Jill Eileen Smith, Author

	Seeking Treasureland A story by Jill Eileen Smith Chapter Four "Sarah, wait! Don't go with him. We want to help you." Sarah could hear Chelsea's feet pounding the earth behind her. The minute Sarah reached the circle of trees where she and Prince had waited earlier a man's hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the forest. A half dozen men dressed in black appeared from the shadows of the trees, forming a circle around Sarah. "And now you're mine." Sarah shivered at the cold glint in Prince's eyes. He shoved Sarah back, making her tumble to the ground. His helpers dropped a net over her and Prince placed one foot on her chest. "You will listen to me and do exactly as I say. Is that clear?" Tears filled Sarah's eyes. "Let me go!" she demanded, flailing her arms in the dirt, trying to squirm out from under Prince's foot and out of the net. But Prince's hold was strong. "You made your decision in the worship house. Now you will worship me." Prince's smile twisted into a threatening sneer. "Call me Master, little princess. From now on, you serve me." A raw lump burned Sarah's throat and she couldn't speak. "Let her go, you monster!" Chelsea's voice came from behind, growing louder with each running footfall. "In the name of Jesus Christ, let her go." A wild shriek filled the air above Sarah's head and in a blinding flash Prince and his helpers disappeared, net and all. Sarah pushed up from the dirt and fell into Chelsea's embrace. "You saved my life, Chelsea. After all the mean things I've done to you...why?" Sobs broke through Sarah's attempt at control. She knelt beside her little sister and wept. "I love you and you're my sister, that's why." Chelsea's small fingers stroked Sarah's hair. "And Jesus loves you, Sarah. He wants you to follow him. Will you come?" A deep shudder worked through Sarah. Although Prince had mysteriously disappeared at the name of Jesus, the lie pebbles still rested in her pocket and the bracelet cradled her arm. Would she ever be rid of them? If she went with Pastor Winston and the other kids, would she find release from the lies she had chosen to believe? "What'll it be, Sarah?" Pastor Winston placed one hand on Chelsea's shoulder and extended the other to Sarah. "Will you come with us to Treasureland?" Sarah looked away suddenly ashamed. "I didn't come through the narrow gate, Pastor Winston. Can I go back? Is it too late?" The touch of Pastor Winston's hand on her shoulder made her lift her head and gaze into his kind eyes. "You'll find the narrow gate is just beyond those doors." He pointed to the church. In the distance, a little way down the path, Sarah saw the outline of two gates, one wide and one narrow." "Both roads meet at the worship house," Sarah said, remembering Prince's words. "Are there more than one set of gates?" Pastor Winston shook his head. "No, but sometimes they appear in different places. We find the narrow gate when we are ready to go to the cross. Are you ready, Sarah?" Sarah reached into her pocket to remove Prince's lie pebbles. She couldn't keep them. What would Jesus think of her? "Pastor Winston, will you help me?" She tried to grip the smooth stones, but they wouldn't budge. "They're stuck." "I can't help you, Sarah." Pastor Winston shook his head, his expression sad. "You must take them to the cross." Sarah jerked her hand out of her pocket and began tugging on the bracelet. But like the pebbles, the bracelet would not come off. She pulled and danced in circles yanking and shaking her wrist until finally, she fell to the ground in a heap. Anger surged through her. What a fool she'd been! Pastor Winston bent to kneel at Sarah's side. "Jesus can help you at the cross, Sarah. Will you come?" He offered her his hand, his kind smile beckoning. "Please come, Sarah." Chelsea's blond pigtail bobbed, her freckled nose scrunched in a pleading expression. Sarah nodded, took Pastor Winston's hand and walked in silence toward the Treasureland path. This time Sarah entered at the narrow gate, her eyes focused straight ahead. The sun rose casting its burning rays on their backs. Sweat trickled from Sarah's forehead and heat wilted her energy. With every step, the bracelet tightened around Sarah's wrist pinching her skin, shooting pain up her arm. She dug her fingernails along the edges of the gold, but nothing she did would release it from her arm. "Are we almost there, Pastor Winston?" Mark asked, wiping one hand across his brow. "I could sure use a can of pop about now." Pastor Winston nodded. "The cross is just over this hill." As they crested the low rise, the sky grew dark and a cool wind whipped