A’SHAI HELD LIBERTY’S HAND TIGHTLY AS THEY followed Ms. Beth and the other children onto the boardwalk that led to the ship. A’shai looked back, hoping not to see any of his father’s rebels.

“Shai, I’m scared,” Liberty whispered as she took a glance around also checking for Ezekiel’s rebels.

“Don’t be. Look,” A’shai said as he pointed to the big ship at the end of the dock. Liberty looked at the boat and her eyes lit up. She saw more kids playing on the boat’s deck. Balls were flying and laughter echoed through the air and the ship looked like a big carnival.

“Wow,” Liberty said in amazement as she looked up at the gigantic ship and all the fun that was aboard. A big word stretched across the front of the ship: it read MYRTLEVILLE. Wide smiles grew on both A’shai’s and Liberty’s faces. The other kids giggled in excitement as they followed Ms. Beth down the boardwalk. The ship, in the children’s eyes, looked to be one hundred feet tall and everyone couldn’t wait to board the ship of fun.

Ms. Beth smiled as she stepped back, threw her arm around Liberty, and whispered. “We have games, food, and entertainment on the MYRTLEVILLE ship. We travel all across the world and do charity work for kids. You guys are going to love it,” she said. Ms. Beth’s smile was like no other and there was something about her that they both trusted. Anything was better than the life that they were living. A’shai was trying to lead them to safety and show Liberty that he could take care of them both but was falling short. He tried to plan their next move but came up with nothing. He was running out of ideas to keep them safe. At least we can get some food on the boat and then I’ll figure out what we will do next, he thought as they neared the ship. Once the kids got within one hundred yards of the ship they cheered and took off running full speed. Everyone wanted to be the first one to get on the ship of fun that Ms. Beth described to them. A’shai watched as Liberty smiled, and it made his young heart warm to finally see her happy. He had yet to see her smile genuinely and when she did, it did something special to his soul.