The Escape: Chapter Seven: The Moment

Between bouts of restless tossing in bed and reading the notes in the Moore Bible, I’m sure I didn’t relax at all. Four hours before sunrise, I rolled from bed and woke Alaina, who had slept poorly as well.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Not at all. Let’s go.”

I went to collect our gear from the closet while she woke JJ.

Alaina and I would each carry a bag and a rifle. JJ wouldn’t be able to keep up, so we would trade off holding him.

The boy trudged down the stairs, but his eyes widened when he saw me and the rifles. “Are we going hunting?” he asked with a smile.

“No. We’re going on a trip.”

“Where?”

“It’s a surprise. Are you ready to go?”

He had on his denim pants and boots. His eyes drooped and he yawned. Good. Perhaps he would sleep across the border.

Alaina’s wide eyes darted here and there, but she stayed calm while she visually inspected the gathered bags.

I hoisted a duffel onto my back. Alaina gathered the food she had prepared for our journey and stuffed it in her bag. JJ’s eyebrows were drawn close together, but he let his mother pick him up.

“Okay,” she said. “Let’s go. You can go to sleep, JJ.”

“Are we visiting another town? Galilee? Bethany? Bethlehem?”

I patted his head. “You’ll see when we get there.”

After years of planning, the moment settled on us. Alaina’s eyes met mine. Had we thought of everything? Considered every angle? Was leaving the best possible choice? It wasn’t the first time I had agonized over my choices about my family, but it felt like the biggest.