“Witnesses from that night,” the reporter said, “told me that young Gerry Fletcher was poised to hurl himself to his death over the side of that building. Only Mrs. Gander’s efforts—first through counseling, then through striving physically to hang on to the boy after he fell over the side—prevented him from plummeting four stories to his certain death.”
Joey stood amazed. He hadn’t heard anything about that. He’d known his mom was in trouble over Gerry Fletcher’s disappearance, which he thought was stupid given that all of the other kids in the world had disappeared, but he hadn’t known she’d done stuff like that. Joey felt ashamed at the way he’d left the house the next morning, not even talking to his mom about anything, just upset that so many of the post’s kids had come knocking on her door for help. He’d resented them, and he’d resented her. All he’d thought about was how he felt. Now he realized that maybe his mom had felt pretty ragged too.
“There is a difference of opinion about Gerry Fletcher’s disappearance,” Penny Gillespie went on. “The boy’s father contends that Mrs. Gander hid the boy and made it look like he’d hurled himself from the building’s rooftop by pitching his clothes over the side. Mrs. Gander’s defense claims that God reached down in that moment and took Gerry to heaven when He raptured all the others who are now missing.”
The scene behind the reporter switched to the base provost marshal’s office. Joey fully expected to see his mom there in chains, escorted by MPs. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.
“The dereliction of duty charges brought against Mrs. Gander by the military seem to be triggered by the grievance Private Boyd Fletcher has filed in civil court against Mrs. Gander regarding her failure to notify him or his wife that his son was in the hospital. The legal advisors I have interviewed all believe that Mrs. Gander’s case should have been dropped, especially in light of the disappearances of all the children in the world at the moment Gerry Fletcher dropped from that building. And, given that Private Fletcher was heavily inebriated during the time that he’s complaining about not getting to see his son, they feel that Fletcher’s charges are driven by something other than parental feeling.”
A picture of a hard-faced man smoking a cigarette while handcuffed and standing between two MPs took the place of the provost marshal’s office.
“Private Fletcher,” Penny said, “has hired a well-known attorney in this matter. Once the military court has finished with their case against Mrs. Gander, she will face Fletcher in the civil courts. Mr. Arthur Flynn of the Atlanta, Georgia–based law firm Flynn, Flynn, and Elliot has filed suit against Mrs. Gander for the loss of the time Private Fletcher would have gotten to spend with young Gerry.”
The television view changed to a well-dressed man speaking in court before a jury.
“Mr. Flynn is an accomplished attorney,” Ms. Gillespie said, “and is highly regarded in the field of civil litigation. He’s been successful in getting millions of dollars in judgments for previous clients. Experts I talked to in the legal profession say that it is Mr. Flynn’s expectation to secure a judgment against Mrs. Gander, and then leapfrog from that to judgment against the United States Army, and quite possibly the United States government itself.”
Joey tried to digest that, but it was too big, too strange. His mom had never been in any kind of trouble his whole life.
“Mrs. Gander ran afoul of the military again this morning,” Penny said, “by teaching a class on the Tribulation.”
The inset image this time showed footage of Megan Gander in a confrontation with a U.S. Army captain. Joey got mad instantly. He was protective of his mom. Joey knew that the man, captain or no captain, wouldn’t have stepped into his mom’s space like that if Goose had been around.
“During my interviews with Mrs. Gander,” Penny stated, “I have found her belief in God to be very strong, though she admits that her faith failed her as she dealt with Gerry Fletcher. However, she points out that we all have had quite an eye-opener recently regarding what God can do.”
Joey heard Chris’s voice in the back of his mind: “Now I lay me down to sleep… .”
“Mrs. Gander tells me that she believes those among us who disappeared were taken in God’s rapture of His church,” Penny said. “She also said that she went to the head chaplain here at Fort Benning yesterday and discussed the possibility of teaching special classes about the Tribulation—about the biblically foretold seven hard and dangerous years that will pass before Jesus Christ returns to this world at the Second Coming—to the young people she is responsible for as a counselor for the post. She feels that these young people will need this knowledge to find the Lord so they may hope to be delivered into heaven when their time comes.”
The blonde woman’s image was replaced by footage of a heavyset officer waving off cameras as he walked to a military Hummer. MPs stepped forward and kept the cameras back.
The reporter’s voice-over continued, and her image reappeared in a corner of the TV screen. “Major Augustus Trimble is in charge of those post chaplains. According to Mrs. Gander, he not only declined the suggestion but went so far as to tell her that he did not believe the Rapture occurred.” The reporter shook her head. “Unfortunately, Major Trimble would not agree to an interview with me, nor did he agree to respond to this report by phone.” She looked at the camera. “Friends in faith, I do believe that Mrs. Megan Gander has been pushed into a position to stand for us all in this regard. Scared and alone, she has gone forth with her message: that the Rapture has occurred and that we are now beginning the tumultuous times of the Tribulation. Many of us, as the Bible bears
