A Treasury of Miracles for Teens (8 page)

“Did you look in the restroom?” Rita crossed her arms, and Ashley and the others formed a half circle behind her.

“I started there. We all watched him go in, and there’s no way he could’ve gotten out without us seeing him. There’s only
one window in the bathroom and it’s near the ceiling. Much too small for a man to climb through.”

“You’re sure he’s not in there?” Rita tilted her head, clearly confused.

“I checked each stall. Then I went to the kitchen.” Fred shook his head. “They said they would’ve noticed a stranger walking
through there. They hadn’t seen anyone matching Gus’s description all night. And not a single customer had been in the kitchen.”

“So you thought maybe he came out this way?”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Fred anchored his hands on his hips. “All of us saw him go into the restroom. He couldn’t have come
out without getting past us and none of us saw him leave. But I had to ask. Just in case.”

The group members scanned the length of the street and shook their heads.

“I’m sure he hasn’t been out this way.” Ashley stepped forward. “Where could he be, Fred? It doesn’t make sense.”

Fred walked back into the restaurant and went up to the manager, whose desk was just inside the doorway.

“Have you seen a man with sort of old, ripped clothes and—”

“You mean the bum you brought in here?” The manager frowned. “I’ve been here for the past half hour. He hasn’t come out this
way since he went in to eat.”

Fred returned to the group outside and sat on a nearby brick wall. There were only two ways out of the restaurant—through
the front door or through an emergency door in the back of the kitchen. No one had seen Gus near any of those exits.

“I can’t understand it. It’s like he just disappeared.” Fred scanned the sidewalk, still looking for a sign of the old man.

Suddenly, a heart-stopping possibility washed over Ashley. “You don’t think, maybe …” She grew silent. Her father had talked
about angels once in a while in his sermons.

“They’re real,” he’d told his children once a long time ago. “Because God says they’re real.”

Fred looked at her for a moment and then understood. “You mean, maybe he was an angel?”

Ashley nodded, and a wave of goose bumps rose across her arms and legs. “It’s possible, isn’t it? I mean the guy asks us about
God and helps us—” She glanced at the others. “Well, helps me, anyway, remember why we’re doing this singing tour in the first
place. Then, poof! Just like that he disappears. Sounds like an angel to me.”

Fred gazed at Ashley. “I guess we’ll never know.”

But Ashley was convinced. God must have sent the man to remind her of her purpose—not just her purpose while traveling with
Alive, but her purpose in life. After their encounter with Gus, Ashley was able to finish the tour without once grumbling
about her comfort. In fact, the trip wound up being life-changing, just like Ashley had hoped.

But not in the way she had expected.

T
he prom was everything Kara Spelling had dreamed it would be. She and her boyfriend danced and laughed and talked until late
in the night. Now it was after one in the morning and time to drive back down Interstate 17 to their homes in Camp Verde,
Arizona. Kara was just a junior that year and her boyfriend didn’t have a car. But the prom was an hour north in Flagstaff
and her parents had agreed to let her drive if she was careful.

“Be careful.” Her father had kissed her on the forehead before she left. “You look beautiful, honey. I know it’ll be a night
you’ll never forget. But make sure you watch yourself on the way home.”

Kara’s parents were less nervous about the drive than they might’ve been because it involved all freeway miles. Another common
two-lane route ten miles west of the freeway had been the site of dozens of head-on collisions. Many of them fatal.

“The freeway is much safer, dear.” Her mother
had smiled as they pulled away the day before. “Make sure you take the freeway and you should be just fine.”

Although several of Kara’s classmates had chosen to drink at the prom and stay in rented hotel rooms at the place where the
prom was held, Kara hadn’t drunk anything but water. As she climbed into the car, she kicked off her high heels and tossed
them in the backseat. Then she smiled at her boyfriend, Thane. “I’m glad we don’t drink.” She grinned at him. “It’s so stupid.
Those guys’ll throw up all night and not remember a bit of what happened at the prom.”

“I know.” Thane slid into the car beside her and buckled the belt. “It’s a good feeling … having fun and remembering it. Besides,”
he laced his fingers between hers. “I feel good doing the right thing.”

Kara nodded and pulled out onto the main road. “You tired?”

Thane yawned. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Go ahead and sleep. I’m fine.” Kara cast him a quick glance. “Besides, it’s an hour back home. You might as well get some
rest.”

Five minutes later she entered Interstate 17 north and settled back in her seat. Thane wasn’t a Christian, but he was heading
that way fast. A long time ago he had partied with the wilder crowd. But then he met Kara and her friends and started going
to church with them. Before long, Kara and Thane
were dating. Nothing serious, but enough to be considered an “item.”

Every day Kara prayed for Thane—that God would get his attention and help him make a decision to believe. He was close to
that; he had to be. Otherwise, why did he help her serve meals at the homeless shelter in nearby Cottonwood each Tuesday night?
Whatever it takes, Lord,
she would pray.
Just make him believe in you. Whatever it takes.

Kara thought about that prayer now as she took a quick look at Shane. They’d only been driving ten minutes and already he
was sound asleep. He was so cute, she thought. So tall compared to the other junior guys.

She stared at the freeway ahead of her. She’d been driving for almost a year and already this stretch of interstate felt as
familiar to her as the streets around her home. Her sister was in her first year at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff,
so Kara and her parents had made the trip often. Especially that past year.

Kara drew in a slow breath and felt herself relax. The interstate was wide and safe, but utterly remote. There were stretches
where she would drive fifteen miles without even an exit to break up the monotony. A monotony that was worse at night when
the Arizona desert spread out on either side of her, vast and pitch dark.

