Chapter 13

That night on the phone Hayley said her mother saw Cammy and Tracy going into the Toot Toot Café at about noon. That seemed odd, unless the police were taking them to eat.

Mom kept the house locked tight during the day. Even our dogs, Pippin and Frodo, seemed skittish, milling around the back door and whining. When I let them out, they went as far as the invisible fence allowed and stuck their noses in the air.

Sam said if the police hadn’t caught the guy by now, whoever it was had probably gotten away—maybe by hopping a freight train. The guy could have headed north to Denver, bought a bus ticket, and could be anywhere.

Still, Mom and Sam wouldn’t let us ride our ATVs to school, and the local Girl Scout troop canceled its meeting. Leigh wanted to practice driving and get more night hours so she could get her license, but Sam had left to take Dylan for a haircut and Mom said she didn’t want to be out after dark.

Leigh stomped to her room and slammed the door. I felt bad for her, having lost her mom and little sister in the same plane crash that killed my dad. I could tell she was trying hard to like Bryce and me, but she wasn’t trying hard enough, if you know what I mean. I couldn’t help feeling that Bryce and I were just one of the inconveniences in her life.

I read a little in my Bible before I went to sleep. I try to read something out of it every day, but I don’t always. Tonight it was a passage in Luke 10. Jesus had just said you have to love your neighbor as yourself, and an expert in the law asked him, “Who is my neighbor?”

Jesus said:

“A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

I’ve heard a whole lot of sermons about this guy, the Good Samaritan, but it struck me tonight that Jesus was like this man. He didn’t have to come to earth and help us, but he did. He must have felt deep pity for us because we were so trapped by our sins. And he paid a lot more than just money to help us—he paid with his own life.

I wrote in my journal:

I want to be like the Good Samaritan, full of love and compassion. So much that I don’t think about myself but about others. God, help me be like this guy and do something, even at school tomorrow.

You have to be careful what you pray for, because God just might take you up on it.