Christy peered at the pesky little "Skipper" doll. Jessica had made two thin braids on each side of Sara"s hair and tied them together in back with a thin, pink ribbon. It looked like a fallen halo, and the rest of Sara"s wild blond hair billowed out beneath it.
"It"s darling," Christy said. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Well, you know," Sara said shyly.
Christy remembered her promise from the night before to talk to Sara about what it was like to kiss a boy. She let out a deep breath. To think this little "angel" woke her up to ask about kissing was more than Christy had patience for at the moment.
"Sara, I don"t know if this is such a good time."
Sara lowered her brown eyes and looked disappointed.
"I mean, isn"t there someone else you could talk to after the campfire? Jessica, maybe?"
"I guess," Sara said slowly. She stood up, shuffling her feet and stalling by the door. "It"s just that you said if we ever wanted to talk about giving our hearts to Jesus, that you would be happy to talk to us."
"Sara!" Christy cried out. "Don"t leave! Come back here and sit down."
Sara plopped back down on the stool, looking surprised.
"I"m sorry," Christy said. "Of course I want to talk to you about Jesus. I thought you were here to talk about kissing."
"Oh, no," Sara said, the sparkle returning to her eyes. "I already asked Jeanine. She kissed Nick today in the woods during the counselor hunt, and she said it was kind of yucky. She only kissed him on the cheek when he wasn"t looking, but she said it tasted like salty mud." Sara gave a little shiver. "I don"t think I want to kiss a boy for a while."
"Good." Christy laughed. "It"s better to wait until the boy is old enough to see the benefit of bathing more than once a month. It"s also a whole lot better when it"s the boy"s idea too and not just yours. That will take a few years, though. Be patient."
"Don"t worry, I will," Sara said.
"You wanted to ask me about how to become a Christian?" Christy prodded.
"Yeah. How do you do it?"
Christy was about to launch into a detailed explanation of how our sin separates us from G.o.d, how Christ is the sacrifice that paid our debt, that salvation comes from repenting of our sins and trusting our lives to Christ. But then a little voice in her head reminded her that the campers had been hearing that all week from the speaker. Sara wasn"t asking why she needed to give her heart to the Lord; she was asking how.
"G.o.d already knows what you"re thinking, Sara. Do you want to ask Jesus to forgive your sins and come into your heart?"
"Yes."
"Then tell Him."
"Isn"t there a special prayer, or something I"m supposed to do?" Sara asked.
"No, this is between you and G.o.d. You be honest and tell Him you"re sorry for all the things you"ve done that made Him sad. Then tell Him you want Him to rule your life."
"That"s it?"
"Yes," Christy said, "because, you see, it isn"t your words. It"s what"s in your heart that G.o.d looks at."
Sara started to cry. "That"s what I want. I want G.o.d in my heart."
"Then let"s pray, and you tell Him." Christy reached her stiff arm over to Sara and held her hand.
As she listened, Sara told G.o.d she was sorry. She asked Him to forgive her and come into her heart and ended with a hasty "Amen."
Looking up at Christy with tears sparkling in her eyes, Sara said, "I don"t feel anything."
"I didn"t either when I gave my heart to Jesus. But it"s not a feeling. It"s a promise. G.o.d will keep His part of the promise and forgive you. Now you have lots of years ahead to keep your part of the promise and fall in love with Him." "I think I do feel different now," Sara said. "I feel good that I finally did it. I"ve been wanting to ever since that night in the cabin when you talked about this."
Christy looked into Sara"s innocent face. She felt a ball of joy catch in her throat. "You know what, Sara? The Bible says that all the angels in heaven are rejoicing right now because you"ve just joined G.o.d"s family." "Really?" "Really!"
"I didn"t know I meant that much to G.o.d."
"Oh, Sara." Christy felt a tear of joy escape and skip down her cheek. "If you only knew! If you only knew!"
Katie asked Christy as the two of them were driving in Katie"s car a few weeks later.
"Sara," Christy answered. "I found a card with the meaning of her name on it and sent it a few days after camp. Sara means "Princess." She said in her letter she put the card on the wall above her bed."
Christy glanced at Katie and could tell by the way her jaw was twitching that she was clenching her teeth. Whenever Katie held something inside, her cheek would ripple in tiny spasms.
