Despite a sweep of the sanctuary, led by Billie and her husband Jason who were in town to celebrate Christmas with his parents, and working along with the local police officers in the search too, Arnold managed to sneak out through a side door. By the time they were able to find Arnold's rented vehicle, he had taken his private jet back to his offices in Topeka. Billie and Jay also had their baby daughter with them (the girl whose conception had made Lucy so happy when the whole debacle started was born on April Fools' Day, the anniversary of the couple's first meeting on a blind date), who was crying the whole time and finally had to be calmed down by Heather and Maighread.

Christmas and the three days that followed passed without incident. On the big day, all the pastor's families gathered together, along with Sam, David, Ashleigh and Samantha. They were grateful for being privileged, but also for their families too and a congregation they loved to serve.

The trial in Los Angeles was just two weeks away from resuming. Sam and David knew that Harry and Prudence had now turned on each other. They were worried that all the ministers would get caught in the crossfire ... but no more so than Patrick and Tammy, since it was Patrick publicly declaring he had been abused that drove prosecutors to action. As he and his wife were now married as well as expecting, they and their unborn twins were all in danger - not to mention their other children. The brothers, along with Ruthie, tried to figure out how to best protect the Wilkinsons, but realized they were powerless. All they could do was pray.

Three days before New Year's, Hope visited Samantha and David in their apartment. While they were exchanging niceties, Hope noticed dozens of three inch white binders on the bookshelf, each with a label.

"May I ask what they are?" inquired Hope.

"For the last four years, Ashleigh and I have gone on an independent research project of sorts," said Samantha. "Totally alienated from our home church, we decided to start going through the Bible, chapter by chapter, and write a commentary about the Scriptures."

"Are you serious? At your age?"

"Yes. And we decided not to rely on any previously published piece of work of any kind, we just wrote what we thought each chapter meant to us. Usually it was obvious, but when my sister and I disagreed we'd talk it over until we came to a consensus - or say there were at least two ways to think about it and what they were."

"Kind of sounds like what the founders of the Watchtower, and later its splinter group the Dawn Students, would have done."

"Except they denied some of the Bible's plainest teachings, and insisted on celebrating only Jewish holidays. Ashe and I rejected that on Day One of our project. We've stuck to what we believe are the real Bible principles, then work from there."

"Sole fide?"

"Yes."

"Predestination?"

"That's one point where my sis and I disagree. She says yes, I say no. We make arguments for both."

"The sacraments?"

"We decided there are three, not seven or two. We settled on baptism, communion ... and marriage."

"Why marriage?" asked Hope, although she didn't really have to ask.

"Marriage is a covenant with God," said Samantha, "as well as a legal contract. Marriage binds two people for life. For us, the only acceptable grounds for divorce are adultery, physical or drug abuse, and harming one's own children. Those alone break the sacred covenant. We can't understand the concept of 'irreconcilable differences' where none of what I just listed is true."

"Revelation?"

"Pure allegory. But what a lot of preachers on TV have to say about is laughable. About the seven churches, the seven trumpets and the 144,000 to name a few. Ashe and I go into verse by verse interpretation of the book in Binders Twelve and Thirteen. Our interpretation is no better or worse than anyone else's but we've put a different spin on it."

Hope asked Samantha for one of the binders. She was given the sisters' commentary on the Gospel of John.

Hope opened it. She kept reading, and reading in silence. For fifteen minutes, right up to to the sister's analysis of Chapter 11 about the the resurrection of Lazarus. Finally, she silently put the binder down.

"Samantha," she finally said, "this is the most incredible commentary I have ever read! You and Ashleigh have taken it from a totally different standpoint from previous commentators, yet you're still right on the money. David ... have you read this?"

"Sure I have, Hope," said David. "So has Sam."

"What do you think?"

"Why do you think I made love with her? She's not just my love, but my conscience too! I'm proud of what Samantha and Ashleigh have written, and so is Sam. I think this is why he and Ashleigh kicked heels, too!"

