JESUS IS the Bridge Ministries

Chapter Nine

“George! I thought we’d lost you! You look like you’ve been through a meat grinder. Who’s your friend?”

The one dressed in white, whom I assumed to be an angel, disappeared. George slumped to the ground. “Wow! An angel! Never thought I’d see one of those. What happened, George, and how’d you find us so fast?”

The questions came tumbling out of my mouth. George was in obvious pain, with cuts and bruises all over him, but he pulled himself together enough to tell me his story.

“After we split up, Rafferty’s men chased me down. They took me to Rafferty first, after roughing me up, and he sent me on to the country jail. They call it World Security Police Headquarters now. After a very nasty interview, the sheriff sent me to a cell in the tender care of one of his deputies, a gorilla named Howie. He told him not to rough me up, but as soon as the sheriff was out of sight, Howie came into my cell and proceeded to beat me to a pulp. By the time the sheriff came back to check, and put a gun to Howie’s head, I was almost gone. My guardian angel came and took me by the hand after they left, and I ended up here. I don’t know how, but the Lord does.”

I was awe-struck, but Lisa hardly seemed to listen. I told her to take my only spare shirt, and go wet it in the spring so she could clean George’s wounds. He protested he was okay, but I knew better. I got a fire going, with my trusty cigarette lighter, while Lisa cleaned George up. A while later, the other two were asleep, but I stayed awake to tend the fire. A plan formed in my mind.

My physical condition had never been great, and what I was considering would have challenged a much younger man. I asked the Lord specifically to give his strength, because I knew my own wasn’t enough. A Bible verse that says “The joy of the Lord is my strength” came to my mind, so I asked God to give me his joy as well.

Satisfied finally that I had done all I could do, I closed my eyes to try to get some rest. I dozed fitfully through the night, waking up from time to time to feed the flames. When morning broke, I opened my eyes and looked around to see George looking at me. We both grinned. I felt refreshed, and ready to conquer the world. George’s condition was what concerned me.

“How are you feeling, Brother? Sleep good?”

“I slept like a log. I feel okay, but I’m as weak as a kitten. I don’t know if I’ll be fit to travel or not.”

“I thought about that last night. I think if I started out this morning and went to my family looking for help, I could be back here by this time tomorrow morning. You think you’d be all right if I left you here with Lisa? Looks like no one is following us. They’re probably tearing Beckley apart looking for you.”

“Sure, I’ll be fine, but can you make it by yourself?”

“I used to hunt in this country. Know it well. I can make it from here with my eyes closed.”

That was a lie, but I wanted to reassure him. I had never been hunting in my life, and the only time I’d seen this area was from a car. Still, if I followed the road I shouldn’t have any trouble. The only bad spot might be the New River Gorge Bridge.

George agreed to stay behind with Lisa, who had a strange glint in her eyes. After giving them what food I had left, I started north again. The Lord seemed to put wings on my legs. The area I went through had once been heavily populated, but most of the people had left. Many of the trees were burnt, and there was a lot of fallen debris in the woods. I decided to chance walking in the open. Those few people I saw ignored me. There weren’t even any police patrols, so far as I could tell.

By noon, I was passing Oak Hill, and a couple of hours later I made it to the New River Gorge Bridge. It was closed to traffic, but I headed across the mile-long span. There were some big cracks in the surface of the roadway, but I had no trouble negotiating them. It was a little unsettling, though, to look down and see nothing but empty space for hundreds of feet down, with the ribbon of the New River far below.

When I reached the Hico exit, to Route 60, it was after three, by my calculations. I should long since have been falling-down tired, but I felt as fresh as I did when I left. My legs just kept pumping of their own accord. The Lord had answered my prayer in a miraculous way. At times I was so overcome with the wonder of it that I broke out in song. I hadn’t sung hymns since I was a teenager.

It was about a mile down Route 60 to Stringtown Road, then another three miles out Camp Town to the home place. Every single home was deserted, other than the occasional stray dog, and several had been burned to the ground. It was sad to think about all of the people who used to live in those places; I knew them all, and most of them were related to me. How many of them were dead? Where had they all gone.

Milo’s house was a pile of rubble, sitting empty in the twilight. I knew the old home place would be empty, too, before I ever got there. The sun was sinking below the hills, toward Saturday Road, but a thought came to my mind. Somehow, I knew my family was safe, and I knew where they were. It was a place I had tried for years to forget.

Memories flooded into my mind at every turn. As I made my way up the mountain toward the caves, I remembered Sara. Shame flooded over me, and I prayed for God’s forgiveness yet again. A soft voice told me that sin was already forgiven and forgotten, along with all of the others.

It was dark by the time I reached the vicinity of the caves. A voice stopped me before I reached them.

“Hold it right there, or I’ll put a bullet through your head. Who are you, and what do you want?”

