Booktree.ng_Forgotten-Witness

CHAPTER 29
Josie’s Jeep flew past the acres that comprised Camp
Pendleton. No buildings could be seen from the highway, but
there were troops in the high grass practicing maneuvers. For
the most part, though, the base appeared to be nothing more
than miles and miles of beautiful, untouched acres of
California beachfront. The base, though, was not her
destination.
Father C. Ridge no longer served and that came as no
surprise. This information had not been hard to come by. Josie
placed yet one more call to the Veterans Administration. This
time a heartfelt story about a dying father who wanted to get in
touch with the priest got her the information she wanted.
Ridge’s final posting was at Camp Pendleton and when he was
discharged he didn’t go far. He was now the pastor of the
Good Shepherd Church in Oceanside.
She turned the Jeep away from the ocean and wound her
way up the hill through well-kept neighborhoods of ranch
houses and two story homes. Every third house was identical
and pleasant. The neighborhood was uncluttered: no one
painted their garage purple, or hung gargoyles from the eaves,
or put surfboards on their front porches. It was a perfect place
for a family, just not a family like Josie’s.
At the top of the hill she ran into a dead end and made a
right into the parking lot of a church. The Jeep was only one of
three cars in a lot that could accommodate a hundred. Gardens
flanked the church building, birds twittered, sprinklers
chuckled as they spit water five feet onto a perfect lawn,
hesitated, and turned to spray again. Josie got out, stashed her
sunglasses, and pulled open the big church door. She found
herself in a bright, airy nave. In front of her, rising to a
towering peak, was a window that looked out onto the ocean
two miles away. The glass was seamless, a marvel of
engineering. If anything could make a person believe in God it
would be this view: iridescent blue water and cerulean sky,