their clothes against their bodies. "What's happening?" Chelsea asked. Recognizing her sister's fear, Sarah took Chelsea's hand. "Watch," Pastor Winston said. A moment passed in silence as their eyes adjusted to the low light. Clouds scudded across the gray heavens. Sarah squinted, her heart racing at the sight of three crosses scattered on a low hill, where two men hung crucified. The third lay stretched across t-shaped wooden boards, while Roman soldiers bent, holding him down. "Is that Jesus, Pastor Winston? Oh what are they doing to him?" Chelsea pulled her hand from Sarah's grasp and covered her face. "Nailing him to the cross," Pastor Winston answered. Sarah winced, feeling the pain she saw etched on Jesus' face, but she couldn't watch when the soldier swung the hammer to pound the nails into his hands and feet. When they finished with him, lifting the wood beams to stand upright on the earth, Sarah forced herself to look. His body was twisted and broken. Blood streamed from the crown of thorns on his brow. Sarah's heart burned within her and tears stung her eyes. As Jesus writhed in pain, Sarah wanted to run away and hide. But her feet felt like they had bags of sand tied to them, holding them fast to the dirt. "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing." Jesus' words went straight to Sarah's heart. Blackness covered the sky and the sun disappeared from view. Jesus lifted his eyes toward heaven. "Father into your hand I commit my spirit." Then he took a deep breath and died. The scene from the past disappeared and a single empty cross took its place. The sun shone through patches of puffy clouds and the warmth dried the tears on Sarah's face. "Why, Pastor Winston? Why did he have to die?" Sarah asked. Chelsea, Mark and Manuel moved near her, their expressions distraught. Pastor Winston led the children to the shade of a weeping willow tree. "Do you remember when Adam and Eve first sinned?" he asked. "Sure," Mark said, sitting Indian style at Pastor Winston's feet. "They wanted the one thing they couldn't have and disobeyed God." "And what was their punishment for disobeying God?" Pastor Winston asked. "Death." Manuel glanced at the empty cross. "'The wages of sin is death.' That's right, Manuel." Pastor Winston smiled. "But along with their punishment, God promised a Savior would one day come to defeat death and sin and forgive us for all the wrong things we've done. Jesus came to do that." The lie pebbles felt heavy in Sarah's pocket, and she tried once more to pull the bracelet from her arm. They wouldn't budge. Oh why had she ever listened to Prince? It was his fault she was in this mess! "The Bible also says that no one is righteous, not even one." Pastor's Winston's words seeped into her thoughts. "We can't lay the blame for our sin on anyone else. If we would come to the cross, we must come alone. God doesn't forgive us in groups, and He doesn't reward us or punish us for what our parents or friends have done. No one is good, not even one." You can't blame Prince for what you chose to believe, Sarah. The truth pierced, like an arrow in her heart. Burying her face in her hands, Sarah sank to her knees. "Will Jesus forgive me for believing the Pretender, Pastor Winston? Can he really forgive all the wrong things I've done?" "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness," Pastor Winston said. "This is a very important truth nugget. If you admit your sins, and ask Jesus to forgive you, he will." Slowly, Sarah stood. She turned, facing the lonely cross. Step by step she moved closer until she found herself looking up at the jagged wooden beams. All at once, like a rushing river, truth nuggets she had learned in church flooded her thoughts. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me." "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life." "I believe now, Jesus," Sarah said sinking to the dirt. "The words didn't make much sense before, but I understand them now. I'm a sinner as much, maybe more, than anyone else. I've done rotten things to Chelsea and I've gone my own way. But I'm sorry. Will you forgive me? Will you lead me from now on?" As Sarah knelt at the cross, the pebbles suddenly disappeared from her pocket and the bracelet fell from her wrist and was swallowed by a deep hole in the earth. A sense of freedom and forgiveness filled her. She jumped to her feet as laughter spilled from deep within her spirit. Such joy! She turned to look behind her and to her delight, saw Mark, Manuel, Chelsea and Pastor Winston all kneeling at the cross. A new song of praise to Jesus filled her--a song of forgiveness. Continue to Chapter 5