Opening her eyes, she stared down at the silent baby. “Wake up. Arise, my precious babe. In Jesus’ name.”
Nothing. Not a single movement, nor the wisp of a breath.
“Ridiculous,” Aaron said from behind her.
Ignoring him, she brushed dark locks of Callie’s hair from her forehead. “Awake, little one, in Jesus’ name.”
???
Thomas fought back tears. Poor Callie. The tornado must have ripped her from her mother’s arms. At least it had not taken her too far away before the winds ceased. But this?
He swallowed down a burst of emotion, wanting to do something, but knowing he couldn’t. What kind of God would take the life of such an innocent baby? He sank to his knees in despair. Sara joined him, sobbing as if it was her own child. Aaron stood to the side, watching in unbelief.
Tori took the babe from Brianna and uttered nonsensical words, something about the child waking up. Had she gone mad? How cruel! Rising, he started toward her. Her words would only cause more pain for Brianna. It was best to let the mother mourn, and afterward, they could find a place to bury the babe in peace. Even thinking such a thing brought more tears to his eyes.
He swatted them away.
Callie looked so small and frail in Tori’s arms. She spoke more nonsense over the child, breaking Brianna’s heart further.
“Tori, maybe it’s best to stop—” Thomas started.
Callie gasped. A small breath at first, but finally her chest began to rise and fall, softly at first, barely noticeable. But then she opened her eyes and stared up at Tori. Reaching up, she put her chubby little fingers in Tori’s mouth and giggled as if she’d just awoken from an afternoon nap.
Squealing, Brianna took Callie from Tori’s arms. “Thank you! Thank you!” More tears poured down her cheeks.
Carla giggled and hugged her mom.
“Don’t thank me,” Tori said, wiping her face. “All God’s doing.”
“I can’t believe it!” Brianna exclaimed, laughing and bouncing Callie up and down with glee.
Neither did Thomas. “She must have just been knocked out when she hit the ground.”
Brianna gazed up at him, her dark eyes sparkling, her face a puffy mess, but her expression one of sheer happiness. “No. She was dead, Thomas. She had no breath in her.” She glanced back at her baby. “The Lord brought her back.”
Grunting, Aaron hobbled over to them, but Sara remained where she was, staring at the scene as if she were watching a movie.
Thomas couldn’t blame her. He’d seen many strange things in his life, but someone rising from the dead? Couldn’t be. “People don’t just come back to life.”Unless they were gods, like Aali.
“Onafiel told me she would.” Carla knelt and caressed her sister’s cheek. “I told you not to worry, Mama.”
Tori rose and smiled at him. “Not without Jesus, they don’t. You should know that from the Bible. He raised several people from the dead, not to mention Himself.”
“Those are just fables.” Yet Thomas couldn’t take his eyes off Callie cooing in her mother’s arms.
“Apparently not.” Tori winked at him then glanced up at the sky, a hazy blue now with no signs there’d been a storm only moments before. Everything dripped around them, a symphony of musical taps that seemed oddly soothing.
Lifting her hands toward heaven Tori praised the living God. What a sodden mess she was, a wonderfully beautiful sodden mess, and he longed to take her in his arms. Despite the fact she was certifiably crazy. Rising from the dead. Bah.
Yet… he’d been sure the child was dead.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Revelation 12:11
Chapter 22
Not only had the rain stopped and the skies cleared, but the next day as they approached the outskirts of downtown Atlanta, there was no indication a tornado had passed through the city at all. No flattened buildings, no cars overturned, no piles of rubble. Thomas could make no sense of it. A tornado that size would have left an unfathomable trail of destruction. When he’d asked Tori about it, she’d simply replied, “It was a spiritual storm, not a physical one.” At that, he’d laughed and said that for a spiritual storm, he’d sure felt the wind and rain.
