In the Shadow of His Wings

by Pamela Wells

  Her heart was beating so hard, she was sure that at any moment they would hear it and turn to see what the noise was. Gerhard opened the oven door and pulled out the roast to check its progress and as they were both bent over the pan looking at it, Laura tip toed out of the pantry, eased out of the kitchen and through the dining room.

  Laura had no idea what the layout of the house was so she didn’t know where the nearest exit was. She did see a patio door in the kitchen area but she clearly could not go through there so she turned and looked for another way. She walked quickly through a large living room knowing that if Gerhard or Hilda turned around they would have no trouble spotting her. She saw a dimly lit hallway and quickly turned into it. I made it; I got past them without them seeing me! Thank you Jesus! Laura saw a few closed doors before her and saw that the hallway took a turn at the end. She wondered if after the bend at the end of the hallway there might be a front door to the house. She wanted to run down the hall and find out but at that moment she heard Gerhard’s footsteps and it sounded like he was coming her way. She quickly turned the handle on the door nearest to her and ducked inside, closing the door quietly behind her. There was a desk in the room with a small lamp on it that was lit so she was able to easily see that she was in an office of sorts. She assumed it was Gerhard’s home office and she quickly looked for a place to hide in case this was where he was coming. There was a couch in the room against the far wall and she ducked behind it. Gerhard did indeed come into the office and Laura thought her heart was going to explode, it was beating so hard. This is how it’s going to end. I will have a heart attack behind the couch in his office and he won’t have to worry about what he’s going to do with me any more. Gerhard was in and out of the room quickly, much to Laura’s relief. She heard him walk over to his desk, open and close a drawer, then leave. She cautiously peeked over the couch and was glad to see the door closed. She looked around and seeing the window she went and checked it to see if she could open it to escape that way. She was disappointed to see that it wasn’t the type of window she could open and crawl out of. She could take something and break the window but she knew that would make too much noise and Gerhard would come running, she might not escape in time. She couldn’t risk that so she turned away from the window.

  It was then that Laura saw Gerhard’s lap top computer sitting on his desk, plugged in and turned on. She took a quick look at it and noticed it was connected to a phone jack. A phone jack, of course! She could call 911. Laura looked for a phone but all she was able to find was the base for a cordless phone, the phone itself was not in the room.

  Laura thought about her options. She knew how to use a computer. She could sit down and send an email to her family, or she could head for the door and try to make it to an exit. Her mind raced at the risk either way. Gerhard and Hilda were only a few feet away and she could be caught at any moment. If she went for the door they could nab her the moment she opened it, so perhaps she should send an email first. If she took the time to send an email first she could ruin the chance of getting to the front door. She had no way of knowing which would be the best choice. It would only take a minute to send an email but that minute could make the difference between a successful escape or not.

  Lord what should I do!? Inside she cried out for an answer. In a split second she decided to send an email, she sat down at the desk and with trembling hands she placed her hands over the keyboard. Her ears strained for sounds coming from the kitchen hoping she would hear if Gerhard came towards the office. She had no idea how to access Gerhard’s email and thought that if she had time, she would be able to figure it out, time was something she didn’t have. The kids had talked her into getting a hotmail email account a few years ago so that she could easily email back and forth with them when she was away from home on vacations. That was something she could easily access now so she went to the hotmail web site and prepared to send an email. She typed in Josh’s email address, thankful that she knew his address off by heart. With her heart pounding and her hands shaking she began to type. I’m alive! I’m trying to escape now and will hopefully be home soon. I love you and miss you so much. At that moment Laura heard Gerhard talking to Hilda and it sounded like he was right outside the office door. She panicked and hit the ‘send’ button as she got out of the chair ducking under the desk. She crouched under the desk as she heard the two come into the office. Laura was frozen with fear, praying they wouldn’t come around behind the desk. They were discussing a recipe for some type of torte that Hilda wanted to make. Gerhard took a book from the bookshelf and showed his mother a couple of different recipes. After the two discussed the matter for, to what Laura felt like hours but was actually only a few minutes, they went back to the kitchen. Laura got out from under the desk and quickly exited from the hotmail site so that Gerhard would not know that an email had been sent. Now it was time to find that exit and she had to hurry. It wouldn’t be long before one of them went downstairs and discovered she was missing.

  Laura opened the office door slowly and peeked out into the hall. She could hear Gerhard and Hilda in the kitchen but couldn’t see them, she stepped out into the hallway.

  She opened the next door she came to and saw only a dark room, assuming it was a bedroom and would probably have a window similar to the one in the office, Laura decided not to bother exploring it further. She closed the door and moved on down the hallway. She ignored the other closed door and went for the bend in the hallway. She turned the corner and was thrilled to see a main door at the end. The front door, the entrance and therefore it was also the exit to the house. Her freedom was only a few feet away. Please Lord don’t let this be a dream. Let me open that door and run down the driveway to freedom! Laura turned the doorknob and thought she would faint when the handle wouldn’t turn. It was locked, but then she almost laughed at herself when she realized it was locked from the inside! She quietly turned the deadbolt and opened the door. A blast of cold air hit her in the face and it was the most wonderful feeling she had ever felt. She saw in front of her a wide stretch of white that was the Bloone front yard.

