Chapter 12

“Eileen?” I called as I rushed into the house. “Eileen, where are you?”

“I’m in the living room,” said Eileen. “I just finished replacing the gasket on the bathroom sink.” She enjoyed getting her hands dirty and grease under her fingernails.

I burst into the living room with sweat pouring down my face.

“Wow, look at you! Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m more than okay,” I answered. “I’m amazed!”

“I guess that everything is working on the boat,” she said.

“Oh yeah, beyond belief,” I said. “Eileen, where’s Ned?”

“He’s across the street playing with Eric,” she said. “He had a wonderful day at school today. They came home together, and Eric asked him to come over to play.”

“Great,” I said, “Eileen, this boat, Johnny Bruce, it’s alive! It’s . . . uh . . . well, it’s a miracle boat.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Eileen, I don’t know why I keep saying your name,” I said. “So much has happened today, and I’m excited. Remember what we were talking about the day the boat came home and how the boat whispering to me reminded me of Field of Dreams?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“We have our very own miracle ballfield in our backyard,” I said. “Except, instead of a baseball diamond, it’s a boat on a trailer that we can transport anywhere.”

Eileen looked at me perplexed, and she asked me slowly, “What happened today, Dalton?”

I got down on my knees in front of Eileen, looked directly into her eyes, and said, “I had a visit with my daddy today . . . in the boat . . . on Town Creek.”

It took a moment for it to sink in, but when Eileen saw the smile on my face, she knew. “How did this happen? What did he say? What did he look like? Where did he appear?”

“It was foggy on the lake today,” I began. “I went under the bridge, and Daddy appeared on the front deck of the boat as white as the mist. But he didn’t stay that way. He was wearing a blue t-shirt, jeans, and the blue cap that he wore the last time we went fishing. It was Daddy. There. In the boat. With me! We talked for a while, and he told me what happened at the end. He told me how he has been watching over our family. He told me about you, Eva, and Ned. Eileen, he knows what has been going on.”

Eileen remained quiet and reached out and placed her hand over mine, and I took that as encouragement to continue.

“Daddy said that God is allowing the boat to be a way for him to cross over from the heavenly world to this earthly world and communicate with me. Daddy said, ‘God is allowing this boat to be a portal between earth and Heaven. There will be times when key people who have passed over will visit you. I cannot say when it will be, but I can tell you that the situation must be right for a visit.’”

“Wow!” said Eileen. “Can I go out in the boat right now?”

“Well,” I continued, “he said the time has to be right for a visit. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I guess every trip in the boat won’t always be a portal visit.”

I paused and took a deep breath. Eileen rubbed the back of my neck.

“You had quite a day,” said Eileen. “What do we do now?”

“We enjoy it and make the most of it,” I said. “It makes me excited to go out again, but I also still want to fish and take you and the kids in the boat. That’s the miracle I was looking for.”

“Our very own ark,” said Eileen. “Now, we don’t tell anyone about this. We keep it to ourselves.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “We’ve been down that road talking openly to some folks who don’t see the unseen world the same way. Unless . . . ”

“Unless what, Dalton?” asked Eileen.

“Unless we should open it to others,” I said. “But I am sure He will be a guide to us when that time comes.”

“Yeah, I think that’s why Jesus told the people after He performed a miracle, ‘Don’t tell anyone.’”

Our hands locked together.