Chapter Fourteen

Singing In Jail

After hearing Philippe DeCoup's evil plan, Alexis gasped, "This is awful! They'll be killing innocent people in plain sight!"

"We'll have to tell President Bush as soon as we can," Ben whispered. "We all know he's concerned with national security and protecting people from terrorist acts. I mean, I know he's criticized a lot, but I for one am proud to have him as President. Thanks to him sending the troops to Iraq, we got Saddam Hussein out of there!"

Stephanie nodded. "He won't hesitate to help those people," she agreed. "We'd better get back to the airplane and to Washington, D.C. as quickly as we can."

The seven explorers started heading back to the plane when Elizabeth's shoelaces came undone. She tripped over and hit the floor with a flood. And some of DeCoup's colleagues, who were in a room not too far away, heard her! They ran toward where the sound came from.
When they got there, they could see Stephanie pulling her sister to her feet, asking her if she was OK.

One colleague yelled, "How dare you trespass on private property!"

Lionel mustered up all his fury and yelled back, "You're one to speak about trespassing on private property! What is this about you planning to invade the cities of gold and kill all the people?"

"Maybe Philippe thinks he can get away with it because he's rich," Gertrude added, "but these people have a President who seeks after justice, and he will not hesitate to do what he can to stop you!"

The colleagues gasped. "They know our plan!" hissed the first one who spoke. "We must capture them!" As the adventurers tried to run away, they were each grabbed by a colleague. Suddenly, the colleague who was holding Ben noticed Ben's bracelet. And the colleague who was holding Stephanie noticed hers.

"They can open up the doors to the cities of gold!" shouted the colleague holding Ben.

"Give us your bracelets right now, you little brats!" demanded the colleague holding Stephanie.

"No!" Ben shouted. "We will never give you our bracelets!"

"We will never allow you to use our bracelets to go and get the gold, knowing you plan to steal and kill!" screamed Stephanie.

"Shut up, you little jezebel!" yelled the colleague holding Ben. "You will do as we say, or we will kill all of your friends here!"

Stephanie and Ben grimaced at the thought of their friends and Elizabeth being killed.

"I thought so," sneered the colleague holding Stephanie. He and the colleague holding Ben yanked the bracelets off the kids' wrists. "Now, to the dungeon! Off with you! Let's go!" he yelled, holding the explorers at gunpoint.

The colleagues led the travelers to an underground dungeon. They threw them into a large jail cell and bolted the door. "If you want to eat...it's bread and water!" they laughed wickedly as they walked away. "You'll be living on bread and water for the rest of your lives! We can't let you out now that you know the secret!" they called over their shoulders.

Stephanie began to cry. "Seventeen and already I'm going to die, rotting away in a jail cell!" she sobbed.

Ben held her close to him. "We'll figure a way out somehow," he said, squeezing her. "We just need to keep praying and hoping."

Lionel called everybody to gather around him. "We're going to sing a song," he said, "and meditate on Psalm 23. I'm sure you all remember King David. He was a real servant of the Lord, and he wrote many of the Psalms that reassure our hearts in dire or distressing times. Do you remember when he said that the Lord is his shepherd and he shall not want? The Lord supplied David with all the comfort he needed, and He'll comfort us, too, if we seek Him. Always remember, God quiets your souls. David said God made him lie down in green pastures and led him beside still waters. Now just imagine God leading your soul to quietness. Everybody close your eyes and picture it."

Everybody closed their eyes.

Alexis continued in a very soothing voice, "David also said that even when he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he would fear no evil, because God was with him to comfort him. Your cups overflow with God's provision and love, just as David's did." Then she said, "Everybody open your eyes."

Everybody opened their eyes except for Matthew. He'd started to snore!

Ben shook him awake. "Matthew, wake up!" he hissed. "You missed when we meditated on Psalm 23."

"Not all of it," Matthew said. "I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep."

Gertrude sat next to Matthew. "You actually look cute when you sleep," she said.

Lionel smiled at them. Then he said, "Does everybody feel comforted now that we can be reminded that God will never leave us or forsake us, no matter what we're in?"

Everybody nodded.

"And even if the tycoon and his colleagues seem to get away with their evil deeds for a time," Lionel told them, "God will not let them off the hook. In the end they will be repaid for everything they did."

"Now for our song," said Alexis. "It is an old hymn, but maybe you know it. It's entitled 'It Is Well With My Soul'. It was written and sung by a Christian man who had lost his kids when they drowned, back in the nineteenth century. No matter what difficult circumstances came into his life, all was well with his soul, because he put his hope in Jesus Christ. Let's all join hands and sing."

"No sleeping, Matthew," Ben teased.

Matthew laughed a little. Then they all joined hands and sang. After the song they prayed that if it was God's will, He would free them so they could stop the tycoon, and that they might not despair and always remember that everything is in God's hands and that He will repay evildoers with punishment.

That night they all went to sleep. But right before Matthew went to sleep, he watched Gertrude sleep and thought to himself, "She sure looks peaceful."

TO FOLLOW...

Ben and his friends deceive a dimwitted guard who had not heard them singing into thinking that they are going to work for Philippe DeCoup so that he will let them out of prison and Ben and Stephanie can get their bracelets back and they can go warn President Bush of Philippe's plans. Read the next episode of THE MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD REVISITED.