The Veritas Conflict Read Online Free PDF

anticipation filled the air. A younger man also knelt with his father’s friends, wiping tears from his eyes.

PART TWO

TODAY
    In the world it is called tolerance but in hell it is called despair. The sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, enjoys nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing but remains alive because there is nothing which it would die for.
    D OROTHY S AYERS

TWO
    C LAIRE R IVERS RACED DOWN THE DRIVEWAY , her heart pounding. She had watched through the front blinds until the mail truck drove away. There were three large envelopes in the contents of the mailbox. She had seen them—two manila, one white. O God O God, please… She was shaking and glad that her mother had stayed in the kitchen, out of sight of the driveway.
    She yanked open the mailbox and hauled out the letters, catalogs, advertisements, and … there! She yanked out one of the manila envelopes by it’s corner, stared at it, and made a short sound of frustration at the blur of mail-order prose. One of her favorite catalogs—just not today.
    She juggled the stack, and her heart suddenly stopped. A burgundy logo peeked at her. She gripped the corner of the white envelope and pulled it out. It was big.
    She ripped it open and pulled out the short stack of papers. Then she was screaming, jumping up and down … and being pummeled on all sides by her mother, her brothers, and even the dog.
    Through happy tears Claire accepted their hugs and punches. She finally found her voice and weakly batted at her mother’s arm, grinning. “So much for not watching me!
    Her mother wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Are you kidding, Clairie-bell? You didn’t actually believe me, did you?” She hugged her daughter fiercely, rocking her back and forth and murmuring something in a choked voice.
    Claire saw a few neighbors peeking through their windows. “Uh, Mom, can we go inside?”
    They trooped into the kitchen, and Claire stood, eyes closed, trying not to cry. Harvard! O God I can’t believe it! It had been such a long wait. She could scarcely contain the urge to melt from relief right there in the middle of the kitchen.
    “… and here she is!” Her mom handed her the cordless phone. Claire looked at it blankly. Her mom raised an eyebrow, mouthing Dad .
    Claire tried to pull herself together. “Daddy! Did Mom tell you?”
    “No, and I’m going crazy! What is it? Wait … you got accepted to Wheaton didn’t you?” A banshee yell came over the line. “I knew it! I just knew it.”
    “Dad.…”
    “What?”
    “Well, I don’t …” Claire looked wildly at her mother, who was going through the stack of mail on the kitchen table.
    “You didn’t get accepted?”
    “No, Dad, I mean … I don’t know about Wheaton yet.” She heard her mother’s soft cry and saw her pick up a manila envelope embossed with Wheaton’s logo.
    She closed her eyes and tried to muster up the same excitement she’d felt just moments before. “Dad, I got into Harvard! Harvard! ”
    A pause. “Wow, Clairie-bell, that’s just wonderful. I’m really proud of you!” He cleared his throat. “No matter what, you should be real proud of yourself.”
    Tears flooded her eyes, and her throat closed. It was the same old thing.
    “… and we’ll take you out to dinner to celebrate, okay?”
    “Yeah, sure. That’d be great, Daddy.”
    A moment later, Barbara Rivers watched her daughter carefully replace the phone in it’s cradle and leave the room without a word. Barbara bowed her head for a moment, growing tense, then shoved her chair back from the table. She picked up a dog-eared book from the kitchen counter and headed for the glassed-in porch at the side of the house.
    Upstairs, Claire flopped across her bed, one arm flung over her eyes. What’s wrong with this picture? This should be the happiest day of my life! Her glance fell on the file drawer where months ago she had stashed nearly two dozen college