The day of the first ever Wise Chapel Carnival had arrived. Everyone spent a lot of time preparing and setting up the carnival. They had twenty different gaming booths, inflatables, food stands, live music and a petting zoo for the kids. The ladies aide was hosting a pie baking contest and pie eating contest. The youth was sponsoring a cake walk and a dunking booth.
The owners of Wise Park had allowed use of a portion of the park so the kids had a safe place to run and play. The day was turning into a huge success. So many neighborhood kids came out to the festival. Everyone was enjoying themselves.
Aiden and Colin stopped by to show their support. Aiden came over to Aimee’s game booth. Her booth was teaching about the ten plagues on Egypt. She had one of those games where kids had to flop a frog on a lily pad. She would wait until she had a group of six and then would tell them the story of the ten plaques God sent on Egypt and how God rescued the Israelites from bondage.
He watched as she made the story come to life. She was involving the kids into the story. At the end she had them to line up like they were leaving. She then had them march as if they were leaving the land of Egypt. “Now let’s go play a game and learn about how God parted the Red Sea.”
She came back to wait for her next group. “That was great.” Aiden stood holding an ice tea for her.
“Thanks. For the tea and the compliment.”
Aimee noticed the girls from the Sunday School class she and Piper taught coming to her booth. She hugged each of them and then turned to Aiden. “If you like my lesson for the little ones you will love this.”
She talked about the plagues and let the kids play the frog game. When they finished instead of letting them go like the little ones she discussed how the story of the plaques and God freeing the Israelites from Egypt compared to how Christ came and died for our sins releasing us from our sins. “Now let’s go see what it was like when God parted the red sea.”
When she came back to her booth Aiden was telling Colin about the lesson Aimee had just taught to the kids. “If you two think that was cool. Go to the last booth James and Mark are doing and then come back and talk to me.”
The day was warm but not too warm. Aimee lost count of how many kids came through her booth. Aiden and Colin came back to her booth twenty minutes after they left. James and Mark’s game gave them a lot to think about.
It was now time to close up the booths and join everyone for an evening picnic. Aimee, Lexi and Piper where cleaning their booths. The worked together to make it go faster. The last one to clean up was the booth Aimee used. She walked over to the area where she sat to clean while James and Mark took down the frog pond. She saw a piece of paper on the ground and picked it up it was a letter addressed to her.
Piper and Lexi came over and placed the frogs and Lily pads in their totes. Piper noticed Aimee looking at the paper. “What is that?”
“I don’t know it is addressed to me. I just found it lying on the ground.”
“Well open it.” Lexi put the last of the stuff in the totes and shut them up. “We’re done. Let’s go set under that tree and you open it.”
Aimee was scared the writing seemed to be off and scary. She carefully opened the envelope and took out the note. IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU. YOU WILL GO BACK TO AMERICA AND NOT COME BACK.
Aimee stared at the letter a minute then folded it back up and put it in her back pocket. “Someone is just playing a joke. Let’s not worry anyone else about it.”
“Aimee are you sure?”
“Yes.” Aimee didn’t tell them she got a similar letter last week. She was at the market and someone placed it in her basket.
Aimee sat quietly through the picnic that night she hid the new letter with the other one. They were in the same strange handwriting. When she said her prayer that night she prayed for her protection more than anything else. She was not going to be scared backed to the United States.
♥ ♥
Still not sure the spy they had contacted would be fully invested into the job given to them. The two men were still in town. They had delivered two messages to try and see if it scared her. But she did not seem to be bothered by the notes. Perhaps things are just as they hoped and she is not the heir they fear she may be. They still needed more time and a definite trust in the spy.
♥ ♥
Aiden was waiting at the bottom of the stairs the next Sunday. “I thought I would join you for church today?” When Aiden walked through the door no one treated him different. They greeted him the same way they did Aimee, Lexi, and Piper. He sat through service and listened to every word the preacher said. When he left he realized one thing. He may be a Prince by title but Jesus was the true Prince.
LJ and Drew had been by every evening for two weeks now. Sunday night when Aimee got home from church LJ was sitting in the living area talking to Colin. Lexi was taking the same approach with Drew as Aimee was with LJ. Both guys showed a lack of respect by not calling the girls back like they said. He stayed until around eleven then Aimee told him she needed to get some work down for school the next day.
Wednesday when Lexi, Aimee, Piper and James come back from church LJ and Drew where sitting on the couch. Aimee heard the guys arguing in the kitchen. From the sounds of it Colin was shouting at Josiah. The girls followed by James entered the kitchen.
“We have put up with a lot from you Joe but this has gone too far.” Colin threw a baggy full of pills on the table.
The girls mouthed dropped. Sophia and Aiden had come down from their rooms to see what the shouting was about. James and Aiden stopped Colin just as he went to hit Josiah. Lexi and Aimee went to tell LJ and Drew to leave but they had already left.
Josiah was now going after Colin. Aiden let loose of Colin and held Josiah. Lexi came and stood in between the four guys. “What is going on?”
“Just stay out of Lexi. You four girls go upstairs.” Colin’s face was red.
“We all live here and have a right to know what is going on?” Piper stood with Lexi.
Aimee turned to see Sophia heading back up stairs. “You two need to calm down.”
Colin relaxed a bit and stopped fighting James. “He brought drugs in here. Coming in here drunk all the time is one thing but we can’t have drugs in our flat. We would all get kicked out.”
