the stolen gold, but how she convinced the billionaire to use his money to help children throughout the country.
Mara sensed that Pastor Joe was not quite convinced that she actually had any psychic powers. Mara wished that she could somehow prove it to him. At that very moment, Mara had a vision. She saw a house, with a woman and her three young children in it. Mara sensed that something was wrong. She sensed that there was a gas leak in the house and that the woman had to get her children out of the house immediately. In the vision, Mara saw a phone number. She immediately wrote down the number.
As the vision faded, Mara asked Pastor Joe if she could use his phone. Mara called the phone number from her vision and when a lady answered, Mara told her that there was a gas leak in her house and that she needed to get her children out immediately. The lady sensed that Mara was telling the truth and she immediately took her children outside and across the street. Then, Mara called the fire department and told them to get to the address as soon as possible. Mara somehow, knew the address as well.
After Mara hung up the phone, Pastor Joe was staring at Mara, not knowing what to think. Less than five minutes later, Mara and Pastor Joe heard a very loud explosion. When they went outside, they saw smoke coming from a few blocks away. Pastor Joe and Mara got into his car, and headed in the direction of the fire. When they arrived, they saw that a house had exploded and was totally engulfed in flames. When Pastor Joe asked a firefighter whether anyone was in the house, he was told that a woman and her three children had gotten out just before the house exploded.
Pastor Joe and Mara went over the woman and her children to comfort her. The woman told her that someone called her and told her to get out of the house immediately, before it exploded. She told Pastor Joe that she knew it was an angel who called her. Mara looked at Pastor Joe, her eyes begging him not to tell the woman the truth.
Pastor Joe asked the woman if she had a place to stay, and she told him that she could stay with her sister. Pastor Joe gave her his card and told her to call him and that he would help her find temporary housing.
When the fire was under control, and the woman’s sister had picked up the woman and her children, Pastor Joe and Mara returned to the church. When they were again seated in the office, Pastor Joe told Mara that he now believed her. He noticed that Mara seemed scared. “What’s the matter, Mara?” he asked. “Why are you frightened?”
“I am just a twelve year old girl,” said Mara. “Why was I given this gift? I am not worthy for such power as this. I am nobody special. There are so many people who are more important than I. Why me?”
Pastor Joe looked at Mara with a big smile on his face. “Mara” he said, “I have known you since you were born. You have always been kind and generous towards others. You have a good heart. Why does God have to bestow his gifts upon important people? He sees into your heart and soul, and knows you better than anyone does. Listen to God with your heart. He will show you how to use this gift that he has bestowed upon you.”
Pastor Joe felt that there was something else that Mara was not telling him. “Is there anything else troubling you, Mara?” he asked.
“Yes, Pastor Joe. I have been having a recurrent dream, where I am in a cave and the ceiling collapses around me. I always wake up before I am buried alive. I wonder if this is something that will happen to me in the future. Please do not mention this dream to my parents. I do not want to worry them. They already look at me differently, since I received the gift of the visions and dreams.”
Pastor Joe promised to keep Mara’s secret, and said that he was available to talk whenever she needed spiritual advice.
On Sunday, Pastor Joe started a collection for the woman and children who lost their house. He soon found her a place to live and she and her children began going to church every Sunday. She was certain that God was responsible for saving her family. Only Mara and Pastor Joe knew that she was correct. H
The Mystery at the Red Rock Ranch
While Mara was packing for her two-week visit to a dude ranch in Texas, her mother told her to leave her IPod and her laptop at home. “Mara, it will do you good to get back to nature”, Mrs. Louis told her daughter. “Once you smell the fresh air, and are riding horses, you will forget all about your techno devices.”
“But Mom,” said Mara. “I told my friends that I would call them every night and talk to them on Facebook. What will I tell them?”
“You can tell them that there has been a change in plans. If it will help, tell them that I told you no.”
