In the Shadow of His Wings Read online

  “Laura Reid?” a voice asked.

  “Yes, I am Laura Reid.” Laura replied, noticing the police car, for the first time.

  “Well Laura, I’m sure glad to meet you. My name is detective Don Chisholm and we have been looking for you for a long time!” With more tears falling, Laura asked, “My husband, my kids, Josh and Lacey, are they alright?”

  “Other than being worried sick about you they are all quite well.” answered the detective, smiling from ear to ear. This was a moment he had longed for and had given up hope would ever happen.

  “Hilda, what about Hilda? Do you know if the ambulance got to her in time?” The detective was amazed that Laura thought to ask about one of her captors, with such compassion.

  “They were taking her to the hospital when I left the house.” He didn’t want to tell her that Hilda passed away just before he arrived. Don helped Laura get into the car and then offered to take her home.

  “That sounds wonderful” said Laura, “I can’t think of any place else I would rather go!”

  Don used his radio to let the chief of police know that Laura was safe and unharmed. The Chief wanted Laura brought straight in for questioning but Don said,

  “Questions can wait, I want to take her home to her family. They deserve that. Laura deserves that.”

  The Chief agreed but insisted Laura come to headquarters later. They had a lot of questions for her! Don assured the chief that he would see to it that all questions were answered, but first things first! Laura needed to be reunited with her family! With great satisfaction he told the police chief to begin a search for Gerhard Bloone. Then he helped Laura into his car and took her home.

  As they drove she looked at the leaves changing on the trees and realized she had been gone for whole year. She was eagerly anticipating seeing her family again.

  “Can I ask you something?” asked Laura, “My family, did they think I was dead, was there a memorial service for me or anything? After all this time, they must have thought I was dead.”

  “Laura you have an amazing family. They refused to even consider a memorial service, choosing to believe that someday you would return home. It’s been a very difficult year for them but they never gave up on you.” Laura’s eyes filled with tears again and she silently thanked God for her wonderful family.

  Don had a few questions for Laura that he couldn’t wait to raise. While they were driving he asked if Gerhard had hurt her and what her year had been like. Laura told him that Gerhard never harmed her, at least not physically. She explained how he brought her there to be his sister, to appease his mother. Don shook his head in amazement.

  Laura unexpectedly yelled out, “Angel! My dove! I want to get my bird from Gerhard’s house!” She couldn’t stand the thought of her sweet bird being abandoned.

  Don assured her that he would later retrieve the bird and cage and bring it to her. Laura sat back in the car, breathing a sigh of relief. Now she could focus solely on her family!

  The detective pulled the car up in front of the Reid household and had to hurry to catch up to Laura as she ran for the front door. She opened the door and rushed into the living room. Where was everyone?

  “Hello” shouted Laura “is anyone home?”

  Jim came running from the bedroom. His eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. Could this be true? Laura was home. For a few seconds he just stood there with his mouth hanging open, hoping this wasn’t a dream. He then rushed to hug her and soon both were crying, but these were good tears.

  Don spoke up and told Jim to brace himself for a lot of attention from the media. They were going to love this story! He then excused himself going to the phone, telling Jim he would call Josh, Maggie and Lacey. They needed to come home right away!

  Jim with his arms wrapped around his wife, unable to bring himself to let go, nodded and smiled. They all had lots of questions, but that could wait. For now it was time to celebrate!

  After Thought

  Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s a question as old as time. Is it because God wants to teach us things? Or have we simply made such a mess of this world that that’s just the way life is? God made us with the freedom to make choices.

  We are free to be kind but we are also free to be cruel. God encourages us to be kind but if He punished us every time we did wrong, we would all suffer. God allows people to do what they want, because He created them to be free. He doesn’t want them to do evil things, but when evil things happen to them, God is there; ready to bring as much good as possible out of the bad situation. He doesn’t cause the evil, but only He can bring the good out of it.

  i Proverbs 29:25

  ii Psalm 30:1

  iii Psalm 3:3

  iv Psalm 73:26

  v Psalm 73:26

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25