning half the county between us, and if that park goes through, which I am assured by my contact in Edmonton, will happen within the year, we will all be millionaires when the government starts to buy up all our land."

"Just how much land are we talking about here?" Darcy, the fifth man sitting in the office, asked, "And why this area? There is nothing special about this land that I can see. George here, talked me into joining you guys because I could make a lot of money, but I need to know what the deal is before I am willing to put out cash for

land.

" Ok Darcy, here it is in a nutshell." Tyler replied, "You know, because of all the oil revenue the government is getting now, they have so much money they don't know what to do with it. They also know the oil won't last forever, so some of them actually got smart and decided to invest in the future. They looked at places like Banff and Jasper and saw how much money those places make just from the scenery. So they started to look for places they could turn into provincial parks that could generate a steady income to government coffers. They needed enough room to build hotels, spas and golf courses, for people with money to spend on holidays. Next they needed to have enough land around them, for nature and hiking trails and such, so the ecology freaks will be happy as well. Buffalo Lake is a good choice because there is not much development around it yet, but it already has the basics of a good infrastructure in a couple of places suitable for setting up the kind of resort they're looking for. The only ones that maybe won't like the park idea too much are the farmers that own the land that the park will be situated on.

The government hopes to solve that problem by several methods that they have used before. As you know, any land that comes up for sale in this area gets bought up right away by mysterious buyers that no one seems to know. Then they either rent out the land until it is time to act, or if possible, without creating too much of a stir, they will plough it all up and seed it into natural indigenous grasses, bush and trees. They will also buy any re-possessed land that came up for sale which is what they have very quietly started to do. Someone in the government is trying to save us all a lot of tax money by buying now when anything becomes available, and then renting it out, knowing that as soon as people figure out what is going on, land prices will sky rocket.

Which of course is how we cottoned on to what was going on. Warren here got suspicious when his neighbour's land got bought up by some unknown buyer when he went out of business, and no one moved onto it, even though there was a decent house, good barn, and out buildings on it. It never went up for auction nor was it listed on any real estate site. Herbert had to do some digging to find out what happened to it because it was all hush hush. But he has a good friend in Edmonton that has good government contacts so he was able to pin down the reason and why. Now the house is falling apart and the farm yard is heavily overgrown. We know that it was left because it is well hidden from the road by the trees that he had around it, so no one was likely to notice or care too much if nothing was done with it and it fell to pieces."

Brad asked "Just how big is this stupid park supposed to be anyway?"

"Not that big, as far as provincial parks go, a little under thirty thousand acres, but it will be all around Buffalo Lake, with highway twenty one on the western boarder, highway twelve on the south, about eight miles north of town, and then east about thirty miles to somewhere around Heisler. The Battle River goes right through the middle of it, so there should be lots of room and opportunity for the naturalists as well. They also plan on keeping most of the lake in its natural state, with just two resort areas on its shores, one at Pelican Point which as you know is just a ten minute drive from town and the other one will be across the lake at Roshen Sands. That's where the real money is and that's why they have been pumping water into the lake every year to keep its level steady even in low moisture times like we have had the last couple of years.

The government is working hard to make Alberta one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country if not the world so we will be able to have what they call a 'sustainable economy' when the oil money dries up. They even plan on doing things like bringing the buffalo back here so people will automatically assume that is where the name of the lake came from. Haven't you noticed all the new farmers coming into central Alberta and raising buffalo and elk for the meat? I don't know about you, but I seldom see any of those meats for sale in the supermarket, so I bet they are being subsidized by the government just so people get used to the idea of having those animals around here again. One day, they will just take down the fences and let them roam free.

"That's ridiculous," Brad said. "Everyone knows it's called Buffalo Lake because it has the rough shape of a buffalo when you see it from the air."

"Yes we all know that, but to see a real live buffalo grazing on the edge of the lake has a romantic appeal that is too attractive to resist. This is going to be a tourist destination and they will believe whatever you want them to."

"Okay," Darcy said. "What about people like me that have farmed here all my life? If it was not for the doc telling me I have to quit farming because of my lungs I would not sell my land for any price and they couldn't make me do it. I know there are lots of other farmers that don't want to do anything else but farm, so isn't that going to make it hard for the government to set up this provincial park?"

"It will make it more difficult to be sure, and they know that. Those are the people that will get the really big offers in the end. If that still doesn't work, then they'll simply say that you can stay, but you will not be able to pass the land on to your sons or sell it to anyone else but them. Plus, as the area gets more natural, you and the others will be forced to raise only what they want you too. You might be able to only have indigenous animals such as buffalo or elk, but no more cattle, sheep, pigs, or any other such non-indigenous creatures that were all imported. And to make it more interesting, they will slowly force you miserable stubborn holdouts to stop growing any kind of so called non-natural grains such as wheat or barley. You'll only be able to grow what was on the land before the old evil white man came and destroyed the natural beauty of it all so many years ago. Pretty soon most of you will simply give up and sell your land for a nice sum of money and then you'll be spending your winters in Florida or Hawaii instead of having to endure our cold face-numbing winters."

"I already have enough money to spend my winters there if I want!" Darcy said angrily. "I love farming and ranching. If I have to raise buffalo, I have no problem with that, they are just funny shaped cows anyway. I'm still not sure I want a crowd of tourists hanging around though. I won't know anybody when I go to town anymore once that business all starts up."

"Well I want it." George said. "I plan to increase the size of my store by at least five times. Like he said, tourists spend a lot of money and I want some of that in my pocket. I don't care at all if I know everyone in town. I've been here five years now, and there are not too many people here that I would even care to know. This town is full of country hicks, going-to-church type of people that make me sick. You are the only one that's been here since eternity in this bunch, so sure you are going to be a little sentimental, but none of us has that burden to bear. Besides once you sell your land to the government, you'll have plenty of money to buy on the other side of the highway if you want and then you can still farm to your heart's content."

"You really don't get it, do you city slicker?" Darcy replied angrily. "The money is nice, but if I have to move off the home place, nowhere else would be the same, not even next door. It's my home and has been all my life, and I did have hopes of my sons taking over when I was ready to quit. Unfortunately, both of them have made it quite clear for years that they don't want to take over, so that means, once I'm done with it, I might as well make my fortune and then I can head south to warmer climates if I want. Bella says she would like to move to Phoenix because that's where her sister and husband go every winter and they love it. Personally I can't stand the thought of sitting around all day and playing horseshoes, but I guess if you have enough money you can get used to anything."

"Haw!" George replied. "You go play all the horseshoes you want farm boy. I'm going to be sitting with some good looking women on the deck of a big boat, enjoying the good life. I'm not ready to lie down and die just yet. I want to start living the good life. I've waited for an opportunity like this all my life to have money to burn and I aim to do it!"
Chapter Twenty Two

"Ok," Mary said, "after some thinking and the odd low key question, I think I have a good idea of at least some of the people in this cartel, as you call it."

She had come into his office with a file that contained the names and as much history on each person that she was able to obtain, but she was still not one hundred percent convinced that this was the right thing to do. In for a penny, in for a pound as her mother used to say, so despite her still nagging misgivings, she placed the file on his desk, sat down on a chair opposite him and waited while he opened it and started to read.

"Very impressive." He said after closely examining it for a few minutes. He looked up at her and smiled. "This is a very professional job. Are you sure you didn't work for the R.C.M.P. recently or have some boyfriend in the service?"

She frowned at him and said with a touch of anger in her voice "I don't have a boyfriend and haven't had for many years, and I have no contacts in the police. I do however have many friends in town, and the internet is a fountain of information if you know how to use it. "

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary," he said and smiled even wider. "I'm not trying to question you or your methods, I have no doubt they are completely above board. I am however, a little puzzled as to why someone as beautiful as you has not had any recent boyfriends. I would think"...suddenly turning serious, "no never mind, I'm sorry, it's none of my business what your private life is about. Anyway, let's look at these and see what kind of people we are up against here."

Despite his little oral blunder, which he was not accustomed to making, he quite enjoyed working with Mary. Once she was convinced to go ahead with it, she attacked the project like a tiger. She was sharp too, pointing out things he had missed, and he did the same. They made a good team.

"Darcy Bracken is a local, fairly large scale farmer for this area I see. What do you know about him?"

"He's a good enough guy I guess," she said. "He is a bit overbearing, but seems to be proud of this town. I don't think he would do anything to harm its reputation. His grandfather started the farm, and he hopes his kids will take over when he's ready to retire."

"Herbert Heinemann" he said, "I know a considerable amount about. I won't go into his whole history, but needless to say, he has ambition, so is someone to watch out for. He's a good man that I think has gotten into the wrong group of people somehow. But even in his ambitions, he has still managed to stay within the limits of the law. His little holiday may be a life changing experience, or it may just harden his resolve, although I think with my contacts in the bank out east, we should not have to worry about him too much for now.

"Warren Boyle, however, may be a problem," Mary said. "He's not all that smart on the intellectual side of things, but is very street smart. He had a dad that beat him and his mother, loves to drink, and the most dangerous aspect of his personality is a thirst to be in control. He grew up in the city but loves the small town living because there is not much competition. He has hit on me more than once even though he's married. I don't like him at all and if I see him coming I will even go the other way to avoid his lecherous stare. Even the other girls in the bank hate it when he comes in. So if we can do anything about him, most of the town would be quite grateful, I believe."

Paul prided himself on his calm and controlled demeanour under all kinds of circumstances, but for some reason he felt his heart quicken just a bit at the thought of any man looking at Mary in an inappropriate manner. He hadn't felt that since his best friend had ogled a girl he really liked in junior high school. He couldn't believe that he might be starting to fall for this pretty self assured little lady. That was not in his plans at all. Still, as he listened to her analyse the profile of the people they were discussing, he had to admit, she was very pleasant to look at as well as listen to.

To get his mind off what he was starting to think about, he quickly looked at the next name on the list and

said," What else do you know about Tyler Shipley? His profile seems normal enough. He has always been involved in the automobile business, started as a mechanic, moved to parts, then sales, and finally into management. Now he owns his own business. A typical self made man type. He wants to rule the world but knows he never will, so is happy enough with what he has attained by his own prowess in life. He likely has one of the larger houses in town and of course drives the most well equipped vehicle that Ford can supply. He loves to show off his success, although there are a few of people like him that owe more to the bank than they could ever hope to pay back." He turned to the computer and said, "Let's just take a quick peek at how he is fairing on the financial side of things." A few moments later he had the information he was seeking called up. He skimmed it quickly and then said, "That's about what I thought. He is financed up to the hilt in his business and home. If his loans were called in he would be a pauper on the street. I wonder if he knows that or cares. You would be surprised Mary, at how many people use the bank for their own playground thinking they will hit it big and then they can own the bank. The odd person even succeeds, but not too often, or the banks would not be in business anymore. Okay, I think I have him pegged, lets move on to Larry Baxter, the lawyer."

"Just a moment mister computer expert," Mary said. "How did you get all that info on Tyler? That is confidential, and you have to have some pretty good connections to be able to access that kind of info on someone."

"I told you Mary," he said with a small smile, "I have good connections out east."

She didn't say anything more, but once again she was convinced that there was more to this man than he was letting on.

"So according to your data, Larry has only been in town a little over four years. He bought out Curtis Lawman, the only lawyer in town, who now works for him. From the small amount of information we have on him, he may be the main one to look out for or at least one of the top two or three." Paul scanned the little bit of info written on only one page. "You couldn't find out any more about him eh?"

"I'm afraid not," Mary replied. "I tried every source I could think of, but there was not much to find. Even the talk on the street doesn't have much to say. Some rumours, but nothing remotely resembling facts on him. He's not married, no kids, never talks about his past or relatives, and seemed to come out of nowhere. I even asked Curtis Lawman, the guy he has working for him, if he knew anything, but said he didn't and I think he was telling the truth. He's a good man, or at least he was before Larry got a hold of him."

"What do you mean by that?" Paul asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Well he used to own the business and he did a good job from everything I heard. He was born and raised in the area, and was always well liked. When Larry took over, he has had him do most of the dirty work involved in mortgage takeovers and such. He's made a few enemies, because of that. It's one of those cases where people tend to be more emotional than usual and end up shooting the poor messenger. It's not his fault but he looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders the past couple of years. It doesn't help that he has one of the nicer acreages in the area, drives a couple of very expensive vehicles, and has a garage full of toys that he seldom uses, like boats, quads, and motorbikes. He seems to be living the good life on the backs of all the folks that have lost out here, which doesn't make him too popular with a lot of people."

Paul turned back to the computer and started punching keys almost as fast as she could see. She was fast, but he moved with a blur. "Let's check out his financial state, just for fun."

A few seconds later he found the information he wanted, and spent another couple of minutes reading it. Then he said to Mary, "That's what I thought. He is so far in debt that he will never see the light of day. He's barely able to make the minimum payments on all the stuff he has right now. One more unexpected expense and he will go under. I'm surprised Herbert let him get this far in debt."

"But he was always so careful with his money. It's just not like him to go so far into debt like that. I wonder what made him change so drastically?"

"Usually it's a desire for showing off, or a need to prove you are a cut above, or even sometimes just a need to be accepted by your peers. But you don't seem to think any of these scenarios fit Curtis eh?"

"Not really." Mary replied. "I was so surprised when he bought that acreage. He is not much on the physical side of things. He would much rather sit down to a good book on law, than water ski behind a boat, and his wife and kids are much the same. I heard his wife Gail comment once how she disliked driving everywhere just to get a loaf of bread or take the kids to band practice, when before when they lived in town they could walk everywhere."

"Hmm, if what you say is true, maybe we should call him in and have a talk with him, he might be part of the answer to solving our little problem here."

"What do you have in mind Paul?" she asked

"I'm not quite sure yet." He replied. "I need to think a little bit before I decide what to do. Let's look at the rest of the people on this list."

She was mildly disappointed that he would not say more, but not surprised. Mister Paul Cook held his cards close to his chest. But then, so would she in his circumstances. He didn't really know who she was or if she could be trusted, though by now she had figured out he could find out many things about people if he wanted.

"Brad Banner, brother of George Banner, who is, in my humble opinion, a seller of snake oil and not far above one himself. He gave me the shivers just looking at him, and even though he seems to do well in his hardware store, I know lots of people who will drive an hour to buy something just to stay out of his little establishment. He and his brother Brad are like Mutt and Jeff. He is a small, thin, shifty looking guy, and his brother is twice his size, half as smart if you push it, and not any nicer."

"Wow," Paul said, "you paint a rather pleasant picture of the brothers, have you had a run in with them that would cause such an explosive outburst?"

"You might say that." She replied, "He has made a pass or two at me, and even managed to put his hands where they don't belong more than once. I would have made a complaint against him, but with his buddy in charge of the local police, I know how far that would go. I know a couple of girls who have said something, and the next thing you know, they are getting tickets coming out the kazoo. The other cops in town don't seem so bad, but Warren doesn't give the force a good name."

The thought of some other guy touching Mary bothered Paul a lot more than he was willing to admit. He had always disliked people like that, wondering what kind of life they had that would cause them to think they could get away with harassing women. Mary's description of a snake seemed to fit them quite well. Just like in the garden of Eden, when the serpent talked Eve into eating that apple, there were still snakes around that would take what they wanted with force if they couldn't get it by guile. And from the sounds of this little cartel, they had everything they needed to get what they wanted. Now all he had to do was figure out what that was, and why people like these would have any interest in a small town like Bashaw.

Chapter Twenty Three

"Your' going to what?" Curtis said with an incredulous look on his face. "You can't do that! I make my payments every month. You have no right to foreclose on my mortgage. What am I going to do? Where are we going to live if you do that? I know what my rights are, and you just can't do that out of the blue without some warning."

"Actually, yes I can do it and I'm going to do it. You are in way over your head and it's only a matter of time before it all catches up with you. A very short period of time I might add. It's for your own good in reality, so I hope you will realise that we are not trying to destroy you but, help you get back to reality."

"And how do you think you know what my reality is mister banker sir?" he replied with a considerable amount of restraint, his lawyer training kicking in. "You don't know me from Adam. How can you possibly know what my life is all about?"

"Let me ask you this Curtis," he said. "Why did you buy that acreage so far out of town when you seemed to be quite content to live right here within walking distance of your job? You have a boat that you never use, motorcycles that apparently are rusting in the garage, you drive a Ford Expedition, which is one of the least fuel efficient vehicles on the road, and yet you belong to the Green Party. You seem to be quite a study in contrasts in your lifestyle. You have been partially responsible for kicking several families out of their homes, and yet everyone says that you used to be one of the nicest guys in the county. Let me quote one person I found "He would give anyone the coat off his back if asked and offer his shirt as well." That's a an impressive recommendation, or was, because now that same person would just as soon tie you to the front of the next locomotive heading the quickest way out of town, without your shirt and coat."

That deflated him immediately. His wife, who was sitting beside him, quickly reached over and put her arms around him and said. "That's not true Curtis and you know it. People love you in this town."

He straightened up and looked at her for a moment and then said, "No Honey, it is true. I know how it happened and I hate it, but I just don't know how to get out of the circle of misery I have helped place on so many good people in this town. We were so far in debt with things that neither of us wanted. I didn't know how to get out anymore. Mister Baxter insisted that I had to look like I was a successful lawyer if I was to work for him. He said he would see to it that I would be in good shape in a few years. The trouble is, every time I talked about downsizing with him, half an hour later, I would be sitting in Herbert's office signing another loan for something I didn't even want. That stupid boat cost us thirty five thousand dollars and I use it once a year."

