Free The Miracle Stealer by Neil Connelly

Solitude. This was the one Daniel had been reading up at St. Jude’s. He must have dropped it in all the excitement.
    I spun around quick, scanned what I could see of the compound, squinting into the tree line for movement. But there was nothing. I snapped the cross into pieces, tossed them over the side of the porch. Then, acting calm as I could, I opened the front door and went inside, but once I shut the door behind me, I double locked it. I stayed behind the curtains and stared into the forest, and even though I couldn’t see anything suspicious, I felt the truth in my bones. Somewhere out there, that Scarecrow was watching.

CHAPTER FIVE
    W hen my mother finally got home from the Abernathys’, she was surprised to find me lying on the couch in the main house. I was flipping through the course catalog for Lock Haven, mostly as a way to keep distracted. I didn’t stop looking when I heard her come in.
    â€œHow was your day?” she asked behind me.
    I laid the catalog on my chest. “Where’s Daniel?”
    â€œIt’s near dusk. He went down to the salt lick.”
    I stood up and dropped the catalog on the couch. “He shouldn’t be out there by himself.”
    â€œI don’t like that tone, Ann. He’s down there alone all the time. Can’t we have five minutes when we’re not fighting?”
    I walked past her into the kitchen. From the window, I could see Daniel down below, sitting on a fallen tree about twenty feet from a chunk of salt we put out to attract deer. They come early in the morning or just before the sun goes down. “How were things over at the Abernathys’? Was Volpe there?”
    She opened the fridge door and then poured a glass of white wine. “Grace will be in bed for a few more days. She was delighted to see Daniel.”
    â€œOf course she was.”
    â€œDaniel got to hold the baby. You should’ve seen the smile on that boy’s face. We just sat them side by side on the bed, but he was sweet. They asked us to come back tomorrow, first thing.”
    â€œYou’ll be there all day again?”
    My mother nodded. “They need our help and Daniel enjoyed being there. Why?”
    â€œJust curious,” I told her. The truth was that this came as a great relief. She was planning on skipping church.
    Something shifted in the shadows down by Daniel. In the half-light, I couldn’t tell what it was. I was about to bolt outside when a deer crept out from behind a pine, leaning its head into the clearing. Timidly, it worked its way toward the salt. Daniel never moved.
    My mother stepped up and placed her free hand on my shoulder. In the other she held her thin glass. If I were out there, or my mother, or anybody but Daniel, that deer would never have come so close. She looked out at what I saw and said, “He’s such a blessed child.”
    â€œHe’s a great kid,” I countered.
    My mother squeezed my shoulder and took a sip from her glass. Then she said, “Sylvia. And the Abernathys’. Mayor Wheeler and his wife. They’d like to have a special service at the UCP.”
    â€œSpecial,” I said back. I faced her. “Special for what?”
    â€œTo give thanks for Miracle. Of course tomorrow is too soon, so they’re talking about next Sunday. You could come along,” she said quickly. “A lot of people will be there, Ann. Sylvia’s apparently put out a few rather ambitious invitations.It would be nice for us to go, don’t you think? As a family, like we used to.”
    Feeling a bit trapped against the wall, I bumped past her and moved into the more open space of the living room. “I’m going down to sit with Daniel.”
    She followed right behind me. “I’m your mother, Ann. We can’t go through life not talking to each other.”
    I stopped and turned. “This God the Abernathys are so crazy to thank, this would be the same one who let