Free Tahn by L. A. Kelly Page B

don’t need it,” she told them. “I’ll eat with you tomorrow, Lord willing.”
    Vari looked up at her with a strange expression.
    “What does ‘Lord willing’ mean?” asked Doogan.
    Netta paused. Did they know nothing about God? Perhaps not, with such a background and such a teacher. But she couldn’t leave it that way. She would have to tell them all she could in the time she had with them. “I mean that we can trust God,” she began. “He is our provider. I thanked him for this food, and I know he will give us more. He may use Mr. Dorn to bring it, but he will provide, one way or another.”
    “What if he’s unwilling?” Vari asked, the challenge plain in his face.
    “He could not be unwilling,” Netta assured them. “God loves his children. He will provide for us.” But she sighed. This was a test of her trust as well as theirs. Never before had her future been so uncertain. “Let’s not worry,” she said. “Go ahead and eat.”
    All of the children obeyed her, but Vari met her eyes and mumbled, “I’ve known many days when he was unwilling for me and I had nothing.”
    “No,” Netta insisted. “He is always willing to provide for us. This world can be terrible sometimes. But it’s because of men who don’t do as they should. For each of you, the times you were hungry, I’m sure God was willing for you to be fed. He loves you. But there was a person somewhere who was unwilling to do the right thing or all too willing to do the wrong.”
    “I understand that,” Doogan told her. “I always tried to beg first, and only stole if I had to. Sometimes I could see ’em thinking it over, but often as not they’d turn me away anyhow.”
    “How do you know God is real?” Stuva asked. “Especially if he can’t make people do what he wants?”
    “I know it can be hard to understand,” Netta explained. “Especially when people are cruel. But God does not want to make people do anything. He wants us to choose to do right. We can ignore him if we wish, and many people do. But he would have us to love one another.”
    “Samis said there’s no God,” Tam said in a voice barely above a whisper.
    “Maybe no one has told him. God created this world. He sent his Son, Jesus, to teach us about his love. Wicked men killed Jesus, but he rose from the dead. And he is with us always.”
    “Does the Dorn know you’re a Jesus teacher?” Stuva asked with concern.
    “Of course he does,” Tam maintained.
    Netta nodded in affirmation. “He does,” she assured them.
    “Then it must be okay,” Briant assented.
    “But you’re supposed to be a letters teacher, right?” Stuva questioned again.
    “That too,” Netta told him, feeling unnerved by the idea. She’d been too taken off guard by all these children to insist that her kidnapper help her find her way. But now the little ones were all looking at her with such expectation. She could think of no solution. Perhaps she should accept the charge, at least for the day, and do everything she could for them while she was here. She looked around at their dirty faces. “Are you anxious to start?”
    “We’re done eating,” Stuva answered. “We might as well. Maybe we should do that first and talk about Jesus after.”
    “Well enough with me,” she replied. “Does that suit everyone?” There were nods from all the children except Vari.
    “Do any of you read at all yet or know any of your letters?”
    “No, Miss,” Temas answered for all of them.
    “I do,” Vari told her with a sober look. “But the rest weren’t to Valhal long enough.”
    The second mention of Valhal filled her with questions. Where was this place? What was it? And who was Samis?
    But she had other business at hand and an idea of how to begin. “You can be my helper then, Vari,” she told him, suddenly considering that if she were to gain their confidence as a teacher, perhaps she could draw them away from the fearsome man she could not trust. With that in mind, she