He could see his wife had no argument for him and was not surprised, so he turned back to Paul and said, "Ok, so what does this mean, bankruptcy? Are we going to lose everything and have to leave town on the rail, like a few here would like to see me do?"

"Bankruptcy, yes I'm afraid, but as to leaving town in such an ignoble way, probably not.

"What do you mean?" Curtis asked

"Can I ask you a personal question Mister Lawman?" Paul replied.

"I doubt there's much you don't know about me by now Mr Cook, but it seems that I have little to lose now, so shoot."

"Are you a Christian?" he asked.

"You are full of surprises today aren't you? Why on earth would that be of interest to you?"

"Well it seems that you used to go to church on a regular basis, but you haven't been seen around the building for quite some time. Does this have anything to do with your recent lack of popularity perhaps?"

Curtis looked at him with a disgusted look on his face and said, "So what if it is, what's that got to do with my new dilemma?"

"You still haven't answered my question." Paul replied.

"Yes of course I'm a Christian. I have been ever since I was twelve years old and gave my heart to Jesus when a little old missionary lady from India came and gave a talk at the church here in town. I decided then and there that I wanted to be a missionary. Why do you ask?"

"I'll get to that, but first let me ask you another question. What would you be willing to do to be welcomed back into the community and the church and maybe repair some of the wrongs you may or may not have been a part of here in town?"

"I think I would be willing to do almost anything at this point in time if that was possible, but I don't see how it could be. Even Jesus would have a hard time getting me out of this mess and you seem to be making it worse than it was before."

"Things like this always seem bad at first Mr. Lawman, but if you bear with me I think you may begin to see going down the financial tubes might not be quite as bad as you think. Let me explain. Yes you will lose the house, the cars, all or most of the toys, and your credit rating will take a nose dive, but those things can be repaired. What is harder to fix is your reputation, and I think I may have a way to help you out there. But first, do you really enjoy all the affluence that you have had on the surface the last couple of years?"

"No," he replied. "I've never been so unhappy in my life." Turning to his wife he said, "How about you Honey, are you going to miss it?"

"I won't miss that oversized tomb for anything," she said. "What I will miss is all my friends and my job. Do you know how much time I spend cleaning that place? And for what, so it can get dusty again? The kids hate it because I am always after them to not leave a mess, and you're never home anyway. What's the point of all that? I'd rather live in a trailer court in a rented trailer if it meant you were home in the evening and the kids could have the freedom to play a little. They miss you a lot you know."

"Ouch that hurts, but I guess I deserve it. I miss you guys as well." Turning to Paul, he asked, "Ok, that settles it, what do we have to do? I know I am messing up big time in every aspect of my life, but my wife and kids missing me – that's the worst."

"I'm glad you see it that way, Mr. Lawman, but I suspect that if my plan works, you are not going to have to leave town and you may even be popular again. So here's what I need. First I would like a list of all the people that have lost their property in the last couple of years, at least the ones you have been involved in. Make a note of the ones you think or know did not deserve what happened to them. Then I need a list of all your creditors, and what you owe them and we will see if we can come to some kind of agreement to pay some or all of what you owe back so you don't have to go into full bankruptcy. We may be able to arrange to consolidate all your loans into one, which will save some interest. Some of your cards are costing you two or even three times what a bank loan can do for you. Then we need to work on selling everything you have that you don't need. Your mortgage will be taken back by the bank and your two vehicles will have to go back as well, because there's no way to get any return on them if you sell them. Your boat is a tough one as well, though I think you should advertise it, seeing as this is a lakeside town.

Your credit rating is going to take a hit, but that can be a good thing if you play your cards right. You won't be able to spend money you don't have. By the way it appears that the bank owns a small house not far from here, that we may be able to rent you for a nominal fee until you get back on your feet again. It's not much, but if people can see that you are going through the same thing they went through, and are trying to help change things, you may be surprised at how forgiving they are.

"One more thing.... go back to church! It's essential for you and your family and it is essential that people see you are real. It may be a bit humbling to begin with, but again, most people will forgive you, especially if we can help a few of them get back on their feet again. Don't sell God short Mr Lawman, you are a good man from what I hear, who has just taken a rough side road for a bit. Get back on the road that you yourself know is right and things will have a way of working themselves out. Think back to that time when you wanted to be a missionary and you may still end up being one, even if it is just right here in little old Bashaw, Alberta."

Curtis and his wife looked at Paul with puzzled looks on their faces. They were not quite sure if things were working out good, or if all was lost, but it seemed to both of them that they may have just found an ally in their bid to get life back to a semblance of normal again. And for that they would both be willing to work very hard. "So what is our first step Mr. Cook? Move out of the house?"

"No not yet." He replied. I'd like you to get that list of people first if you can. Today would be the best or tomorrow morning at the latest. Then we will need to go through it together tomorrow evening, maybe with Mary here as well, if you can swing it," he said looking in her direction.

"No problem with me." She replied, "My social calendar is not exactly covered with busy engagements."

"I would like to keep everything looking as normal as possible for a few days, until we can start putting everything into place. Once it's discovered that you're going under, it's going to be a busy time of gossip for awhile. You may lose your job if your boss gets wise to what we're trying to do, and I can't promise to be able to help you out with that. All we can do is pray, and ask for God's guidance. Whatever happens is in His hands now, and we just need to be obedient."

"So you are a Christian I presume?" said Curtis.

"Yes I am, but I am also a firm believer in the old adage, that 'God helps them who help themselves.' Just as long as they don't help themselves too much," he added with a smile.

Curtis and his wife left the bank with much lighter hearts. They were going to lose everything they had worked so hard to attain from a worldly perspective, but maybe gain back the important aspects of life that had been lost in their bid to follow the busy and single minded materialistic crowd.

Curtis turned to his wife as they walked out to the expensive Ford waiting for them in the parking lot and said "Are you going to miss this car and the nice house Honey? We're not going to have anything to show we can keep up with the Jones anymore."

"Do you have any idea how many hours I spend cleaning that monstrosity of a house Curtis? And how much time I spend driving the kids to their different courses and activities? I'm going to have to see if I can work extra hours at work so we can get along when you get fired, but I should have lots of extra time to make that a lot easier. I hate that house and this oversized and overpriced box on wheels. They have been an embarrassment to me ever since you got talked into buying them. I feel like I'm flaunting wealth that I don't have whenever we have guests or I drive this thing around town. "

"I'm with you Honey. I thought we had to have those things to show people that we knew how to make money so they would be willing to let us do their work for them. Who would trust a lawyer that lived in a shack? I think after what we have gone through now though, I'll be more suspicious of one that lives in a mansion. That boss of mine talked me into all kinds of things that I don't need or even want. I guess it's time I get a little backbone eh?" he said.

"I kind of like your backbone," she replied. "The rest of you too as a matter of fact. We will just have to be more careful from now on about what we buy. Well let's get home. I have a closet full of things that need to be given away. Our new home won't have much room for extras I'm guessing. We'll have to fill it with more love instead of things, ok?"

He smiled at her and said, "I really did get a good one when I found you didn't I?"

"You better believe it, lawyer boy, and don't you forget it."

Just before quitting time at five o'clock, Paul got a call from Curtis asking if he could hang around a few extra minutes. Ten minutes later he saw Curtis knocking at the door of the bank and went to let him in.

"I think I have all the information you need for whatever you have in mind Mr Cook. It looks to me like my boss has been a little busy even before he started getting me to do some of the dirty work. I count twenty three families who have lost their places in the last two years, and I know most of them. Four have left town vowing never to set foot in it again, but most of the people are still around, either renting different places or in nine cases, they still live on their same place, but instead of owning it, they now pay rent. A few had not owned their property too long but several of them were within five years of paying off the mortgage, and most of the rest had less than ten years to pay. The strange thing is that other than J.J.'s place, which those missionaries ended up with, almost all the properties have not been sold. Or if they have been, it's to close relatives to Mr Baxter or his friends at a fraction of the land's real value."

"So what do you think is going on, Curtis?" Paul asked. "People don't just buy up that much land for no reason. There has to be money involved and lots of it."

"I don't know" he replied. "There are always rumours of a pipe line going through, or a new road, or something like that, but like you say there has to be something someone knows. Maybe we should look on a map and I'll show you where these places are. Then we may be able to see a pattern."

"Good idea" Paul said. "There's a detailed map of the county on the wall in my office. Let's go take a look."

They went into his office and Curtis began showing Paul where the land was that was being taken away from its rightful owners. When they had placed pins on each place, it was plain that everything was to the south and east of town, some of it right next to Buffalo Lake. It was spread out quite a bit though, so that left the pipeline or road theory an unlikely option.

"Well your pipeline theory doesn't look too good Curtis. These are all spread out between the town and around the lake. A couple of them are near the south end of the county, and some near the east end. Even a couple north of town like J.J.'s place. So what would they be doing, buying up all that land I wonder? What increases the price of land in an out of the way place like Bashaw? Is there any way you could find out about any other properties that have been sold to anyone in the last five years Curtis? I know people don't tend to move much in this area, so maybe we could get a better idea."

"Sure," he replied. I can do that this evening. Oh no, wait a second. I promised the kids I would take them to see that new Disney movie that just came out, so it will have to wait until tomorrow, is that ok?"

Paul smiled and said "It sounds like you are already beginning to make time for your family. I bet you haven't done that much in the last couple of years."

Curtis smiled back and said, "You know, I think I might just like this being poor business. I'll be sleeping a lot better now with a clear conscious. The boss never comes in before ten or eleven o'clock anyway, so I should still have time to get the info before then. Normally it wouldn't be a problem anyway, but I have heard him wonder out loud who you are and what you are up to, so I'm sure he would be really suspicious if he knew I was getting this information for you. I wonder how long before he finds out I'm helping you and fires me?"

"It probably won't be too long in a small town like this, and I sure am sorry it has to come to this for you. I hope you can find a way to get completely back on your feet."

"Don't even consider it a problem Mr. Cook. I was ready for something to happen and you were just the catalyst. I do hope we can help some of these other people before the dirty stuff hits the fan. Whatever their plan is it can't be good, and I would love to be a part in helping them come crashing down.

The next morning at just after eight, when Paul walked in the door of the bank, Curtis was right behind him.

"You must have been up pretty early this morning," Paul said.

"I couldn't sleep very well last night, so I got up early and came down to see if I could get the information we need. I think it might surprise you."

"First of all, the name is Paul, not Mr. Cook. I get too much of that back east. I don't like it, but anyway, let's go into my office and put it up on the map."

As Curtis read the names and places out, Paul began putting pins into the board. It soon became apparent that the previous pattern was holding. "So these are only the ones that your company had dealings with, is that correct?" Paul asked.

"True, but we do almost all the real estate deals in this area. There are no other lawyers in town, thanks to Mr Baxter's influence on the town council. He has made sure that no other lawyer can tolerate the conditions that would be necessary for them to set up business here. There are of course others in the surrounding towns such as Stettler or Camrose, but they do most of the business on the east and south side of the lake, we do most of it on the west and north."

"It would be interesting to see how many sales have gone through over in those areas as well," Paul said. " But I think we can plainly see there is something going on here. We just need to figure out what it is, though in fact I guess that is not our business. Our job is to get these peoples' homes back that lost them through no fault of their own, or at least those that want them back. I have no doubt the odd one has left town and will never come back to the Royal Bank. And for good reason. When you get a bank that starts taking everything it can get, even if it is quasi-legal, word gets around fast in these small towns.

Just then Mary walked in and saw them looking at the map with all the pins in it.

"What are you guys doing, buying up all the land between here and the lake so you can set up a park?"

Paul and Curtis both looked at her with their mouths open and then turned back to the map. "You know I think she could be right Curtis. I heard something about the Alberta government wanting to spend some of that oil revenue money on something, and provincial parks for tourists was on the top of the list. They figured it would be a good way to keep bringing in money when the black gold is all taken out of the ground."

"It would make a good park when you think about it. With Bashaw right on the edge of it, we would become another Banff or Jasper." Curtis said. "Maybe that's why they let that East Indian guy expand his motel so much and make it into such a classy building. I think you should expand your search of what the bank is liable for in town now as well. I'm willing to bet there are a few businesses in town that are mortgaged to the hilt just ripe to be lost and taken over at a very reduced price."

"I don't think it would be like them to help out people of a different nationality or religion," Paul replied. What do you bet that as soon as word of this park gets out or probably just before, that they foreclose on his mortgage as well and boot the poor guy out the door. Then they will have someone in line to take over when he's gone. It will be another auction that no one will know anything about except them. They'll be the only ones that will make a bid and it will be sold at a fraction of its real value, meaning the bank will have to eat the loss. That is what happened to J.J.'s place. I just happened to get wind of it because he's a friend of mine and I was interested when I found out he went to jail for tax evasion. I was able to let someone more deserving get a hold of the land, just in time. Now I'm convinced that there is a lot more to that issue than I thought at first. That land is on the far edge of where it looks like this park may be going in though, so not quite sure why this George Banner wanted it so badly. He was overly upset when he didn't get it. Another puzzle I guess, that will not likely be solved, because I can guarantee that he will not be talking much when the cartel finds its land legally disappearing again after so much effort put into "borrowing" it from the rightful owners.

"So do you think that J.J. was falsely charged Mr....I mean Paul? I filed the papers on him, and they seemed pretty above board."

"Do you remember how much he was accused of not paying?"

"Yes, just because it was so much, just over seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. According to the records, he had never paid a cent since he started working and he was portrayed as one of those redneck westerners that love to stiff the government any chance they can. The poor guy never knew what hit him. I knew him well and always thought of him as honest above all else. He even said he would try hard to pay his legal bills when he got out of jail and could work again. That does not sound like someone who would try to stiff the government on purpose. They even put him in a maximum security jail for some reason. I thought those were only for violent people, not tax evaders."

"Yes that is usually the case," Paul replied, "though sometimes if someone gets angry enough and can pull the right strings, he can get the sentence upgraded. Poor J.J., I wonder how he is doing in jail? He was one of the smartest and gentlest people I ever knew. I better see if I can get a hold of some of my contacts back east again and see if they can dig up anything on what happened. Any chance I can get the trial notes?"

"That shouldn't be too hard," Curtis replied, and picked up his briefcase from the floor where he had put it down when he came in. "I have it all right here." He opened up his case and pulled out his laptop computer, put it on the desk and turned it on. "You can thank the boss for this," he said. He insisted I keep all the cases on my laptop, so he could check on any case he wanted if we were not in the office. Do you have a "cigarette lighter", as my good wife likes to call it? I can download it for you right now."

"Thanks Curtis, you must have been a boy scout, ready for everything." He loaded the information onto his own computer. "I'll look at the information later, when I have time." Then he turned to Mary and said, "Well Mary, Mary quite contrary, do you believe me now when I say there is something rotten in the streets of Denmark?"

"I think I would have to be a fool not to believe you after what I have seen, but just for the record," she said giving him a scowl at his Mary contrary remark, "I had no trouble believing you in the first place. I just didn't know if you were the man for the job of fixing things up. I knew there was something going on here long before you came but I couldn't see anything I could do to help fix it. I still don't know who you really are or why you are here and that makes you an enigma which is something I don't like. I stuck my neck out on the line because I don't want to be involved in anything illegal or shady, and these people are all friends of mine. So when are you going to let loose and tell me what your real purpose is for being here, and who you really are? You must have some pretty good pull back east to do what you have already done, and you sure don't talk like an ordinary bank manager."

"He laughed, and said, "All in good time. My purpose here is as you are seeing now. I grew up in this town as you know, and loved it here. It's full of wonderful caring people, and it's peaceful. I still get the weekly paper sent to me every week just so I can see what's going on. Don't spread this around please, but I will tell you a little secret that I have a hard time believing myself. I believe very strongly in letting things work themselves out, because in my experience it usually works better than when people put their noses into a situation and try to fix it themselves. For some reason though, I kept getting this distinct feeling that I should get involved here. It got so strong that I knew it had to be from God, and it just felt 'right'. Don't ask me why, but I finally became convinced that God's hand was involved and He wanted me to 'expand my envelope of comfort' and come out here to see what I could do. Believe me, this is not my cup of tea, all this subterfuge. Maybe I won't be able to do anything and this could all blow up in our faces, but whatever happens, I try hard to do what is right, and what's going on here is wrong, plain and simple. I'm sure now that some of it is even illegal if we really pushed the issue. It's obviously a lot bigger problem than I originally thought, so I'll be very glad to have you two on my side when things get a bit sticky which I am sure they will.

Just then one of the tellers stuck her head in the door and said, "excuse me Mr. Cook, but there is a Mr. Dan Thompson here to see you."

"Wonderful," he replied. "Send him right in." Then turning to the other two, he said, "This is the fellow that bought J.J.'s place, the one that was a missionary for twenty- five years on the other side of the world in Pakistan. You are welcome to stick around if you want and see what he has to say." They went over to the chairs in front of the desk and sat down while Paul welcomed Dan into his office and had him sit down in the remaining chair.

He said, "We were just about to have a cup of coffee, would you like one?"

"Sure," Dan replied, "that would be great."

So Paul picked up the phone and ordered some coffee and donuts.

"We don't have a Tim Horton's in town yet but the hotel coffee is a pretty good match, and their donuts are even better, homemade by the owner's wife every day." Then indicating Curtis and Mary sitting beside him he introduced them before saying, "So what can I do for you this morning? How is your new home?"

