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Staring into the darkness at his feet, Al heard one of his friends pull the rope back up and then move off down the hall. The other one shuffled over and sat down beside Al. There was a period of silence. Finally, he heard Chartrand speak. “Al, where’s your Bible?”
Al looked up, turned on his flashlight, and opened his pack, pulling out his well-worn English Standard Version Bible.
Chartrand opened it up to the back page. “Remember that breakup I had a couple years ago that threw me into despair. I was asking: ‘Why God, why?’ You drew this diagram for me.” He pointed to a thick dot with an arrow going to the right. “You told me this dot represented my birth and my short life to the present time. The rest of the arrow represented the rest of my life stretching out to eternity. However bad my life may look at this point in time, even if the despair continues for the rest of my time here on earth, God has more than enough time to make it right. In fact, you told me that after a few thousand years of my eternal life had passed, those memories would be like a trip to the dentist, a lost football game, or a tough exam. Your words didn’t make things better right away, or even the next day, but I started to think that God would give me grace, so what seemed like the end of the world to me at the time, was something I would be able to get over.”
“My own words,” said Al, “seem less believable now that this cloud that is hanging over me. I feel like I’m drowning in quicksand.”
“Here’s something else you told me Al. ‘Think back and remember a promise God has made to you. Hold onto it and start to do something that He has told you to do. Any step of obedience is going to be a step out of your gloom.’ You were right Al. It took a few days, but your words helped me a lot. Now you need to listen to your own advice. You don’t really know what has happened to Pam and Little Thomas. It’s all your imagination. Don’t let the enemy fill you with despair. Remember the promises you’ve received. Take a step that God wants you to take.” Chartrand handed the Bible back to Al, and left to help Larsen prepare their meal.
Holding his flashlight against his body, Al opened his Bible and started reading the book of Isaiah, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open. So, he laid down on a mattress. As he fell asleep the words came to him from somewhere “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”
The following evening, Al joined Chartrand for supper just as the sun was going down. There was an awkward silence after Larsen had prayed a prayer of thanks for their meal.
“I want to thank you for your words of encouragement,” said Al, “and also the space you gave me to work through my emotions. I still feel hollow inside, but I know I’m here to do a job. In my reading, I kept coming back to a passage in Isaiah chapter 42 verse 7 where God says what He’s going to do. He says He plans: ‘to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon.’ I’m here—we’re here—to set these captives free.”
Larsen seemed to gag on his mouthful.
“How are we supposed to do that?” asked Chartrand. “We’re only three.”
“I don’t have it all worked out yet, but here’s my plan so far.” Al began to talk. He still felt a great pressure as if he were keeping a terrible fear at bay, but he could feel himself getting excited as he talked about possible plans.
After dinner, Al climbed back down the rope and returned to the camp. Since the night that he had come to the rescue of the woman with the rat and her child, he had worked hard to get to know the vigilantes who kept order in the camp.
He sought out Loktor’s lieutenant, Ragnor, who headed the vigilante crew that kept lawlessness and predations at bay in the camp. “Last week you asked me if I wanted to join your band to help keep the peace in the camp,” Al said. “And I said ‘No.’ Now I would like to say ‘Yes.’”
Ragnor’s eyes held suspicion. “What made ye change yer mind?”
“I was desperately looking for my wife and young son. I’ve looked everywhere, but they’re not here. I think the soldiers may have already taken them.”
“They don’t normally taken women with children,” said Ragnor. “Why would ye believe that?”
“She’s a beautiful woman. When they saw her, I think they might have made an exception.”
“You’re not from my tribe, the Eagles. Are ye a Hawk?”
“No, although I have been welcomed by the Hawks, I’m not from around here. I’m a friend of Tandor’s. He was helping me search for my wife and son.”
“Why would Tandor do that?”
“I rescued him from the mines after a Necroan attack wiped everyone else out.”
“Ye survived a Necroan attack?”
“I was lucky. They didn’t see me.”
“Hmm” said Ragnor. He looked at Al for a long time. It was clear that he did not yet trust him. Finally, he called to a man sitting by the fire, “Raynor, come over here for a minute.”
Raynor came over. “This fella wants to join our ranks. What think ye?”
“He handles hisself well enough, though he be a stranger.”
“Look after him, Raynor, on a trial basis to see how does, remembering he be a stranger.”
So it was that Al found himself attached to Raynor, who seemed more his personal guard than his commander.
After a couple of days, they were on a patrol to the part of the camp that was closest to the house where Larsen and Chartrand were hiding. Al saw a red kerchief hanging out of the window at their hideout.
Al said to Raynor, “I want to check something out.” He walked into a house across the road from the cliff, with Raynor right behind him, he found a bundle standing in the corner. He unwrapped it as Raynor looked on with suspicion. The bundle contained two swords, a bow, and a dozen arrows.
“How did ye know that would be here?”
“I have contacted some of the Guild in Seth. Some of my friends are able to buy weapons from them and I mean to arm your war band. Our people are starving. I think we ought to break out.”
“Our people? How do I know this isn’t just a trap?”
“A trap?” said Al. “We’re already captives, and completely under the power of Bigelow and his soldiers. What possible value would he have to send a spy into your midst? There would be nothing for him to gain by giving you any weapons at all.”
Raynor shrugged. “How many more weapons can ye get us?”
“If my friends have to buy them on the Guild market, they’ll trickle in a few every day. If we want to use the weapons we have and put together a raid by our war band on the armory, we could get a lot more.”
They carried the weapons back to Ragnor and explained Al’s plan for a raid on the armoury. Ragnor was suspicious, but Al could tell by his haggard look that he was desperate.
“What do we have to lose? How many men do ye need for the raid on the armory?” Ragnor asked. “How do ye get us out of the camp?”
“If my friends can buy some more weapons from the Guild, we would have maybe nine armed men for the raid. I know from them that Bigelow has almost everyone fighting the rebels, so Seth is undermanned. With a little bit of luck, we’ll find that nine will be enough. If you think I’m wrong, we could wait a week or so, and maybe have double that number of armed men. What do you think Ragnor—shall we move quickly, or wait a week?”
“To speak plainly,” said Ragnor, “My men need food as much as they need weapons. Let’s move quickly. We’re burying bodies every day because of starvation. If we scout the armory and we don’t have enough, we can always wait a week.”
Ragnor got up and paced back and forth. After a couple of passes, he came back and squatted down. “Here’s what I want ye to do. Leave me a sword. Raynor, ye take a sword and a bow, and scout out the armory with Al. Then report back to me.”