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Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. Colophon
  3. ALSO BY RICHARD PAUL EVANS
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  7. Dedication
  8. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  9. Epigraph
  10. Grace
  11. THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
  12. CHAPTER One
  13. CHAPTER Two
  14. CHAPTER Three
  15. CHAPTER Four
  16. CHAPTER Five
  17. CHAPTER Six
  18. CHAPTER Seven
  19. CHAPTER Eight
  20. CHAPTER Nine
  21. CHAPTER Ten
  22. CHAPTER Eleven
  23. CHAPTER Twelve
  24. CHAPTER Thirteen
  25. CHAPTER Fourteen
  26. CHAPTER Fifteen
  27. CHAPTER Sixteen
  28. CHAPTER Seventeen
  29. CHAPTER Eighteen
  30. CHAPTER Nineteen
  31. CHAPTER Twenty
  32. CHAPTER Twenty-one
  33. CHAPTER Twenty-two
  34. CHAPTER Twenty-three
  35. CHAPTER Twenty-four
  36. CHAPTER Twenty-five
  37. CHAPTER Twenty-six
  38. CHAPTER Twenty-seven
  39. CHAPTER Twenty-eight
  40. CHAPTER Twenty-nine
  41. CHAPTER Thirty
  42. CHAPTER Thirty-one
  43. CHAPTER Thirty-two
  44. CHAPTER Thirty-three
  45. CHAPTER Thirty-four
  46. CHAPTER Thirty-five
  47. CHAPTER Thirty-six
  48. CHAPTER Thirty-seven
  49. CHAPTER Thirty-eight
  50. CHAPTER Thirty-nine
  51. EPILOGUE
  52. A LETTER FROM RICHARD PAUL EVANS
  53. JOIN THE RICHARD PAUL EVANS MAILING LIST, GET A FREE GIFT AND HELP A CHILD
  54. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“I don’t know. I just don’t think God wants us to do good things because we’re scared. I think he wants us to do good things because we’re good.”

I thought about it. “You’re talking gibberish,” I said.

She sighed. “Yeah. Maybe I’m just sick.”

CHAPTER Twenty-six

I wonder how much longer it will be before
Eric learns the truth about me.

GRACE’S DIARY

SATURDAY, NOV. 24

By Saturday evening Grace was feeling a lot better, and her appetite had returned. After my parents went to bed, I raided the refrigerator and brought out a plate of cold tuna casserole. I was amazed at how quickly she devoured the food. When she was done I asked, “Do you want more?”

She looked embarrassed but nodded. I went back inside and filled another plate which she downed nearly as fast. Afterward we held hands and went for a short walk up and down my street. When we got back she said, “Do you have any rubber bands?”

“A million of them.” I wasn’t exaggerating by much. My father had spent years making a rubber band ball that was now nearly as big as a softball.

“Would you get me a couple?”

“Sure. Now?”

“Please.”

I ran inside the house and returned with a dozen or so elastic bands. She looped one through the buttonhole of her pants and secured the other end around the button. She sighed. “These were getting too tight.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t eat so much,” I offered.

She looked stricken. “Maybe you shouldn’t be so rude.”

I frowned. “Sorry.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry too. I’m just upset.”

“About what?”

She looked at me and squinted. “Nothing. Just a girl thing.”

I nodded without understanding. She might as well be a space alien for all I knew about “girl things.”

CHAPTER Twenty-seven

Eric said they talked about me on the television last night.
It’s curious. I’m much more important missing
than I ever was in person.

GRACE’S DIARY

MONDAY, DEC. 17

It was the only Monday night of the month that I’d had off. Jackie needed some extra cash for Christmas and asked if she could work for me, and I was only too happy to oblige. That night our family sat around the television set. My dad was in his La-Z-Boy watching the news and my mother was knitting. Joel and I were locked in an intense game of checkers, oblivious to the television until the newsman said, “The hunt goes on for a missing Salt Lake girl. Madeline Grace Webb, a student at Granite Junior High, has been missing for more than sixty days. Police suspect foul play and are currently investigating several leads, but are asking for your help. There’s a five-hundred-dollar reward for any information leading to her whereabouts. You may contact the Salt Lake police directly or call this station for further information. In other news…”