It was a sad rainy morning. Colin came in late to breakfast, cold and wet and very miserable. He had been up early, searching the woods. He thought perhaps Friska had been hurt, but Dad shook his head.
“We’d have heard her howling,” he said. “I think Joy’s right and she’s gone with the hop pickers. I’ll ring the police.”
But the police were not very hopeful. The hop fields were spread out all over the county and Colin probably hadn’t seen the right trailer. They had to have a warrant to search caravans. They said every caravan had one or two dogs and their owners would probably say they’d had them since they were puppies. They said that if a dog was stolen, it would most likely be tied up inside a van and only let out at night. Still, they told Colin’s dad that they’d have a look round.
“Well,” said Mum, “we’d best get ready for church. Colin, would you rather stop home? I don’t suppose the dog will come but you never know.”
Colin hesitated. He somehow felt that he would like to see the vicar. Simon had been really helpful in tracking down old Charlie. The vicar always seemed to have good ideas when things went wrong. But if Friska came back, Colin did not want her to come home to an empty house. He decided to stay.
“But tell Simon why,” he said. “He’ll want to know about Friska.”
But there was no sign of Friska. Colin wandered about the yard or sat in the kitchen window. The time seemed to pass very slowly. At last he heard Joy clatter up the steps and fling open the door.
“The vicar’s coming, Cal,” she announced breathlessly. “He’s coming specially to see you.”
Colin ran to the window. Sure enough, Mum, Dad and Simon were coming across the yard. The vicar had changed from his church clothes into an old jacket and wellington boots. Colin jumped the steps and met him.
“Did they tell you?” he said. “She’s gone. Dad and Joy think it might be the hop pickers, but she might be hurt somewhere…”
“Well, let’s check she’s not hurt. We’ll have one more search round,” said Simon. “The sun’s coming out. Look, there’s a rainbow over the hills. Have you been round to old Charlie’s place?”
Colin shook his head.
“Let’s try there first then,” said the vicar.
Outside, the rainbow grew brighter and brighter and all the world looked clean and shining. They searched the woods right up to the ridge and down the other side. They went to Charlie’s house which was a wilderness of weeds and nettles. They sat down on the rough log beneath the window. Colin was quite tired and very miserable.
“Supposing Friska’s hurt,” he said. “Or supposing she’s gone with that boy. Perhaps she’s hungry. Perhaps he’ll beat her. And she won’t like being shut in a caravan. Friska’s an outdoor dog.”
“Oh, I’m sure the boy would be kind to her,” said the vicar. “Listen, Colin, do you ever pray about things?”
Colin nodded. “I say my prayers at night. I say, ‘Our Father in heaven, help us to honour your name…’ I can’t remember the rest of that prayer. Anyway, then I say, ‘Bless Mum and Dad and Joy and me’ and last night I said, ‘Bless Friska’.”
“Well, that’s a good prayer. But do you believe there really is a Father in heaven? Do you think you can belong to him, tell him everything and ask him to help you?”
Colin frowned. He had never really thought about it.
“Dunno,” he said.
“Well, when you do believe he’s really there, it makes things all different. Do you remember the verse you learned when I told the story of you and your dog?”
Colin smiled. “‘Don’t be afraid. … ’ I can’t remember the middle bit. Then it went, ‘I have called you by name; now you belong to me.’” I said it to Friska when I got home.”
The vicar laughed. “You said it to Friska, but God says it to you! ‘Don’t be afraid, Colin. I have rescued you. I have called you by name; now you belong to me.’”
“What does it mean, ‘rescued’?” asked Colin. “Rescued from what?”
“Colin, you know God is good. He loves us and wants us to belong to him. But sometimes we don’t listen to him. We go the wrong way and do wrong things. But when Jesus came, he said, ‘I’ll take away those wrong things and put you right with God.’”
“How did he do that?” asked Colin.
“He took the punishment we all deserve for doing wrong when he died on the cross. He paid the price. He rescued us. Now he calls us to be his children, and you can say yes or no. It’s best to say yes. When you belong to God, then you have a loving heavenly Father. You can tell him everything and you need never feel lonely or scared. You can tell him about Friska and ask him to help you find her. He loves us and he wants to help – he’s always there for us. And Colin, remember: he doesn’t always give us exactly what we ask for. But he always does the thing that is right and best.”
“It would be right and best to find Friska,” said Colin. “Could you ask him now?”
So they prayed and asked God to look after Friska, wherever she was, and to bring her back. Then they left the cottage and said goodbye. Colin went home feeling much happier. If God was really so great, he must know where Friska was and he would look after her.
