Several months later, Josiah found that there WAS a worse place than with his father. The school was very strict and punished him for many things he didn't think were wrong. He had been beaten and abused by the teachers, who were monks. One teacher subjected him to things he didn't know about - things that children of Josiah's age should never have done to them. Josiah daily prayed to God that he would be rescued by angels, never believing that his prayers would be answered even though the rescuer wasn't exactly an angel.
CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7
One day, when Josiah was eight and still at the cruel boarding school, his prayers were finally answered.
That morning, Josiah was sent to one of the tutor's offices and stood in the corner of the office, shaking with fear. He knew what would happen next and wished an angel would come and take him away.
The big man in the long brown robes grinned at him. "There's no need to be frightened. You know you're looking forward to it really, Josiah."
Josiah closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Not long after he'd closed them he heard a noise, like little bells tinkling. He decided to risk seeing the man attack him, just to find out what the bells were, and opened his eyes nervously.
Another man, with short dark-brown hair, stood in the room looking at the now motionless Brother James. Surprisingly, Brother James didn't move at all, as though he were frozen like a statue.
Josiah cautiously took a step toward the stranger, who looked fairly young, but stepped back when the man smiled at him.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you. I've come to rescue you, Josiah. I know what that man did to you in the past; he won't be able to do it to anyone else ever again once the police have arrested him," explained the man, in a soft, gentle voice. "My name's Terrence Potter."
"How do you know MY name?" asked Josiah, still not sure if he could trust this man. He had stopped trusting people a long time ago. He had been sent away from home along with his younger sister, from their violent and abusive father, but he had been sent to a strict religious boarding school where no-one was kind to him.
"I was told your name by the person who helped me find you. You must come with me and I will look after you. I care a lot about children and long for my own. I'd like you to become my son. No harm will ever come to you again, I promise."
Josiah felt he could really trust this man - he was nicer than the tutors at the school. "I have a sister called Hannah at another school, can she come as well?"
"I have been to see her. They are taking good care of her there and they can help her more than I can. I promise that you will be able to visit her though," said Terrence. "We must leave this place before the police get here to arrest this man. Hold my hand and I will take us away from here."
Josiah walked to Mr. Potter and held his hand, noticing the man didn't hold it tightly and fiercely like the tutors had done. Josiah watched in awe as lots of tiny blue and white lights (called orbs) appeared all around them, and then they started to move upward. "Are we going to Heaven?"
"No, just to my house," said Terrence gently.
CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7 - CH7
Shortly after Terrence Potter had rescued Josiah from the strict boarding-school ran by monks, they orbed into the Potters' house. The house was a beautiful, large Victorian and boasted several rooms on three levels as well as the spacious basement under the house. The third level was the attic that had been converted into the Potter couple's bedroom - they preferred to have their bedroom at the top of the house, as they felt safer there. They had known about Josiah for a while but had only just been able to track him down, so they already had a bedroom prepared for the boy.
Josiah looked around him once the blue and white orbs had disappeared, clearing his view of the room he was now standing in. The furniture was modern-looking and he marveled at how expensive and elegant everything looked - it appeared the Potters weren't poor people.
A beautiful, fairly young woman with long, dark brown hair, brown eyes, pale white skin and wearing a dark blue dress walked into the room through an open door. She smiled a motherly smile at the boy and man. Josiah instantly liked and trusted her; she had an aura of goodness around her.
"Gloria, this is Josiah - the boy from your premonitions," introduced Terrence, placing a supportive hand on the boy's shoulder. "I rescued him just in time."
"Thank goodness. If we had failed, the guilt of failing to save him from further pain would have been unbearable to live with."
Terrence let go of Josiah's shoulder, then walked to Gloria and put his arms around her, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "Everything's going to be fine, dear. I knew I would save him on time. The men responsible for his and others' anguish will be put behind bars and the children will be placed into better care."
"I didn't thank you for rescuing me, Sir," said Josiah, as he stepped towards the couple.
"That you are alive and will no longer suffer is all the thanks we need, Son," replied Terrence, smiling at the boy. Then he let go of Gloria and motioned for the boy to join them. Josiah soon found himself being hugged tightly by his new family.
"We shouldn't stand here all day, there's plenty to do," said Gloria. "I've got some cookies baking for you, dear."
"Cookies?" Josiah had never had cookies before, but had heard that they tasted delicious.
"I don't suppose they gave you any treats at that awful place," said Gloria gently, inwardly angry that such strict and uncaring institutions existed.
"No, Ma'am. Just basic food needed to sustain us."
"I'm going to spoil you rotten from now on; you deserve it for putting up with that place for as long as you did."
"It's okay, Ma'am. There's no need to let me disrupt your life. I just need enough to live on: food, water to drink, and a roof over my head. I'm quite happy to sleep on the floor if you don't have a spare mattress."
"No, no. You will receive far better treatment than you did at that terrible place. You will no longer suffer the life of a pauper," said Gloria sternly.
"Let's get you settled in," said Terrence, as he took hold of the boy's hand. The man led Josiah through a hallway, up the stairs and into a small bedroom with light blue walls.
Once there, Josiah looked around the small room; he saw a small, medium-brown wooden desk, a bed with a mid-blue quilt; and several other items of wooden furniture. The furniture included a large wooden toy-box with cheerful pictures of many colors painted all over it. Josiah imagined it was full of toys for him to play with, but wasn't used to such luxury so thought he was probably being too hopeful.
"This is all yours now, Son. We wish you to be very comfortable now you're with us. If there's anything else you need, don't be afraid to ask," said Terrence, looking at the boy intently as he spoke. He noticed that the boy looked stunned by his new surroundings. Terrence felt inwardly angry at how much the boy had missed out on since he'd been sent to that awful boarding school.
"You are very kind, Mr. Potter. But I do not wish to be a burden to you," said Josiah, showing he was grateful, but politely telling the man he didn't mean to be any trouble.
"Please, Josiah, call me Terrence. You are not a burden at all. We are delighted to have you staying here. We have always longed for a child to share our home with us."
"Thank you for all of this, Terrence. I promise I will one day repay all of your kindness."
Terrence smiled at the kind-hearted boy who had suffered so much already.
To be continued...