Dana's Valley by Janette Oke Read Free Book Online Page A

around the table. How could that possibly be? We’d seen Grandpa Walsh such a short time ago, and he was just fine. How could he be gone?
    â€œOh, David,” Mom said. She hardly ever called him that. Tears started to fill her eyes and then spill down her cheeks.
    Things were a blur from then on. I don’t really remember all that happened. I do know we completely ig~nored the school bus. I guess no one was even thinking of it. I also remember being assigned the task of looking after Corey. I was to read to him to get his mind off what had just occurred and keep him busy while Mom and Dad made phone calls. It didn’t work. He kept wanting to talk about it. Asking all sorts of questions that I couldn’t answer.
    â€œHow did he get dead?”
    â€œHis heart stopped working.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI don’t know. Maybe it was sick. Or tired. Maybe it had worked too long.”
    â€œDid it hurt?”
    â€œI don’t know.” I didn’t want to admit that I suspected it had been very painful.
    â€œWhy couldn’t the doctor fix it?”
    â€œI don’t know. Maybe there wasn’t a doctor in time. Maybe there wasn’t anything he could do.”
    â€œWhen can he come see us again?”
    â€œHe won’t be coming again, honey,” I said as gently as I could.
    â€œNever? Why?”
    â€œBecause when people are dead they aren’t here with us anymore.”
    â€œWhere do they go?”
    That was a tough one. I knew that if people loved God and had asked Him to forgive their sins, they could go to heaven when they died. I didn’t know—for sure—if Grandpa Walsh had ever done that. I did know that my folks had taught us to pray for him—and Grandma. Corey’s question troubled me. What if—? What if Grandpa Walsh had not taken care of this very important matter before he died?
    â€œDo you want to hear the rest of the story or not?” I asked a bit sharply. I don’t think Corey really wanted to continue, but I started to read again anyway.
    Mom came to rescue me before too long. “I’m sorry, Erin. But Daddy and I had things we had to take care of. I’ll look after Corey now.” As she spoke the words she lowered herself to the sofa beside Corey and scooped him into her arms. I could see that her eyes were still puffy from crying, though she tried to force out a smile.
    â€œMaybe you should go see Dana. I think she needs some company.”
    I didn’t even ask where. Dana would be in our bedroom. I headed there, sort of in need of company myself.
    I found Dana stretched out on her bed. She’d been crying, but now she just looked sad and lonely—and maybe a little bit scared. I wondered if she too was thinking about whether Grandpa Walsh had asked God to forgive him. When I walked in the door, we looked at each other and then we both started crying again. I crossed to Dana’s bed and flopped down beside her. We entangled our arms around one another and sobbed rather noisily.
    We didn’t cry for long. I guess we both knew we had to talk. We sniffed and snuffled and reached for the tissues. We still didn’t know much about what had happened. We only knew that we’d just lost a grandpa whom we loved. We were going to miss him.
    â€œPoor Grandma,” said Dana. “She’ll be so lonely.” I nodded and blew my nose.
    â€œI didn’t know he was sick,” I said.
    â€œI don’t think anyone did.”
    We both thought about that for a little while.
    Dana spoke again. “I didn’t know you could die like that—so fast. I thought you had to be sick first. I thought …” But she didn’t finish.
    â€œI’m gonna miss him,” I said and almost started to cry again. Dana nodded silently.
    We were still in our room trying to comfort each other and sharing our thoughts and our grief when Dad knocked on our door. First he just held out his