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on the bed so she could see farther. The parched yard was wet with melted hail and now red with blood. Lightning cracked and thunder rolled. Softball-sized hailstones drummed the roof, rolling and filling the yard. Tsion shouted, Praise the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth! What you see before you is a picture of Isaiah 1:18: 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' Did you see it, Hattie? Chloe asked. Hattie turned and Buck saw her tears. She nodded but looked woozy. Buck helped her lie back down, and she was soon asleep. As the clouds faded and the sun returned, the results of the light show became obvious. The bark on the trees had been blackened, the foliage all burned off. As the hail melted and blood seeped into the ground, the charred grass showed through. The Scriptures told us that one third of the trees and all of the green grass in the world would be burned, Tsion said. I cannot wait until we have power so we can see what Carpathia's newsmen make of this. Yet another clear movement of God's hand had moved Buck. He longed for Hattie Page 158 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html to stay healthy so she could pursue the truth. Whether Bruce Barnes had been poisoned by Nicolae Carpathia or had lost his life in the first volley of bombs in World War III made little difference in the larger scheme of things. But if Hattie Durham had information about Amanda that could confirm or deny what Tsion had stumbled onto in Bruce's computer files, Buck wanted to hear it. Mac left the chopper running, but Rayford was cold. With nothing green to scorch in that part of the world, the fire and blood had been overcome by the hail. The result was the chilliest night in the history of the Iraqi desert. Stay put, Mac said. I'll get the stuff. Rayford reached for the door handle. That's all right, I'll do my share. No! Now I mean it. Just let me do this. Rayford wouldn't admit it, but he was grateful. He stayed inside as Mac sloshed in the melting hail. He stored the scuba equipment behind the seats. When he reboarded he had Amanda's waterlogged laptop computer. What's the point, Mac? Those things aren't waterproof. True, Mac said. Your screen is shot, your solar panels are ruined, your keyboard won't function, the motherboard is gone. You name it, that much water had to kill it. Except for the hard drive. It is encased and waterproof. Experts can run a diagnostic and copy any files you want. I don't expect any surprises. I'm sorry to be blunt, Rayford, Mac said, but you didn't expect to see her in the Tigris. If I were you, I'd look for evidence to prove Amanda was everything you thought she was. Rayford wasn't sure. I'd have to use someone I know, like David Hassid or someone else I can trust. That narrows it to David and me, yes. If it's bad news, I couldn't let a stranger discover it before I do. Why don't you handle it, Mac? In the meantime, I don't even want to think about it. If I do, I'm going to break your confidence and go straight to Carpathia and demand he clear Amanda's name with anybody he ever talked to about her. You can't do that, Ray. I might not be able to help myself if I have exclusive access to that computer. Just do it for me and give me the results. I'm not an expert, Ray. How about if I supervise David, or let him run me through it? We won't look at one file. We'll just find whatever is available. Nicolae Carpathia announced a postponement of travel due to the strange natural phenomenon and its effect on airport reconstruction. Over the next few weeks, as the expanded Chicago contingent of the Tribulation Force grew closer to their departure date for Israel, Buck was dumbfounded at the improvement in Chloe. Floyd Charles took her casts off, and within a few days, atrophied muscles began to come back. It appeared she might always have a limp, residual pain, and a slightly cockeyed face and frame. But to Buck, she had never looked better. All she talked about was going to Israel to see the incredible mass rally of the witnesses. The first twenty-five thousand to arrive would meet with Tsion in Teddy Kollek Stadium. The rest would gather at sites all over the Holy Land, watching on closed- circuit television. Tsion told Buck he planned to invite Moishe and Eli to join him in the stadium. Following God's shower of hail, fire, and blood, remaining skeptics were few. There was no longer any ambiguity about the war. The world was taking sides. Page 159 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Rayford's head healed quickly, but he still had an aching heart. He spent his days mourning, praying, studying, following Tsion's teaching carefully on the Internet, and E-mailing Buck and Chloe every day. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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