The Midnight Intuders
Chapter 4
In the morning the girls did not wake up until eight-o-clock. Kate made her bed, and Emilie folded up the blankets that she had slept on and got dressed. Then Kate explained to Emilie that she read the Bible and prayed every morning before leaving her room to go to breakfast, and she asked if Emilie would like to join her.
Emilie said that she would really enjoy that, and so soon the girls were busy reading aloud to each other out of Kate’s Bible. When their devotions were over, they left the room and went downstairs to the kitchen.
Edward was not down yet, so the girls decided to start breakfast without him. Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap were there at the table eating. “Can I make you kids some breakfast?” Mrs. Dunlap offered. “Run upstairs, Emilie, and see if your brother is awake and about ready to come down.” Emilie did as she was told, and came back down with Edward right behind her.
After a good breakfast of eggs, bacon, and biscuits, Edward and Emilie said that they wanted to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap and ask them a question. Emilie told their story to the Dunlaps, who listened intently.
“It was a really bad idea to run away,” Emilie said after explaining their situation. “But now we can’t go back to the orphanage or we’ll be punished pretty badly. I guess we do deserve it, though,” she added almost humorously. “Edward and I have decided to do what you say is best. I know that your family can be trusted because of what Kate told me last night after we all went to bed.”
“What was that?” Mr. Dunlap questioned, curious.
Emilie said, “Last night Kate and I were talking. I told her our story like I just told you. Well, I asked her why you were all being so good to us. She explained that it was because you are Christians. She explained to me very clearly how to be saved, and – I trusted Christ to save me last night!”
Before the surprised Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap could respond, Edward spoke up, “I was saved last night, too!”
“What?!” Kate looked at Edward in astonishment. “How—”
Edward and Emilie burst into laughter. “After you were asleep, Kate, Emilie came into my room to tell me about how Jesus saved her, and I wanted to be saved, too. Emilie told me how to be saved, like you told her, and I accepted Christ! Isn’t that fantastic?”
“Praise the Lord!” Mr. Dunlap shouted. Everyone hugged each other and acted like old friends who had known each other for years, instead of just having met each other the night before.
After all of the excitement had calmed down a bit, Edward returned to the previous topic. “So do you, Mr. or Mrs. Dunlap, have any ideas about what we should do? I mean, concerning the orphanage, of course.”
No one said anything for a minute. Then Mr. Dunlap said, “I guess the right thing to do would be to go back to the orphanage. I know it will be really hard for you, but if you’d like, Mrs. Dunlap can call the orphanage first, to let them know what happened, and we’ll drive you back in our car.”
“Okay,” Emilie said reluctantly. “I guess you’re right. That’s what we need to do. We’ll sure miss all of you, though! You’ll come visit us sometime, won’t you?”
“Of course!” Mrs. Dunlap said. “I know this is going to be hard for you two, but remember that you are both children of the King. The Lord will be with you there in the orphanage, and you can trust Him to give you strength.”
Edward nodded solemnly. “All right; I guess you had better make that phone call.” Emilie nodded in agreement. Edward continued. “Oh, if you’re going to call the orphanage, I think that you’d better know our last name. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you before, but we just didn’t think of it!” He laughed. “Our last name is Powers.”
Now it was Mrs. Dunlap’s turn to look a little surprised. Kate wondered what in the world was going on. First Edward is surprised to hear “Dunlap,” and now Mom is surprised to hear “Powers!” she thought. Oh, well, it’s probably just a coincidence.
Mrs. Dunlap was on the phone for only a few minutes. When she hung up she turned and said to Kate and the twins, “Well, I have some news. It could be either good or bad, depending on how you look at it. The man who answered the phone said that now is a very bad time to bring you two back to the orphanage. He said they’re really busy right now, have something big going on, or something like that. Anyway, he said that maybe in a few days it would work out better to bring you kids back.”
“See what I mean?” Emilie exclaimed indignantly. “They don’t care about us at all! That orphanage is not a good place to be.”
“Well, at least you’ll be staying with us for a few more days,” Mrs. Dunlap said with a smile. “I’ve only known you two for a few hours, but yet it seems like you’re old friends!” Then, to herself, she muttered, “I wonder if I’ve seen those twins somewhere before. They sure look familiar.”
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