Race the Sky

by Michael Galloway

  Jared paused again and paced away from the podium. “Know what He said? He said, put down the book, Jared. Ask for more of Me, and I’ll supply. Can I get an amen?”

  “Amen,” the crowd said.

  John looked around at the crowd and then at Madeline. He leaned over and whispered to her, “is this where it gets weird?”

  She gave him a loving smile and squeezed his hand. “You know it.”

  Jared continued. “More? How do I get more? How do I get out of the way? Then I realized, it’s one thing to say I want more of God, but it’s another to let Him throw the switch of grace and to be a conduit. This sounds kind of funny now that I tell you, but that night I said to God in my car, throw the switch!”

  A man in front of John nodded and said an “amen”. The man then mumbled the words, “throw the switch.”

  John stared at Madeline in disbelief. “Captain is going to have a field day when he hears about this.”

  Jared’s hands sprang up into the air as his voice boomed, “Do you want to know what real grace feels like?”

  The crowd murmured.

  “I said, do you want to know what real grace feels like? Who’s with me?”

  The crowd rustled and some shouted “amen”.

  “I found out that night in my car what real grace feels like. It was like a surge of power hit me. My hands tingled. My chest, my arms, my legs…it’s like they were all on fire. I nearly went off the road. But man did I feel great.”

  A couple of people in the crowd chuckled in approval.

  “But lately I wasn’t feeling that too much anymore. It was like I hit a plateau. And then I thought again about how I got in the way of God before. So I asked God, I said, “What’s wrong with me now?””

  He smiled at the crowd before continuing. “Know what He said?”

  The crowd murmured and Evelyn whispered, “Tell us, Jared.”

  “He said, “I’m ready to throw the switch, Jared. Light up this town with My power and grace.” Then I said, “Okay, don’t let little ol’ me get in the way!””

  Several people clapped.

  Jared cleared his throat. “Then I got really bold. I said, “Throw the switch, Lord. Light this town up from north to south, east to west. Light us up with grace!””

  Just then John heard a woman in the row behind him stand up. By the time he turned to look, she fell back into her seat with a giggle as if she had too much to drink. Others stood up, too, and lifted their hands as if to receive some type of supernatural energy boost. John looked toward the ceiling but saw no difference in the structure of the sanctuary. He leaned over to ask Madeline if they could leave yet, but thought better of it.

  “I’d like to try something a little different this morning,” Jared began again. “In the past, I know we have conducted our energy tunnels with two lines. But today, I want the whole sanctuary to get a feel for what those people felt.” He turned toward Alicia. “Could you help us with this? Elders, we’ll need your assistance, too. Let’s make two lines, one on each of the outside edges of the seats.”

  Madeline nodded toward the exit. “I think it’s going to be unsafe if we stick around.” She turned toward her mother. “C’mon, Mom. I think this is too much.”

  “I want to stay,” Evelyn protested. She shot Madeline a nasty glance.

  John was one part fascinated and one part horrified as to what might happen next. He slid over a few seats until he reached the end of the row. Alicia, the ushers, and other elders formed two sparse rows on either side of the sanctuary, and in a choreographed move, they all raised their hands up in the air over the audience. Jared said a few words and then it was as if a tidal wave started in the front of the church and raced toward the back.

  All around Madeline, John, and Evelyn, people started laughing uncontrollably, as if they all became drunk at once. Madeline gave John an angry stare and he hurried himself out of his seat and past one of the ushers. It was then that he recognized the usher as Jason Whitmore, the former chief of police of Wick. He ground his teeth. He then passed Alicia, who called out to Madeline.

  “Maddie, where are you going? What’s your hurry?” Alicia said.

  “We’re leaving,” John said.

  “You really should stay around. God has so much that He wants to give you if you would only let Him.”

  Madeline pulled on her mother’s arm but she refused to move. Finally, Madeline gave up and followed John.

  Jared spoke up again, but this time there was an angry undertone to his words. “Lord, I pray for unity today. I pray for those who are leaving, please help them to see the light and feel the full force of Your glory.”

  “Run!” Madeline said to John as she pushed him forward and out of the sanctuary.

  As soon as they made it to the narthex, John looked back to see the whole congregation in chaos. Someone yelled out that they had found gold dust on their chair, which excited the crowd further. “It’s an anointing!” Another person said.

  Before they exited through the front doors of the church, John looked back one final time. It was as if he stared at a congregation being blown about by the whims of the wind, with Jared leading the way and Alicia whirling around him like a satellite tornado.

  Outside, John unlocked his truck and together they sat inside and waited. “What about your Mom? We can’t just leave her in there.”

  “She won’t budge. She won’t leave until it’s over.”

  “When is that?”

  “It could be hours.”

  John put his hand to his forehead. He was going to suggest going across town to get a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. His stomach began to roll and he reconsidered. He rolled down his window because of the heat that built up in the truck from sitting in the hot morning sun.

  “I hope you know that wasn’t God,” Madeline said.

  “I know. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t any God I remember reading about.”

  “I can’t keep doing this with her. Something bad is going to happen to this place. I can feel it.”