Dan smiled and said, "News travels fast in small towns doesn't it? I guess you would have to keep up with those kinds of things more than most. To answer your question, it is simply an unbelievable answer to prayer. We never would have imagined that we would live in such a perfect place. I could not have put down on a wish list the blessings that place has had for us. But we almost didn't get it, so we are grateful to some unknown soul that guided us through the process. By the way, I've never met the saint that helped us, but his name is the same as yours. I suppose that is just a coincidence though eh?"

"Must be," Paul replied a little too quickly for Mary's liking. "If you look in the phone book of any city, you will find several names the same. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"Well I have a bit of a puzzle that I am hoping you might be able to help me out with. How much do you know about the history of the place and the people that used to own it?"

"Quite a bit actually. J.J. was and still is a good friend of mine, though I haven't seen him in a few years. Why do you ask?"

"Well when we bought the place, it was clearly specified that everything on the property was included in the price. That meant all the furniture and appliances in the house and anything else we may find, all the equipment in the barn which was so full of stuff we could hardly get inside, and anything else anywhere on the property. I don't think he threw anything out, ever. There were a couple of vehicles and motorcycles as well, that I guess we inherited, but I needed to contact the owner to see if he would be willing to sign the transfer papers which would make things much easier than going through a lawyer. No offence Mr. Lawman."

"None taken." He smiled back.

"I really wasn't liking the idea of going to a convicted criminal to ask a favour, especially one whose house we had just taken out from under him. What finally convinced me to go, and this will likely sound pretty crazy to you guys, was the atmosphere and spirit of the place. There was such an incredible peace there, that we were pretty sure that anyone who lived there just couldn't be that bad. We prayed about it and it seemed like it was an okay thing to do, so I made an appointment with the prison officials and headed out to B.C. on my bike. I had such a good talk with J.J. that I almost didn't make it back the same day."

"Wait a minute," Larry said. That's at least an eight hour drive one way. You mean to say you drove sixteen hours on a motorcycle in one day?"

"Yes, that's the kind of riding out there that just makes you not want to get off the bike at all." Dan had a bit of a wistful look on his face. Then he snapped out of his day dream and said, "But anyway back to my point. I'm not a super good judge of character, but I'm not bad either, and after talking to J.J. for a few hours, I'm quite sure he doesn't belong in jail at all let alone a maximum security one. He somehow found out you were back in town and he asked me to look you up to see if you could help him at all."

"So how is he doing up there anyway?" Paul asked.

"He seemed happy enough, but I got the idea that he is the kind of guy that doesn't notice or care what is going on around him as long as he has his computer to play with. It sounds like he has come up with quite a few ideas that save the prison some money as well. Plus he found out that if you fix things for guys, they will leave you alone. I guess they were giving him a hard time until he fixed someone's computer once and the guy was quite grateful. He gave him the hint that if he fixed other people's things, they would leave him alone and now he is never bothered anymore and has more than enough to keep him busy.

But finally we got to putting down some figures on paper on what he thought he earned in the last few years to see if it matched up with the seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars that they said he owed. First of all he said that as far as he knew he had always paid his taxes, but even if not, he has not earned anywhere near enough to account for that much of a fee."

Paul quickly interceded, and said, "One thing you have to realize is that what you haven't paid is one thing, but the interest on the unpaid balance is pretty high. The government is very tough on people who owe them money."

"Yes I figured something like that, but then J.J. said he thought all his pay slips might still be around in a drawer in the barn that he always threw everything into. They were badly disorganised, just thrown in the drawer at random really, but sure enough after we got them all sorted out and categorized, it looked like almost all of them were there and as far as our untrained eyes can tell, he has always paid his taxes."

Paul's heart took a bit of a leap as he said, "Do you think I can see those papers sometime?"

"Sure, that's why I came in," he replied. "J.J. asked me to give them to you if we could find them, and to see if there was anyway you could help." He lifted up a battered old brief case that he had set down beside his chair and handed it to Paul.

Paul took it, opened it and quickly looked through a few of the pay slips. They would have to be checked out of course, but they looked to be all in order, and it appeared that he had indeed paid his taxes. "I'll keep these if you don't mind, and go through them a little later. If this is what I hope it is, we may be able to get him out of jail for a retrial. Maybe I could at least get him to a minimum security jail, if the figures are not nearly as high as they were purported to be."

"He's an interesting fellow I have to say," Dan said. "I haven't had much chance to go through the barn yet, but the things he did to the house boggles the mind. We wondered why he never painted anything, but when I asked him about that, he said he had. The house looks like a drug house with it's blacked out windows and looking like it had never seen a lick of paint ever, but he said his dad really wanted things to be low key, so when they built it just a few years ago, he invented a clear paint that protects wood better than anything on the market. You can't see it once it's on unless you examine it very closely and know what you're looking for. Even the roof is made of a special tile that works like a solar panel, and with the geo-thermal heating, we never have any utilities to pay. The phone is a wireless pay as you go set, he has satellite TV, so the house is not on the grid at all. His dad hated paying monthly bills, so together they set it up so they would not have too.

He hardly had anything there that wasn't modified in some way. The 4x4 Ford Ranger that I found in the garage, has a V6 diesel engine in it that gets almost forty miles to the gallon, and still goes like crazy. There is not even a bad smell coming out the exhaust. That's why I went to see him, to see if he would be willing to sign the transfer papers so we would not have to go to a lawyer to get it changed over to our name for insurance reasons. He had a lawn tractor there and when I opened the hood, it had a motor in it from an old Gold Wing motorcycle. Not too many ninety horsepower four cylinder lawn tractors around I'll tell you. You should see it cut grass, or anything else that gets in its way. You could cut logs with that thing.

I talked to him about keeping some of the things for him when he gets out of jail, but he would hear none of it, except he said there was an old motorcycle of his dad's that he had stored upstairs and one of his own that he wouldn't mind having, but only if it was not a bother. I tell you, I have seen few people as uninterested in material things as that guy is. He just wants to build things and fix things, and then he's happy.

Anyway I'm rambling, but do you think you could maybe help him out at all? If anyone deserves a break I think it is J.J."

"I'll take a look at these papers and maybe you can as well Curtis, if you would like. You guys all know that J.J. is worth the effort, and I think it would really be interesting to see the cartel's faces if they could see J.J. walking down the street a free man."

"Count me in," Curtis replied. "I'll help in anyway I can"

"That goes double for me." Mary piped in.

"Good, then, that makes it unanimous. Well I see the coffee and donuts are here, so why don't we enjoy them while they're hot." A waitress from across the street carried them in.

Paul was momentarily startled when Dan asked the girl if she was from India, and when she replied that she was, he started jabbering away to her in a strange language. The girl's whole face lit up as she replied in the same language. They spoke a few more sentences to each other before she smiled again and turned and left.

"What language was that?" Paul asked after she had left. "I thought she was from India."

"She is," he replied. "Which is next door to Pakistan. They used to be the same country before someone got the bright idea of separating them, giving one to the Muslims and one to the Hindus. It was one of the biggest slaughters in history I believe, when they started moving to their new Hindu or Muslim homes. Trains would stop when they met each other, and everyone would get off and kill each other until there was almost no one left alive. What a mess. Anyway, she speaks Hindi, and I speak Urdu, but they are almost the same language, until you get into more of the religious vocabulary. There the Urdu tends to head more to the Arabic side of things. Urdu is a made-up language designed for the army about five hundred years ago. There were so many different languages and people groups in the army that they decided that a common language was in order so they invented one out of Hindi, Persian, and Arabic, though it leans very heavily towards the Hindi side of things. She made me promise to bring my wife over to meet them and have a meal with them. She said she would cook us up a nice curry when we came. We love that food.

"All your time overseas I suppose?" Mary said. "I guess you would have to like the food for you to stay that long."

Dan laughed and said, "No, I know some people that never did get to like the food, but still survived many years with no trouble. It's actually quite easy to cook close to normal foods there if you want. Beef and chicken is usually available and lamb too if you like, though it tends to be quite expensive. There are also a few types of fruit and vegetables in season and although the selection is not always great as a rule, it's not so bad. I was always glad I wasn't called to Africa though. Some of the foods they eat there I wouldn't feed to my worst enemy. Pretty scary sometimes form what I have heard. Anyway I better get going, and let you people get back to work. Let me know what you find out about J.J. will you please?" Saying his goodbyes, he turned and walked out the door.

Chapter Twenty Four

Shane opened the door for his wife and followed her into the bank, neither one of them looking too happy at the moment.

"I still can't figure out why this new bank manager wants to see us," Tabitha said to her husband as they sat waiting for their appointment. "We can't possibly owe any more money and the only thing I can think of is that they want our house now. And he seems like such a nice guy in church. I hope he isn't one of those Sunday morning Christians."

"I'm sure it will work out okay, Honey. We'll just take what the Lord hands out to us and know that He is looking at things from above."

Just then Paul came toward them looking serious and they stood up as they shook his hand.

Despite his words to his wife, Shane was feeling very nervous. He had heard stories of people having nasty things happen to them after they became Christians, thinking it was all to test their faith, but he thought they had been tested enough for a while at least. Even though he knew their problems were mostly of their own doing.

They followed Paul into his office and Mary the assistant manager came in behind them. She had them sit down and then asked if she could get them anything, coffee, tea?

They both shook their heads no and then Shane asked, "What's this all about Mr. Cook? Are we in even more financial trouble than we thought?"

"No, I wouldn't say that this time," Paul said. "It's about your mortgage, or should I say, the loss of your mortgage. It appears that there may have been a mistake on the bank's part. No that is not quite right. Let's call it perhaps a lack of judgement as determined by some executives in the bank from back east. Maybe. There are some catches to what I am about to say, so I will take this slow and easy, but what would you think if I was able to offer to you the chance to renew your mortgage at somewhat better rates than you were getting before?"

"You mean start all over again with a twenty-five year mortgage when I've already paid it for twenty-three years?"

He was not looking like a happy camper at the moment Paul observed, but that was to be expected. He was looking forward to the look on his face after his next announcement.

"No I was thinking of somewhat better terms than that." He glanced down at Shane's file trying to gain a few seconds to compose exactly in mind what he wanted to say. "You had thirty one months left to pay on it at the time it was called in and it has been eight months since then. The rent you are paying is higher than what your payments were. Let's see, if the mortgage had not been called in, you would have twenty three months left now. With the extra you have paid in rent, I was thinking I could offer you a five year mortgage but your payments would be approximately a third of what they were previously. Of course, you could pay it all off at any time with no penalty if you suddenly come into some money for whatever reason."

Shane and Tabitha looked at each other with gaping mouths, then they both turned back to the manager. Shane, in his characteristically quick decision making mode, said simply, "We'll take it!"

Later that day they were still reeling from the shock. They were having a little prayer and praise time together in their bedroom, giving thanks for the papers they had just signed, when they heard a vehicle pull into the driveway, and another one behind it. One of the kids came running in and said "Dad, it looks like your old truck with one of the quads that we used to have in the back."

They all went out to see and sure enough, Shane was sure it was the truck the bank had repossessed four months ago. He still had two years left to pay for that as well at the time, but the finance company would not listen to reason, and had come with the police to take it away. There were no police this time, just a large friendly looking fellow with a clipboard and some papers attached to it.

"What can I do for you guy, you lost?" Shane asked.

"Hope not," the fellow replied. "Is this the home of Shane and Tabitha Richards?"

"You got the right place, what's up?" he asked with just a touch of worry in his voice.

"I have some property that apparently belongs to you. I guess there was a mistake in the paper work somehow. You know how that happens sometimes. I was ordered to deliver it back to you."

He handed Shane a set of keys, and the insurance and registration for the truck from the clipboard.

"If I could just get you to sign a few papers here, I'll be on my way and the truck is yours plus the quad in the back. I understand that belongs to you as well.

Shane looked at the papers he wanted signed carefully before he would commit to anything.

"The way I read this, if I sign this, the truck and quad will be mine paid for in full."

"That is absolutely correct sir." The big man replied. "I was told to make sure you understand that. Also that the insurance and registration is paid up for the next year, and I believe you might even find the odd upgrade or two on the equipment. I hope everything meets your standards and if you have any problems you are to get a hold of Paul Cook, the manager of the RBC bank in town.

Shane was in shock, but numbly signed the papers and waved his thanks as the man headed to the other truck and got in. He didn't even notice the other quad that the other guy had quietly unloaded while they had been talking, but the kids did.

"Hey dad," they yelled, "can we go for a ride on this one? It's running and it has a full tank of gas."

"Later" he said. "I need to check it out and make sure everything is ok first."

"Awww!" they all said in unison "When can you do it? We want to go for a ride."

He walked over to it and shut the engine off and then as the kids gathered around asking dozens of questions, he checked the oil and coolant level, then started it up and took it for a short drive around the yard. He was wondering how to tell the kids they would need helmets and gloves and boots before he could let them ride it, but they solved that problem by the time he got back to where everyone was standing. They had looked in the back of the truck and found all the equipment they needed to ride safe and legally, though technically they were all too young. No one followed the age rules in this part of the country though, so he didn't worry too much about that. He knew they could all ride if he set the throttle for each of them for a safe speed. He let the oldest go first and as he putted around the yard looking like the happiest kid in the world. Shane turned to his wife and said, "Am I dreaming Honey? Am I going to wake up and this will all be gone and we will be poor again?"

"We aren't poor anyway you big goof, not when we have the Lord, each other and these wonderful kids of ours. But no you are not dreaming, I already pinched myself to make sure. Well you better take a look at your truck to see if anything is different in it. Go ahead, I'll watch the kids for a few minutes while you play."

So he went and looked it over to see what kind of shape it was in. It didn't take him long to figure out they had gone through it thoroughly. There had been a small dent in the left rear fender where one of the kids had hit it with the quad. It was gone now. His tires had been worn out, but not any more. Brand new. There was a GPS installed on the dash that had not been there before, and the seats had been cleaned of all the beer stains. It looked like a brand new truck everywhere he looked, even in the engine compartment.

He decided to unload the quad that was in the back to check it over as well, and found it looked as new as the truck did. Everything had been replaced or repainted. At his signal one of the other boys quickly came over and soon was away chasing after his brother. Shane had quickly set the throttle on this one as well, so he would not be as quick as the other one, but his son did not seem to mind. He went and stood beside his smiling wife and third son chaffing at the bit son and said, "I guess you could call this one of the more surprising days we have had in our life, eh?"

"I think that would be a safe bet," she replied. "About the only thing missing is your motorcycle now. Maybe that will come roaring down the driveway one day."

"I think maybe I better just be glad for what we have. I'll get another bike again when we can afford it, but now it seems like maybe we might be able to make it. We almost own the acreage, we now own the truck and some toys. What more could a man ask for?" he teased.

She swatted him on the arm hard and then said, "What about me? Aren't I worth more than those things, or do you just keep me around because I look good?"

"Yes to both those questions," he replied with a smile. "Tell you what, why don't we try to tear the kids away from the quads after they have all had a turn and we'll go into town in the truck for some ice cream? My treat."

"Now you are sweet talking me, but it'll work this time. Let me go clean myself up a bit, and by then the kids will be ready."

Chapter Twenty Five

"Hi Dan," Paul said "how is it going?"

"Great," he replied, "How did it go with Shane? Was he a happy camper?"

"Yeah I think it is safe to say he and his wife walked out of my office on a cloud. It makes the job worth doing when you can do things like that for a guy, especially someone like Shane. I'm sure that guy would walk on glass if it was needed to help someone out. So how is his bike coming?"

"I won't be able to get it done until the first part of next week I don't think. Jerry is doing good work on it, but we need a new back tire, some brake pads, and a new windshield from Honda for it, and they won't be in until the first part of next week."

"No way you could have it for the weekend eh? Is there anything I can do to speed things up?"

"No I'm afraid not. We were lucky with the quads, they were in good shape anyway, so it didn't take that much to get them up to almost new condition, but the bike has seen a few miles on it and Jerry is making sure everything is perfect . I wouldn't count on it until the following weekend if I were you."

"Well that should work out okay I guess. Shane is not expecting anything anyway so one more week won't make any difference. Thanks for doing it for me."

"No, thank you Paul. Jerry is a different man when he's doing this kind of work and the fact that you are paying us so well for it makes it even more fun. He works on the bike like he is preparing it for the Lord Himself. He's not satisfied unless it's perfect. Shane won't even recognize it when he gets it. He asked Shane's wife what his favourite color was, so he could do the paint scheme the right way. That's going to be the nicest looking ST this side of the Rocky Mountains. By the way, how are you going to give it to him, anything special up your sleeve?"

"I might have at that, Dan," he laughed, "but I'd better not say, yet. I still have some details to work out. Now I better get going, I have to figure out how to get Jerry's land back, and I am still working on J.J.'s books. It is looking like he got the royal shaft so far though. We have a few more things to check, but I hope we will be able to present his case to the courts within two weeks. Pray for us okay? The government does not like the idea of being sued for falsely arresting people so they work hard to keep the status quo. I'll talk to you later when I know more, and thanks again for all your help."

"Least I can do after what you did for us Paul, but we'll talk later. Bye for now."

Dan figured it had been a good day all around. It was so much fun to see people react when something wonderful happened out of the blue. Lord knew they had seen enough in the last few months. As he walked in the front door of his new home he yelled out, "Honey, I'm home!" Suddenly the world exploded in a sea of pain, and everything went black.

