There and Back Again

The story picks up during John Whittaker's vacation in New Zealand with his son Jason and his friend Wilson Knox. Before this chapter begins, the travelers have met young Jay Smouse, who is staying with his cousin, and they have rushed a dazed young woman to the hospital after nearly hitting her with their car. She gave her name as Megan Renault, and Whit found a piece of crochet beside her stitched with a single mysterious word: Terore. Now the hospital has called with troubling news - the girl has disappeared.

That evening, with Jay sleeping over because he is locked out of his cousin's house, Jason asks his father a question that has been weighing on him: is Whit still proud of him, now that he sells antiques instead of saving the world? Whit assures him that every child wants a parent's affirmation, no matter how old, and that he never felt he had it from his own father. He recalls Jason's many jobs, from newspaper boy to government agent, but says his proudest moment came when Jason gave every penny he had to Walt, a discouraged military veteran who felt no one cared about his service. Father and son embrace, baffling Jay, who wonders if someone is choking. "It's called a hug, Jay," Jason explains. After Whit says goodnight, Jay tells Jason he is a lucky guy. Jason answers, "No, I prefer the word blessed."

The next morning, after devotions and prayer for the missing girl, Wilson heads off by cab to visit his old seminary friend Tom Lyle, the vicar of St. Faith's Church, while Whit and Jason plan a day of zorbing and a visit to a Maori village. Wilson suggests they ask the villagers about the word Terore, in case it holds a clue to the mystery girl.

First, though, they drop Jay at his cousin's house, which is finally unlocked. To everyone's astonishment, the cousin who greets them is the girl from the accident. She is not Megan Renault at all - she is Joelle Billingsley, and she has no idea why she gave a made-up name. Her memory cleared while she was in the hospital, she explains, and she slipped out because hospitals frighten her. Whit returns the crochet piece, which she says is hers, though Terore is not her name.

Then a young man named Ethan arrives. Joelle calls him part of her "new family," an enlightenment community that accepts her as she is. Her mother passed away some time ago, and she has not spoken to her father in months. Ethan calls the man a moral bully, and he and Joelle insist that obedience to parents is outdated and that people should define right and wrong for themselves. Whit gently disagrees, saying a father's role is not simply to approve of his children's choices but to be a moral compass, guiding and correcting them and praying they find their way toward God. Ethan grows suspicious, accuses Whit of talking to Joelle's father, and asks the visitors to leave.

Outside, Jay secretly catches up with them and begs for help. He says Joelle had a wonderful relationship with her dad until Ethan drew her into strange meetings where she was told to lose herself, and she has changed ever since. He directs them to her father's sheep farm up the road - just watch for the big sheep statue and turn left - then dashes back inside before Ethan misses him. Whit and Jason admit they both sensed something wrong; Jason noticed how vacant Joelle's eyes became the moment Ethan walked in.

At the farm they find James Billingsley, a skilled sheep farmer, working his dog with whistles and commands. When they tell him about Joelle's accident and hospital stay, he is heartbroken but not surprised. He has looked into Ethan and reached a chilling conclusion: "He's the leader of a local cult." James explains that Ethan slowly convinced Joelle that her father's rules had stolen her happiness. She buried a box containing every family photograph and every gift her parents ever gave her, to free herself from her old life, and the fresh gashes on her hand were something Ethan told her to do to herself as a symbol of leaving her past behind. Because she is over eighteen, James can do nothing but pray for her, which he does every day. Then he calls to his sheepdog - Terore. When Whit reveals that the dog's name is stitched on a crochet piece Joelle still carries, James pauses, touched. "She still has it," he says softly, before returning to his work.

Driving away, Jason thinks the matter is settled, but Whit does not. Joelle may be an adult, but Jay is an impressionable boy who sometimes hangs around Ethan's group. Whit phones Jay's father, Matt, who is startled to learn Jay never mentioned losing his role on the zombie television show, and grows serious when he hears about the cult, admitting that Jay likes to follow. Matt thanks Whit for the call - then asks a favor. He is booking a flight to New Zealand to see his son, and since he cannot fathom driving on the left side of the road, would Whit mind picking him up at the airport? Whit happily agrees, and the adventure is left to continue.