  John looked down at his pant leg and noticed some gold dust on the side. He brushed it off as if a hornet was about to sting him in the shin.

  “I don’t know what to do anymore. He’s already taken this church and next it’s going to be the whole town,” Madeline said.

  “Now you know why I’ve hated this town for so long. And why I was reluctant to talk to you at first. It just reaffirms what I already suspected.”

  “And here you are with a front row seat.”

  John balled up his right hand into a fist. This time, he did not care if Madeline saw it. “Do all those people just follow whatever he says?”

  “Publicly.”

  “There must not be anything else going on in this town. But I guess sometimes people latch onto whatever makes them feel significant.”

  John looked out his passenger window at the parking lot and let his mind wander back to thoughts of Rebekah. “I can’t believe Rebekah actually listened to that guy. Sometimes I wonder who’s to blame for what happened to her. Was it him? Was it God? Was it the doctors? Was it me?”

  “But you said before there was no suicide note left behind.”

  “Right.”

  “Maybe people in general just let her down.”

  “People like me?”

  “That’s not what I meant. Maybe it was Jared. He’s good at peddling false hope. I still can’t verify any of the healings I saw the other night. How was she during the last few days you knew her?”

  “She pushed me away. I knew we were broken up and all that, but still.”

  “Have you ever been back to the accident scene?”

  “No. I can’t go back there.”

  “Would you mind if I went there?”

  “Go ahead.” He unclenched his fist.

  “Where did it happen?”

  “Near the Main Street Bridge on the east side of town.”

  * * *

  A half hour later t
he church emptied out and Evelyn came up to John’s truck. He opened the door and she let herself in.

  “You sure missed a lot of fun,” she said as she put on her seat belt.

  John and Madeline exchanged worried glances.

  “I’m just…concerned Mom. That’s all,” Madeline said.

  “I’m fine, Maddie. You see, John, Maddie worries too much sometimes.” There was a creepy edge to her voice that John picked up on, but he wondered if he was just imagining things.

  “And about Jared,” Evelyn continued. “Did I ever tell you about his past?”

  “No,” John said to keep the conversation going, although he barely contained his sarcasm. Madeline shot him an irritated look.

  “He’s been through a lot,” Evelyn said. “He really means well. He grew up on a farm. So he knows the meaning of hard work. I remember him telling us a story once about his wife getting sick. Breast cancer I think. The doctors didn’t give her much of a chance. They told her to get her things in order. And so he had a crisis of faith. He sought out all sorts of healers and mystics and teachers. He finally found one that healed her. And then he started writing books on his own. Then they came here a few years ago. I think his wife is the one who got him to stay in this town. It’s all in his books if you ever want to read them, John.”

  Madeline pursed her lips as they drove toward Evelyn’s house on the edge of town.

  John caught her expression and whispered, “What?”

  “Mom, he’s also been thrown out of a couple of churches,” Madeline said. “The only reason he stayed here because he outlasted all of his critics.”

  “So? We all have our differences,” Evelyn shot back. “Besides, you’re still here, right?”

  Once John pulled into Evelyn’s driveway, Madeline let out a sigh. After her mother departed, she turned to face John. “I’m surprised she didn’t give you the spiel about how he gives back to the community.”

  “He does?”

  “Sure. To manipulate people and to gain control. And I think that’s his next plan. To take control of the town.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Madeline parked just in front of the bridge that spanned the creek where Rebekah died. It was four in the afternoon, and a light rain was falling, but it did not matter to her. She climbed out of her car with her digital camera and opened up her canary yellow umbrella. The bridge was a short, two-lane, concrete span with rectangular concrete and steel guardrails and a cracked foundation. The embankment leading to the creek sloped down at a forty-five degree angle to the water fifteen feet below.

  She took a picture of the skid marks on the road. Next, she spotted a black mark that looked as if the pavement had been scorched. She poked around in the grass adjacent to the mark and found a curved piece of rusted metal. It looked more like a piece of pipe rather than a pop can so she reached down, pried it free from the dirt, and set it onto the pavement to take pictures of it.

  She then picked it back up and turned it over in her hand. The object was shaped like a two-foot long crumpled piece of thin metal pipe and was blackened throughout as if it had been torched in a fire. She put the pipe inside of her car on the passenger seat and proceeded to take more pictures of the creek, the road, the grass, and the bridge.

  She then calculated the trajectory that Rebekah’s car took when it left the road. Although the tire tracks that used to run through the mud and grass were overgrown, she took pictures anyway. She descended down the embankment and nearly slipped on the loose sand and gravel. When she reached the final resting place of the car, all that remained were a few scattered chunks of safety glass, a bent wiper blade, and a piece of weather stripping from a door. There were signs that the area around the crash site was charred, as if there had been a small fire. Although weeds and bright green shoots of grass attempted to retake the space, the evidence of trauma still remained. When she was satisfied she could do no more, she returned to her car and headed over to the Spirit of Grace Church.