  It was a clear night with a bright moon that reflected off the snow and she was able to clearly see the front sidewalk, that led to the driveway and out to the road. She took a deep breath of the glorious, cold fresh air and prepared to run when she felt a jolt to the back of her head.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Gerhard had grabbed a fist full of Laura’s long hair and quickly wrapped the hair around his hand locking Laura’s head into a tight grip. Laura let out a scream and her knees buckled. She would have fallen to the floor if it hadn’t been for Gerhard’s firm grip on her hair. He pulled her mercilessly back into the house and slammed the front door shut. Without saying another word Gerhard dragged Laura back down the hall, through the living room and kitchen, where Hilda stood watching with her mouth hanging open. Laura cried out in pain and tried to stand to her feet to ease the pulling on her hair, her feet scrambled to get a grip on the tile floor as he dragged her through the kitchen, her hands grasping at the top of her head trying in vain to ease the pain of Gerhard pulling on her hair. Gerhard paused at the entrance to the pantry which enabled Laura to get to her feet, trembling and crying.

  “How did she get loose?” demanded Hilda, staring at the scene in disbelief.

  “I don’t know yet but I’m going to find out.” Gerhard pulled Laura towards the stairs and for a moment she was terrified that in his anger he would push her down them.

  She grabbed hold of the railing, prepared to hang on but he allowed her to walk down the stairs. Laura felt seriously sick to her stomach as she walked back down to her basement prison. Tears poured from her eyes as Gerhard snapped the handcuff back on her wrist.

  He spotted the key on the floor and picked it up. He looked at her knowingly and then put the key back in his pocket.

  “I will have to be much more careful with this from now on, won’t I?” Gerhard then turned and went back up the sta
irs.

  Laura ran to her bathroom and threw up, sobbing harder than she had ever cried before. She had come so close. Why God? Why did You allow me to get that close only to loose it again? To get one precious breath of fresh air, one glimpse of the sky, one glimpse of the snowy yard, and then to loose it. I don’t understand! Laura’s heart was breaking at her failed escape attempt. She collapsed on the floor, totally drained at her sense of failure. At least she had sent the email and Gerhard didn’t know about that, but then it hit her. I didn’t give them any information in the email! How dumb can I be?!! I don’t know my address but I could have told them I was in Niagara Falls. Most importantly I could have told them my kidnapper’s name! Laura slapped her forehead in disbelief. She couldn’t belief she had blown such a golden opportunity. All she had to do was say she was being held prisoner by Gerhard Bloone and Jim could have given that information to the police. Laura couldn’t possibly have felt any lower than she did at that moment. If she had passed on sending the email she might have had enough time to run out the door and get away. If she had typed Gerhard’s name in the email the police could have been here before the sun came up. Either way, she could have been home by morning and now she was back in the basement, back in her chain, throwing up in the bathroom, with all her hopes dashed. The only small spark of hope in the back of her mind was that perhaps the police might be able to trace the email that she sent back to Gerhard’s laptop. She didn’t know if that were possible or not but she prayed it was.

  Laura crawled over to her bed but she didn’t climb into it, instead she stayed on her knees and prayed with all her might that God would protect Lacey. Please Father, don’t let Lacey suffer because of my foolishnesses. Put a hedge of protection around her Lord and keep her safe.

  Chapter 19

  The same Saturday that Laura was celebrating Christine’s birthday with Gerhard and Hilda, Lacey was heading to the mall with some friends. It was taking some effort for the Reid family to get on with their lives but time was forcing them to. Lacey’s friends didn’t drag her out shopping during the Christmas season but now the new spring styles were all out and they insisted she come with them. In the car on the way to the mall her friends joked and laughed and talked about the boys at school. Lacey tried to join in but it felt awkward and forced and she wondered why she came. Her smile and laugh felt phony and she wanted to tell them to pull the car over so she could just get out and walk home, but she didn’t. Instead she kept the phony smile on her face all the way to the mall, telling herself it would get better once they got there. She just needed to relax and enjoy herself. The mall was fairly busy for mid-March and the girls wasted no time in heading for their favorite stores to see if there were any good sales and to check out the new arrivals for spring. They rushed from store to store, squealing with delight over some of their finds and laughing hysterically over others. They ran into several other friends from school and stopped at the food court for a bite to eat.

  As they were all sitting there Lacey looked at all their laughing, happy faces and again wondered what she was doing here with them. She wanted to yell at them all to stop laughing, stop being so happy! Didn’t they all know that her mother was still missing and was probably dead by now? Didn’t they realize how hard it was to not know? Sometimes she thought it was the ‘not knowing’ that was the hardest of all. If they knew for sure she was dead, then they could have a funeral and have closure. Since they didn’t know for sure, they were all left hanging, in limbo, not knowing what to do.

