Daniel: To Find My God

By Stephen Thornton

This is the story of a boy who suffered badly at the hands of his father, suffering years of abuse, trying to protect his brother and sister from him. Finally giving in to the fact that he couldn’t do it, he had to get away from him or die from his cruelty and beatings. Leaving the city and his family behind, he travelled as far as his ticket would take him. Meeting Mark and Rachael on the way Native American children who had been displaced by prejudice and then ending up as his best friends. He was suffering from wounds caused by his father’s belt, forced to rely on their friendship, and family to heal his wounds, and to keep his secret. Being taken in by their mother, and eventually as part of the family. Then after a struggle he finds God, a major force in the rest of his life, turning the terror of the past into a triumph, being blessed by God and having trust in Him, BEING WRAPPED IN THE ARMS OF HIS LOVE. And forever loving His savour.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Sep 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781496993762

Stephen Thornton

At 65 it was a challenge to write my first book aimed at Christian values there is so much violence in films and on TV I have tried to put together this to keep your interest going and point you to my savour and who I follow I hope that this interests you, living on my own I have time to write the books I would like to read, I hope you like them to there will be more to follow. My name is Stephen Thornton I live Carmarthenshire Wales U K.

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© 2019 Stephen Thornton. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  09/03/2019

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9375-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9374-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9376-2 (e)

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

FOREWORD

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This is the story of a boy who suffered badly at the hands of his father, suffering years of abuse, trying to protect his brother and sister from him. Finally giving in to the fact that he couldn’t do it, he had to get away from him or die from his cruelty and beatings. Leaving the city and his family behind, he travelled as far as his ticket would take him. Meeting Mark and Rachael on the way Native American children who had been displaced by prejudice and then ending up as his best friends. He was suffering from wounds caused by his father’s belt, forced to rely on their friendship, and family to heal his wounds, and to keep his secret. Being taken in by their mother, and eventually as part of the family. Then after a struggle he finds God, a major force in the rest of his life, turning the terror of the past into a triumph, being blessed by God and having trust in Him, BEING WRAPPED IN THE ARMS OF HIS LOVE. And forever loving His savour.

CHAPTER 1

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It was 6am in the morning and I was up and ready to go the rest of the family were still asleep, I had been packed now for 2 days and was waiting for this moment. I was going to get out of this hellhole of a house, I have suffered enough, and I then picked up my bag and quietly opened the door. Leaving the house I walked for a while and then looked back my eyes were full of tears as I had now left my brother and sister there in the hands of my cruel father. I carried on walking for quite a time and eventually came to the bus station. I then looked for the bus going the farthest distance and bought a ticket to that place it was Clark’s town. There were people talking about me wondering why my parents had let me travel on my own so far and letting me travel with no guardian to travel with me. If they only knew about them, I boarded the bus and went to the back seat and then to the corner, I tried to get comfortable but it was difficult my back was still sore and painful where my father had beaten me with his belt this past night. This was not the first time that he had done this the marks and scars had built up over time and I knew that they would need a long time to heal fully. But it would never happen again.

I eventually fell asleep, when I woke up it was I guessed nearly midday and the bus was pulling into a stop and would be staying there for a break, it was a chance for me to stretch my legs and see where I was I picked up my bag and got off the bus, the driver said I still had a long way to go yet and would tell me when we would be setting off again in about 2 hours he said, I went to the café and ordered some food I had money on me that I had saved out of my father’s reach. The food was good the best that I had had in a long time. Seeing that I was on my own the waitress came over and was very nice to me, she sat by me and was talking for a while, I told her a little about myself but not giving anything away about what had happened at home, I couldn’t tell her to much as my brother and sister were still there and in the hands of my cruel father.

The bus was boarding again so I got back on and went back to my seat at the back of the bus, it was then that I noticed that there were two children on the bus and were sat near the front they were also talking a lot, they then came to the back where I was sat and started talking. They were brother and sister and were 11 and 10 the same age as me they asked me where I was going I told them Clark’s town they said that they were going there as well and it was then that we started talking. I told them that my name was Daniel they then told that their names were Rachael and mark and that they were on their way to stay with their aunty who lives in Clark’s town and that was as far as the bus was going and I had no idea what I was going to when I got there but that was 4 hours away yet.