May I ask you something, Samantha?" asked Hope.

"Sure," said Samantha.

"Do you have these commentaries on CD-ROM's or a data stick?"

"Sure." The woman retrieved the latter from a drawer and gave it to Hope.

"I want to send some of these to one of my favorite professors at the seminary I attended. What have you got so far?"

"The entire New Testament, the Pentateuch, and Psalms and Proverbs. Psalm 119 actually covers half a binder - it took us two months to get through that chapter. Ashe and I are working on the rest of the Old Testament, we've been going back and forth. We're about half way done, maybe a little more, and think we'll have it all ready in the next two years."

"Amazing!" said Hope. "Would you like to have this published?"

"You think this is good enough for a book? We only meant it as a personal reference for ourselves." Samantha was stunned.

"I think we have a best-seller here. This will bring Bible interpretation, and hermeneutics to the layperson. I think we can publish this in six to eight installments over the next three to four years, and it doesn't have to be in chronological order."

"If you want to shop it, by all means. Let's see what happens."

"Okay, I'll send the guy John, Romans, Colossians, Revelation from the NT ... Exodus and Psalms from the OT. And we'll go from there."

"Thanks, Hope. I wasn't expecting this, but let's give it a shot!"

"What might Ashe think?"

"I'm sure she'll be delighted." Samantha smiled, kissed David, and then winked at Hope.

Hope uploaded the commentaries to her hard drive and e-mailed the professor, the Reverend Fulton St. George. All she would say was the two authors were friends of hers but they wanted to remain anonymous until they heard back. On the day after New Year's, Fulton phoned Hope directly. He began by asking how she and her wife were doing, then how her pregnancy was going. Hope said Ruthie and her were just fine, her baby was progressing quite nicely, and that Ruthie was going to get pregnant again with the help of an old family friend.

"What kind of friend?" asked Fulton.

"Her sister's ex-boyfriend in middle school."

"That's unconventional."

"They're very good friends. He came back into her life a year and a half ago in a most unusual way, right when she and Peter divorced, and yes, for a very unconventional reason, but it was like old times. He's actually been helpful to all of us, in fact."

"May I ask how?"

"Unfortunately I can't tell you, Fulton," said Hope. "What he's provided us over that time is on a 'need to know' basis. At this point in time, you don't need to know. Sorry."

"No, I know what you mean, Hope. This has something to do with your parents' trial. He must be on the witness list. Okay, I'll drop it for now."

"Thank you. So ... I presume you've read what I sent you."

"I have."

"And?" Hope drew a breath, waiting to exhale.

"I immediately forwarded your e-mail and its attachments to four of the foremost Bible scholars in the country, from all four corners of our Union. Three are Protestant, one is Catholic. While I was waiting to hear from them, I reviewed for a second time what I had read, then started making notes."

Hope groaned.

"No, Hope, it's not what you think," said Fulton. "I have made a half dozen emendations which I will forward to you for the authors' approval. I figure they may be more when I see the rest of the NT, but I don't think there'll be a lot. I've suggested some minor corrections, although there is one point they totally got wrong. I'm sure they won't object. But otherwise ... these guys are the most brilliant expounders of the Christian faith since the Wesley brothers three centuries ago!"

"It's that good?" asked Hope. This was even better than what she hoped for.

"Beyond good. It's an extraordinary accomplishment in Christian scholarship!"

"What did the others say?" asked Hope.

"Between the five of us, a total of twenty-five suggestions, and that accounts for duplicates. But the others said what was presented to them was a masterpiece. Matter of fact, the Catholic scholar said despite his disagreement with the authors' 'three sacraments' theory, he's prepared to offer a Nihil Obstat."

Hope knew what that meant. It was a declaration that the book was free of anything that might challenge faith or morals.

"That's incredible! A commentary that is acceptable to evangelicals, mainliners and Catholics? We may have hit the jackpot here!"

"You certainly have, Hope. Your friends are heroes of the Christian faith. They may be the answers to the crisis we've been having in the broader Church, no thanks to those with whom you used to associate."