A yawn came out of Kara and then another. Kara shook her head and slapped her cheeks lightly. She
was more tired than she’d thought. She turned on the radio and opened her window a crack.
There … that oughta do the trick.

And it did for another ten minutes. But less than halfway home, she closed her eyes for just a moment and her head began to
drop. Suddenly she jerked it back up again, her eyes wide open, her heart racing. What had she almost done? She shot a look
at her speedometer. She was going seventy-five miles per hour. If she’d fallen asleep… She couldn’t finish the thought. If
she were that tired, she’d have to pull off the side of the road and get some ice water, anything to keep her awake. But how
many miles would it be until then? Ten? Twenty?

“Come on, Lord.” She whispered the words, her heart pounding so hard it was difficult for her to speak. “Keep me awake. Just
until the next rest stop.”

Less than a minute later, Kara felt herself nod off again. At about the same time, she saw flashing lights in her rearview
mirror. She swallowed hard as she realized the lights belonged to a police car. Great. I
must’ve been swerving.
Again, her heart raced. Thank you, God … even if I’m in trouble. At least I didn’t kill us.

As Kara pulled over, she wondered where the officer had come from. There had been no traffic on the interstate for miles,
and the area she was traveling was practically deserted. Kara looked down and remembered that she was driving barefoot. She
thought about reaching into the backseat and grabbing her shoes, but it was too late. She poked at Thane as she parked the
car on the side of the road.

“What … where are we?” He opened his eyes and squinted as he saw the flashing lights behind them.

“I got pulled over.” She rolled down the window and waited for the officer to approach.

As nervous as Kara was, her relief was greater. She was wide awake now, but what would’ve happened if the officer hadn’t pulled
her over? A uniformed man walked toward her car and shone a flashlight just high enough so he could see her face. Kara had
never been pulled over before. She hoped her parents would understand.

“Good evening, Officer,” Kara said as the patrolman stopped beside her open window.

“Are you alright?” The officer bent over and looked at Kara. Something about his face seemed peaceful, almost unearthly. She
noticed that his badge number read 37—the same number she wore for her high school’s basketball team.

“Yes, sir. I’m fine.”

The officer laughed. “Go ahead and put your shoes on. You’ll be safer that way.”

Kara felt her heart skip a beat. Her shoes? How had the officer known about her shoes? Beside her, Thane reached into the
backseat, grabbed her pumps, and handed them to her. She shot him a silent thank-you and slipped them on. But before
she could ask the officer how he’d known she was barefoot, he spoke again.

“You’ve been driving a long way and it’s late. You almost fell asleep out there, didn’t you?”

“Why … yes.” Again Kara was stunned. It was like he could read her mind, like he’d been riding beside her the entire time.
“Our prom went later than I thought and, well, I guess I’m pretty tired.” She met his eyes again and noticed that he never
blinked. She exhaled slowly. “Maybe you can tell me where the nearest rest stop is.”

“Better yet, I’ll take you there.” The officer smiled and nodded to Kara. “You help other people all the time. Now it’s your
turn to get a little assistance. Follow me.” The officer turned to leave.

“Wait!” Kara cried out after the man. “How did you know that?”

The officer cocked his head and gave Kara a look that went straight to her soul. Almost as though the man knew everything
about her. “We officers make it our business to know those things.”

Kara glanced at Thane and saw that he was just as surprised as her. First the shoes, then the fact that she was tired. And
finally the bit about her helping other people. All of it was right on, but how in the world had the officer known? She looked
back at the man again. “Aren’t you giving me a ticket or something?”

“Nope.” Again the officer grinned. “Just wanted to make sure you were all right. That’s my job, you know.”

Kara nodded, distracted by the officer’s strange comments. The entire scene was like something from a sci-fi novel. And none
of it made sense.

As soon as the patrolman was back in his car, he pulled out in front of Kara and motioned for her to follow. She did, staying
behind him as he drove several miles south.

A minute later, Thane finally found his voice. “Kara, did you hear that guy?” Thane turned to face her. She could see without
taking her gaze off the road that his face was ashen. “How did he know that stuff?”

“I’m not sure. It’s weird, huh?”

“More than weird.”

Intent on following the officer, Kara had no trouble staying awake. Finally the police car signaled and exited down a ramp
off the interstate, where it made a quick right turn. Kara stayed as close behind as she could, taking the same turn. But
at that point she could no longer see the police car. She hit the brake and stared straight ahead.

There was a rest area complete with a gas station and all-night restaurant and a parking lot. But the police car was nowhere.
“Which way did he go?” She peered ahead and then glanced at Thane.

“He couldn’t have gone far. We saw him turn this way and”—Thane looked out the window and scanned the parking lot—“there’s
nowhere else he could be.”

“He must be in the parking lot.” Kara continued into the rest area, driving slowly so she could find the police car. But her
search turned up nothing. The police car was gone.

“Maybe he parked behind the restaurant.” Thane sat back and studied Kara. “Where else could he be?”

Kara nodded. “You’re right. That’s probably it.”

She parked near the front of the restaurant, and she and Thane climbed out of her car and waited. After five minutes, they
walked around the perimeter of the restaurant, intent on finding the officer who had guided them to safety. Finally, they
returned to the front of the restaurant and went inside.

“He must’ve taken a side road and gotten back on the freeway.” Thane slid into a nearby booth and looked at Kara. “Police
cars don’t just disappear.”

Suddenly Kara knew. She felt the hair on her arms rise straight up. “What if he was a … a …” Her mind raced with wonder. “An
angel, Thane. I mean, how else could he have known that stuff?”

Kara and Thane called their parents and explained the situation. Kara’s mother and father agreed to meet them at the rest
stop, where one of them would drive the tired teens home. While they waited at the restaurant, the two talked more about the
officer and whether he truly might have been an angel.