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"Morning, Pastor Henry," Stephanie finally piped up.

"Hi, Stephanie," Henry smiled. "Hi, all of you," he added.
The others mumbled back a greeting.
"Do you know how Mandy's doing?" Henry asked them.
"She's really crook," Ed said fearfully.
"Has the doctor been yet?"
"Don't think so," Stephanie answered.
Henry pressed the buzzer and Kevin let him in almost immediately.
"Good," he said, "You got here quickly." He indicated the group on the lawn.
"Those kids are really worried about her."
"Have they seen the paper yet?"
"Yes, they're pretty upset about that, too." Kevin looked straight at Henry.
"They say he's been set up—like you were," he said firmly, "and they used
the Winters girl and then did this to her. Come on."
He led the way to their spare bedroom and let Henry in. "Silvie," he said
to his wife, who was standing next to the bed, "Henry's here." Turning to
Henry, he added, "We're still waiting for the doctor."
"Hello, Silvia." Henry greeted her as he entered the room, then turned his
attention to Mandy. He sat down on the edge of the bed. The girl was
conscious, but deathly pale and very frightened. "Hello, Mandy," he said
quietly, "What happened?"
She stared wide-eyed at him but didn't answer, and he wondered if she
knew who he was. He glanced up at Kevin and Silvia. "Do you know?"
They shook their heads. "No," Kevin said, "No idea."
"Pastor Henry?" Mandy said suddenly, in a small voice.
He turned back to her. "What is it, Mandy?" he said gently.
"I-I want my Mum!" she cried, and the tears came.
Silvia sat down on the other side of the bed and gathered the girl up in
her arms. "It's all right, Mandy, we'll take you to your parents as soon as the
doctor's been," she said to her, "We've called the doctor to come and see
you."
"Would you like me to ring your dad, Mandy?" Henry asked her.
"Please, yes, tell him to come," she sobbed.
"Kevin, may I use your phone, please?" Henry asked, getting up.
"Sure. It's in the lounge. Come and I'll show you." Kevin led the way out
of the room, Henry following.
The pastor entered the Winters' code and waited. When the light came
on, he picked up the phone. "James? This is Henry," he said, "Could you
possibly come over to number fifteen, Eucalyptus Street, right away? It's
urgent. It's about Mandy. The house straight across from Good Shepherd."
"I'll be right over," James replied, "Betty's here now so I can leave Laura.
Alice is here too. I'll be there in about ten minutes." He hung up.
Henry put the phone down and turned to Kevin. "He said he'll be right
over. Can you tell me any more about Mandy?"
"Not really. Her friends found her behind the church, all in a heap, barely
conscious, and bleeding like mad. All she had on was this short gown, like a
hospital gown, you know? They couldn't tell what was wrong with her and

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she was incoherent. They saw me watering my lawn and ran over to get me.
I've often seen them hanging around the church, and sometimes we have a
natter. I just picked her up and brought her over. Silvie put her to bed while
I rang the doctor and went to get you. I was going to bring you back with me
except that you weren't dressed."
"Have you seen the paper yet?"
"Yeah—I told you, Carl's been set up, like you were. He's not the kind of
bloke who'd go round chasing teenagers. That lot out there agree, by the
way. I gather he had a natter with them, showed them a photo of his wife
and kids. They like him. Coming from them, that says a lot. They said he
treated them like real people. They also told me that Mandy's been very
strange the last few months and hanging out with strange folk. They reckon
they're the ones who did this to her."
"I might have a chat to them when James gets here. I know those kids—
they hang around the church grounds a lot. A couple of them used to come
to the old youth group now and then."

!!!

Back at Henry's house, Carl finished washing up the breakfast things

and went back to the living room. He got one of Henry's Bibles from the
bookshelf and sat down in an armchair. He turned to the Psalms and found
Psalm 64. Its words comforted him, reassuring him that God would always
have the upper hand, no matter how much evil people might plot:

"He will make their own words turn against them

and He will bring about their destruction;...

Rejoice in the Lord, all who are righteous,

who look to Him for refuge;
Praise Him, all who love what is right!"

He read through Psalm 63, which reminded him of his part:

"O God, You are my God,

I seek You with all my being;...

I have seen you in the holy place;

I have seen Your power and glory...

For as long as I live I will praise You..."

