Faith to escape

Laura learned from Edward that he intended to take her away with him, regardless of what she thought. He felt convinced that she could and would learn to love him.

He allowed her two more days in the hotel into which he had instructed his bodyguard assistant to book her, by way of abduction. During this time she should consider her position and decide whether she wanted to take Monique with her or not, Edward informed her.

The man was clearly fanatical. So Laura knew that she could not reason with him. Yet, she also could not bring herself to even begin to consider what he is suggesting.

Where was Blake, she wondered frantically, from the one moment to the next. This was during her moments of mental clarity.

She was slipping in and out of consciousness, because of the drugs which Edward was instructing his bodyguard to feed her. This henchman gave it to her in the form of fruit juice. He and Edward forced her to drink it.

Laura kept thinking about Monique's safety. She had to do what was best for her. She could not allow her daughter to become her co-prisoner.

***

During the night, after having read words of encouragement from the Bible, like: "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world," Blake felt at ease. Then, after having repeated it to himself over and over, he fell asleep.

At some point during the night he woke up and wondered what had awoken him.

He sat up and looked around himself. Across the bedroom Jared seemed to be soundly asleep. At least sleep brought some measure of oblivion.

Then Blake experienced a sudden urge to get up and try the door handle, even though he knew as a fact, that it should be locked.

He got up and tried it anyway and to his surprise he discovered that the door was not locked.

"Could I be dreaming?" Blake wondered. Then he decided to wake Jared up and inform him about the door being unlocked.

Jared was surprised to be woken up by Blake, who was speaking to him in a whisper, "Get up quickly and come look at this."

So Jared scrambled out of bed at the mention of these few urgent words.

Jared was surprised to see that the door was indeed open, but he immediately realized that this might be a trick, set up to test them. He told Blake about his suspicion.

"No, no!" Blake protested.

"This is our chance. Let's go try and find Carminda and Shannon. They might be able to come out if we helped them."

Jared did not know if this was wise, but decided to put on his shoes and follow Blake, who suddenly seemed very bold.

Blake also put on his shoes and a jacket. He advised Jared to take his own jacket as well.

They crept noiselessly down the hallway, until they reached the door to the two sisters' bedroom and immediately the very same impulse to try the door handle overcame Blake.

He followed his instinct and did this without delay.

Blake almost shouted out in surprise when this door opened as well. At this point, they should be careful not to startle the women.

Jared, on the other hand, experienced the opposite of Blake's instincts. He now felt more convinced than before, that they were being set up.

Before Jared could voice his fears, Blake had already entered the room and he walked across the room to wake up the twins.

Carminda and Shannon were already awake when he reached them though and Blake could understand why Carminda had psychic powers.

He whispered to her, telling her that they would have to seize this opportunity at attempting an escape.

Shannon seemed suspicious, but Carminda instantly understood Blake's surge of courage and decided that they should leave right then.

Reluctantly, Shannon and Jared followed Blake and Carminda down the rest of the hallway which led to the veranda at the back of the house, near the kitchen and scullery area.

Blake experienced a burning desire―more than at any other time before―to start praying right then.

He did not know where to begin though, so he prayed the first few words which automatically spill out of him when he opened his mouth.

In this manner, he found himself uttering the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus taught his disciples when he was still on earth, "Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…"

Blake softly repeated the prayer over and over, many times. The others behind him did not know what he was whispering, but they followed him blindly.

Strangely, the dogs appeared to have fallen asleep and so apparently have the guards who had abducted them, because there appeared to be no one out on the farmyard.

So, the escaping party rushed quickly towards the gate, which was a short distance away.

Blake began to pray differently after about five minutes of brisk walking.

He made a prayer of pleading on Laura and Monique's behalf; begging God to spare him for their sakes.

At short intervals his eyes were blinded by tears running burningly down his face.

They reached the gate after about ten minutes of walking and running. Blake and Jared then agreed to throw their jackets over the top of the razor-wire fence, because there was a heavy lock on the gate.

The two men helped Carminda and Shannon each across the two metre high fence, successfully. They were strong enough, because they had been fed well and luckily both young women were fit and had long legs.

They did not take long to climb the fence, because they were both dancers and former gymnasts.

When Blake and Jared were both over the gate and had each jumped down to the ground, they began to sprint immediately, with the two ladies following.

They ran until they reached the main road which ran past the farm. Then they stopped and hid in a ditch briefly, to catch their breath and to confer about what to do next.