THE OVERCOMER

THE OVERCOMER By Tessa Harvey CHAPTER NINE  (Continued) The years went by and Sam and Stella grew closer together and to the Lord their God. A son, James was born and was followed by twins when James was three years old - Estelle and Emily. Rosalie helped out a lot in those early days. Her asthma seemed to have improved, which was a blessing. James was blond and blue-eyed, looking a lot like Rosalie, the twins were darker-eyed and their hair was curly and the golden hue of autumn poplar leaves. They were identical in looks and both grew confident and adventurous. James was quieter and loved to follow dad around whenever he was home. When the twins were eight and James eleven, an unexpected fourth child appeared, looking very like Solomon, dark-eyed, dark-haired (though Solomon's hair was then white now). He was named Sam. He grew slowly and no medical person could explain why. The whole family loved him and accepted him just the way he was. One day when little Sammy was a toddler, ...

THE OVERCOMER By Tessa Harvey CHAPTER EIGHT (Continued) Stella was obviously stunned in shock, stumbling, leaning on the older women. Sam was struggling. He kept calling for his mother. She was walking away on her high heels, wearing her tight fashionable skirt. She was going home and leaving him. He bowed his head in desperation. Desolate, he saw the dark blue of the car diminish into the distance. He kept calling "mum, mum", but no-one heard. No-one. Then he went looking for Stella, calling her name. He saw her running towards him in her beautiful, white-flowing wedding dress. She had flowers in her hair and her shining face was full of love for him. But she ran on by him and he groaned aloud. "Steady son," he heard his father and there was a strange roaring noise. He struggled, feeling heavy and weak. "Dad?" He could hear sirens. He heard his dad pray: "In Jesus Name!" Then he was asleep. He awoke to blinding light. "Hold on, son", a...

THE OVERCOMER By Tessa Harvey CHAPTER SEVEN (Continued) That evening he slept much better and woke up feeling refreshed and confident, heading to work to face all the problems, relying on His God's Power and not his own. His father, Solomon also got on well with Rosalie. Watching him, his son would see how much he enjoyed being in relaxing company again, but now and then, Solomon would be in a distant place for a few moments and Sam knew he was thinking of his lost Rebecca. Sam also thought of his mother. He often felt sad that she had been taken from him so early. At times she had hurt and annoyed him, but he had known she loved him really and that was beyond price. Stella occupied more of his thoughts now and a year later he proposed to her. He loved how her bright face lit up with joy and knew life could be good again. The factory was once more doing well. The bride chose a traditional white dress and Sam gasped when he saw how very beautiful she looked. Radiantly, she seemed to...

THE OVERCOMER By Tessa Harvey CHAPTER SIX (Continued) Sam left for home and when he closed his eyes, he saw only flames - red, orange and some strangely green and blue, probably from the sugar in the sweets. He would gather the workers tomorrow and talk to them...he slept finally, uneasily. Next day he explained to the staff about this man who had been in his boyhood. He apologised for asking his workers to act as guards. "From now on," he added, "trained security staff will handle this. I am grateful to you all." He noticed the injured man was now well and thanked him also. "As the building is damaged, I will leave it to the managers, Scott, Wilson and Smith to arrange eight hour shifts as there isn't room for all of us at once. "We will rebuild as quickly as possible. People who work late or early shifts will be paid more. As far as possible, there will be no job losses." There were smiles at this news , and then the workers shuffled a little re...

THE OVERCOMER By Tessa Harvey CHAPTER FIVE (Continued) Stella was working late one evening when a man slouched into the office. Stella became alarmed as she was alone. The man looked calm, but there was something dangerous about him. Holding her ground, Stella asked the man if he needed an appointment. He just looked around, sneered and left. Shaken, Stella tried to call her boss, leaving a message when there was no answer. As it was time for her to leave,  Stella called a cab instead of walking, waited until she saw it arrive - locked up carefully and left. Just before she stepped into the cab, she saw a police officer and, feeling uneasy, told him about the intruder and his unusual behaviour. The policeman seemed interested, but taking only a cursory look around, then left the premises. Soon after a siren wailed, then another as fire engines and police cars sped to the factory. One of the late-duty workers had spotted a break-in, but was unable to stop a fire blazing wildly out o...

THE OVERCOMER By Tessa Harvey CHAPTER FIVE Sam Cowan did not take this threat lightly. Summoning his most trusted able-bodied employees, he asked them if they would work as guards at night in and around the factory and he swore them to secrecy. They well understood that if they talked about their work, any would-be assailant would be fore-warned. For several weeks nothing happened. There were just the odd cat fights and sometimes a prowler, but one who did nothing. Remembering how long Kirby had tormented him, Sam kept paying his workers, warning them also to be careful not to let themselves be at risk. One day he received a phone call very late at night. An excited, breathless worker gasped that his friend had been attacked from behind, but no one had seen his assailant. Disturbed, Sam searched the area with the other men while another took the injured man to a nearby doctor working late. Sam could find no motive for the attack until they found some petrol cans stuffed into some bushe...