He got down on his knees and began worshipping God, remembering all
that the Lord had done for him, even before he'd known Him. His praises
turned into song and after a few minutes he was singing joyfully and the
words just flowed from his heart, an offering to the Lord in the midst of his

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distress. Then as suddenly as he'd started, he stopped singing, and knelt

there in amazement, completely reassured in his spirit that God had
everything under control and was with him.
He jumped as the door buzzer sounded, and wondered who might be out
there. Without showing himself, he glanced out the window, and recognized
Joel's car. He went to the door and slid it open. Joel was standing there,
smiling broadly. "Was that you singing, just now?" he asked..
Carl reddened and said it was. "Come on in," he added, stepping aside,
"Henry's out at the moment—did you want to see him?"
"Both of you, actually," Joel replied, "Do you know how long he'll be?"
"No, he's gone over to Kevin's. Sorry, I don't know his surname. Kevin
and Silvia have Mandy at their place. Her friends found her behind the
church this morning and fetched Kevin to get her. He lives across the street.
From the church, I mean."
"Oh, yeah, I know the bloke—big black bear of a man," Joel remarked,
"Alice went over to the Winters' first thing this morning. I wonder if they
know where Mandy is?"
"I expect Henry will let them know as soon as he can, especially if she's
hurt—and from Kevin's tone I suspect she was."
"Do you mind if I stay and wait until Henry gets back?"
"No, of course not. Actually, I'm very thankful to have your company. I'm
feeling somewhat out of sorts."
"Yeah—that was some dirty trick they played on you.," Joel said heatedly,
"My word! And on Mandy! How low will these people stoop?"
"As low as it's possible to get," Carl said quietly, "I know—I used to be a
Protectioner. I've seen their methods and I've used them myself. As you said,
this is only the beginning."
Joel eyed Carl thoughtfully, but didn't say anything. He went to sit on the
sofa.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" Carl asked him.
"Yes, thanks. That would be nice," Joel replied.
"Did you close your coffee shop today?" Carl asked as he headed towards
the kitchen.
"Yeah—for this morning, at least."
After a few minutes, Carl brought in two mugs of tea, handed one to Joel,
and sat down in an amchair. "I was saying to Henry this morning that I wish
my wife were here—she's so much better at coping with crises than I am.
But I'm glad she didn't have to see those photos—and I hope she never does
see them."
"I get the impression, from what you've told us about your wife, that she
knows you well enough that those photos wouldn't upset her unduly," Joel
commented, "I do hope you will bring her here someday, and your children.
I'd like to meet them."
"And I'd like them to meet you, too. And Alice. And Henry. I certainly
intend to bring them here sometime, as soon as this business is dealt with."

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!!!

James arrived at Kevin's house with Alice, and Henry was pleased to see
that Alice had driven them over in her car. It would be better if James didn't
have to drive to take Mandy home. They followed Henry into the bedroom,
and James bent over his daughter. Her eyes were closed. "Mandy, it's Dad,"
he said softly.
She opened her eyes and threw her arms around him. "Oh, Dad, please
take me home, please," she started crying again, "I've had such an awful
time."
"Mandy," her father replied, "as soon as the doctor's seen you I'll take you
home, okay? Mrs. McIntire is here with me. She'll drive us home."
Alice had gone to the other side of the bed, where she stood with Silvia,
watching James and his daughter. Henry tapped James on the shoulder.
"Now that you're here," he said, "I think I'll go back home. Carl's on his own,
and he's had a pretty bad shock, too."
"Okay, Henry, thanks for calling me," James said, "I'll let you know how
things go—or Alice can."
"Fine. Give my love to Laura, won't you?" Henry replied, moving towards
the door, "See you later, Alice, Silvia, Kevin, Mandy."
"I'll drop you home, Henry," Kevin offered, "You've had your exercise for
today! I'm off to work anyway."
"Thanks, Kevin, I'd appreciate that."

!!!

Henry was pleasantly surprised to find his father with Carl. He told them
about Mandy, and that James had arrived with Alice to fetch his daughter.
"The doctor hadn't come yet, when I left. I'd planned to have a chat with
Mandy's friends before coming home, but they'd all disappeared when I
came out of Kevin's house."
Seeing a movement from the corner of his eye, Joel glanced out of the
living room window. "Is that them coming up the footpath to your front door,
by any chance?" he asked.
Henry, surprised, looked through the window. "Yes!" he exclaimed, and
went to open the door.
The young people were taken aback at his opening the door before they
had even reached it. "Pastor Henry," Stephanie blurted out, "Can we talk to
you, please? About Mandy?"
"Of course," Henry answered, "But let me warn you first. Carl Slade is
here too—the man in the photos with Mandy—and so's my dad."
They hesitated, looking at each other. Finally, Brendan made their minds
up. "That's okay," he said, "Mr. Slade is fair dinkum. Does your dad know
Mandy, Pastor Henry?"
"Yes, he does."

