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Esther
After hours of repetition, suddenly everything felt different. There was a desperate charge in the air. It was getting late. People were getting tired. Some of them had left. It was pouring outside.
And Esther couldn’t get a hold of Zoe.
All sorts of horror filled her mind. They were lost in the woods. They’d slipped and fallen into the ocean. Their car had broken down. There was a madman kidnapping teenagers, and he’d gotten Zoe too. Derek was a madman after all. One by one, Esther tried to stomp these thoughts out. She silently recited Philippians 4:8 over and over, and then Walter came through the front door and made a beeline for her as if he had news to share. Her breath caught.
He took her hands in his.
“What?” she forced out. “What is it?”
“Are you all right?”
“Am I all right?” What kind of a question was that? “Yes, I’m fine. Why, what is it?” she asked again.
“I don’t know.” Rainwater dripped off his chin, and he wiped it on his wet shoulder without breaking eye contact. “When I came through the door, you looked like you’d seen a ghost.” He paused. “You’re pale. Here, let’s sit down.”
“I don’t need to sit,” she snapped. Then she looked at the prayer circle guiltily. She didn’t want to disturb them. She sidestepped away from them. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I’m just worried about the kids. I can’t get a hold of Zoe.”
“Oh.” His brow furrowed. “Do you want me to go look for her?”
She considered it. Then she let out a long breath. “No. We need to focus on Levi,” she said as her heart screamed otherwise. She tried to fake it, tried to convince him with her eyes.
He bought it. “All right. We came back to swap maps.” He glanced over his shoulder at the map table. “We’re running out of peninsula. We’ll find him soon.”
Or he’s not on the peninsula, she thought but didn’t say. Then she remembered Nora’s change. “I think we’re close too. Something’s different about Nora. I think God has spoken to her.”
“Did she say that?” Walter was a new believer, and his lawyer-brain remained skeptical about a lot of spiritual things.
“She didn’t,” Esther admitted, and Walter looked relieved.
“Your phone’s ringing.”
“Oh?” She hurried back to the prayer circle and bent to snatch it out of her purse. She didn’t recognize the number, which usually meant she wouldn’t answer the phone, but under the circumstances, she thought she should.
“Hello?” she said tentatively.
“Gramma! We found him! Tell his mom, we found him!”
Esther didn’t hesitate. It was as if her mouth had a mind of its own. “They’ve found him!” she hollered, louder than she’d hollered in years. Then she went back to the phone, as dozens of people flooded toward her, all asking questions at the same time. “Where are you, honey? Is he okay? Are you okay?”
“He’s hurt really bad. We’re on our way to the dump, and we—”
“The dump?” Esther cried.
“He was at the dump?” someone echoed.
Walter tried to push the crowd back away from Esther. “Give her a second. She’s finding out.”
When Esther heard Walter say this, she had a sharp realization. “Let Nora through.”
No one had to work hard to make this happen. Nora was already pushing her way to the front. As she did so, Walter planted a big old kiss right on Esther’s lips. She couldn’t believe it. She looked at him wide-eyed, silently asking, “What was that?”
He shrugged, his smile as broad as a barn. “I couldn’t help it. I’m just so happy. Thought we should celebrate.”
Nora made it to Esther and looked at her pleadingly.
“Zoe, honey? Are you near to Levi? Can you give him the phone?”
“He’s right here. I don’t think he can talk, but I’ll hold the phone up to his ear.”