  * * *

  Madeline pulled up next to Jared’s Jeep in the church parking lot and looked around to see if anyone was watching her. Satisfied she was alone, she took out her camera and snapped pictures of his Jeep. She crouched down by his front bumper and looked at it closely. To her surprise, there was a softball-sized dent on the passenger side and embedded in the metal were flecks of dark green paint. Knowing time was short she put her camera back into her car and hurried inside.

  She wanted to walk into Jared’s office unannounced and uninvited. Instead, she stopped partway down the hall and leaned against the wall to listen while Jared barked at someone on the telephone about the healing event the other night.

  “Look, I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. Are you sure it isn’t just a lack of faith on your part? Seriously,” Jared said.

  He hung up the phone with a slam. “Can you believe him?” He said to someone else in the room. “Maybe we should add him to the list.”

  “You serious?” Another male voice said.

  “No. But I’ve thought about it,” Jared said with a chuckle. “Sometimes I wish the hammer of judgment would fall on him if you know what I mean.”

  The two men shared a laugh. Madeline backed away from the wall. Until today she had little fear of confronting Jared. Her hands trembled as feelings of doubt hit her like waves crashing into a beach before a storm. She turned away and headed toward the exit.

  “Can we help you?” A man’s voice called out to her.

  She turned back to look, but it was not Jared. Instead, it was a man in his mid-forties, with short black hair, black glasses, and a Cuban accent. He was wearing a pale brown suit with a bright orange tie. He put his hands on his hips and stared at her without flinching.

  “No…I’m okay. I got what I need,” Madeline said. She pointed to a fundraising poster on the wall. The poster was a year out of date but no one bothered to take it down.

  “Who is it Frank?” Jared said from inside his office.

  “I don’t know. A young woman from your church, maybe?”

  Jared leaned out into the hallway and called out to her. “Oh, hi, Madeline. Come on in.” He waved her forward. His voice was suddenly warm and jovial. “Dr. Amalynth was just leaving. Weren’t you Frank?”

  “Sure. I’ll be on my way.” Dr. Amalynth stared at her for what seemed like a minute as if to memorize her face for future reference. He eventually turned around and left via the other church exit.

  Upon entering the church office she found Pastor Anbusch seated behind the office desk. Jared sat back down in a chair across from the pastor and offered another chair to Madeline. She sat down, but with great reluctance.

  Pastor Anbusch was in his late forties and had beady brown eyes, short gray-white hair, a weathered face, and thin glasses. He wore a bright white dress shirt and a dark blue tie. On his desk was a heartwarming picture of his wife, along with pictures of his teenage son and daughter. “What brings you here today?” The pastor said.

  Madeline glanced at Jared and then back at the pastor. She wanted to ask them about the “list” she just heard about but instead focused on Jared’s teachings. “I heard your sermon the other day. Where in the Bible does it talk about throwing a switch?”

  Jared cleared his throat and chuckled. “It doesn’t specifically talk about that. It’s more of a metaphor for being open to God.”

  “A lot of people believed it. Including my Mom.”

  “Okay.”

  “She’s read all your books.”

  “That’s great. Yeah, I remember signing one for her. How’s she doing by the way? How’s her stomach?”

  “It still hurts. Don’t you ever follow up with the people you’ve healed?”

  Again, he gave her a nervous chuckle. “I’m following up now, aren’t I? But sure, sometimes they come back the next week and tell me.”

  “That’s funny. I checked with some of them and they said their symptoms came back.”

  “Okay. Can you giv
e me some examples?”

  Madeline felt her heart rate increase and her hands began to shake again. “There’s too many to list.”

  Pastor Anbusch stepped in. “Perhaps, Madeline you haven’t spent enough time with these supposed people and tried to get to know them first.”

  “Oh, I know them. Like my Mom.”

  “But didn’t her stomach pain get better at first?” Jared said.

  “Sure. But it came back that night,” Madeline replied.

  “Maybe she should come in again. It was great to see her. She’s pretty loyal you know.”

  “If the healings don’t stick then how do you know they’re from God?”

  Pastor Anbusch’s nostrils flared. He gave Madeline an intense glare with crazy-looking eyes. “Madeline, why did you really come here today? You do know she’s been healed before by Jared, right?”

  “She’s never been healed here. I keep telling her to go to the doctor.”

  Jared laughed. “Okay, but did you hear anything I said this past Sunday? Oh, wait, that’s right. You left early with what’s-his-name. Is it John?”

  Madeline did not answer.

  Jared reached back and grabbed one of his books out of a bookcase behind his head. He handed her a copy of “Are Miracles Electric?” “Here,” he said. “Try reading this.”

  She put up a hand. “I’ve read it, thanks. My discernment tells me something is wrong with it.”

  “Discernment?” Pastor Anbusch said. “Discernment just gets in the way.”

  Madeline continued to bear down on Jared with her gaze. “Then why do I think you’re a fraud? I want you to leave my mother alone.”

  The pastor gave her a scathing look. “Those are strong words, Madeline. Let’s not call each other names. Let’s be constructive, okay? Besides, how many times have we bailed your Mom out?” After a pause, he gave her a beguiling smile.