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"It's okay, then," the boy said to his companions, who nodded in
agreement.
"Come on in, then," Henry said.
They trooped in, and greeted Carl and Joel. As he returned their greeting,
Carl wondered if they had seen the paper yet. He fetched the chairs from
around the table and invited the young people to sit down.
"Mr. Slade," Carrie said quickly, "We know that Mandy was told by
somebody else to do those things. We know it wasn't your fault." The others
all voiced their agreement. "We know you wouldn't do those sorts of things."
Carl looked at them quizzically. "How can you be so sure I wouldn't?" he
asked them, "You don't really know me, after all, do you?"
Brendan answered without hesitating. "You love your wife, Mr. Slade," he
said, in a tone which told Carl far more about Brendan than the words said
about himself. He could only guess at the depth of suffering hidden in the
boy's heart. He gazed at the boy warmly. "Yes," he said softly, "You're right. I
love her very much."
"Your kids are lucky," Ed said, and Blue, the boy who was apparently
Mandy's boyfriend, added, "I wish my dad loved my mum..."
Joel interrupted them. "What was it you wanted to say about Mandy?" he
asked.
No-one understood a word as the teenagers all started talking at once.
Henry clapped his hands and shouted, "Hey! One at a time!"
They all turned to Stephanie. "You tell them, Steph," Ed urged.
"Mandy hung around with us a lot of the time," the black-haired girl
explained, "but sometimes—more and more often—she'd disappear for
hours, and Blue—" She indicated the red-haired boy. "He's her boyfriend. He
asked me to follow her once, so I did."
"Where did she go?" Henry asked.
"To the Council Chambers. You know—in town, where the aldermen
work, or whatever it is that aldermen do." She frowned in puzzlement, then
shrugged. "Well, she went in there and didn't come out for ages, then when
she did, this car drove up and she got in and it drove off. I saw the men who
were in the front."
"Did you know who they were?" Joel asked her.
"One of them was the Mayor—you know, that Lancaster bloke. The other
one was Mr. Hillman, from the church."
"Lancaster?" Henry exclaimed, "What did he want with Mandy?"
Carl looked at him sadly. "You saw in the paper today what he wanted
her for," he said quietly, "One of the things he wanted her for, anyway."
"Are you suggesting Lancaster's behind that?" Joel asked.
"Carl's already suggested to me that Lancaster's involved in the downfall
of the churches, Dad," Henry said.
The teenagers listened to this in silence, until Blue touched Carl's arm.
"Why do you think Mr. Lancaster's behind it, Mr. Slade?" he asked.
Carl didn't answer right away. He got up and walked to the window. To
answer Blue's question he would have to tell them a lot more about himself
and his past. Did he really want to? Henry knew it, but the others didn't. No,

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he thought to himself, I can't keep it to myself. They've got to know who

they're up against! He turned around and came back to the group. "I know
Ross Lancaster," he said, "It was an awful shock to find out he was the
mayor of this town. You see, Lancaster was the Chief—the man at the top—
of the Police Counselling Institute in Densonia, during the Protectorate.
Does that mean anything to you, Blue?" he asked the redhead, "Or to you?"
he asked the other young people.
Ed answered. "It does to me. I don't know about the others," he said,
glancing at his friends, "I heard about it from the old man who lives next
door to us. He told me how he'd been taken there 'cos he didn't like Denson
and he'd made the mistake of saying so. He said the Counsellors had people
tortured to make them agree with the government. He was—and he said he
quickly agreed to everything they said and they let him go and he just
played it safe after that and did what they wanted."
"How do you know Mr. Lancaster?" Stephanie asked Carl.
"He was my boss for five years, and I was afraid of him," Carl answered.
"He was your boss? How come?" Blue asked, staring at Carl
incredulously.
"I was a Police Counsellor, Blue," Carl replied, glancing at Henry and
Joel. Henry must have told his father already, because Joel didn't look
surprised, unlike the boys and girls sitting in front of him. They were staring
at him open-mouthed.
Brendan broke the silence. "Did you torture people?" he whispered.
Carl didn't want to mention his sessions with Emma, but neither did he
want to lie. "Counsellors normally handed their counsellees to the Institute
guards to be 'treated', as it was called," he explained, "Not that that makes
me any less guilty."
Carrie was puzzling over something. "Mr. Slade," she asked curiously,
"Are you a Christian?"
"Yes, you know that," Carl replied, "I told you yesterday morning,
remember?"
"How could you do that, then? Hand over people to be tortured?" she
asked.
"I wasn't a Christian at the time. When Jesus Christ saved me, my whole
life was turned around," Carl said, and sighed. "Then I stopped being afraid
of Ross Lancaster. But," he added, turning back to Joel and Henry,
"Lancaster has changed since those days. For the worse. He's far more
dangerous than he was then."
"How do you mean?" Blue asked from behind him.
Joel, who had understood what Carl was saying, answered for Carl. "Are
you kids aware of how Lancaster became Mayor of Goldridge?" he asked.
"He won the election," Stephanie said.
"That tells you why he's dangerous, if you think about it some," Joel said.
They looked puzzled for a few moments, then Brendan spoke. "He can
make people like him," he said soberly.
Carl noticed that Henry was suddenly deep in thought. "What's on your
mind, Henry?" he asked.