He woke up with his wife hovering over him looking like he had died. It seemed to him in his fogged out brain that this had happened before, but he couldn't think straight enough to remember. He finally got his thoughts together enough to begin to hear his wife say, "The ambulance is on the way, don't move, can you feel anything?"

He managed to get up the energy to ask, "What happened?"

"Someone shot you again, Honey, looks like the bullet went right through you on your left side. Who would want to do that here?"

"I don't know. Maybe some of the bad guys from Pakistan have relatives here and they sent a message. It hurts pretty bad. How does it look?"

"Well you have two holes in you again, one where the bullet went in and the other where it came out. I don't dare move you too much until the ambulance gets here, in case something vital was hit."

"I'm so sorry Honey, you don't need this again."

"You're sorry? What are you sorry for? You're the one with the holes in you. You just worry about getting better, I'm not ready to live alone yet. I haven't even come close to doing all the nagging I plan on doing with you... oh, I hear the ambulance now. I'll go out and show them where to come."

Moments later she returned with two E.M.T.s and they quickly checked him over, asking all kinds of silly questions before showing him a syringe and saying that this would make him feel better. He felt a sharp pain in his right arm and soon his eyes decided they had seen enough for awhile, and closed on him.

The next thing he knew he woke up in a bright room in a soft bed with a good healthy pain in his side. Laura was sitting beside him and stood up and came to him as soon as she heard him give a little moan.

"It's about time you woke up, sleeping beauty. What do you think this is, a holiday resort?"

"I take it that I'm going to be okay, as I see you're not wearing black for my funeral, eh?"

"Yes, the doc says you will be fine, though I'm going to have to be careful when I hug you for a few days, and walking won't be a lot of fun either. So I guess I'm just going to have to serve you hand and foot for a change. No wait, I already do that don't I?" she teased.

"You do at that, Beautiful," he said, then tried to sit up. It hurt, but with his wife's support he managed it. "So what happened? All I remember is saying I'm home, and the next thing I knew I was writhing on the floor in pain. Did I really hear you say someone shot me or was that a dream from a few months ago?"

"No, I'm afraid it wasn't a dream and the police don't have any clues as to who would do such a thing. They kept asking who we had for enemies, but of course we don't know that many people around here and certainly haven't made any enemies that I know of. I did mention that George guy that was so mad at us for buying this place out from under him, but they didn't' even write his name down. They said something about no one local would ever do such a thing."

"But people have sure been good. As soon as you are able there are lots of visitors wanting to see you. The guys came out and replaced the window that had a bullet hole in it with an extra one they found in the barn. Then Mike came out and you know how that guy likes to have a problem to solve. He figured out exactly where the bullet came from and even took some pictures of the foot prints and car tracks. Even the police didn't bother to try to figure it out. Whoever did it did not seem too concerned about hiding his actions. Do you think it could have been that George guy from the hardware?"

"He's the only one off hand that I can think would have anything against me, unless this cartel thing is a lot bigger than we thought. Paul found out that the police chief spends a lot of time with one or two of the guys that we are sure are in it, so that may be why the police were not too interested in catching the guy. I don't like the looks of this. We may be involved in something that we don't want to be. Do you want to move to your parent's place for a few days, Honey?"

"No, I just pray that nothing else will happen after this. I wonder if it has anything to do with the taillights on the car getting smashed a few days ago?"

"Maybe, but nothing we can do right now. I'm sure we'll be left alone for awhile after this though. I expect they'll wait and see what we do."

He was about to say more when the door opened and his buddy Mike poked his head in, then brought the rest of his body in as well when he saw that Dan was awake.

"I hear you think your blood pressure is a little too high, so you keep poking holes in yourself to lower it some eh, Abdul? Did it work better this time or last time?" he said with a big grin on his face.

"Both times worked quite well I'm told, how's it going?"

"A lot better for me than you right now I'm thinking. Does it hurt a lot?"

"Enough, but my good wife says she won't hug me for a few days. That's more painful than anything. I hear you found out a little bit about what happened out there."

"Yep and I even went and found this George's truck parked behind his hardware store where your wife thought it might be, but the tires didn't match. Then I noticed the truck parked right next to it, a lifted up Ford 4x4 crew cab with oversized tires on it and guess what, they do match. The problem is, I don't know whose truck it is. I waited around a bit to see if the guy would show up, but so far he hasn't. I got his licence plate number, but his truck won't be hard to spot. It's bright yellow with at least an eight inch lift kit, and a really ugly chrome roll bar with five spot lights mounted to it. The guy must like driving at night, because he has four more big lights on the grill. I would hate to forget to dim my lights with that guy coming. I wouldn't be able to see for a week if he flashed them all at me. It looks like he spent as much on accessories for the thing as he did on the truck."

"Thanks Mike, I'd say give that information to the police, but it sounds like that's not a good idea. It would just tip them off that we might know who did this to me."

"Yeah, looks like we may just have to figure out something ourselves here, but you know me, I love a challenge." He said it with a look on his face that made Dan glad he wasn't going after him.

"Just remember, we are Christians and are supposed to leave the revenge up to the Lord, eh Mike? I don't want to do anything that is illegal or we will get you into trouble with the law."

"Oh yeah sure, remind me of the legalistic regulations I'm under now that I'm a Christian." He smiled. "This would have been so much easier if you hadn't introduced me to Jesus all those years ago. But yes I know, God loves the bad guys just as much as he loves the good ones. It's just hard to deal with that in real life on occasion."

"True enough," Dan replied, "though in my experience, the hardest people I have ever had to deal with, have usually been fellow Christians. It's frustrating when you run into the human side of our co-workers at times. It makes me wonder how it's going to be in heaven when we all have to see each other face to face with the Lord watching us. There have been a couple people that I have had to work with, that I might be able to love with God's help, but I couldn't even begin to believe I could ever like. And these are people that love the Lord every bit as much as I do, or so it appears on the surface. I have to confess though that I wonder about how they could profess to love God and do such nasty ungodly things. I'm glad that I don't have to be the judge of my fellow man. Then I would have to judge myself as well by the same standards, and I don't think I would pass. It's much nicer to be able to leave that all up to the Lord and His perfect mercy."

"Good point Dan, but first I'm going to find out who this guy is and then see if there are any 'appropriate' measures I might be able to employ that would perhaps give him the idea that it's not very nice to shoot my friends."

"You behave yourself," Laura added. "I don't want to have to visit you in the hospital as well. These people sound like they mean business."

Mike laughed and replied, "I wouldn't want that either so don't worry, I'll make sure to keep out of the way of flying bullets. I should be able to do a better job than your 'holy' husband here at any rate. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he had a big magnet inside of him and they have started making bullets out of steel. They seem to have an unnatural attraction to him. "

Other people started to come into the room just then, so their conversation was brought to an end, but Dan knew Mike would not rest until he had dealt with the situation. He just hoped and prayed that he would not get into more trouble than he could handle along the way.

Two days later, just as Dan was about to be released from the hospital, an unexpected visitor showed up at the door of his room. He was a wild looking man with a huge mane of red un-combed hair, and his face had not seen a shaver in a couple of days. "Jeff, you old goat, what are you doing here?" Dan exclaimed.

"Hey you sorry old missionary, didn't I leave you with bandages on back in Pakistan months ago and you still haven't got rid of them?" he quipped.

"Different place, different part of the body," Dan told him. "And who do you think you are to talk about bandages? It seems to me you were getting fairly friendly with them yourself, not so long ago. How are you feeling these days and what are you doing here? Last I heard you were going into business with your dad once you found out he really did love you after all."

"I was and I did, and I still am, all thanks to you making me send that e-mail to him. It's a long story but an interesting witness of what the Lord can do when you finally take time to stop and listen. Anyway, later dude, that is a story for another time. I came as soon as I heard you had found another bullet, so let's hear your story of how it happened this time. Was it as good as the last time?"

"Not even close Jeff, not even close, though we are beginning to wonder if there is a war going on here as well." He spent the next half hour explaining what had happened in the last few months, and when he had finished, Jeff was staring at him with a questioning look on his face.

"Why would people get so riled up about you getting a small piece of land? It sounds like the guy doesn't need the money, although that is seldom a good enough reason. No there has to be another reason. Let me think about it and make some phone calls. I have a few connections now that I'm involved with my dad."

Just then the nurse appeared with Laura to gather all his stuff and send him home.

"Hi Jeff," she said with enthusiasm and then gave him a big hug. "How's the ex-bad guy doing? Found any more grenades to play with lately?"

"No, not lately pretty lady, but I can see your husband is a little slower at learning to stay out of the way than I have been. Can't you teach him anything?"

"I have tried so hard," she replied with a smile. " But he always was a stubborn learner, always thinking he knows what's best. I think he just likes to get spoiled by me serving him day and night, so he just finds a bullet going by someplace and steps into the way of it."

"Yeah sounds like something Dan would do alright."

"Okay, if you guys are finished bashing me, I really would like to get back home to some peace and quiet." Turning to Jeff, he said, "You're coming with us aren't you, Jeff? You're going to love what we ended up with, it's pretty incredible."

"I don't know if I dare Dan. You know how clumsy I am. If you found a bullet, maybe I really would find a grenade. You think it's safe?"

"This world is not safe unless the Lord is in control as you know Jeff, but we would be honoured if you would stay with us. We have lots of room."

"Well there might be a little problem there. I brought my girl friend with me on the bike, so you would have to have two rooms because we have both decided to play by God's rule book in the relationship."

"I'm impressed," Laura said, "but not surprised. When you commit to something, you tend to do it with all your heart. It's not a problem. We have three spare rooms at the moment, so you are both welcome to stay."

"Then if you insist, I'll help you get this lazy husband of yours to the car and we'll follow on the bike."

They got him outside and loaded into the car, meeting Jeff's girlfriend on the way to the parking lot. She was standing beside an older style Harley that looked like it could not hold another piece of chrome on it anywhere. Dan wanted to go take a look at it, but Laura insisted he would have lots of time when they got home.

"Carla seems very nice," Dan said to Laura when they headed out on the highway.

"Yes, it looks like she has some spunk which is what she will need if she is going to hang around that guy. He's going to go places and she better be ready for a wild ride if she wants to keep up with him."

Jeff had said that he needed to make a quick phone call before they left, so they waited a minute until he put his helmet on, and although they watched they never saw him get his phone out. He started the bike and waved for them to go right away. "Guess he must have changed his mind on the phone call." Laura said.

Laura pulled up to the garage door, climbed out of the car and went around to the other side to help her husband out. Jeff and Carla pulled up beside them a few moments later. He got off the bike after steadying it for Carla to get off, but kept his helmet on. He looked like he was talking to someone. He said, "Ok, good, I'll talk to you later then, bye for now."

They figured out that he must have a built in cell phone in his helmet when he looked away while he was talking.

"Dan hobbled up to the bike to have a look at it. It not only had a lot of chrome on it, the dash and handlebars were covered with gadgets as well. He could see a GPS unit, satellite radio, radar detector, and a few other things attached that he didn't know what they were.

"Is there anything you don't have on this thing Jeff?" he asked. "You look like you are ready to travel around the world in it. Wow, makes my Beemer look like a cheap base model."

"Yeah, I love gadgets and when you own a company that makes them, you might as well take advantage of it."

"You own a gadget making company?" Dan quipped.

"Among several actually. I never really knew how rich dad was. I always hated living in such a big house, but it turns out he could live in a Beverly Hills mansion for a summer cottage. I thought he was living it up to keep up with the Jones and found out he was living down because he didn't want to look superior in any way. I miss-judged him on several things. I was so idealistic, and he was too busy to teach me the right things. He was hugely affected by me disappearing for so long though apparently. It made him realize what he had missed in having me for a son. We have had some good talks about all the misunderstandings we've had. And I have God and your willingness to be used by Him to thank for it all. I'm kind of glad I didn't get you with that grenade Dan. That would have messed up both our lives."

They went into the house and Laura showed them around while Dan rested on the couch. Then Laura and Carla made a light lunch for everyone while Jeff and Dan talked.

"So what else can you tell me about who might have shot you Dan?"

Dan explained to him about what Mike had found with the tires and boot tracks and then about Paul's theories on the cartel. After carefully listening, he pulled a small object out of his shirt pocket and put it in his ear. Then he said a name and a moment later was saying hi to his dad.

He said, "I have some more info you might find interesting. Listen to this." He pushed a button and then put everything back into his pocket. "I just recorded our conversation and relayed it to dad, so I hope he can find out something about what's going on. It sure looks like you were hit because they want this place, but pretty as it is, it's not worth killing for unless there is something a lot bigger going on than we can see at the moment. Dad will get back to me as soon as he finds out anything, so tell me again, how did you manage to buy a place like this on a missionary wage? I know what you made, and this house isn't going to happen on that much money."

"How do you know how much I made?" Dan asked, surprised but knowing he shouldn't be. Jeff was continually full of surprises.

"Oh one of those things I am able to do now that I have some pull with the old man. You might be surprised at what I am able to do now, and I really wanted to know if you were able to put anything aside on your mission wage. I guess I have heard of too many T.V. evangelists getting rich from duping fellow Christians. But don't worry, you passed with flying colors. Sorry about that, I'm still getting used to all this religious business. I promise I won't delve into your private affairs again. But honestly, I know you paid cash for most of it, so where did you get the money?"

"Well, let me tell you a little story Jeff. Well maybe not so little, but I think we have some time before the women come looking for us. Then I'll show you a few things."

So he told him how they had bought the place so cheap and then almost lost it, but because of the Lord's hinting and the money they found and were able to raise by selling things in the barn, it all worked out and turned into a huge miracle, that had left them simply flabbergasted. Then he took Jeff out to the barn and showed him a little of what was there. He was impressed.

Jeff had spent many hours and weeks talking to Dan and others, before he finally realised that what was being said about God and Jesus made sense. Dan didn't convince him, he knew now, it was the work of the Holy Spirit, and after seeing what was happening here, with the gifts and the trials that Dan and his wife had gone through, he was finally convinced that not only was God in his own heart, but He had some work of some kind for him to do. What it was he didn't know, but he knew he would find out if he took some time and listened, and he was excited.

They were looking at Jerry's motorcycle and Dan was explaining how much Jerry had done to it and how he had overcome some serious obstacles to get this far, when Jerry himself drove up in his truck. He was still hobbling a little, but could get around without a cane now and he came in the door and shook hands with Jeff. It wasn't long before Jerry was telling his story to Jeff, and although he didn't say anything to Dan, it just reinforced what he had been learning all along about the man. God was a serious part of his life, and not just through the good times. He had heard of many of the rough times the couple had gone through, and it seemed to him that only by their strong faith in God's power had they made it in one piece.

Just then Mike walked in the door looking pretty rattled.

"I didn't hear your truck drive up Mike....holy smokes, what happened to you? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Dan exclaimed.

"I think I almost became a ghost is probably why I almost look like one." Mike replied "And the reason you didn't hear my truck is because it did become a ghost."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone blew it up and a couple of others with it just a little while ago."

They all stood there in stunned silence for a moment before Jeff spoke up.

"Where were you? Oh by the way, my name is Jeff Christianson, from Vancouver."

"Sorry," Dan said. "Jeff this is a long time good friend of mine from Olds. He's been trying to help figure out why someone would shoot me."

"It sounds like you must be getting close if they nailed your truck." Jeff said.

"Yeah, too close for my liking, I had just pulled into the parking lot at the hotel, and walked maybe half way to the door and kablooee!! It knocked me right off my feet, and when I got up and looked at my truck, there wasn't much left of it except smoking metal. There was a truck parked on each side of mine and neither of them will be entering any car shows soon, except maybe the 'most smashed up' in a demolition derby. The police came right away and they said that it appeared to be a leaking fuel tank coupled with a hot exhaust."

"Does that sound logical at all?"

"You know I might have gone for that, except the truck is almost new, pardon me, was almost new. Oh and one more thing, the floor of the cab had a big hole in it like something had blown up from underneath the truck. It was easy to see because the doors had been blown off. The back of the box was blown up as well, but that's where the fuel tank is, so that is what I would have expected."

"Any chance I could get a look at it Mike?" Jeff asked "I've had some experience in accessing bomb damage."

"Why, were you in the bomb disposal unit at some time?"

"No, more like in the bomb installation unit I'm afraid to say."

"Okay, Dan said, let's go for a ride and check out this expensive pile of metal. There's room in our car for all of us. Just let me tell my wife where we're going."

"It was blown on purpose, there's no doubt about it." Jeff said as they gazed at what was left of a very nice truck. The truck had been taken immediately to the police impound lot, and they were not letting anyone in to look around. So the guys had simply walked around the corner and were able to get a good look at it through the fence.

"The first explosion was not that big, but designed to kill the driver and then you can see how the fuel tank is all bowed out except a little bit at the back top there. There was another small bomb put there to make sure what was in the fuel tank would explode and finish the job on the truck, making it look like the fuel tank was the culprit. In other words, the guy meant business. The only thing I can't figure out is if he went to that much trouble, why did he wait until you were outside of the truck before he blew it? Maybe it was meant to be a warning to leave town."

"Boy is my wife going to be mad," Mike said.

"Why, because you almost got killed helping out a friend?"

"No because she had just been shopping in Edmonton, and I forgot to bring in all her parcels." He said with a big smile on his face." Good thing she decided to stay with her mother for the night so they could finish their shopping the next day. Now I can give her the good news that she will have to re-do what she already did today. I don't think it will be a big hardship for her."

