"Tim LaHaye - Left Behind Kids 01 - Vanishings" - читать интересную книгу автора (LaHaye Tim)

could do anytime.

Judd felt the most guilty when he was twelve years old and many of his Sunday school classmates signed
up to be baptized. Their teacher and Pastor Billings made clear to them that this was an act of obeying
Christ, a step taken by Christians to declare themselves followers of Jesus.

As the students were baptized, they were asked to tell about when they had received Christ. Judd had
done the unthinkable. He had quoted Scripture and made up a story about when he had become a
Christian "once by myself at camp."

He felt guilty about that for weeks, never having the guts to tell his parents or his Sun-day school
teacher. Yet something kept him from confessing to God and getting things right with Christ. Now he was
sixteen and had feelings and thoughts he believed no one would understand. He was bored with his
church, frustrated with his parents, and secretly proud that he wasn't really part of the church crowd. He
went because he had to, but someday soon he would make his own decisions.

With the small error on that credit card, Judd Thompson Jr. had his ticket to freedom. He had seen his
dad get cash with his credit card at the bank and at the automatic teller machines. And he knew that
almost anything could be paid for with that magic card.

Of course, one day the bill would come and his parents would be able to trace where he had been. But
he could put a lot of miles between himself and them in the meantime.

For several days, Judd saved cash, with-drawing as much as he could each day from the automatic teller
machine. He hid the money with the passport he had gotten the year before when his father took him
along on a business trip to Asia. He had been mis-erable on that trip and let his dad know it every chance
he got. Judd Sr. had finally given up trying to convince Judd Jr. that this was "the opportunity of a
lifetime."

Secretly Judd had to admit that he enjoyed the hotels, the meals, and even learning how to get around in
foreign cities with different cultures and languages. But he wasn't about to tell his dad that. Judd knew
Dad had dragged him along only to get him away from his new friends, the ones his mother called the
"evil influences." It was also sup-posed to be a time for him and his dad to bond---whatever that meant.
Dad had tried, Judd had to give him that, but there had been no bonding. Mostly it was just Judd
scowling, complaining, arguing, and begging to go home.

At least he got a passport out of the deal. That, along with his new driver's license and the credit card,
gave him what he thought was complete freedom. A friend had told him he looked old enough to pass for
twenty-one and that he should get a fake identification card that would allow him to buy liquor in Illinois.
It was cheaper and easier than he thought to get both his driver's license and his passport copied with a
new birth date.

His plan was to take his stash of cash and go to O'Hare International Airport some night. He would take
the first flight he could get to another English-speaking country. Beyond that, his plan was not clear. One
thing was sure: He wasn't going to bum around begging for a place to stay. He would live first-class all
the way.

Now Judd was a criminal. He told himself he wasn't scared. Breaking the law only made him bolder
about his plan, and he began making up reasons why he had to get away from home as soon as possible.