Underneath the plaque was this verse:
A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.
I looked at the sky through blurry eyes. There weren’t any birds or seagulls flying. No angels singing or music playing. Just the sound of a hundred kids saying, “It’s my turn!”
Epilogue
Gunnar was spotted a few days later at a casino west of Denver. Someone recognized him from his photo in the paper, and the police took him into custody, I guess to protect him from the goons. Bryce and I hope he gets help and turns things around.
Hayley and her aunt thanked us for what we did, but we said it wasn’t that big of a deal. We love solving mysteries, even if they don’t all have happy endings.
The total raised from Jeff’s ride was more than $100,000. The newspaper says that figure could go higher.
Every time a kid climbs the wall, they see a little of Jeff’s life and read the verse that meant so much to him. After Jeff died, we noticed some people at church who had never been there before.
Every person’s life—no matter how long or short—touches others. We were lucky to call Jeff Alexander our friend.
Our lives will never be the same.
About the Authors
Jerry B. Jenkins (jerryjenkins.com) is the writer of the Left Behind series. He owns the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild, an organization dedicated to mentoring aspiring authors. Former vice president for publishing for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, he also served many years as editor of Moody magazine and is now Moody’s writer-at-large.
His writing has appeared in publications as varied as Reader’s Digest, Parade, Guideposts, in-flight magazines, and dozens of other periodicals. Jenkins’s biographies include books with Billy Graham, Hank Aaron, Bill Gaither, Luis Palau, Walter Payton, Orel Hershiser, and Nolan Ryan, among many others. His books appear regularly on the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly best-seller lists.
Jerry is also the writer of the nationally syndicated sports story comic strip Gil Thorp, distributed to newspapers across the United States by Tribune Media Services.
Jerry and his wife, Dianna, live in Colorado and have three grown sons and three grandchildren.
Chris Fabry is a writer and broadcaster who lives in Colorado. He has written more than 40 books, including collaboration on the Left Behind: The Kids series.
You may have heard his voice on Focus on the Family, Moody Broadcasting, or Love Worth Finding. He has also written for Adventures in Odyssey and Radio Theatre.
Chris is a graduate of the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He and his wife, Andrea, have been married 22 years and have nine children, two birds, two dogs, and one cat.
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