The Fight and Findings of the Faithful

by Adora I.

Chapter 1

"Danny!" Dawn skipped through the halls of their two-story home as she called out for her

little darling of a brother. "Danny? Where are you?" She smiled to herself. He's probably hiding,

she thought. Their family always loved hide-and-seek. Entering Danny's Winnie-the-Pooh

splattered bedroom, she saw the little 8-year-old boy crouching underneath a chair. "Now where

on earth could he be?" Dawn asked herself in a loud voice. She glanced around the room,

opening the closet, looking behind the door, but avoiding the place where Danny was hiding.

Slowly walking toward the door, she remarked, "Well, I guess he isn't here!" As she reached the

doorway, the small boy struggled out from underneath the chair, giggling. "Here I am!" he cried

in his childish voice. "You didn't find me!" Obviously he was proud at his accomplishment.

Dawn rubbed his cute little head. "You're getting better and better. Now, c'mon, let's go

downstairs. Dinner's almost ready."

She picked up the bundle of joy until he protested. "I'm a big boy, Dawn. Don't pick me

up!" Immediately setting him down, she held his chubby hand.

When they got to the table, Mom had already set it and was finishing up.

They dug into the meal.

"Mom, is Dad late?" asked Dawn, as she helped her beans to a generous amount of salt.

"I guess so." Mom wiped her forehead with her napkin. It was unusually hot in the house,

but Davey was bouncing all over the place.

"Davey, eat your food," Mom commanded, nudging a spoon full of applesauce towards

his mouth.

"I can't wait to show Daddy my picture!"

"I'm sure he'll love it," said Mom, "but he'll probably want to eat first, and make sure

you've eaten."

"But I wanna be the first one ta see Daddy!" protested Davey, straining his eyes to see out

the window.

Dawn looked at her little brother. "Big boys eat all the food on their plates so they can

grow big and strong," she coaxed. "You're a big boy, aren't you, Davey?"

Davey quickly nodded and began to gulp down his mashed potatoes.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Dawn volunteered, seeing her worn-

out mother about to rise. That's weird, she thought. No one ever knocks at the door. They always

ring the bell.

There was the knock again. It was loud and sounded urgent. Dawn hurried toward the

door. She opened it. In front of her stood Uncle Max. He wasn't really her uncle; he worked with

her dad. But he was a very good family friend.

"Hello, Dawn," he said with a frown, instead of his usually joking or teasing. "May I

speak to your mother, please?"

"Y-Yeah, I'll get her." Dawn resisted the urge to ask what was the matter.

She whispered the news to her mother, and sat down next to Davey. "Who is it?" asked

the curious boy, as he tried to get out of his chair. "Is it Daddy?"

"No," replied Dawn in most casual way she could manage, "It's someone that Mom needs

to see. Now eat your food. Daddy'll be here soon, don't you worry."

She quickly finished the last of her chicken and put her plate and fork in the kitchen sink.

Walking over to the living room, she almost bumped into Mom. "Dawn," she said. "Your father

is—uh, he's, um,— in— the hospital."

"What!? What for?"

"He was— in a car accident. Now what I need you to do is run over to Mrs. White's

house and drop Davey off to stay with her. Come back, lock the house, and then go there, too."

Wordlessly, Dawn obeyed. She was very curious, thinking that her dad wasn't really in

the hospital. What are Mom and Uncle Max trying to hide from me? she wondered. She didn't

ask any questions out loud, but picked up Davey, who had just finished his food, and jogged over

to Mrs. White's through the back door. It wouldn't do for him to see Uncle Max. He might be

suspicious.

After explaining to Mrs. White in a hushed voice, Dawn ran back. Locking the house, she

waited behind some shrubbery while Uncle Max and Mom talked outside. Because Dawn had

very good ears, she caught a few words; "Peele ciphers…" Uncle Max was saying. "……….

…map… …hunted……they… " Uncle Max and Mom walked toward the van. He quickly

helped her mom into the front seat. She resisted the urge to run to them, to stop them—all the

time she was internally screaming, What's going on?! Where's my dad?!?