"Is it still hard on you that I got to go to camp and you didn"t?" Christy asked cautiously.
The last time she had brought up the subject, Katie had cried.
"It"s getting better. I"m glad all your campers are writing to you. Sounds like they really love you a lot," Katie said. "I hope someday my turn will come to be a camp counselor. I know it sounds crazy, but that"s a major goal for me."
"It doesn"t sound like a crazy goal, Katie. Maybe next year. I can"t help but think that G.o.d will honor your heart"s desire. Especially since you honored Him by abiding by your parents" wishes this year."
Katie shook her head and changed lanes as they neared Newport Beach. "Now, Christy, you know that G.o.d doesn"t work in such predictable patterns. But doesn"t it seem ridiculous the way my parents see things? I mean, here we are, driving alone in my car an hour and a half to Newport Beach to stay for the weekend, and they didn"t even ask where I was staying, for a phone number, or anything. Yet when I wanted to go to camp, they said no simply because it was a.s.sociated with the church. They said they didn"t want me to get too involved with religious people. Why are they like that?"
"Maybe they"ve seen too many weird things that have been labeled a church-thing even though Christianity had nothing to do with it," Christy suggested. "Think of all the horrible stuff on the news, and then they show some murderer who says G.o.d told him to do it. I think a lot of people have the wrong idea of what a true Christian is."
"I guess you"re right. Now I understand why Doug said they named their group the G.o.d-Lovers."
"I think you"re right," Christy said. "I heard him say once that his main goal in life is to love G.o.d. That must be how he came up with the name. By the way, let"s be sure to call him right when we get to my aunt and uncle"s to tell him we"ll be there all weekend. I told Todd we were coming, but I don"t know if he told Doug."
"I told Doug," Katie said.
"You did? When?"
"Oh, last week sometime. I just happened to be talking to him. What time is it?"
"You didn"t tell me," Christy said, her curiosity aroused. "Did you call him, or did he call you?"
"Does it matter?"
"Maybe."
"Okay, I called him. There"s no law against calling a guy, is there? Do you know what time it is?"
Christy checked her watch and smiled at her defensive friend. "It"s 1: 15 and no, there"s not a thing wrong with it. I kind of like the idea of you and Doug together."
"Really?"
"He"s a great guy, and I think you two make a cute couple."
"Now that I"m over Rick," Katie added. "Which, I might say, didn"t take very long."
A smile crept onto Christy"s face. She kept her thoughts to herself, but soon realized her best friend could read her mind anyway.
"I know what you"re thinking. And you"re right. Rick was one of those phases we all have to go through while we"re growing up. Now that I have that out of the way, I"m ready for a real relationship."
"With someone by the name of Doug, perhaps?"
"Perhaps.". "You have my blessing on that one," Christy said. "So our plan is to get there, call Doug and Todd, and set up something for the four of us to do tonight."
Now it was Katie"s turn to smile and keep her thoughts to herself. Only this time Christy couldn"t read her best friend"s mind. Katie kept a shadow of a smile on her face all the way to Uncle Bob and Aunt Marti"s. But she began to act jittery when they arrived.
"We"ll get our stuff out of the trunk later," Katie stated, looking down the street as they shut the car doors and started up the walk to Bob and Marti"s luxurious beachfront house.
"What are you looking for?" Christy asked.
"Who, me? Nothing." Katie laughed when she said it. A nervous laugh that made Christy think maybe Katie was hoping to see Doug"s truck already there.
"I"ll ring the doorbell." Katie skipped a few steps ahead of Christy and pressed the doorbell three times. She looked over her shoulder again and smiled at Christy.
No one came to the door.
"We could just walk in," Christy suggested. "This is my aunt and uncle"s house, you know. Come on."
"No, wait." Katie grabbed her arm. "I"d feel better if we waited for them to answer the door."
Again Katie pressed the buzzer. Ring, ring, ring. It was as if she were trying to signal in some kind of secret code.
Christy heard the rush of feet running up behind her. Before she could turn around, someone covered her head with a pillowcase and grabbed her hands behind her back.
She screamed and kicked her left foot into the blackness. "What"s going on, Katie?"