Their mother then called them back to the front to sit down. I was left alone again, my mind wandered back to my brother and sister again and I wondered how they were being treated now that they had found that I was missing it brought tears to my eyes just thinking about what might be happening to them and who he would be taking his anger out on now. I vowed then that I would return and get them out of there away from him.

Rachael and Mark came back to me again and were chatting away, they told me that they had been forced out of their home by bad neighbours and because they were Native American I did not know this but I did notice that they had lovely long black hair that was well kept it told me that there mother looked after them and loved them, I wished that my mother had the same care for me.

We talked a lot more over the next 4 hours, and eventually the bus arrived at Clark’s town. I got off the bus as did Rachael and Mark I said my goodbye to them and then found a bench to sit on and to think what I was going to do, I needed a place to stay and sleep this town was bigger than I thought so I looked around to find some shelter, I eventually found an empty shed that seemed to be unused and it was watertight so this would do for now. I made it a bit more comfortable, and then tried to work out a plan of how to make this all work and make it look like I lived in the town and I needed a way to get regular food I knew that all big schools did meals for the poorer students and if I worked it right I could get them there, I had some money but it wouldn’t last forever so I would have to get a job and that could be doing a paper round. I had in my bag my school clothes from home. Theas would do for school they were clean and pretty good and if I could fit in then no questions would be asked about my past.

Today was Thursday so I decided to wait until the following week before going to school so I spent the next two days going around all the shops to try and get a paper round it was on the Saturday morning that I got one the pay wasn’t much but he said that if I did a good job of it he would raise it having got that I went back to the shed I had shopping with me to last the weekend and was now going to keep my movements to a minimum to avoid being noticed.

When I had got things sorted I was going to walk round town and get to know my way around to help out on the paper round I then spent all the weekend finding my way around the town, it was strange because although I was a stranger no one asked who I was and I was happy about that but Monday would be the big challenge for me when I would go to the school.

Monday morning came and I was awake early I didn’t sleep much because of the scars on my back they were sore and I couldn’t reach them to do anything to them, I knew that if they caused me big problems I would have to get some help, but I was in a strange town and as yet I had no friends that I could trust. I got washed and changed into what would be my school clothes and when the time was about right I set off to the school, it was big and made the one I went to before very small, I asked where the principal’s office was and waited outside his office, then someone aske3d me to come inside. He was a big man but spoke very kindly and asked where my parents were, I told him that I was here with my mother but she had to go to work and asked me to come on my own, I told him my name was Daniel Davies and that we had just to the town from the city the previous week. He asked me how old I was I told him that I was 11 and that my schooling had been interrupted by a lot of moving around he then told me what class I would be joining and proceeded to take me there.

When we arrived at the classroom he introduced me to the other pupils and it was then that I stared in disbelief because there in the class already were the two children that I had met on the bus this made me very pleased at least I would have someone I knew I could talk to, I was then placed next to Rachael I was glad this was going to make things a lot easier I could talk to someone who would not make fun of me.

I reunited my friendship with Rachael and Mark and we spent most of our time together being new to the school and the town we had a lot in common. I had to make up some kind of background for myself to cover my past I didn’t like to lie but I had to cover as to why I was here, I mostly put it off telling them, they would say it didn’t matter and would ask no more. Rachael and Mark turned out to be very trustworthy friends and over the next few week s at school we were always seen together. One day they asked if they could come home with me to see where I lived I told them sorry but I am not allowed to have friends at home, they then said it didn’t matter and accepted that I didn’t like to lie to them and I was sorry to have had to say no to them.

Rachael and Mark house was on the other side of town and out into the country they were staying with their father’s sister their aunty they were an Indian family and altogether very friendly with a strong family love. Rachael said to Mark that she was going to follow me home to try and find out where I lived Mark told her to be careful I don’t want to lose him as a friend and we don’t have many I think that we should invite him to our place I am sure that aunty wouldn’t mind an extra one at the table for supper and that’s what they decided to do.

The next day Rachael followed Daniel followed as far as the shop where he had his delivery round after Daniel had left she went to the shop to find out how long he would be the shop owner said he would be well over an hour so not wanting to wait she went home. The next day she followed him again, and again he went to the shop so she gave up and went home. When she was in school the next day Rachel and Mark decided to ask Daniel to their place for the weekend to play and go fishing. I was unsure about that I needed to get my school clothes washed and ready for the next school day which would on Monday I told them that I would think about it, but in my mind I knew that I couldn’t go I was alone here and I had too much to hide about my past and I wanted to keep it that way I went to school that Friday knowing that I didn’t have a delivery that afternoon so I went straight back to my shed, but little did I know was that Rachael had followed me there and she went back to tell Mark what she had discovered, they then decided to keep this a secret until I was ready to tell them why I was living there, they decided that it could wait until Monday.