Chapter Twenty Six

His office was getting a little crowded with the extra bodies Paul noticed. He had decided to ask everyone who had been involved to come and both give and receive any updates on what was happening with the turnover of titles to their rightful owners. He wasn't sure who Dan's friend Jeff was, as he had only been introduced as a friend from Pakistan but he seemed to have an air of confidence about him. Mike he had met before and he was impressed with his deductive abilities. The fact that he was still here after getting his truck blown up spoke highly of his tenacity.

He was pleased to report that he had had just over half of the people who deserved their land back into his office, and he had to admit, it was turning out to be a lot of fun. So far they had all had the same look of 'this can't be real, can it?' on their faces. The thing that worried him though was that all of these people had never had to move off their land or out of their houses. They had just gone from being owners to renters and now they were being told that not only would they be able to buy their land again, but in almost every case, he had been able to give them a few extras as well, to help ease the pain and anger that the rogue banker had caused them. In several cases he had even been able to get them their vehicles back, or at least ones similar to what they had once owned.

Jerry and his wife were next on the list and this was the one that worried him the most. Jerry had had to move out, because the banker had said he had a renter right away. He was not pleased to find out that the guy that lived on Jerry's farm now, was none other than George's brother Brad.

Paul had decided to invite Shane to come, as he had been persistent in wanting to help others get back their land in the same way he had been helped. Much to Paul's surprise he had proven to be a wise choice for an ally. He had done a good amount of leg work finding out who was doing what and what was happening to the lost properties. He was the one that found out that Brad lived on Jerry's old place and he had also reported that it was now a dump. He had actually snuck into the house when he knew Brad was at the bar and taken some pictures of the inside. It looked like a tornado had hit it. There wasn't a clean spot in any room and half the walls had holes that looked like they had been kicked in.

"It looks like he has had the odd party in the house I would say," Mike said.

"He doesn't have a friend in the world as far as I know," Paul commented. "I believe the damage is all caused by Brad himself. That doesn't speak well of the idea of talking him out of the place. And with rent laws the way they are now, it's almost impossible to force him out. Does anyone have any bright ideas? This will not be an easy sell."

"We could 'accidentally' put a break in the gas line and forget to turn a burner off," Mike suggested. "The house would look like my truck, but it doesn't look much better right now anyway from the looks of these pictures. By the way Shane, pretty nervy of you to go in there and do this. I'm impressed."

"Don't mention it," he smiled back. "After what we went through because of them, I'm only too happy to do what I can. We have a nice town here and I want to work to keep it that way."

"Amen to that!" Mary replied.

"Oh before we continue, I'd just like to share a bit of good news," Paul said "You all know J.J. of course, sorry, almost all of you."

Jeff replied, "Dan has filled me in on J.J., Paul."

"Good, then I don't need to explain any further. Anyway, thanks to the efforts of Dan, and Mary and especially Mr. Lawman here, it looks like J.J. is going to give up his jailbird status in two days. His freedom won't be permanent until the judge in Red Deer does some checking and he has talked to J.J., but after looking at all the papers that we found, he could find no reason for him to be in jail. He also said that if everything holds up under the microscope, he would like J.J. to file charges against whoever presented the false documents. It will of course take a few months, maybe even years, but we might have something solid to present to Larry Baxter and whoever helped him out when he starts to kick up a stink with these land transfer deals."

"And before we go on Dan, I know that you still have it in the back of your mind that he might somehow want his place back, but he asked me to tell you not to worry at all. He had no intentions of trying to get it back. It's yours and it will stay yours."

"Thanks Paul. Yes you're right, it has been a bit of a worry, but we were able to leave it in the Lord's hands, so felt that He would know best. Still, it is nice to hear those words I don't mind saying, and Laura will be happy as well."

Everyone clapped and Shane got up and walked around and shook every ones hand, congratulating them all on a job well done.

Then Paul spoke up again and said, "Now to what looks like it might be a very dangerous job ahead. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can protect Jerry and his family when we try to get his land back? After what has happened to Dan and Mike already, I think it's plain that the cartel will not take this laying down, aside from the fact that even if we do manage to give him back his land without violence, how do we get Brad Banner out of the house? That's not easy in today's renting climate. The renter has almost all the rights in cases like these. It has to be legal, but there has to be a way to do it without maybe quite following the regular system that could take years."

Jeff had been sitting quietly, listening intently, but finally spoke up.

"I presume from what I have learned here, that you can expect no help from the police and may even expect some harassment from them if you proceed to do anything against any of the members of the cartel."

"Yes that's right Jeff," Paul replied. "I'm sure all the constables are not involved, but for some reason they have an almost religious devotion to Warren Boyle the top man on the totem pole at the station. He spends a lot of money keeping them loyal, even though they don't realize it. So if he said 'watch that man carefully', you can bet he would never be let out of their sight."

"Do you think it would be possible to wait about a week before you say anything? I think I might be able to help a little in that area, but I will need at least a couple of days to get everything ready."

Everyone started looking at each other to see if there were any objections, and then Paul spoke up.

"It doesn't look like anyone has any problem with it Jeff. I guess one more week won't make any difference to Jerry or any of us, so sure, if you have an answer to our problem we will be happy to wait a bit. Well, if no one else has anything else to say, I wonder if I could ask one of you to pray for what we are going to try and do in the next few days, especially for safety for all involved?"

Mary offered, so they all bowed their heads while she prayed for safety for everyone, healing for Dan, wisdom and discernment in the decisions that would be made soon, but most of all that all would see Jesus first in each step of the way. Paul loved to hear her pray. She seemed so mature in her walk with God and he envied her for that, but loved to see it in her. He had learned a great deal from watching and listening to her the last few weeks, and his admiration had continued to grow. She would make a fine Christian wife for someone, but for some reason it never occurred to him that she would consider him as a viable choice.

The meeting broke up but Paul watched as they left and noticed that Jeff had pulled aside Mike and Shane to talk to them in private. They both had smiles on their faces a minute later, so he hoped and prayed that what Jeff had in mind was going to work.

A week later Mike was beginning to wonder if he should have just said no to Jeff, when he had asked about being available for some possibly interesting work to help look after Jerry and his family. His biggest problem the last two nights had been staying awake as he sat inside the back of a green Dodge minivan. He had six monitors to watch, where six cameras had been set up around Jerry's house. Jerry had been informed yesterday that he would be able to own his land again, but would not likely be able to move back on for quite some time because of the renter. He had been told that he should keep a low profile and when he had been told why Dan and Mike had had their problems, he nodded his head, but didn't say much.

Jeff had told them why things had become so serious, because of the government's plans to buy up all the land in the area and turn it into a national park, and things suddenly became clear to all who heard it. Paul had said that many, many millions of dollars were involved and the cartel was playing for keeps. No one was sure how Jeff had been able to come up with so much information, but when they asked, he just smiled and said, "I have a few contacts now that I'm involved in Dad's business world," and would say no more.

So Mike had been put on surveillance duties and shown how to work the computers in the van. His wife was not impressed with the idea, but Mike had promised her that he would not be involved in any action, so she had let him come. Jeff had promised that help was no more than a big red button push away and he kept looking at that button placed within easy reach of his foot, just in case someone managed to sneak into the van without him seeing them.

When he showed up for his duty time, he had been told that Brad's big yellow truck had been seen three times driving down the street and then down the back alley.

On his fourth night of duty, he hit pay dirt. Someone had managed to put a tracker device somewhere on Brad's truck and as soon as it moved, the location could be followed on a big electronic map of the area at the front of the van. The monitor even beeped to let him know the truck had started to move. He watched as it started to move in his direction, then keyed the microphone he had in front of his mouth and told whoever was listening what was happening. A minute later he saw it in the monitors as it came past his parked van and continued on down the street. At the intersection it made a left turn, and then another into the alley behind Jerry's house. It stopped when it reached Jerry's back yard and a moment later the driver's window lowered. Mike could not see too well what was happening but he could guess. He thought he could see something pointed poke itself out the window but a second later, all he saw was a white cloud appear suddenly inside the cab of the truck. A few seconds later the door opened and he saw a black suited figure grab the gun and begin to pull the unconscious driver out of the cab. Another black suited figure joined him, and soon they had hauled him to the back and dumped him over the end of the tailgate into the box of the truck. They must have been pretty strong, because Mike had seen Brad and he was a mighty big man. Then the other doors on the crew cab were opened up for a few more seconds before the two men got into it, closed the doors and slowly drove off.

Mike asked into the microphone what was going on and was told that Brad was going to be part of a very interesting conversation, and would likely not be around for a couple of days. Then the voice asked him to keep an eye out for more trouble as someone may well come looking for Brad when he didn't show up. And by the way, thanks for giving us enough warning to take care of the problem.

"What do you mean you are in jail?" George said. "Where in jail and why didn't you show up yesterday, you moron? Did you finish the job I sent you on?"

"No, and I don't know what happened. I was just getting ready to do it, and then I hear a pop, the truck starts filling with smoke and the next thing I know I'm waking up with an R.C.M.P. tapping on my window, feeling like I got run over by the truck. He asks why am I parked in the ditch with my front wheels hanging over the edge of an embankment that drops ten feet into the Yukon river. Then he asks for my driver's licence and insurance and registration. I went to open the glove box and a bunch of marijuana comes exploding into the cab. He pulled his gun and loaded me into the back of his cruiser and went back and found my sniper rifle on the floor just under the edge of the seat. When he came walking back to his car he looked at me like I was the head demon himself. Then he made me wait there, never saying a word until three other cop cars and a tow truck showed up. They started going through my truck with a fine tooth comb after they pulled it up out of the ditch. Then he hauled me off to this stupid jail. He wasn't even a little bit nice about it."

"You idiot, you had drugs and a sniper rifle in your truck? Are you stupid or something? Don't answer that!" George was screaming into the phone "Hold it a minute, did you say the Yukon River? Like up in the Yukon, that river? That's not possible. That's got to be over two thousand kilometres away. It would take over twenty four hours to get up there and you haven't been gone much more than that."

"Unless the officer is pulling my leg, and they switched all the signs going into town, that's where I am and I have no idea how I got here. I know I didn't have the weed in my glove box. I always stash it up under the dash in a special compartment I made. So it wasn't mine, someone planted it on me. Are you going to come and get me or what? You know how much I hate jails. Please come get me out of here quick!" he wailed.

George hated it when he acted like that, reminding him of the many times he had to rescue him when he was a kid. He hadn't always been so big, and was always getting beat up. George was small, but he was mean, and that almost always won out in a street fight. Fair was not a well known word in his vocabulary. Come to think of it he had saved Brad quite a few times even in adulthood. He had a nasty temper and it always seemed to be getting him into trouble. Now he had to think fast again, and try to find a way to placate his brother until he could arrange to get him out of jail. Assuming he could that is. He had no idea if the rules in the Yukon were the same as Alberta.

"Ok Brad just cool down. I'll get Larry working on it right away, but it's going to take a day or two, so just relax and I'll get right to it and try to figure out how you ended up there. Oh one more thing, that rifle you had in your truck, it wasn't by any chance the same one you used on that last hunting trip you went on, was it?"

"Of course it was. It's my favourite for that kind of hunting, why?"

"I'll talk to you later."

He hung up the phone, and immediately called Larry.

"He's where? The Yukon? How did he get up there? He must have driven like a maniac to get that far that fast."

"I don't know how he got there, but he said he was unconscious the whole time. He doesn't remember anything after he tried to show Jerry that he should maybe leave town for his own health. We have to get him out of jail even if it is only to stay in Jerry's house. If Brad doesn't come back soon, Jerry might get away with moving back in, and that place of his is going to be worth a fortune being so close to the lake like it is. We can't afford to let it go."

"No it would be a bit of a setback to our plans to be sure. Losing J.J.'s old place was bad enough, but to lose Jerry's would cost us a lot. Speaking of which, how is that missionary doing that bought his farm. I hear he had a bit of a hunting accident?"

"Yeah, poor guy," George snickered. "I wouldn't be surprised to see his place up for sale pretty soon. I heard he had a nervous break down when he was overseas, and had to come home to get some peace and quiet. I guess Bashaw is not quite as peaceful as he first might have thought. I haven't seen that buddy of his either that was snooping around Brad's truck the other day and taking pictures. Does he think we are stupid, trying a stunt like that?"

"He may be stupid but someone was smart enough to figure out what Brad was up to and took him out. We might have a hard time getting him out of jail in the Yukon with the charges he has against him. And we better hope the R.C.M.P. don't somehow connect that rifle of his with the bullet that went through Dan Thompson. Not that it should be much of a worry, the boys here did a nice job on the reports, so there should be no connection. I don't know who would have the nerve and the ability to grab Brad like that, and how they got up there so fast is beyond me. They must have driven about a hundred and sixty kilometres an hour to get up there, or maybe they hired a transport plane and shipped him and his truck up there. Whatever, he is there and now I better go make some phone calls to see what I can do about getting him home as soon as possible.

Chapter twenty Seven

"Okay, how did you manage to listen in on his call like this? I know you have connections, but isn't this a bit illegal?" Mike asked

"Legal is often defined by how good your lawyer is, and I doubt we will ever be using this in a court of law," Jeff said with a sly grin on his face. "Now we know for sure who at least three of the people involved in this cartel are and it looks like one or more of the local police are into it up to their necks as well. After doing a few checks myself, I would say that Mary is very close in her assessment of who is involved. I want to find out for sure though, and then we can see about doing something about it. I hope Larry here doesn't have too many connections to be able to get Brad out on bail. But to add a little fire to the mess, I think I might be able to have some more files sent to the police up there asking if maybe the rifle was the one used in an attempted murder here in Bashaw. Dan, do you mind if I send a couple of guys to your house to try and dig out that bullet? They will need your help too, Mike to show them what you found out about the tire tracks and boot marks. I should be able to have the guys here first thing in the morning so if you could bring your pictures and memories that would be a big help. Dan, is the window with the hole in it still in one piece?"

"Yes, the guys put it in the barn, so your boys can look at it, no problem."

"Great. Well, hopefully the night will pass peacefully and tomorrow we'll try to get some more useful ammunition for our case. Those of you not on night duty better get some rest. It might be a long day tomorrow."

"Just one more question Jeff, how did you get that truck up there so fast? I've done the trip on a motorcycle and I know the road is good most of the way, but that is still not enough time to make it under even close to normal conditions."

"Well would you believe two rally car race drivers, two souped up Porsche 911's and a small fortune in radar detectors and jammers? The rally driver said that the truck goes like crazy and all the extra lights on it made driving at night look like day. Just for a little fun though, they left Brad in the box of the truck so he would be sure to get lots of fresh air on the trip. I expect he has the odd bruise or two as well to help remind him a little bit about some of his bad deeds."

Nobody argued when Jeff started talking like he was giving the orders. What he said made too much sense and what he had arranged with getting rid of Brad had seriously impressed them. Paul knew he was way out of his league in this kind of subterfuge and was more than happy to let someone else make the decisions in that area. He had enough on his plate trying to get everyone their land back.

Herbert had proven to be a difficult person to teach. He had been in Cuba for two full months, and had finally seemed to come around. Paul had decided it was time to bring him back, but not to Bashaw. He had liked the idea of the other guy that ended up in Whitehorse, so had offered Herbert a job in Watson Lake, just inside the Yukon border. He hadn't even let him come back to Bashaw to pack. A professional moving company showed up one day, cleaned the entire house out, and was gone the same time next day. The house was put up for sale the following week. He had also mentioned in a very round about way that maybe he should be thinking about his relationship with friends in this area, as it seemed like some of them were maybe getting into a bit of difficulty and it might not be a good idea to have his name associated with them any more than was necessary. So far Herbert had seemed to have taken the hint, though of course it was impossible to know for sure. Now with the shooting it was possible that Herbert might be incriminated in the attempted murder of Dan through his connections with George and Brad. It might make him worried enough to keep him away from what was going on here. Herbert had never struck Paul as the kind of man to take too many chances in life. He only bet on a sure thing, so when trouble came it was a good bet that he would stay away, at least until things were settled. Before things had become so serious in the last few days, Paul had had the naive idea that he could get everyone their land back, slap a few wrists, and then he would be free to go back east and continue with normal problems, such as whether to lend some company millions of dollars to expand a business. Somehow it all seemed so remote and unimportant at this point in time.

Of course Mary might be the cause of some of his thoughts straying to ideas of settling down in a quieter setting. He finally had to admit that he had fallen for her, though she did not seem to have the same feelings for him. She was always very polite and proper, which was alright most of the time, but he simply had no practice or understanding in how to treat a woman to attract the same interest in him. Maybe he should ask Pastor Luther about it. He seemed to have a wonderful relationship with his wife. The more he thought about it the more he liked it. Never one to spend much time questioning his decisions, he went right to the phone and called Pastor Luther.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Everyone met at Dan's farm early the next morning to watch the team of experts work, though they all had to stay well back of the house and the spot where the shooter had fired his weapon from. They found the bullet easy enough and dug it out of the wall in the hallway, and while others started doing measurements and carefully checking out the shooting sight, they took pictures and measurements of the bullet itself. It didn't look like much more than a small squashed chunk of lead to Dan, but they seemed happy with what they had found. They asked him countless, as far as he could tell, meaningless questions, even about family relationships and friends and enemies. Jeff made him tell the story of their little adventure back in Pakistan, and that perked their ears up quite a bit. Jeff could see the respect in their eyes as they talked with him after that. They took notes and asked to see the wound that he had sustained in the shooting, and the scar from the first time he had got hit.

