Clearwater, Chapter 5

The Standoff at Empire Stone Works

“Well, Edith, it’s so good to see you, and your grandchildren,” said Reverend Wilhelm as he greeted them warmly with a handshake and handed each a bulletin.

Knox blurted out, loud enough for more than a few to hear, “I think this is the first time I’ve ever actually gone to church. I mean, I’ve been inside church buildings for different things, but never for church.”

Avery nodded. “Me too.”

Lily, meanwhile, was wide-eyed, looking around at the stained-glass windows that colored the light with deep reds and blues. They slid into a pew near the back, second from the end. Lily immediately picked up one of the tiny pencils and started scribbling on the corner of an envelope.

“Avery!” Knox whispered sharply. “Tell her to stop that.”

“What?” Lily whispered back.

“Don’t embarrass Grandma,” Knox growled.

Grandma glanced over at them and smiled gently. “It’s all right.”

One by one, old men in suspenders and their wives with bluish-gray hair shuffled in. Several stopped to greet Grandma, shaking her hand, telling her how sorry they were about Grandpa, and how they wished they could’ve made the service, but each offered some sort of excuse. Grandma nodded graciously, taking it all in stride.

The pipe organ swelled, filling the sanctuary as everyone stood. Reverend Wilhelm stepped behind the pulpit, greeted the congregation, and asked them to turn to A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in their hymnals.

The kids tried their best to sing, stumbling over the tune, but by the final verse they had managed to catch on. Much of the service felt strange—standing up, sitting down, repeating words in unison, singing hymns that sounded ancient. But then the Reverend began preaching from Psalm 18.

A lot of it went over their heads, but Knox was struck by a line that lodged itself in his heart: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.”

The idea landed in a way nothing else had. Knox thought of the tower-defense game he played on his iPhone—building defenses, launching attacks from the safety of a fortress. He had always imagined God as something soft and distant, like a frail old grandfather—gentle, but not much help. But this was different. Even God’s name, just His name, was described as a strong tower—safe, solid, and bristling with strength. Not weak, not sentimental. Strong.

After the service, the kids’ cheeks were promptly pinched by more than a few of Grandma’s old friends, and they filed back to the farmhouse. For most of them, the afternoon promised little more than lazing about.

But Avery’s mind was already buzzing. She had different plans.