Whenever you’re scared, Lizzie, recite Psalm Twenty-Three. God is with you. He is always with you.
“Even though I walk through—” A wave washed over her face and knocked her deep into the water. Again Eliza fought the pull of the current, and finally she pushed her face free. Breathe, she told herself. Breathe while you still can.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”—each word was a gasp, an attempt at staying alive—“I will fear no evil. For You are with me; You comfort me—”
Another wave.
“Mama!” Eliza clawed and kicked, but it took all her effort just to keep her head above the ocean. “Mama, help me!”
Then she remembered something. If she could see God at the back side of the ocean, if that’s where her mother and brother lived, then that’s where she wanted to be, too. This wasn’t a bad thing happening to her. God was calling her home. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Yes, that was it. If she gave herself to the current, she could be finished with Aunt Betsy and the Palace and her terrible father. Maybe the thing pulling at her, taking her under was God. Anointing her head. Making her cup overflow.
She cried out louder this time. “Surely… goodness and love… will follow me…”
The sea was rougher, but the current no longer grabbed at her. Finally, she looked back at the shore. Aunt Betsy and the Palace guards were waving their hands at her. Eliza had to finish the Psalm because the best part was at the end.
Other people ran toward Aunt Betsy. Tourists, probably. Stay away from the tourists, Aunt Betsy always said. You’re not for sale. A bigger wave knocked her under and Eliza used all her strength to get back to the surface. Mama, I’m coming for you. God, help me find them.
She gasped and spit the seawater from her mouth. Her legs and arms were too heavy to move, and her words came out like a whisper now. “Mama! Daniel?” She was too tired to yell.
Eliza raised her face to the stormy sky. “Surely… goodness and love… will follow me…” Never had she kicked so hard in all her life. But she had to finish. Had to get to the end. “… all the days of my life.” Another wave. Eliza made one last try to breathe. “And… I will dwell… in the house of the Lord. Forever.”
She smiled and a beautiful peace came over her. And there was Mama again in the distance, waving at her, calling her close. Lizzie James, dinner! Bring your brother!
“Yes, Mama!”
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The house of the Lord.
It would be a small house with a thatched roof. The place where Lizzie’s mother and brother still lived. The only people who had ever loved her. And now they would be all together. There at the edge of the ocean where they would live in the house of the Lord.
Forever and ever and ever.
CHAPTER TWO
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands.
—Isaiah 57:1
Jack Ryder snagged the football from the warm sand and threw it to his brother, a dozen yards down the beach. “Shane! Keep it low,” Jack shouted as he pointed to the stormy sky. “Too much wind!”
Up the sand a ways the boys’ parents sat side by side in identical resort beach chairs. Both of them on their cell phones. Thunder rumbled in the distance and their dad looked at Jack. “Okay. Let’s wrap it up.”
“Yes, sir.” Jack caught the football and glanced at his father. Let’s wrap it up meant they had another five minutes. Maybe ten. Jack threw the ball to Shane. Their dad was too busy to notice their disregard of his order.
Work trumped everything, even his teenage sons. Even here, on their annual vacation to Belize. The beach was just a different sort of office for their parents. Dad was an ambassador, and Mom ran a handful of charities.
They were good people, kind. But Jack and Shane couldn’t compete with all that. Which was okay.
Jack caught a spiral pass from Shane and jogged a few steps back. He glanced at his parents again, at his father. I love you, Dad, he wanted to call out. But it wasn’t the time.
Anyway, the brothers had all they could’ve wanted. Their parents loved them. They were supportive and kind and their home was happy. The successes ahead for Jack and Shane were lined up like the palm trees along Albert Street here in Belize City.
Jack was sixteen, and Shane was fourteen. They attended the best school. Their father employed the best trainers for their baseball and football seasons. Yes, the two of them had all they needed for the best possible futures.
And they had each other. That most of all.
Down the beach Shane caught the football and shrugged, as if to say maybe they had longer than they thought. Their father was on another phone call and the storm wasn’t getting worse. Shane flung the ball and Jack caught it again.
Rain was crossing over the water a ways out, staying out to sea, so there was no rush to get inside. Not until their parents insisted. Shane jogged closer and the two brothers sat on the sand and watched the storm.
“Could you live here?” Shane raked his fingers through his short dark hair. He turned his gaze to the ocean. “I mean, like get a house here and never leave?”
Jack considered that. “No.” He chuckled. “Then it wouldn’t be vacation.”
“True.” Shane looked over his shoulder at his parents. “Someone should tell Mom and Dad
