Free Whispers from Yesterday by Robin Lee Hatcher Page B

answered. “I’ve located that carburetor we needed. Good price, too. And I think I’ve found a guy who’ll let me use his body shop to paint it when we’re ready.” Hal shifted his gaze to Dusty. “But we’re gonna have to raise some up-front money or nothing’s gonna get done.”
    It was a challenge of sorts, and Dusty recognized it. Hal was asking how much faith and trust they were going to put in him. From the look on Hal’s face, he didn’t expect them to have much.
    Unlike the other three boys, Hal Junker hadn’t been sent to the Golden T by his parents. He had none to send him. He’d come to Dusty by way of some concerned members of a local church who were aware of the boy’s situation, people who’d seen that this young man was headed for serious trouble unless someone intervened. And the Junker family, if it could be called that, didn’t particularly care if the camp made a difference for Hal or not.
    Dusty didn’t want him to be disappointed again. Somehow, he had to raise the necessary funds so Hal could fix that car. He wanted the boy to succeed at something. He wanted to prove he trusted him.
    We’re ripe for a miracle here, God. Show me what I need to do. Keep me on the right path.
    “Dusty …,” Sophia said.
    He looked at her.
    “The Lord will provide. He always does.”
    He nodded. Over the years he’d learned a lot from this woman. She’d been a good example of walking by faith and not by sight.
    “Gosh, Miss Butler!” Billy exclaimed. “That looks awful. What happened?”
    Dusty turned his head in time to see Karen pulling her arm from the boy’s grasp. She quickly rolled down her shirt sleeve, then rose from her chair and hurried out of the house. The screen door swung closed behind her with a bang!
    “I didn’t mean to upset her,” Billy said. “I thought she was hurt.”
    Sophia comforted him with a pat on the back. “It’s okay, Billy.” She glanced at Dusty. “Would you mind talking to her?”
    “No.” He rose and went outside, just in time to see Karen disappearing into the barn. He followed her. The old building was filled with shadows. Dusty paused inside the doorway to give his eyes a moment to adjust.
    “You didn’t have to come after me.”
    He looked in the direction of her voice. “Sophia asked me to.”
    “I’m okay.” She stepped forward, into the faint light coming through the doorway at his back.
    “Are you?”
    “Trying to rescue me, Mr. Stoddard?”
    He smiled, answering softly, “Maybe.” He moved across the barn. When he stood before her, he asked, “Care to tell me what happened?”
    “You must have guessed by now.”
    Yes, he had guessed, but he didn’t say so.
    She held out her arms, wrists up, exposing the scars, clear even in the dim light. She held the position until he’d looked at what she defiantly showed him.
    “Why?” he asked as he lifted his gaze to meet hers once again.
    She released a humorless laugh. “Why not?”
    “Many reasons.”
    “Not for me.” She turned her back toward him.
    He could have pressed her. He could have tried to force the story from her. He didn’t. Instead, he waited.
    “My mother never believed I would amount to anything. She was right. I couldn’t even succeed at taking my own life.” Again Karen laughed, a harsh sound in the cavernous barn. “I’m completely hopeless. Just like she said.”
    “No one is hopeless.”
    She whirled around. Her eyes sparked with contempt. “Are you going to give me the Jesus-loves-you spiel like they feed you at your church? If so, don’t bother.”
    “It’s true, whether you want to hear it or not. Truth isn’t altered by unbelief. It’s still truth.”
    “You don’t know anything about me or my life,” she snapped. “Do you? “
    He could hear the deep hurt behind her words. “Not as much as I’d like to know.”
    “Why? Why would you like to know?”
    He stared into her eyes, pondering her question, and was surprised when the answer came to