Two hours later, they packed everything up, told Jeff they would have some answers by the end of the day, and left in their two black Chevy Suburbans without so much as a good-bye except to Jeff and a salute to Dan.

"Wow they were impressed with you, that's for sure," Jeff said to Dan. "Dad told me that these guys don't pay attention to anyone they don't consider worthy. I've actually told them our story, but they had to hear it from your own lips to verify the accuracy of it. One of them said to me that you never know what someone will do in an emergency situation until it happens. Training helps get most people through, but they said that very few people untrained in warfare will think as clearly and do whatever it takes to get through the way you did."

"Yeah maybe, but I bet you didn't tell them what happened to me after the fact. That part was not pretty at all and I am quite ashamed of how I responded."

"I in fact did tell them, but they have seen how you handled things this last time, and again they said the same thing, that few would have the fortitude to make it through like you did. It's a cumulative effect when you are under fire like that and the fact that you still seem relatively sane after getting hit twice like you did, is a big issue with them. Those guys know what to look for in a guy and they liked what they saw in you."

"Only by God's wonderful grace am I still alive and walking and on the outside of a mental institute. I have you to thank for a lot of my healing as well, you know Jeff."

"How do you figure that?"

"When you were laying in the hospital, spouting off all that religious stuff, most of which was idealistic Islam and not having much to do with the real thing, it just kept me thinking all the time about how I could show you that God really did love you even if your dad didn't. It got my mind off myself, and every time I thought about giving into the easy feeling of depression, I would go have a talk with you. I would still be depressed, but about losing you to the evil one, not about my own problems. Of course I knew that I couldn't change you, only the Holy Spirit could, but in my humanism I kept trying. You kept my brain working and that truck that I fixed up kept my body working so that it would not atrophy. God knew what I needed and He provided. This place of ours, despite what we have gone through recently has also been from Him. I never could have imagined anything so perfect, nor could my wife, but the most wondrous part of it is the spirit here. J.J. and his family must have really been close to God, and the Lord blessed it here because of their closeness to him. It's such a privilege to be so blessed. And with you here we'll get this mess all settled, so thanks for being a part of our lives, we love you for it."

Jeff had not realised that he had had such an affect on Dan, but he knew he had to leave quickly now or he was going to start to cry, and that would not do. You can't have people trusting you with their lives if they see you crying like a baby, so he didn't even say goodbye, just turned and quickly walked back to his truck and left. He had to stop a few miles down the road though because the tears would not stop coming. Dan had said he had been so blessed by all their discussions, but he had figured it had all been his blessings. To have someone save your life on earth and then save it for eternity, was more than he had ever thought he could handle. Then to get him together with his dad as well....Dan seemed like such a normal unassuming guy, and when he thought about it, he probably was, but for some reason the Lord had chosen to use him in special ways. Jeff thanked the Lord every day for bringing him into his life. Now what he needed to figure out was why the Lord had chosen to save one person known as Jeff the sinner. He didn't know if it was for a great purpose or small purpose, but he was sure there was something that God wanted him to be a part of. He finally started to get his tears under control, and he began praising the Lord for His goodness as he pulled back onto the road and headed back to Bashaw to talk to his boys.

There was still a lot to do to get things under control in this lovely little town, and it could easily blow up in their faces if he didn't do everything just right. But first he needed to pray and he always felt more comfortable and at peace in a church for some reason. So he went straight to the house of worship and spent well over an hour in that old building praising God and His wonderful grace. He came out smiling, feeling such a joy in his heart that he thought he was going to burst. If he had died at that moment, he would not have been happier, but if not it was time to go to work. He had a good idea of what he wanted to do now, but he needed some expertise and he knew his father's men had it. He headed off to the hotel, where some new guests had arrived a few days ago, supposedly to go fishing on Buffalo Lake for a holiday. They were here to go fishing alright, but not for the kind you fry up in a pan and eat for supper.

Chapter Twenty Nine

"Ok boys, what's going on here now? We had a good plan and it seems like it is in danger of coming apart at the seams if we aren't careful," Larry Baxter said.

"It's that blasted missionary who's causing all the problems, I tell you," George replied. "We have to get rid of him, not to mention his friend who got the rather strong and unheeded warning. If someone blew up my truck, or shot me, I think I would have the intelligence to realize I was not wanted and get out of town while the getting was good."

"Whatever you may think about religious nuts, George, he is not our problem. Who is it that is trying to give back some of the land that Herbert helped us acquire?"

"That's the problem," Darcy replied. " We don't actually own most of that land. The bank does. None of us has the resources to buy much of what Herbert made available even at the cut rate prices. And he has not wanted to lend us too much because the big shots out east do check things if there are too many flags going up. Herbert says they have flags going up for almost anything out of the ordinary on their fancy computer systems. So yeah, we have each been able to buy some land, but not that much. None of us has wanted to tie up our resources when we could just leave it all sitting quietly on Herbert's books until we needed to come up with the cash to buy it, which hopefully would be just a few days before the government wants to buy it for the provincial park. Thanks to our contact in Edmonton we would know exactly when that would be and then Herbert would all of a sudden be having a fire sale on land. You know how the bank hates to have resources sitting around too long."

"Exactly right Darcy, but now that this Paul Cook guy has come in and taken over the bank, he'll likely try to get rid of the land much sooner than we want and we may not be able to get a front row seat at the sale anymore."

"That's not all," Larry said. "I had a guy come in yesterday that had lost his house six months ago and he is all excited that the bank has offered it back to him again. Not only that, they offered him several bonuses if he took the deal. You guys know Noel James, the guy that used to own the sports and fishing store just down the street? As you know, we had decided to let him manage the store after Herbert foreclosed, and rent his house and keep living in it until we needed them later on. That kind of store is going to take off like you wouldn't believe when the park opens. Anyway, according to what his wife told my wife, the bank offered to mortgage his house back at half the payments he pays us for rent, and it will be paid for in two years. And the same with the store. They offered to sell him the piece of land next to it, so he could have room to start selling boats and other marine related items, and if he wanted to expand his building they would lend him the money to do that as well, with no questions asked. They even got him his truck back - the one you had gotten back from him Tyler, after he couldn't keep up the payments on his manager's wage."

"I knew someone had bought the truck back," Tyler said, "but I thought it was just some ordinary guy from Edmonton looking for a good deal. I had financed that truck to Noel personally though he didn't know it, and made good money off it. This guy didn't even dicker. He just paid cash for what I asked, put a set of plates on it and drove away after getting the bill of sale signed over. I had no idea that he was doing it for Noel."

"Well his wife said it was his same truck only with some improvements made to it, so she was sure happy. He loved that truck, and was pretty upset when the supposed finance company came to claim it. He only had six months left to pay on it too. I think he paid almost enough in interest on that truck to pay for my new eight person hot tub plus the installation."

Larry piped in. "Okay so that settles it, we have to get rid of that bank manager before he destroys everything. We have been concentrating on the wrong guy."

What do you mean by 'get rid of him?" Darcy asked. "We don't want to have any more violence after what we have already been involved in, do we?"

"I don't see that we have any choice in the matter, Darcy. We can't just kidnap him and put him on ice for awhile because it could still be months before the government makes its move on the land. We have to get rid of him permanently."

"Okay, so how do we do that?" George asked, "with Brad still tied up in jail?"

"I don't think he will be there too much longer George, I just got word that they are letting him out on bail tomorrow just as soon as we send the money up. I would have sent Curtis up, but the banker even got to him. Can you imagine, Cook forecloses on his mortgage, kicks him out of his house, and takes all his toys away, the toys that I talked him into buying, mind you. That way he would be in so much debt that he would never be able to leave, and then he starts getting him to go to church again. Now the little urchin quit and has set up his own business on the other side of town."

"Yes it is time to get rid of Cook, and as soon as Brad gets here I think we will put him to work again. Any objections George?"

"Not a one. If you can get him out of jail, he can do the job and then he can disappear. We found a place down in the south part of the Okanogan Valley in B.C., where it's warm most of the year. We were down there on a fishing trip and met this old couple who had a house right on the lake. The old man died that same night of a heart attack so we decided to hang around a couple of extra days to see what the old lady would do. They had no relatives and she planned on living in the house until she kicked the bucket. She just may have to meet her maker a little earlier than she planned, but not before she signs over the deed to the house to me."

"Yeah that's nice George," he replied with thick sarcasm, "but back to our present problem. Shouldn't we make it look like an accident Larry?" Tyler asked. "If he does turn out to be someone important we don't want a bunch of extra detectives running around here. Warren here might have some trouble answering questions if they get too ambitious."

"Yes, that's right Tyler. I was thinking the same thing myself. Well George, do you think you and your brother can come up with a suitable plan that will ensure Mr. Cook dies peacefully with no unanswerable questions asked?"

"Oh I think we may be able to come up with something. Let us have a day or two and we'll play god and see that our troublemaker will leave this poor old earth for a higher calling. Then we will see how religious and righteous Mr. 'give it back to the owners' will be.

He had a very unpleasant look on his face when he said it that made everyone realise they'd better watch their step around him.

"He's not getting out of jail, George."

"What do you mean he's not getting out of jail? You promised you could get him out Larry, we need him!"

"I know, I know, but an hour before they were due to release him into our custody, the cops up there received a parcel from someone. It had evidence in it that indicated that the gun that was found in Brad's truck was the one used in the attempted murder of Dan Thompson, and maybe a couple of other unsolved murders in Manitoba. They decided they needed keep him under lock and key for a while longer until a judge can have time to examine what they have found. I don't think it will take them very long to figure out that Brad was the one that did the shooting, and that combined with the drug charges, makes things look pretty bad for him I'm afraid. It's going to take some time and fast talking to get him out even on bail, before a couple of weeks."

"Can't we have Warren call and talk to them and say they can handle the case down here? Then we could stage a break out and send him into hiding?"

"It's not quite that easy, George. The police up there are pretty territorial and the idea of giving up a bad guy caught on their turf is not going to happen."

"Who sent them that evidence and what kind is it anyway?"

"For some reason a well known security company, known for it's professionalism in this country got involved. They have all the equipment needed to analyse the bullet and everything around it that they found in the wall of Thompson's house. They have evidence even the police don't have, and they used it to figure out what type of gun was used, what tires were on the truck the shooter was in and boot prints. They even found a cigarette butt that Brad must have thrown down. All they need to do is check the gun they found in Brad's truck to see if it is the one the bullet came from. Brad will likely never see the light of day for the rest of his life now. Especially if they match it up with the other two murders you were talking about."

"I guess I'll just have to take care of things myself then. I'll figure a way to get my little brother out of jail. He can't handle the place. If he's there very long, he won't survive. He has to have open spaces or he'll die. Well I have some planning to do. Keep trying to work from your end and I'll do what I have to do from my end."

He didn't even say goodbye, just hung up the phone. Larry did not like what he had heard one bit. He wondered again for the thousandth time if he had bitten off more than he could chew. Who would have thought a dumb missionary could cause so much trouble in a little town like Bashaw? If he didn't know better, he'd almost say there must be someone up in that sky looking after the stupid ones. It just didn't figure.

Chapter Thirty

Paul had seen the vehicle coming up fast behind him and even with the Beemer's automatic dimming mirrors that cut the glare from thoughtless motorists leaving their bright lights on, he was almost being blinded. He had just enough time to put his head back on the headrest and hit the gas to try and lessen the impact, before the car was slammed ahead and his body was suddenly trying to push its way through the back of the seat. He wasn't sure how he managed to keep the car on the road, though he gave credit to the all wheel drive because as the back wheels of the car were being lifted off the road, his front tires took up the load and pulled the car straight again. It didn't help for long though because a moment later there was a big white truck beside him and the next thing he knew it was slamming into the side of him and his car was being pushed right off the road and into the ditch. It wasn't a good ditch to enter at this point, as it dropped down sharply almost ten feet, before ending in a grove of trees. He could feel the car starting to tip over on its side and moments later he was hanging by his seat belt with bits of air bag around him. Everything was dark and he thought maybe he had been blinded somehow, but then realized that the battery must have come disconnected and all the car lights were off. He heard the noise of a vehicle racing up to where he had gone off the road and started to get really worried. He realized that what had happened had not been an accident, that whoever was in the truck had purposely hit him and maybe now was coming back to make sure he had finished the job. Then all of a sudden a car door slammed and he heard the truck roar off down the road. He didn't dare move and a few moments later he heard another vehicle coming down the road. There was no glass left in his car to quiet any sounds coming from outside now. He was surprised when the vehicle didn't stop but then realized there was no way it could see him and with his lights off and being so far down in the ditch.

He found the latch for the seat belt and bracing one hand against the roof of the car, undid it, but still fell with a thump to what was now a well padded floor. He managed to crawl out the passenger side window which was the only one that was not crushed or blocked by tree branches or bush. Putting one hand on the side of the car, he slowly stood up and took stock of his own body's condition without actually being able to see anything. As far as he could tell he was in one piece and after moving his body around in various contortions, figured everything seemed to be where it should be and he didn't even hurt that bad. He found his cell phone on his belt and opening it found it appeared to be still functioning. Funny, his first thought was to call Mary, but he put that interesting thought aside for future reference and instead, called Jeff.

Jeff was very concerned and after hearing that Paul was okay, said, "If you think it was a big white truck that hit you I think it is safe to assume George was responsible. I suspect that he'll report his truck stolen within the hour and will have a good alibi about being somewhere else the entire evening. The police will 'find' his truck in some field somewhere a few miles away from where you are and will tow it to the impound lot where it will supposedly be checked for clues. I don't think George has had enough time to try to plant some evidence to frame someone else, so we should be okay there. Someone is on the way right now to pick you up, but are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Jeff. Those Beamers are built with safety in mind, thank the Lord. I don't even think I have much in the way of bruises. I'm glad when I rented a car though, they didn't have the smaller one that I wanted. It might not have handled the beating as well as this one did. Guess the rental car company isn't going to be too happy with me though, smashing up a seventy thousand dollar car. I better call Mary and tell her what happened so she doesn't get too worried." And it was such a nice evening with her too, he mused to himself.

"I'm sure you will have many more," Jeff replied. There should be a car there in about four minutes. Can you get up to the road to show yourself? Just to be on the safe side, I'll tell the guys to drive with their headlights on low beam and with the emergency flashers on, so if you don't see them, don't show yourself. It's always possible George might come back to check to see if he finished the job. Sounds like what saved you is that other car showing up when it did. Otherwise he might have tried to finish you off."

"There is no doubt in my mind that the Lord furnished the other car Jeff. There has to be a reason for all this to happen. We just have to do what we can and trust Him even though it seems His ways are strange at times."

"Amen to that Paul, but watch for that car. I need to check on a couple of things here quick. Talk to you in a few minutes." He hung up.

Paul crawled up to the road, keeping in the ditch with his head at road level while he gave a quick call to Mary to tell her he was fine. She seemed to be extremely concerned and wanted to come to get him right away, but he told her that a car was on the way to take him to the hotel. He still wasn't sure why he was so pleased at her concern, but he was. He had been seeing her every day now, for over two months, and had found himself to be looking forward to her pleasant smile every morning. It had taken her a few days to figure out that he was not the devil in disguise come to take over the bank, and after he had officially given the first house back to its rightful owner, she had worked full tilt to help him work on the others. Tonight was the first night he had asked her if she would like to go out to dinner and a movie, and although he hesitated to call it a date, he knew that's exactly what it was. He couldn't remember a more enjoyable evening. She always looked good, but tonight she had looked more like an angel with her white blouse and yellow skirt. With her shoulder length blond hair framing her pretty face, he suddenly found himself mentally checking his own appearance to make sure he was not dressed to shabbily to be seen in her presence.

The meal in Camrose had been perfect, both with the food and service, and the movie afterward had had a couple of scary parts that had Mary clutching his hand. When he dropped her off at her house in the country, she had given him a short thank you kiss that almost caused him to trip when he turned to walk back to his car. He had felt like a teenager again, and when he pulled back onto the highway and headed back to town, his mind had not been on what was going on around him, which is why he had not noticed the bright lights of the truck until too late. Not like him at all, but then the last few months had not been like him at all in any way shape or form.

He finally began to figure some things out when, while he was talking to Jeff a few minutes after he got back to the hotel, Mary knocked on the door and as soon as he opened it, flung herself into his arms and started babbling about how she was glad he was safe, and she had been so worried, and then she realized he was not alone. Dan, Mike, Jerry, Shane, and Pastor Luther were also present. She suddenly became the old professional again, though a somewhat embarrassed and red faced one. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise you had company Paul. I'll go now. I just had to see you and make sure you really were alright."

"No don't go Mary," Jeff said. "You're as involved in this as the rest of us. We're just discussing what our next plan of action should be. It seems that things are coming to a head here and we need all the help we can get to decide what to do about it."

So Mary sat down at the table, but she made sure her chair was about as close to Paul's as it could get, and when he cautiously put his hand close to hers, under the table, he was immensely pleased when she grabbed it and hung on like she would never let go.

"I invited Pastor Luther to be with us," Jeff explained, "as I've become convinced there is more than just normal evil going on around us. I can feel something is not right, and Dan, his wife, and Luther here all agree. Judging by who is involved, it seems fairly safe to say that George and, or, his brother are at the centre of it. So I thought it would be a good idea if we had a time of prayer. I've asked Luther to lead. Fighting normal evil, especially on your own ground here, can usually be taken care of by normal methods, such as police and laws and lawyers, but when it's the evil one who is attacking, the normal methods just don't cut it. And as I've gotten to know some of you people, I have come to understand that some of you have abilities that delve into the spiritual realm. So Pastor, would you mind leading us and asking for God's wisdom in knowing what to do next if anything please?"

