Prologue

    “Open the door!” a woman yelled.

    I gasped and quickly shoved the book I was writing inside a drawer. My heart raced as I looked in the mirror and tried to fix my appearance.

    Sliding dark sunglasses up to the bridge of my nose, I silently made my way to the door. Resisting the urge to look through the peephole, I waited for the woman to call again, to determine if she was a friend or a foe. Generally, we had a secret knock, but the new believers had yet to learn it.

    The woman spoke again. “On behalf of the government of China, I am Officer Wellstone, and I need you to open this door!”

    Pretending I just heard the woman speak, I said hurriedly, “Oh- Oh! I’m coming; no need to break down the door.”

     Yes, most certainly this woman was a foe. I prayed to God that I wouldn’t get arrested as my shaky hands slowly turned the doorknob. As the door creaked open, I came face-to-face with an officer I didn’t recognize. She was slightly taller than me, and her piercing blue eyes matched her stoic expression.

    “Hello, ma’am, a delight to see you!” I said with fake enthusiasm. “Well, of course, it’s not a delight to know that someone’s breaking the law, but it is nice to see another friendly human being, and I’m ever so lonely-”

    “Okay, okay, enough. I am Officer Wellstone. As I said earlier, if you had been listening, and we’re looking for a woman- well, a girl, I must say- named Rebekah. Have you seen her?”

    Panic arose in me, but I tried not to show it. Besides, it was good news that the woman didn’t recognize me.

    I cleared my throat and said in my sweetest voice, “Why, I don’t believe I have. But you can tell me more about that criminal girl inside, and I’ll serve you some lemon cookies and lemonade, hm? Then I can see if I have ever seen her around here. What do you say?” 

    The woman hesitated, and I heard her walkie-talkie…

    “You’ll have to give me a moment. Don’t leave the house while I’m outside, understood?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” I said meekly, “But am I allowed to go to a different room? I must go and feed my… err…  goldfish.”

    “Yes, but be here in ten minutes. This conversation is not over,” the woman said sternly.

    “But of course,” I smiled. Once the door was safely shut, I ran upstairs frantically. Hurriedly climbing into my secret attic, I grabbed a few necessary items, including a big bag of Bibles.

    I took the telephone off the wall and dialed a number I knew by heart.

    “Hello?” I said, my voice shaky.

    “Rebekah?”
    “Isaiah!” I said. “They found me; what should I do?”

    “They found you and didn’t arrest you?” Isaiah said, puzzled.

    “The officer didn’t recognize me, but she’s on the phone right now-”

    “Then there’s no time to waste,” Isaiah said, always quick to fill in the blank. “The escape tunnel. You know where it’s at.”
    “But… what about all the supplies, and-”

    “I’ll get the rest of the supplies myself later. But for now, take as much as you could carry, and hurry!”

    “Okay, but Isaiah…” I said.

    “Yes?”
    I bit my lower lip. “Why do they want… me? Why are they looking for me, especially?”

    Isaiah sighed.

    “Rebekah… I’m afraid you made it to the wanted list.”