"Okay, Fulton, do you have any questions?"

"Well, just a few. Can you tell me who the authors are?"

"I'll tell you, but first ... have you seen any of my church's webcasts?"

"Just the one where you lit the congregation on fire with your sermon about the Rapture a few months back. But I haven't even seen your website since then. Why?"

Hope paused for about ten seconds.

"The authors are two women, twins, who have been on this journey for four years and plan to spend another two or three finishing their work. But they're taking a break since, it just so happens, they're expecting."

"May I have some names Hope ... please?" asked Fulton.

"Their names are Ashleigh and Samantha Atkinson. They're non-practicing Catholics who have been leaning Protestant for quite some time, no doubt thanks to the influence of their boyfriends who, like me, are PKs." Preacher's kids.

Hearing that, Fulton feared his next question, but knew he had to ask it.

"How old are they?"

"Seventeen. And they're both expecting too. They're living at our home for unweds, at least for the time being."

"Okay, fine. It's alright. I honestly don't care if they got knocked up, which is what I'm presuming happened," said Fulton.

"Yes," said Hope.

"I'm guessing they've decided to carry to term, even though they're scared."

"They're beyond scared," said Hope. "But yes, they are going through with their pregnancies, they're safe here, and they can't wait until the blessed events."

"I'll pray that both women deliver safely. Still ... regarding this work ... have they ever referred to any Bible commentaries? Utley?"

"No."

"Henry? Darby? Guzig? Weatherill?"

"Nope, nope, nope and nope," said Hope.

"Any references to concordances, such as Strong's?"

"They say no."

"Have they referred to the Web? Made any reference at all to the great preachers of the past or our time?"

"Other than a few direct references to Dr Graham's books, and it's just those few, maybe a half dozen or so, no."

"Hope, are you telling me that Samantha and Ashleigh - two seventeen year olds ... have they gone to parochial school or attended Sunday school classes?

"Neither."

"Then, they have done this, entirely on their own? Is that what they've told you?"

"I have no reason to believe they're lying. I only met them recently, and I have to say that they're the most Christ-centered people I have met in my sixteen years as an ordained minister. Even more so than Felicity, which she would readily agree with. Even with all the schooling I have and going after the bad guys for years, I don't hold a candle to these sisters. They were showing wisdom beyond their years last week - they gave the Christmas sermon this year - and this was before they let me read their commentaries."

Fulton was floored. "This is ... I'm at a loss for words. They truly have the Holy Spirit with them! And they've done all of this, in their spare time?"

"Besides dating and volunteering in their home community, including at my wife's sister's church, yes."

"That's fantastic! That alone guarantees this will be a best seller. Okay, I'll call a publisher and see what we can do to get this moving. I think we can do the first book, in about four months from now."

"That fast?"

"Yes! Do the sisters have any publishing schedule in mind?"

"Yes," said Hope. "They've completed their review of the New Testament, so they want to go with the Gospels and Acts, the Letters, and Revelation, in that order ... about four to six months apart. For the Old Testament, they're doing the Law first, then Psalms and Proverbs next - they're ready to publish too. They tell me they're going back and forth with the rest of the books, both history and prophets. They think by the time the Psalms book is printed, they'll be done with history, and then they'll finish the prophets seven to nine months after that."

"If that's how they want to go ahead with this, that can certainly be arranged," said Fulton. "Oh, and Hope?"

"Yes, Fulton?"

"Make sure Ashleigh and Samantha have a good book agent. Technically they need one, and he or she is going to make a killing ... and the sisters will be set for life for them and their children."

"Thank you so much for your help. I hope to see you soon! Until then, Fulton, Godspeed," said Hope. The call ended.

Hope could not wait to tell the sisters the good news. Ashleigh and Samantha squealed with delight and jumped up and down for nearly a minute. But they knew there was a big challenge ahead of them. Two, in fact; and they lay just around the corner. And of course, they had to make to the finish line and give birth. They wondered if they would make it there.