The scars on my back had been causing me some problems and I was in a lot of pain from them it was plain that they were not healing and were starting to worry me; I thought that if I didn’t get some help soon I would be in real trouble. The next day Monday I had to take off school the scars on my back were very painful and I was having trouble moving around I had to take the next day off as well not that I wanted to I thought that there must be questions being asked to find out where I was and I was refusing to take part in any sports that cause me to take my shirt off I missed the next day as well and in the afternoon I heard voices outside the shed door it was Rachael and Mark they were arguing about coming into the shed, I just called to them to come on in the doors open Rachael came in then Mark they shut the door and sat down, they just looked at me and said why haven’t you been in school,I was lost for words I didn’t know what to say to them. Then I just broke down in tears and told them all about what had happened to me and the reason that I hadn’t gone to school the past few days. I showed them the marks on my back and how I got them, they were shocked and horrified at what they saw and told them that it was what my father had done before I left home when he had used his belt on me when he was drunk.

Rachael took a close look at them and told me that they were serious and I needed to get help, so she sent mark to go and tell his mother and aunty. I told her that I couldn’t go to a doctor or hospital because they would only send me back there and I didn’t want that. When mark came back he said that I was to pack everything and come over to them they would help me and would not say anything about me. I had to walk to the cabin and it had been a long walk, when i got to the cabin door I just fell over I was too week to stand up Rachael ran into the cabin and her mother came out and carried me in and put me onto a bed that was the last that I remember for about a week.

Rachael spent most of that week by my bed and wouldn’t leave it I didn’t know that she was there, but it seemed that I was in a fever caused by the marks on my back, I was kept on my front most of the time to allow the scars to heal properly I don’t know what her mother did but it took all the bad stuff out of them. Mark was sent back to the shed to bring everything else that was there. I was told then that I would be staying there with them and no questions would be asked how I was so badly hurt though from the shape of the wounds the evidence was there.

There Indian ways were all so new to me and it would take me a while to understand them but Rachael and Mark were now going to be like sister and brother to me, though it would never replace the ones that I had left behind. And one day I would return for them. I lived with Rachael and Mark from then onwards and took them as my new family they were my brother and sister and went to school together.

CHAPTER 2

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The next four years were the best that I ever had in my young life I had never been treated so good, the scars on my back had healed but gone away and the teachers at school had been told that I was to keep my vest on at all times and so I was excused sport at school although got plenty of exercise at home. Rachael was becoming more of an attraction to me as we grew older I could see her beauty and tell her so and she would get blushed, I was now approaching 16 and she was the same age we were due to graduate the same year. I was looking forward to that and the graduation dance because I knew who my partner was going to be Rachael, Mark knew of her crush on me for quite a while and had supported her chase.

While I had been living there I had noticed that their faith in God was very strong to say the least and it seemed that they put everything in Gods trust and I had no answer for it, but as I watched them there was something there that stood out and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I liked what I saw but I wouldn’t commit myself to it. I was thinking that if a God is that good why he would let me get beaten and treated the way I was it was just too contradictive I had to have more proof than what I was seeing.

I knew that Mark had some of this in his life but he never spoke of it he just lived it. I watched Mark for quite a while to try and see if it would show anything but all I saw was this trust that stood out and I wondered why I hadn’t got any of this. I always second guessed things to make sure that I was right but what Mark had was something I couldn’t figure out just what it was. I would have to ask him but I was scared of what to ask him so I chickened out and decided to leave it I may get a chance to do that later.

Mark being the way he was, was a good brother to me he stopped a lot of the trouble at school, I hadn’t the strength to stand up to people the way he did, I guess that my life in the past has had I long term effect on me, Rachael had a bigger effect on me though more than I thought possible. I had decided not to do collage because Marks uncle had asked if I would like to work on his ranch on the Indian reservation and I jumped at the chance of this I loved horses and to work with them was a dream come true for me and I couldn’t