Aiden tightened his grip. “Man are you stupid. Did you even think about what kind of trouble that could cause everyone?”
“They are not mine. I tried to tell my knot headed cousin but he will not listen.”
Aimee turned to Colin. “Where did you find the drugs?”
“In the hall closet. Josiah had just come in and I went to get a pair of my shoes and found the pills laying in the closet floor when I moved them.”
“It is hard to say how long they have been there Colin to accuse Josiah without knowing isn’t right.” Aimee turned to both men. “Aiden loosen up your hold on him.”
“Aimee why are you defending him. You stand to lose just as much as the rest of us.” Colin yelled at her.
“Because we have no proof they are his or how long they have been in the closet and don’t yell at me.”
“I am sorry.”
Piper sat at the kitchen table. “Since we don’t know whose they are we need to get rid of them.”
“How?” Asked Lexi.
“Flush them down the toilet and send them into the sewage where they belong.” James spoke for the first time then he let go of Colin and nodded to Aiden to do the same with Josiah. They all followed James to the downstairs toilet and flushed the pills.
When they went to the living area Aimee stood next to Josiah. “A guilty person would not have let us flush those pills.”
Colin folded his armed and turned away. “He would if he wanted us to believe otherwise.”
“Colin seriously we have known him our entire lives do you seriously think he would stoop to that.” Lexi looked him dead in the eyes.
“You guys believe what you want. I just know I better never see anything like…”
“Don’t worry Colin you won’t. I am out of here. I am not staying here and being ridiculed by the likes of you.” He headed up stairs and in a short while he had his belongings packed in his car.
Colin seemed to not care one bit that Josiah was leaving. Aiden told him to at least stay and talk but he wasn’t having it. Aimee went up to talk to him when he went for his last bag.
“Josiah, I am sorry you feel you have to leave.”
He turned to her. “Thanks. I am surprised after the way you acted over Aiden’s hang over that you took up for me.”
“Aiden let me down and didn’t keep his word. He was supposed to be there for me and he wasn’t. I had proof of that. There is no proof the drugs where even yours. To place judgment on you would be wrong.”
“I am glad you feel like that.”
“So does Piper and Lexi.”
“I get this all the time from other people because I dress different and play rock-n-roll that doesn’t make me a junkie.”
“No it doesn’t if I ever made you feel that way I am sorry.”
Aimee went to walk out as Josiah finished stuffing the last of his stuff in his bag. “Josiah I know that what happened with your mom is hurtful. But it does not have to control your live.”
“What does that mean?”
“When I look in your eyes I see someone who is hurting and crying out for help. Don’t let things eat at you until there is no point of return. Find someone to talk to.”
“You don’t know anything about my mom.”
“No, I don’t know anything about your mom and I am learning that I know very little about my own mom. What I do know is we can’t let what happened to our moms during the war here control our lives. We need to find ourselves and rise up from the ashes that we have been left to sift through.”
“Your mom fled the country. My mom was taken advantage of and then died giving birth to me.”
“I fear my mom went through far more than I know before leaving this country. I know she had an uncle I believe to be a radical member and he hit her and my Gran while trying to take over their family.”
Josiah stepped around Aimee and headed for the stairs when he reached the door he turned to her. “Aimee watch who you trust and be careful searching into your mom’s past it may not be as safe as you think.”
Josiah pulled out of the flat. He left his key with Lexi to turn in for him. He never wanted to look at his cousin again. He was still in shock that not only was Aimee taking up for him. She was the first to do so.
He now regretted talking to those guys. He was going to let them know he can’t help them. He will tell them the truth he had to leave because of a disagreement with one of the male roommates. He just hoped he had not already said too much.
Aimee couldn’t believe Colin and she was letting him know it right now. She brought to his attention the amount of dust on his shoes and how he had not cleaned out the hall closet like he was supposed to. She asked him how many people have come through that door and put their coats in that closet. When he said that they would have come looking for their pills. She brought up they may not know where they lost them.
After a long decision they agreed to never bring up the drugs again and then the whole group cleaned the entire closet and Josiah’s room. No new drugs had been found.
LJ text Aimee to let her know he was sorry he left but it sounded like the flat needed to settle something. He never said if he knew why they were fighting and she didn’t ask just in case he did not know. She did not want to risk him asking her what it was about. She simply text back thanks.
That night when she went to bed with one thing on her mind and that was what Josiah said when he left. Could he be the one leaving her the notes to not come back to Neahovia?
♥ ♥
Mr. X and Lady Y sat at the café drinking coffee. Her fears had come true. Some of Mr. U’s (for ugly) men where now following Aimee. They had convinced the guy in the grey shirt that she was not the girl he thought she may be. Though he had no clue Lady Y was the one feeding him this information or who Lady Y really was.
Now this two loons have appeared. They don’t seem very bright because person Z told her Aimee caught the tall creepy looking one staring at her when she went on her Easter Vacation with her roommates.
But now he has this loon following Aimee. They are not clever at hiding so that makes Lady Y wonder if Mr. U even knows what they are doing. The green head kid was talking to them again tonight. She had sent Mr. X to see why. Apparently he and one of the guy roommates had a disagreement and he moved out. He told them he would not be able to work for them.
That was good news. Now she needed to get these loons off of Aimees trail.