A tree had hit Sarge and was dragging him along the river. What would happen next?

Gary screamed and ran towards the river. Tony pushed him, and he slipped and fell on a sharp rock. Then all went black.

When he woke up, he knew he was back in the Morgan house. How had he gotten there? Where was Sarge? Then he remembered…..Sarge had fallen into the river and then got hit by a tree. He remembered Tony had pushed him and ran into the river. He remembered how he had thought that they didn’t need church people. He tried to mumble something.

Mrs. Davis came into the room with Susan and Scott. “Oh! Gary, you’re awake,”Mrs Davis said.

“Where is Tony and Sarge?,” asked Scott. “I wish I knew,” mumbled Mrs. Davis.

“Oh! Gary could have gotten hurt when Tony ran into the river. His head could have gotten cut open. Oh, I don’t want to talk about it,”gasped Susan.

“Then don’t,” whispered Scott. Later, after Mrs. Davis had told Scott and Susan to go to bed, and she sat down to read in the room with Gary. After a while, Gary heard a scratching sound. Mrs. Davis was asleep. Then he heard a door turning on old hinges. He wanted to scream but couldn’t. The noise got closer and closer. Then Gary let out a yell. Mrs. Davis awoke with a gasp. Then she heard Gary’s voice. He was crying….And in his arms was Sarge. That’s when they saw Tony. He was scratched and bleeding. Mrs. Davis ran to him and hugged him, and started crying like a baby.

Tony moaned. “I just had to find Sarge. I just had to.”

“Tony, you did this for Sarge and me?” asked Gary, his eyes full of tears. He remembered he had..well… sort of disliked them because they wanted to renovate the church. “Why?” Gary asked again.

“I just had to,” came Tony’s reply.

“Thanks.” Gary whispered. Tony turned and slightly nodded.

☀️THE NEXT MORNING☀️

Gary woke up with a groan. Mrs. Davis and Susan came in carrying some food for Sarge.

“Oh, look! Sarge walks perfectly!”exclaimed Susan in her usual loud voice.

“Yes, Sarge will be just fine,” laughed Mrs. Davis.

Tony and Scott walked in. Tony had seen the doctor and was feeling better.

After they had all eaten and Gary had enough energy. Mrs. Davis had something to tell them. “As I was cleaning my basement, “Mrs. Davis began, “I found something. Follow me.”

The children silently followed her. When she reached a small room, she led them to a table. They all watched with eager eyes as she lifted up the lid of a very old box. As the children peeked inside, the box revealed lots of beautiful gold coins. As Mrs. Davis looked at their sparkling eyes she explained,” My grandfather wrote in his will that he wanted these gold coins to be used for something good.”

“I’m something good. And my favorite color is gold,” Scott pouted.

“No, you’re not. But I am,” boasted Susan.

“You guys,” said Gary. “This is serious.” Everyone turned and stared at him. “Anyway, I know what these coins should be used for,” he stated.

“What?,” everyone asked.

“To remodel the church,” he said quietly. Everyone gasped. Did Gary really say that?

“But you don’t like church,” Susan whispered.

“Well, maybe I would if I knew more about it,” he mumbled. He wanted to say he thought that if people like them could be so kind, maybe church wasn’t so bad after all. Mrs. Davis smiled as she put an arm around him.

“Yes, Gary,” she said. “That’s a wonderful thing to do.”

Suddenly he let out a yell. “Thanks for everything, Mrs. Davis, Tony!,” he shouted. “Wait till Mom and Dad hear. Hurray!” With that he turned and ran right out the front door!

“Where ya going?,” Scott yelled.

“Home!,” came the cheerful, happy, reply.

“Wait! You can’t get over the…..”

“It’s ok”, said Mrs. Davis. “Let him go. We should drive you kids home. Your parents are probably really worried about you.”

Gary did start to be interested in church. He learned that church is something wonderful.

THE END

Hope you enjoyed the series! Thank you!