  Should they pack up her mom’s stuff or leave it in the closets and drawers? Lacey was also torn about going to university. Should she continue with her plans or stay home with her dad? She felt that he really needed her right now. How could she apply for universities away from home and move away, leaving him living alone in that house, all by himself? She could apply to universities or colleges close to home but she had already looked into that and none of them had the courses she was interested in. So that was another dilemma, should she change the direction she wanted to go, or should she just take some time off from school and get a job? Her mind wrestled with these thoughts daily and she didn’t know who to go to with them. She couldn’t talk to her dad about them because she knew he would encourage her to go ahead with her original plans. He wouldn’t tell her to stay, but she was worried about him. If she moved away to university then he would be left in the house alone. She could see how hard her mother’s disappearance was on him and it worried her. He was trying to be strong for her and Josh but she could see how the past few months had taken its toll on her father.

  She looked around at all her friends and only half listened to their silly conversations.

  “I want to go back to that first store and buy that cute yellow sweater I saw”

  “Oh I wanted that one too. O.K. no problem, you get the yellow one and I’ll get the blue one!

  “Don’t forget we still have the lower level of the mall to cover yet. There are some good stores down there”

  “Later do you want to go see that new movie that just came out? I heard it’s really funny”

  “I think that Mike has a crush on you Debbie, he has walked by us three times and keeps looking at you.”

  “Whatever, I’m not interested. Do you realize how many new guys we will meet at college? I’ll wait for a better selection!”

  “I saw a great back pack that I think would be good for college, it has wheels on it, so it gets too heavy I can just pull it along.|

  She couldn’t go to any of them with her concerns about university, none of them would understand, how could they? It wasn’t all that long ago that she wouldn’t have found their conversations silly and she would have been right in there with them. Now, as she listened to them laugh and talk about clothes, boys, movies and such it was all she could do to keep from screaming at them all to shut up. She felt so alone at that moment and then she thought how odd that was. Here she was sitting at the mall surrounded by so many people. There were hundreds of strangers here for one thing and several of her friends for another, so how could she possibly feel alone? Yet that’s exactly how she felt.

  I’m all alone in a crowd. That sounds like a bad country and western song. Lacey almost laughed at that thought. She desperately wanted to get up, exit the mall and walk all the way home, but she didn’t live very close and the walk would be a long one. The thought of the long walk wasn’t what stopped her though; it was the thought of how her exit would affect her friends that kept her in her seat. They already knew she was going through a very difficult time and they brought her shopping today in an attempt to cheer her up. Lacey knew they meant well and she loved them for their thoughtfulness. She didn’t want to hurt them or upset them by walking out, so she stayed. She kept the phony smile on her face and pretended to enjoy herself as much as she could. She even bought herself a blouse. Her friends all wanted to go see a movie that evening; Lacey was worn out from pretending to be happy. She wanted to get home to see how her dad was doing, she excused herself from the group and was grateful when they dropped her off at home before the movie.

  It was eight thirty when Lacey’s alarm clock went off Sunday morning and she dragged herself out of bed, heading for the shower. She could hear her dad moving around upstairs and knew he was already awake. She could smell the familiar aroma of coffee brewing. Her stomach growled and it would be nice to sit and talk with her dad for a bit before heading to church so she went up the stairs. Lacey and Jim sat at the kitchen table having a light breakfast when the phone rang and Lacey jumped up to answer it.

  “It’s Josh!” Lacey announced cheerfully, always glad to hear from her brother, but at the next moment all the blood seemed to drain from Lacey’s face as she quietly said, “Ok see you in a few minutes,” and she hung up the phone.

  “What’s wrong?” Jim stood to his feet, rather concerned at his daughter’s reaction.

  “Dad, come downstairs, we have to check my email. Josh thinks he got an email fr
om mom. He forwarded it to me.” Lacey turned and ran for the stairs with Jim close behind her. Lacey practically flew down the stairs and to her computer and her hands shook as she turned it on. Impatiently she waited for her home page to come up so she could access her email. Jim entered Lacey’s room and carefully watched his step as he walked over to her computer. His daughter used to keep a very neat and tidy bedroom but ever since Laura disappeared, she had gotten sloppy and careless. There were wet towels and dirty clothes all over the floor. Jim was very watchful where he put his feet because there was also the occasional CD and book laying on the floor as well. This was unlike his daughter but he had a hard time scolding her for it and just left her alone. He trusted that in time she would take care of it on her own. Now, he was much more interested in the email Josh called about. Lacey accessed her email account and quickly scanned her newest, unread mail looking for something from her mother.

  “There it is!” She pointed to one excitedly and quickly clicked on it.

  Lacey read the email aloud with Jim looking over her shoulder,

  “I’m alive! I’m trying to escape now and will hopefully be home soon. I love you and miss you so much.”

  The two didn’t say anything for a few seconds, both feeling a mixture of emotions. Hope poured like a flood through the both of them, but at the same time they felt afraid to let their hopes get too high. Doubts came fast and furious on the heals of hope. What if this wasn’t from Laura? What if this was some sort of sick cruel joke from someone else? Was that even possible? This had to be from her! Lacey stood up slowly and turned and faced her dad, her eyes shining with unshed tears,