"You"re coming with us," a deep, gruff voice behind her said.
She could tell by the grip that a guy held her hands. Her heart was pounding from the surprise of it all, but she wasn"t really afraid. This kidnapping had all the marks of something Katie had cooked up.
The guy led her down the front steps and what seemed to be over toward Bob"s garage. She heard the garage door open and a truck engine start up. Katie was whispering something about "in the back."
Next thing Christy knew, she was being hoisted into the back of what she imagined to be Doug"s truck, with the mysterious guy next to her holding her hands to keep her from removing the pillowcase. The truck backed out of the driveway with a b.u.mp and sped down the street at what seemed to be an alarming speed.
"Where are we going?"
"You"ll find out," the gruff voice said.
The truck turned a corner so quickly that Christy thought she might fall over. Then came another quick turn and another. She had no idea where they were. Another fast turn caused her to lean against her captor. Before she could balance herself back to a sitting position, they flew over another b.u.mp and came to an abrupt halt.
"Get out," the voice ordered.
For the first time, she felt frightened. She had been so sure the kidnapping was something Katie had arranged for her birthday, which was in two days. But she was all turned around and had no idea where she was. She felt panicky.
The guy practically lifted her out of the back of the truck. Christy could feel another hand on her upper arm, helping her down.
"Okay, you guys," she said with a nervous laugh. "This is all real funny." She tried in vain to peer through the weave on the pillowcase.
Her escort led her in a circle on what felt like asphalt beneath her feet. Then he directed her to take one step up, then one step down, then a few steps to the right. Christy could hear the ocean, so she knew they couldn"t be far from her aunt and uncle"s house. But where? Who was holding her hands and directing her to walk forward with baby steps? It didn"t feel like Todd. Doug, maybe? But then who was driving the truck?
They went a few more steps, and Christy thought she smelled her uncle"s aftershave. "Uncle Bob, I can smell you," she blurted out.
Christy heard Katie"s squelched giggle, but no one else made a sound. At first she thought it was just her guide and Katie. Now it seemed more people were around her, watching her, trying to m.u.f.fle their footsteps. How many more? And where was she?
"This way," the gruff voice directed, urging her to the right. "Up two steps."
She knew her feet were now on cement. She felt a strong ocean breeze, and she could hear the roar of the waves. Christy was certain that more people were around her. She could hear whispers and feet shuffling. Through the dense pillowcase she thought she smelled the scent of matches.
Another step forward, and she felt something light and buoyant brush across the left side of her head. It was a strange sensation. A strong urge came to bat at it, but her hands were still held firmly. Christy managed to catch a peek of gray cement at her feet when she looked down through the opening of the pillowcase.
Where ami?
With an unexpected yank, the pillowcase came off her head, her hands were released, and a loud blast of "Surprise!" nearly knocked her off her feet.
A crowd of all her beach friends stood before her on Uncle Bob and Aunt Marti"s wildly decorated patio, singing "Happy Birthday" and beaming over their big surprise.
Todd held out a huge birthday cake. It was loaded with pink frosting roses and seventeen lit candles. Todd"s silver-blue eyes met hers as the song ended.
With a smile he said, "Go ahead, Kilikina. Make a wish."
Catching her breath, Christy stared at the cake. A tiny little runner in her brain took off sprinting for her "wish" file and pulled out the first thing it found there. Then the runner dashed back from the file to present her with her wish.
I wish I could go to Europe, she thought, and she blew out the candles with one big puff.
Everyone clapped. Todd set the cake down on the patio table, where Aunt Marti set to work cutting slices and inviting the guests to scoop their choice of ice cream.
Christy laughed with her friends as they chattered about how shocked she looked when they took off the pillowcase.
"I want to know who put that thing on my head," Christy said.
"Me," Doug admitted. "You and Katie came too early, and your aunt told us to think of some way to stall you."
"We had to drive you around the block," Bob added. "Hope you weren"t too shaken by the experience."
"I figured it was you guys, of course." Christy looked at Doug. "But I couldn"t imagine what was going on or where we were."
"Your uncle drove my truck," Doug said. "Can"t say he"s the smoothest person I"ve ever met when it comes to shifting gears."