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"Something... I need to think about it some more, Carl, but I just had a
disturbing thought," Henry replied, "Never mind, I'll tell you later."
At that point the door buzzer sounded. Since he was standing up, Carl
went to open the door, letting Alice in. She was rather more subdued than
usual.

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 CHAPTER 15

"I thought you'd be here, Joel, when there was no answer at the shop,"
Alice said, "I rang. Hello, kids, how are you all?" She turned back to Carl,
who had just shut the door behind her. "I'm sorry, Carl," she said, taking his
hand, "I just walked right past you. How are you?"
"I'm okay, Alice," he replied, smiling and clasping her hand in both of his.
Then he turned serious. "What's the news of Mandy?" he asked quietly.
Alice took a deep breath, and looked around at the others in the room
before replying. "She's been taken to hospital, and her father went with her.
She's lost a lot of blood." She glanced back at Carl and indicated the
teenagers. "I'm not sure I should say any more, because of these young
ones."
"Alice, these are Mandy's friends," Carl said, "Let me introduce them to
you." He pointed to each of the boys and girls in turn, naming them. "I
expect you all know Mrs. McIntire," he said to them. To Alice he added,
"They care about her very much. That's why they're here, in fact. I think you
can count on them. "
"Okay, Carl," Alice said, "I trust your judgment. Let's sit down." She went
to sit on the sofa next to Joel.
Carl sat in the other armchair. All eyes were on Alice now.
"The doctor came shortly after you left, Henry," she began, "The others
left the room but I stayed with Mandy while he examined her."
"What did he say was her problem?" Henry asked.
"The first thing he said was that it looked to him like she'd had a general
anaesthetic—"
"What?!" Joel exploded, "And she was lying at the back of the church?
They gave her a general and then they dumped her there? She could have
died!"
"She would have, if these kids hadn't found her when they did," Alice
replied, "As I told you, she'd lost a lot of blood."
"That's right," Stephanie agreed, and shuddered, "She was bleeding like
mad. Mr. Hasting's clothes got all covered in blood when he carried her to
his house."
"Could the doctor tell how it happens she was bleeding?" Carl asked,
suspecting the answer.
Alice sighed. "He said it looked to him like she'd had an abortion, and it
hadn't been done properly. He asked Mandy if she'd been pregnant, and she
said 'yes'. He was very gentle with her, but when he talked to us outside her
room after examining her, he was livid. He said he'd asked her if she knew
where it had been done, and she told him she hadn't known anything about
it. She told me that the last thing she remembered happening before she
found herself in the bed at the Hastings' place was having a cup of tea
with-with—" Alice faltered, swallowed hard, and took a deep breath before
going on. "With Ross Lancaster!" she exclaimed, "and-and being shown this