“Mara, with all of the excitement that you have had over the past few months, you need some time to yourself, to commune with nature. You will not have to solve any mysteries. You might even make some new friends. You can take your cell phone with you, but use it only for emergencies, or if you get homesick. Can you get by without technology for two weeks? Can you do it for me?”
“Okay Mom” said Mara; “I guess I can manage for a couple of weeks. But, when I get back, can I invite Tony, Scott and Betsy to our house to help me celebrate my birthday?”
“Okay, it’s a deal!” said Mrs. Louis.
Mara went to her room and logged onto Facebook to leave messages for her friends.
That night, before Mara went to sleep, she lay awake in her bed thinking about what her mother had said. “Maybe” she thought, “if she were in a peaceful environment with no distractions, she wouldn’t have any more dreams about the cave-in”.
The next morning, Mara said goodbye to her parents at the airport, and she headed to the gate to board the plane bound for Houston, Texas.
It was an uneventful flight, and when Mara’s flight landed in Houston, she collected her luggage and left the terminal, to find a taxi to take her to the ranch.
As Mara was waiting for the taxi, she saw a man in his early sixties, stepping off a curb, to cross the street. Mara saw a car speeding towards the man, who could not hear the car because of the jet engines. Before Mara could think, she reached out, grabbed the man’s arm, and pulled him back onto the curb, just as the car sped by. The car brushed against the man’s arm, as it raced past.
The man thanked Mara for pulling him to safety and asked her for her name. “My name is Mara”, she said. Just then, a taxi pulled up and as Mara got in, she said goodbye to the gentleman as she closed the door of the cab.
About thirty minutes later, the taxi pulled through the main gate of the ‘Red Rock Ranch’. Two of the owners of the ranch, Craig and Shawna King came out of the main house to greet Mara. They explained to her that since she was the only female guest and the only guest under twenty years old, that she would be staying in the main house with them and their two children, Karen and Jake. Mara said that it was okay with her.
“You can share a room with our daughter Karen. She is about your age. Is that okay?”
Mara told Mrs. King that it was okay with her, and Mrs. King took her to Karen’s room so that she could unpack.
As Mara was putting her clothes in two empty drawers, Karen King walked into the room and introduced herself. As the two girls were talking, a tall boy walked past the room, on his way downstairs.
“Who was that?” asked Mara.
“Oh, that’s just my brother, Jake,” said Karen. “He thinks that he is so grown up, but he is only one year older than me.”
Karen and Jake gave Mara the grand tour of their ranch. Then, the three of them went horseback riding. Mara kept staring at Jake, who pretended not to notice. Mara caught Jake glancing in her direction a few times also. Mara was almost thirteen and Jake would turn fourteen in September, so they were about a year apart in age.
That evening, Mara went to bed early, as she was exhausted. While she slept, Mara dreamed of a man dressed in western clothes of the past. He was trying to tell Mara something. He wanted her to find a book that was hidden somewhere on
the ranch.
When Mara woke up, she thought that the dream had come from her imagination, since she was so excited about being on the ranch, and because she had not solved a mystery in a while.
Over the next few days, Mara was busy learning how to rope, brand and hogtie cows. She worked closely with Mr. and Mrs. King, as well as Karen and Jake. Mara learned that there was a lot of responsibility involved in running a ranch.
When Mara and Karen were alone, Mara practiced trick riding, and roping. Mara was soon able to rope and hogtie a calf, in no time at all. One afternoon, while Karen and Mara were riding around a corral, Jake joined them and offered to teach Mara how to rope a calf. Karen started to tell her brother that Mara was already an expert at roping, but Mara quickly replied that she would like Jake to teach her.
Mara pretended to be clumsy at first, but under Jake’s expert teaching, she became quite good. When Jake went into the house, Karen asked Mara why she had pretended to be helpless.
Mara’s face turned red, as she explained; “I like Jake and I didn’t want to embarrass him, if I was faster or better than him. He would feel bad and then he wouldn’t like me.”
That Friday night, Mara dreamed about the cowboy again. This time, he pointed to a hidden compartment behind an old desk in a building with many bunk