"I'd be honoured to," he replied. "It's been an incredible privilege to get to know you all."

He led the prayer and the others all took turns after him. It was quite something to Dan, to hear Jerry pray in such a faltering, but uninhibited way that showed a depth of thought few long term Christians could manage. It was easy to see that he loved the Lord, and it was a joy to hear it.

After everyone had left, Mary lingered behind. "I am so glad you're safe Paul. I almost had a fit when you told me what happened on that road. I would have felt so guilty if anything worse had happened to you."

"Well it certainly would not have been your fault if anything had," he replied, "but...." He faltered.

"What do you mean, but?"

"I don't know quite how to say it, Mary. I've never been any good at talking to women on a 'non professional' level, but.... you... somehow.... are different, and I don't know how to explain it. It's just that.... well.... When I was in that ditch, upside down in the car and I heard that truck back up and stop just above me, and I thought maybe the guy was going to come and finish the job on me, the only thing I could think of was you. I just so badly wanted to see you one more time before I went to be with Jesus, and it hurt so much when I thought I was due to go to my permanent home right then. I wasn't scared of dying, I was scared of missing you..... I'm sorry, I guess I just don't know....

He couldn't say any more because at that point, Mary grabbed him and started hugging and kissing him like she never wanted to let him go. In between kisses, she said, "You big goof, how could you? I need you." Finally when she realised he was in shock at what she had done, but with a big smile on his face, she backed away just a bit and finished with "I love you." She looked into his blue, and right now, very sparkly eyes.

He didn't really know what to say, but for once in his life he said the right thing at the right time to a beautiful woman. "I love you too!" He pulled her close and reached down and kissed her, gently at first, but then with an intensity that she found surprising at first, but very pleasing. She had never been kissed with such a feeling of oneness before, and when they finally pulled apart and looked each other in the eyes, she knew he felt the same way. She thought, she hoped that this was the man she had been waiting for. She had never forgotten how she had felt about him those many years ago in high school, and now looking back, knew that there simply had not been a man that could measure up to what she had seen in him. The thought occurred to her that the Lord had some strange and wonderful ways.

Two days later, they were walking along the beach at Pelican point in their swim suits and had found a path that went along the edge of the lake. They reached a place where the land jutted out into the bay a little bit and there was a bench looking out over the water. She sat down, and Paul reached just inside the edge of his swimsuit and pulled out something. Then he got down on his knees and said "I know I'm not so good at being romantic, but I do love you so much and..." As he lifted up a beautiful ring in his hand to her, he asked, "Will you marry me?" He started to say something else, but she never gave him the chance. She reached down and pulled him into her arms and said, "Yes. I love you too, more than I ever thought was possible to love anyone."

They were married two weeks later in the church with Pastor Luther doing the honours on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and well over four hundred people in attendance. There was not enough room in the church, so many people happily listened to the service on speakers set up outside. There had not been much time to plan, so they started sending out e-mails inviting almost anyone they knew and soon it seemed like half the town and a good number of people from out East had showed up. Neither one had wanted a big wedding, but they got one anyway. Too many people would have been terribly disappointed if they could not have come, so the invitations were sent with a note, saying bring anyone that wanted to come.

The people in the church pitched in and by the time the big day came, it was the talk of the town. People still believed in pot luck suppers in Bashaw, and everyone made sure there was plenty of food to go around. The reception was simply held on the lawn of the church where tables had been set up, and in the evening a dance was held on the basket ball court in the park next door. It was a time of fun and joy for almost everyone in town, as people kept coming and going until the food was gone, which wasn't until almost midnight. A couple of times someone who had too much to drink showed up and started to disrupt the proceedings, but they were quickly ushered out and told it would not be healthy to come back.

Paul and Mary both had never enjoyed a day so much, and to those who had come to know them well, it warmed their hearts to see two such wonderful people get together.

There were a couple of worms in their apple of life though, and George was one of them. His brother was still in jail, and he was under suspicion, as someone had been sure they had seen him get out of his smashed up truck and walk away that night. Fortunately they had not been close enough for a positive identification, but Warren had had to do some fast talking, saying that George had been with him the whole time. Too many people were starting to wonder about what was going on around town with the shooting and accidents. Things never happened in this town and now all of a sudden it seemed like it was not as safe as it used to be. George could see all his hard laid plans and hope of getting rich quickly going down the tube. It was making him an even more dangerous and unpredictable man. Warren had warned him to lay low for a few weeks at least, as he could not always guarantee that he could cover him. There were one or two of his officers who were starting to ask questions about things, and he didn't want to have to try and cover himself any more than he already had. It was essential that no one else find out about the government's plans to build the park, or all his dreams about being able to retire in Florida would go up in smoke. How had all this happened anyway, he wondered to himself? It was a foolproof plan. He didn't know if it was all Paul's fault, or maybe that "paki missionary" that had started it all, but he did know that he agreed with George about working hard to keep things quiet. He was more of the mind to let the banker give most of the land back, as each of them already had enough land in trust to at least give them a decent retirement. He might not be able to afford a Mercedes and a Porsche in his garage, but he would happily settle for a good four by four Dodge truck and a new Toyota SUV for his wife, though he would never tell 'Mr Ford' Tyler that.
Chapter Thirty One

Half way through the reception, Jeff pulled Dan, Jerry, Shane and Mike aside and had a talk with them. "Pretty happy looking couple don't you think guys?"

They all looked at him and Mike said, "What's up?"

"I'm just thinking that we need to make sure they stay a happy couple and if we don't do something, I am certain that someone is going to work hard to throw a monkey wrench into this wonderful couple's plans."

"What do you have in mind?" Mike asked with a smile on his face. "Does this mean we get to do something fun for a change?"

"Well probably not so much, you guys, but I know a couple of people who might be able to help keep these party poopers busy for awhile until we can figure out what to do."

The next morning was going to go on record as being the worst Monday morning Tyler had had in awhile, maybe ever. He was always the first one at the dealership in the morning and he loved that time by himself so he could gather his thoughts. Today was going to be a good day, because he had figured out a way to re-posses a car that he knew he could sell the next day for a healthy profit. He quickly forgot about his profit plan though, when he drove onto the lot and noticed that all the cars seemed to have a peculiar lean to them. After parking his truck by the front door where he had his own spot, he walked over to where the new cars were parked and saw that the first one was leaning because both tires on the right side were flat. As he walked down the line he saw that every car and further on, every truck all had flat tires on the right side. He really hoped that some kid had just let the air out of all the tires, or this was going to cost him a lot of money to replace them all.

He sent the first mechanic that showed up for work to take the service truck and fill all the tires with air, but the mechanic soon showed up at his office door with a frightened look on his face and explained that every tire had been slashed. That meant that someone had likely gone along with a sharp knife on the end of a stick and casually pushed it into the side wall of every tire on the right side of every new vehicle on the lot. The tire did not go flat right away which gave the vandal time to get away before any one noticed. Tyler sighed and told the mechanic to start replacing as many of the tires as he could find replacements for, then after he had gone, reached for his phone and dialled the police. The Dodge dealer had had a lot of trouble with vandalism, but of course Tyler knew the reason for that. The idea that someone would do it to him shocked him incredibly. When he got hold of Warren and explained what had happened, he was surprised to hear that every police car had had the same thing done to their tires. He found out a few minutes later that George's new truck had had the same thing happen and so had Larry and Darcy. Darcy had had every tractor, quad and vehicle on the farm vandalised in the same way.

When they all got together later in the morning for coffee, Warren made it perfectly clear that someone had purposely targeted everyone in their group which meant that someone knew what was going on. The question was, whether or not it was in retaliation over the attacks on Paul and Dan, or if they had some idea as to what was happening with the provincial park business. Warren had all his officers out trying to find out who had done it, but none had come up with any leads so far. He had even sent officers out to Dan's farm and to Pastor Luther's house, but they all said they knew nothing.

"There isn't much that we can do for now," Warren said. "but we had better keep a close eye on what happens in the next week or two. I doubt that they are going to stop with one warning. I just hope that we can catch them soon before they start to get serious. Larry, can you see if you can find out anything with your contacts? You seem to have a large number of them."

"I'll do some phoning around, but I'm not really sure where to even start looking. I'm used to people taking verbal pot shots at me, not physical ones like this."

The next morning the same thing happened, only this time it was all the left tires. George came to work and found his floor was all wet because someone had left every tap on in the building and had blocked up all the drains. And after checking every way into the building, he could find no sign of forced entry anywhere. He was so red when he got to the police station down the street that Warren was sure he was going to literally blow up like a bomb. He managed to get him calmed down, but the next night when all the sprinklers were set off sometime during the night, destroying anything that long term exposure to water will destroy, he was ready to level the whole town and everyone in it. Tyler had hired a security firm to guard his dealership and now George did the same. It cost a fortune, but at least there was no more vandalism for a week.

At least not until the following Monday when it all started again. Tyler was very angry when he came to work and could not find a guard in sight, even though he called loudly for them and the first thing he was going to do when he got to the office was phone the company and tell them what he thought of their 'professional team.' When he opened the front door of the dealership and unlocked his office door, there the guards were, all asleep with their guns pointed right at him.

George found the same thing when he walked into his office at the hardware store. After trying to wake the guards with no success, he went storming down to the police station and walked right in. It didn't help his mood any when he saw that everyone in the place was asleep in Warren's office and again that all the guns were pointed at the door as he entered.

It took him a couple of pails of water from the bucket he found in the janitor's room poured on them before any of them began to stir. No one could figure out what was going on. There was no way a bunch of amateurs could have jumped all these professional defenders of the law by themselves. Warren suspected Paul, but when he checked, found that he was still in Hawaii on his honeymoon, so he could not have been directly involved. Even the missionaries and their friends had all found other places to be in the last week. So who was doing it? They had checked all the security cameras, but all they showed was movie clips where people had turned around, dropped their pants and mooned the camera. Not a very subtle message, Warren thought. For the first time he was beginning to wonder if it was time to blow this little town and cut their losses. They were obviously up against professionals here, and he knew he was way out of his league.

Unfortunately, he knew that George would not want to back down. He was on the verge of blowing the whole deal, by doing something stupid. He was not known for his patience, and he was not accustomed to people causing him grief. He was the one who caused grief to others. He blamed his attitude on a bad family life, though from what Warren had learned about it, things could have been a lot worse. He still had a mother, and his father had been decent until he had died in a car accident when George was eighteen. Apparently he drank a lot, but had never taken it out on his wife or kids. He sometimes wondered if Brad and his violent nature had been what had caused George to turn out the way he had. He was glad it wasn't his problem to deal with, at least as long as he didn't do anything stupid that Warren could not cover up.

George decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. He had a large selection of guns including pistols, hunting rifles and even an AK 47 that he had managed to buy, when he had been down in the states doing a particular job. He liked the gun because it was compact with the stock folded forward and could still be used that way if things happened fast. It was also a lot cheaper than some of the more contemporary equipment that was available on the market. The M16 he had was good too, but it was longer and not nearly as effective in close quarters which would be what he would be dealing with at his store. It worked better for the longer range targets. He told the five guards he had hired to stay outside, with two on the roof and the other three watching around the outside of the building. Then he found a camp chair and set it up in the far back corner of the store where he could see both the front and rear exits. He had spent many nights on vigils in his younger years so knew how to stay awake. It was going to be a long night.

George woke up feeling very strange and he could tell he had something in his mouth. His eyes didn't seem to want to open but when he finally did force them to cooperate, he almost wished he hadn't. He was looking down the barrel of the AK 47 he had been holding, but now the business end of it was in his mouth. He was on his back with his head forced ahead and his hands were tied to the gun. The gun was along his chest with the curved clip pointing up and his finger on the trigger. He couldn't move, but wasn't sure he wanted to. If the gun was off safety, and when he very slowly worked his head to a slight angle, he could easily see that it was, in rapid fire mode, no less. He had a good idea that touching the trigger with any force at all would blow a few holes in his head. Then he started to look around and soon saw where the guards had gone. Each of them was tied up in the same way with their guns in their mouths as well, though when they were finally all released half an hour later, when his first employee came to work, he noted that none of their guns had been taken off safety, only his. When he checked it, he found that it had indeed been set to go off. If he had accidentally pulled on the trigger even in his sleep, he would be talking to the guy with the red suit, horns and forked tail right now explaining why he had been such an unpleasant fellow most of his life. He managed to tell his employee not to touch him, but to get the police here before he inadvertently touched the trigger and set things off.

The guards were apologetic, none of them having a clue as to how they had ended up in the position they had been found, and George's ranting was considerably subdued by knowing that he himself had not only been caught with his pants down, but had almost died in the process. He was finally beginning to have second thoughts about sticking around. A good soldier always knows when it is time to cut your losses and retreat, but somehow he just could not quite do it. He had to try one more time. So with visions of scantily clad women rubbing oil onto his sun drenched body on a quiet beach somewhere warm, he went back home and gathered what he would need.

The others had decided to call it quits. They would be satisfied with what land they had and enjoy being well off instead of rich. Each of them would still come out of it with several hundred thousand dollars the way land was priced these days, so things would not be so bad. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out that way for any of them. All thanks to George.

He had collected some explosives through his army connections and decided that now was the time to use them. He knew that Cook and his new wife were still gone, so he drove out to Mary's house in the country and cheerfully started to plant a small bomb at the gas meter going into the house that he could set off from over a mile away with a remote control. Then he drove out to the missionary's place and did the same thing. He couldn't find a gas meter which puzzled him to no end because farms always had the meters on the outside wall so the meter readers could easily get access to them when no one was home. He settled instead for putting a much larger bomb at the back door and hoped it would be enough to knock the house down. Then off to Shane's place where he was happy to see that Shane was nice enough to have a meter sitting nicely outside and in plain view. His final stop was the church and the house next door where he knew the pastor lived. He had to be a little bit more careful there as it was within the town limits and people might see him in the area. It was not a place he was known to frequent, so he decided to wait until dark before he laid the last two charges. Then he would happily drive around in his truck and push buttons until several people learned that he was not someone to play around with.

Late that night, he headed over to the church and quietly placed the two charges by the gas intake lines on the house and church. Even the pastor had been away all week, so in the dark he didn't worry too much about being seen. He decided he would start with Cook's place so he got into his truck and headed south out of town to where they lived. They had decided that they would live in Mary's house until they figured out where they planned to spend the next few years of their lives.

He never made it to the acreage. He was two miles out of town, stopped at an intersection when he heard a small pop beside him and he looked over just in time to see a white cloud quickly begin to engulf the inside of his truck.

The next thing he knew he was waking up for the second time in a compromised position. He was very hot and when he tried to move and could not, he realised that he had been tied up again and gagged. When he forced his eyes open this time he was not much happier than he had been with the gun barrel shoved in his mouth. This time he found he was tied up in a horizontal position with his hands in front and his feet behind in what must have been a large room. He could not see the walls anywhere he looked. He saw what looked like a remote control taped to his right hand and realized with horror that it was the one he had planned on using for the explosives he had planted. It was taped to his hand in such a way that he could easily push the button with his left hand. But why....then he saw what was placed on a table just a little bit to one side of his out-stretched hands. All the explosives that he had just planted at the other houses.

After carefully looking around as much as he could move his head, he realised that he was in a tanning booth and it was starting to get very hot. He looked up at the button in his hand and then over at the bombs again and knew he was in big trouble this time. Someone had given him a choice, die slowly from being fried to death or quickly by being blown up by his own bombs. 'Oh crap' he thought, he had really done it this time. He had seriously underestimated the professionalism of his opponents, and now he was finally going to pay the price.

As he lay there getting more uncomfortable by the minute, he suddenly realized that he didn't want to die. It didn't look good for a second, no third, or was it even the fourth chance this time, and he was sorry for that. He had just wanted to make one big score so he would be set for an early retirement and had worked hard for it here. He had almost made it too, but that idea was obviously finished, as he would be too soon. He could feel his skin starting to burn like he had been out in the sun way too long and he glanced up at the button in his hand and wondered which way he would choose to die. He was pretty sure he could not commit suicide, but never having been in the situation where he would have to choose, he did not know for sure.

A few minutes later, when things were really starting to hurt, he heard a noise like a door opening in the distance, and his hopes perked up for a few seconds. They were quickly dashed when just at the edge of the light he saw a bright light begin to move toward him. It was another horizontal tanning booth and as it noiselessly came closer, he recognized the form of blindfolded Larry. He saw no one pushing the booth which must have been mounted on silent wheels, but it was dark on the other side so that was not a surprise. Then another booth appeared and another and another. Soon the entire cartel with the exception of Herbert, was there, each tied up and blindfolded the same way, and each wearing only their shorts. Then the blindfolds started to disappear one by one without him being able to see how, and the bodies began to show some awareness of where they were. None of them looked too happy about the situation and as each one saw what was on the floor and then what was in George's hand, their eyes got big and then a look of despair and fear came across their faces.

Chapter Thirty Two

They looked like they were about to die. They had all recognized that George was not completely right in the head and to see their lives all of a sudden at his mercy when he was in the shape he was in, was not what they would want to see and still expect a long life. They were there for half an hour and some of them were starting to squirm like a worm on a hook and mentally wishing they had updated their wills, when finally a voice began talking. It was obviously modified electronically as it sounded like a robot in some cheap science fiction movie. The voice started a one way discussion, talking about their past sins, and under different circumstances some of them would have laughed at what the others had done, but they were all starting to hurt way too much to be in the mood for hilarity.