“My name is Henry Camp, and I’m looking for my family.”

There was a pause. “You just stand right there, and we’ll check you out.”

A few minutes later, a flashlight bobbed toward me, then shone right in my eyes.

“Camp, huh? Why weren’t you with the others?”

“I’ve been living in Beckley. I was headed up here with my daughter and a friend, but my friend is seriously injured. I came to get help to bring him here.”

Again there was a pause. “Daughter, huh? Stay here. We’ll still be watching.”

I caught a glimpse of a bearded, mean face as the man turned away. He definitely wasn’t a Camp, and I feared for my family. About fifteen minutes passed, and the man returned with another one, who shook my hand.

“I’m Brother Hector, the pastor of this flock, and this is my assistant, Brother Leon. You say you need help?”

The man was no pastor; I was sure of that. I’d have to play along, anyway.

“Yes, Brother Hector, we do. My daughter, Lisa, and my friend, George, are camped about a day’s walk south of here, just inside Fayette County. He’s badly hurt.”

“I’ll tell you what, Brother Henry, I think it is, I do want to help you. I’ll send Brother Leon with you, and he can help you bring your friend back. Can you travel tonight, or do you need to rest?”

The strange sense of boundless energy I had felt all day was still there. “I can travel right now. If Brother Leon’s ready, we can leave.”

The one called Leon stepped toward me, handed me another flashlight, then motioned me down the hill with the gun in his left hand. Wondering if I was doing the right thing, I headed back the way I came, with Leon bringing up the rear. We stopped to rest a couple of times in the night, but only because Leon insisted. I felt no need to rest, even though I hadn’t eaten since the morning of the previous day.

We reached the camp the middle of the following morning. I could sense something had happened in the night, and that things were okay now with Lisa.

“Good morning!” I said, trying to sound cheerful. “Looks like you two had a good rest. This is Brother Leon. He’s staying with my family right now.”

Leon, who is no brother in Christ, looked Lisa up and down appreciatively as she rolled out of her blanket. He whistled and said, “Brother Hector sure will be happy to see you. Real happy.”

“Uh, Brother Leon here has come to help you get to my family’s camp.” My voice sounded strained, even to me.

George slid out of the sleeping bag and stood up, a bit shakily. “I think I can make it by myself, Brother, if we take our time. Leon looks like a strong man, but hopefully I won’t need his help.”

Leon shrugs and says, “Suit yourself”. He didn’t notice the omission of “Brother,” but Lisa and I did. We exchanged quick glances and I shook my head slightly at George.

We were on our way in a few minutes. We set out north at a measured pace. Leon tried to hurry us along, but I told him that George was still weak and couldn’t keep up if we went any faster. George had to stop and rest frequently, but his strength seemed to be coming back. We walked through the day and into the early hours of the evening, making good progress in spite of everything. Leon took my light so I wouldn’t try to wander off, and he stayed too far ahead to do us much good. We stumbled along as best we could, especially in the walk up the hill to the caves.

Finally someone called from up ahead. “Stay where you are! Is that you, Leon?”

“Brother Leon, stupid. Of course it is. Who else would be walking into this god-forsaken place at a time like this?”

“Well, we have to be sure. You know Brother Hector’s rules. He’s been waiting for you. You’re late.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been nurse-maiding that sick nigger. He may not be of much use to us, but wait ’til you see the woman.”

“Bring ‘em up to the light and let’s take a look.”

Leon motioned us forward with his rifle. The other guard’s reaction was the same as Leon’s had been when he saw Lisa that morning. The ugly glint of lust in his eyes made me shiver. “Now that’s the best thing I’ve set eyes on in years. Don’t see many city girls up here.”

“Well, I’m bringing them on into camp. You stay on guard.”

We passed through two log barricades, and into the open area in front of the caves. A short stout man dressed in a striped shirt and jeans stepped out to meet us.

“Brother Leon, I see you made it back. A bit late, I’m afraid. Supper’s already over. These must be our guests. Now from what Brother Henry told me, our nig – uh, black friend must be Brother George and this lovely young woman just has to be Lisa. Welcome to our little group. I know you must be tired, so get some rest and we’ll talk in the morning. You’ll be staying in the cave on the right. The good people in there will show you where you can sleep. Brother Leon will be around to see you’re not disturbed.”

Hector turned on his heel and walked into the cave on the left. I head him say, “You’ll be moving out tomorrow. I’ve found someone else to minister to my needs.”

Leon dropped all pretense of politeness and nudged me with his rife. He took the flashlight from me. The three of us made our way into the cave cautiously, unable to see anything at first.

The cave was lit by a single candle in the crevice. I could make out several shadows spread around the inside of the cave. One of the shadows, a woman, got up and walked over to us. She took my arm and whispered, “Come to the back of the cave, where they can’t hear us.”

It was my long-lost sister, Miriam.

Chapter 10