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morning's Courier!" Alice finally gave in to her emotions and buried her face
on Joel's shoulder and wept. He put his arms around her and hugged her.
The rest of them sat in stunned silence, their faces pale. After a few
moments, Carl got up and beckoned to Blue to move away from the group
with him. The boy followed him over to the dining table.
"Blue," Carl said very quietly, "Were you and Mandy sleeping together?"
The boy stared at him in confusion a moment, and then he understood.
"You mean, were we having sex?" he asked.
"Yes. Were you?"
"N-No, Mr. Slade, we weren't," Blue replied, his face red. He suddenly
realized why Carl was asking. He stared at him in horror. "D-Do you mean—
Oh, Mr. Slade, she was pregnant! Th-That means she-she—" He broke off,
disconcerted.
"It's all right," Carl said, putting an arm around the lad, "It's not your
fault, Blue."
The boy was suddenly angry. He wheeled around at Carl and grabbed
hold of his arm, and Carl looked at him in astonishment.
"It isn't all right, Mr. Slade! It isn't!" Blue cried out in anguish, "Mandy
could've died! That-that ----- man took advantage of her and then he tried to
kill her!"
Suddenly the young people were all talking at once again, gathering
around Carl and agreeing with Blue that it wasn't all right, that Lancaster
was a monster, that they couldn't just sit there and see him try to kill their
friend and then let him get away with it! They had to do something!
Joel stood up and bellowed for silence in an amazingly loud voice, with
instant effect. Now everyone was looking at him expectantly. "Blue is right,
the man is a monster," he said in a rather more quiet voice, "but you have to
remember what Carl said, and you have to remember what Lancaster has
actually managed to do in this town. He's a dangerous man—he'll stop at
nothing, in the end, not even at killing."
"Alice, has anyone been to the police about this?" Carl asked suddenly.
Alice looked at him as if he were not quite sane.
"Are you kidding?" Joel said almost angrily, then caught himself as he
saw the startled look on Carl's face. "Sorry, Carl, I didn't mean to bite your
head off," he said more quietly, "but you need to be aware of the fact that
Mr. Lancaster and the police are best of friends. My word! How he's
managed it, I don't know, but that's how it is. You may not have heard
about our new Pleasure House." To his surprise, Carl nodded. "Oh, you
have? Well, there you are, you go to the police about this and most likely it's
you they'll charge. Remember this morning's Courier. For your sake, and
especially for Mandy's, keep the local police out of this. They're not what
they're supposed to be."
"No, Carl," Alice said softly, "No-one's told the police about it, and I'm
sure no-one will."
"Well, actually," Carl said in a rather subdued tone, "I'm rather relieved
that nobody told the police. I had a suspicion that that would be the
situation with them, and I am aware that my photo in the paper puts me in

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a precarious position. It occurred to me just now that Lancaster's lot just

may have happened to plan to—quote, unquote—'find' Mandy behind the
church, by accident as it were, and start an investigation leading straight to
me..."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Joel commented, "However, now we have to do
something about it, and we can't afford to waste time."
"The first thing we have to do," Henry reminded them, "is pray. We need
to pray for Mandy and for her parents. We have to pray for Carl and for his
safety. We need to pray above all for God to give us wisdom and
discernment. And we have to do it now."
To the young people's surprise and embarrassment, the four adults got
down on their knees. Carl noticed their unease and smiled at them. "You
can kneel with us if you like," he invited, "or you can sit down if you prefer. I
don't know if any of you are Christians. If you hear God calling you, answer
Him. And let your answer be 'yes'."
The teenagers returned to their chairs and sat down, still looking
uncertainly at each other. The others bowed their heads, and Henry led
them in heartfelt prayer to God.
They had been praying for some time when Alice nudged Carl. He turned
to her, and she pointed with her chin to the young people. Carl turned to
look at them. All five were kneeling, and all five were weeping freely.
His heart leapt, and his own eyes filled with tears. Oh, Lord, have they
really all turned to you? he asked silently, Are they really Yours, all of them?
As he gazed at them, all five of the young people looked up at him, smiling,
their eyes shining. His joy burst out of him as delighted laughter, at which
Joel and Henry looked up. Within a few seconds, adults and teenagers were
all standing in the middle of the room hugging each other and praising God
together. After a few minutes they all knelt again, in a circle and holding
hands, and thanked God for the miracle of new birth in Mandy's friends.
When they all stood up again, Alice suddenly said to Carl, "I'm taking you
to the hospital to visit Mandy. I'll take Blue as well." She turned to Henry
and Joel. "Can you two explain to these young folk what has happened to
them?" she asked them.
"Don't you think it's a bit risky to take Carl there?" Henry remarked,
"when he's been so manifestly linked to Mandy in the paper?"
"I am quite sure—very sure—that I should take him, Henry," Alice said
meaningfully, "Carl, Blue, please, let's go right now. I want to get there
before James leaves. Blue, remind me, what's your proper name, please?"
"Rick, Mrs. McIntire," the boy answered.
"Okay, Rick, let's go. Come on, Carl," Alice said firmly, and led the way to
the door.
"See you folks later," Carl said, looking helplessly at Joel and Henry. They
shrugged, and he followed Alice out.

!!!

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