The voice talked about how naughty they had all been and how they had been judged and found wanting. It spoke about each of their past sins first, some, going back to their later childhood times, before bringing up what they had all been doing recently. Whoever was speaking knew more about each one of them than most thought was possible. It knew who had cheated on whose wife and when, including names, who had stolen when, and what, even going so far as to list how many traffic tickets each one had obtained.

It took fifteen minutes for the voice to finish with its one way narrative while the listeners got hotter and hotter, and then it started talking about what kind of punishment would be appropriate for such nasty sinners. It wasn't pretty. Finally it began to give them just a bit of hope when it began wondering if there was any chance any of them might want to repent. It took another five minutes to describe what would be required for them to be allowed to go free and mentioned that to go back on their word would result in even more interesting punishments.

Darcy was the first one mentioned, saying that he would have to sell his beloved land and leave the province. He would only be allowed to sell the home place at a fair price and keep the money for it. All the other land he had acquired would have to be sold to the government for one dollar. If he agreed, he was to nod his head. It took a moment for him to decide, but he knew now all his dreams were finished. At least he would have enough money to start all over again somewhere else. He knew his wife had always wanted to move to B.C., so now she would get her chance. So he nodded and the next thing he knew the lights went off in his booth and he could feel himself being pulled backward. Before he had a chance to see anything else he blacked out.

The same happened to all of them. Tyler had to agree to sell his dealership and his house, and leave Alberta. He knew he would end up with little left over by the time he paid off his debts, but the thought of dying here, wherever here was, appealed to him even less.

Larry would be a little better off after selling his assets as he had been forward enough thinking to stay ahead of the game financially, but his dreams of riches were gone.

Warren would end up with little as well, because he had invested most of his money in the land he would now have to sell back to the bank. It was also strongly suggested that he find another line of work as he had proven himself to be unsuitable for law enforcement any more. At least he knew his wife would be pleased at him changing work. She had never been happy about the thought of him getting killed in the line of duty. He nodded his head and was pulled backward into blackness as his lights went out. He woke up in his squad car by the side of the highway just three miles outside of town fully dressed in his uniform. He might have thought it all a bad dream, except for the fact his body hurt badly and to add a bit of emphasis to the reality of the situation, his shotgun had been set up in the steering wheel pointed at his head. It had been no dream.

George, surprisingly was the easiest to convince. He started nodding his head even before the voice finished and the next thing he knew he was looking at his AK 47 mounted on his desk pointed right at him. This time though, it was not cocked and ready to go off when he checked, and he saw that there was no bullet in the chamber. He knew it was a reminder from someone that what he had been through had not been a dream. Not that he could forget the pain in his body from the sunburns he had sustained. He almost laughed at the last few weeks. He had been beaten at his own game. He would never call this being beaten fair and square, but then it never was fair in this kind of game. There would be other towns and other ways to make money.

The funny thing was, for the first time he had actually enjoyed what he had been doing when he ran the hardware store. It had occurred to him at one point that maybe he should just settle down instead of always looking for the big one. He was pretty sure he would be watched often now as the voice had warned, and it was obvious that the resources the person or persons had were top notch, so he had better try something at least semi legal. He was told there would be a very low offer the next day on what was left of his business and it would be in his best interest to accept it and be out of province within a week. He decided to follow the advice. He knew he would have to give up on that old lady's place in B.C. as well, as the voice had mentioned that too, which was a shame, but maybe there would be a business for sale in the area.

He really did like it where it was warm so maybe he could find a nice place to live when Brad got out of jail, which didn't look promising in the near future, if ever. Once the police connected his beloved gun with the murders he had committed, which they were sure to do, he was finished. George was very glad he had never had anything to do with those. Brad's temper had resulted in both of the deaths. Both had started with bar room brawls and ended with Brad going hunting for revenge with his precious sniper rifle. What bothered George the most was that he seemed to have enjoyed the hunt, pretending he was a soldier and it was his duty to save the honour of the platoon he was assigned to. The only platoon of course was the one in his head, and that made it very frightening.

George had always been able to stabilise Brad when he started to fantasize like that, but he had been down in the states at the time, and had been too late to do anything about it. Brad had often done scary things, but as long as George had been close, he had been able to stay control of the situation. Perhaps it was actually for the best that he was in jail. Maybe the doctors would be able to help him. He loved his brother, but he had to admit, it was a heavy burden on his shoulders to always have to look after him. So despite what he had been through in the last while, he felt surprisingly good. He hurt like crazy right now, but the burns would heal. They were only bad sun burns, and he would try to start a new life.

Chapter Thirty Three

They had all gathered together at Dan and Laura's place two days after they had all returned from their paid vacations to various places in the next province to the west of them. Jeff had provided the funds, explaining that it was too dangerous for them to be around when he set about his work. They all wondered if they would come back to homes again, but Jeff had assured them no harm would come to anything and he had been right. Even the animals had been fed and the grass cut. Jeff told them what had happened, but not how. They were puzzled, but knew enough to leave him alone and not question him on the details of his adventures.

Jeff looked at each one of them as they talked and could not believe how much he had come to love them all. When he thought about his life and all that had happened in the last few years, he could not believe that God cared that much about one lonely, confused and thoroughly mixed up man. He knew it would amaze him to his dying day, and for that he was grateful. He had no desire now to change the world with the religious fervour that he had once had not so long ago. Rules did not always cut it. Love did, and that was what the world really needed. There were rules enough in this big old world, so he intended to see what he could do about adding a little love to the mixture. Jesus had changed him, and he wanted to share that with as many people as possible. The Lord had blessed him with resources to work on that, through his dad. It had been exhilarating to be involved in what he had done the last few days, but it was not what he wanted. Violence had never been what had turned him on, so he really wanted to stay away from that. Then again, he had accomplished a lot with just the threat of it. Maybe God would want him involved in some way again but he really hoped not. He was so glad to be here with his good friends and be able to share the joy of fellowship with them. He could not have imagined a better time than right now and almost started to cry just thinking about it.

Jerry and Cindy could not believe their eyes. Two weeks before his house had looked like a tornado had gone through it, and now it looked like it had just been built and added on to besides. Paul had been as good as his word when he said he was going to get his own land and house back but he never imagined it would be better than it had been before. Paul had called he and Cindy into his office just over two weeks ago and set some terms before them that only a fool would have turned down. He would get his farm back, but would have to pay five hundred dollars a month for one year, the same amount of time that he would have had left if it had not been taken away from him. He had seen the house after Brad had finished with it and it made him and Cindy both cry. It was theirs again now however and that would be more than they could ever have hoped for.

Paul had told them they couldn't go out and see the place until it was ready and they had honoured his request. When they were told they could come, they loaded the kids into the old car, and headed out, the kids as excided as anything. They knew they would not have the same toys they had enjoyed when they used to be there, but mom and dad had promised them they could each have a pet of their own choice, and maybe with Jerry's new job, he would be able to afford a couple of old quads for them to run around on.

They drove into the yard but it was filled with vehicles parked every which way and it looked like there was no more room to park. Someone came up to the car and waved them to a spot right in front of the house. They did not understand why so many people had come to see their place, but they soon found out why. Aside from the renovated house, the garage that had been there before had also been redone. It had been re-sided and looked better than it ever had. They all got out of the car and stood there looking with awe at what had been done. Then Shane came up to them and handed them a remote.

"Push this," he said.

So Jerry pushed it and the big door began to open on the garage. Inside, instead of being empty as he expected, was a new Ford four by four, and beside it, three new quads that looked like they were just right for his kids. Behind those were two more bigger ones.

"Now before you get all excided," Shane said, "none of this stuff is new, but it is all in good shape and if you have any problems I know that you will be able to fix it with all the tools in those cupboards. A bunch of guys went to every auction sale in the province to try and find tools that we thought you might find useful, made sure they all worked, and filled the place up with them. The truck, I'm not sure of the details, but I think it had something to do with the sudden sale of the Ford dealership. Anyway, it's yours now, so hope it is what you want.

Now the house has a couple of things in it as well, but the ladies are all responsible for that part of it. Oh except for one little thing."

Jerry wanted nothing more than to leave everyone and go explore what was in the garage, but dutifully turned around and watched beside his wife as Shane's wife Tabitha handed Cindy another remote and told her to push the button. She took it from her hand and pushed the button. There had been an old lean to against the end of the house, but now it had been all finished and looked like it belonged and was a part of the house. The big new door slid up to reveal a car that looked just like the one Cindy had been admiring in the used section of the Ford lot last week, when they had spent Sunday afternoon wandering around town. It was a bright red Ford Escape SUV, and as she walked over to see it with her mouth wide open, she could see it was the same one they had looked at. Now she would not worry quite so much about the winter roads with all their ice and snow when she hauled the kids around.

They weren't given any time to gawk though, as they were quickly ushered into the house which they found fully furnished just the way she would have wanted. She knew how that had happened, as she had been talking to Tabitha about what styles she wanted when they had gone shopping together in Edmonton one day. The entire house was outfitted, beds, dressers, kitchen appliances, everything needed to move right in and feel comfortable. The fridge and freezer were even full of food as well as every cupboard she opened.

Tabitha could see that Cindy was about ready to break down, so she quickly started explaining, "Most of this stuff has something to do with the sale of the hardware store, so we didn't really have that much to do with it."

"But you found it all, got it all here, set it all up and you can't tell me all the food is from the hardware store. I'll never be able to pay you guys all back. I don't know what to say." She started to cry.

Jerry went to hold her, but a couple of the ladies got there first for which he was grateful. He would have started to cry right along with her. He could not understand why all this had happened. It did not fit what he knew of human nature, or maybe more to the point of what he used to think of what kind of god ran the stinking world. This stuff was all nice, but watching his kids and wife and the joy on their faces was worth far more. His favourite moment in life though would always be when he had seen the utter look of joy and anticipation on their faces when they had given him his Christmas present after he had given his life to the Lord. Not much would beat the joy he had felt at seeing their happiness. He had found a joy that he did not believe could be surpassed.

Dan and Paul had come up with a job that was right out of heaven for Jerry. Dan had always wanted to be involved in the motorcycle industry in some way and he had been impressed with Jerry's abilities as he restored his Harley. He had asked him to repair some other things in the barn especially some of the old motorcycles they had found. Dan had talked to him about helping him sell them on the net and take a share of the profits for the work he did on them. They had found six other bikes besides the one that Herb had bought, and the Honda CBX that he had decided to keep and had worked on them all, getting them cleaned up and running. Then J.J. had showed up and taken them up to the loft of the barn. What they saw up there blew them away. Dan had never quite got around to finding a way up there and for some reason, no one else had thought about it either. There had just been too much to do and think about with all that had happened in the last few weeks.

J.J. made it quite clear that he wanted to take nothing they had found anywhere in the barn, it all belonged to Dan, except the two machines that he had mentioned to Dan a few weeks ago. They laughed when he showed them where the secret button was that controlled a platform hidden in the ceiling. It slowly lowered itself to the floor suspended with chains right beside them, and after stepping on, J.J. reached over and pushed the button again and up they went. The loft was as full as the lower section had been, but it looked like most things up here were smaller and when they started taking tarps off, most of them covered motorcycles, old motorcycles, enough to start their own museum if they were so inclined.

J.J. went to the other side of the lift and pulled the tarp off what turned out to be two bikes, one a newer looking custom Harley that looked like it did not have much left of the original bike. The other one was a much older machine, and although it still looked like a Harley, it too had changed in appearance considerably.

"These are the two machines I would like to keep. That one used to belong to my dad." He said as he pointed to the beautiful green one. "And this one is the one that I built a few years ago when dad was still alive. We used to have a lot of fun riding together. Mom would sit on the back of his and we would put most of the camping gear on mine and away we would go, never with a plan of course. He loved bikes and every time someone had an old one they wanted to get rid of, he would buy it. Of course it was usually in bad shape when he got it, but he was never satisfied until it looked like new again and he always tried to improve it to make it run or handle better. All these bikes here ran when he parked them, but if you want original, you won't find too many here. I think just about the only one he left original was that old Vincent you found downstairs, and that was just because he died before he got to it. I think there is another one just like it here somewhere, but although it looks the same on the outside, if you were to race the other one in a straight line or around any corner, it would be no contest."

"Hmm, that might be fun to get running and go meet Herb on sometime. I wonder what he would do if he saw me on the same machine and then got beat by it?" Dan said as he smiled.

"Well J.J. you don't know how much I appreciate all you have done for us here, I....."

"Now just a minute, Dan, if it wasn't for you and Paul, I wouldn't be here at all. I would still be rotting in jail. When I was sitting there in my cell, I would often think about what I would give to be free again, and the farm and everything on it was always the easiest. I never much liked to have a bunch of things around, unless I could fix it or change it or something and then I didn't want to see it anymore. This stuff was all Dad's and he loved it. I loved being around him when he was here, but he is not here anymore and I am just happy I will be able to move around free again. Paul found me a little house a few miles out of town, with a workshop and garage, and gave me some good terms on it, so I expect that will keep me more than happy. This place is way too big for me, so I hope you really enjoy it. It pleases me to see you here and I can't think of anyone I would rather have it. Mom and Dad would both have been happy to see you here as well.

Curtis tells me that the government is willing to do an out of court settlement with me if I don't get too greedy, for the mistaken confinement. Off the record of course, so I hope it will be enough to take care of most of my new house and maybe some tools for the garage."

"So what do you plan on doing, anyway, going back to the oilfield?"

"No I don't think so. I'm going to be a handy man mostly, that's all I want."

"Have you ever thought about getting a patent on anything you have invented, or even what your dad has done?"

"No, can't say as I have. I guess I never thought anything I did was worth doing anything with other than for my own use and it always seemed like so much trouble and so much red tape that I never really considered it."

"Could you make some more of the mixture that you painted the house and barn with? That stuff really seems to protect the wood from the weather very well." Dan asked.

"Oh sure, it's not hard, though you do have to be quite accurate in the proportions, and method of doing it, why?"

"Let me talk to Curtis. If he was willing to do the legal stuff would you be willing to share some of the profits with him, if he could manage to get a patent on it?"

"Of course, but who would be interested in a wood preservative that only kept the natural color? Dad and I tried many things to make it work with colors but it would only protect if it was kept clear."

Dan smiled. "I could be wrong, but I think it could be a very useful product, and popular, but we will see, I can't make any promises of course." He knew that natural wood colors were very popular and if a product came along that meant wood could be treated and not have that greenish color that it all had these days, he was sure it would sell well. And it looked like J.J.'s concoction protected far better than anything he had ever seen.

Chapter Thirty Four

A few weeks later, on Easter day, Dan and Laura had invited all their friends and much of their family over for a meal of turkey and ham. Paul was sitting in the corner of the deck where everyone was sitting now that they could not stuff another bite of the delicious meal into their mouths. He slowly looked around and began thinking about what had happened in each of their lives. He and Mary of course had decided to settle here in Bashaw where he was still the manager, but his new wife had left her bank job as she was now pregnant and felt like she wanted to spend more time at home. Jerry and Cindy, Shane and Tabitha, Curtis and his wife, and several others that were gathered around or hadn't been able to attend, all had been changed, and when he used his analytical abilities to think about it, going back slowly month by month, it was not hard to figure out how it had all happened. God had called one man and woman home from the mission field and His purpose had been served. Or at least for the time being.

Dan and Laura were ordinary people with ordinary skills, but they had one thing that was different than many. They had heard the call of God and they had obeyed. Paul had no idea how successful their ministry had been in Pakistan, but the Lord knew. What Paul did know was that they had been used in some special way here in this little Alberta town. He thought nothing of what he himself had done. He was still surprised though when he thought about the change it had been for him to also listen to the Lord's leading and obey. He really hoped that the Lord would not call him to another adventure like the past few months had been, but he also hoped that he and Mary would be willing to obey if the Lord did ask something of them.

He turned to Dan and his wife sitting next to him. "So you guys, how do you like being home, if you call this place home yet, now that you have been here for what, getting to be almost a year now?"

"Let's just say that I hope the next few years are a little less exciting than the last one was, Paul. I'm finally starting to feel just a little bit normal now, and I would really like to explore that feeling a little more. It feels kind of nice."

"Did you ever have any idea of what your life would hold for you way back when you were young and foolish?" Paul asked.

"Let's just say it's not what I expected." Dan replied "I have done things and been places that I would not have even begun to dream about when I was young. Not because I am better, or smarter or stronger than anyone else, but only because I tried to follow the Lord's leading. I used to think being in Christian service would be boring, but I think as you have found out, that is not often the case."

"My goal has always been to hear those words when I die and meet Jesus, 'Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master'. I just didn't think it would be so painful at times." He laughed "But really, it's for moments like this that make everything worth while. Look at all the happy faces, listen to the kids chasing each other around the yard. Watching you and Mary and the others being so happy when there used to be so much pain in their lives is incredible. This is what life is all about. God really does love us and on this day of all days, when he lifted his Son out of hell after he had paid for all our sins, makes our pain seem not so bad. Certainly nothing like Jesus had to withstand in our place.

I have a mom and dad that love me, a wife and kids that love me and more friends than I thought was possible. What is most important though, is that I've got a God that loves me, and that, my dear friend, when you figure it out, is where it is all at.

"Amen." Paul simply replied, "Amen."

Written by

Clay Mellsen

Just for fun.
