Free Whispering Hope by Marsha Hubler

you’re both invited.”
    Skye sat down and stared at Wanda, who didn’t move a muscle.
    Mrs. Chambers started. “Wanda—”
    Everyone waited for Wanda to look up.
    C’mon, Wanda, look at Mom. The words hung on the tip of Skye’s tongue. You can do it.
    Finally Wanda looked up with a scowl on her face that could kill flies.
    “We want you to know that we love you, and we’re glad you came back,” Mrs. Chambers said.
    I wonder if anyone ever told her they loved her before, Skye thought.
    “But,” Mr. Chambers said, “there will be consequences for your actions.”
    Mrs. Chambers shifted her weight forward on the sofa and folded her hands on her lap. “Wanda, we need to ask you a question, and we need the truth.”
    Her face empty of all expression, Wanda stared at Mrs. Chambers.
    “Did you start the fire?” Mrs. Chambers asked.
    The look Wanda gave made it hard for anyone to detect what she was thinking, but her eyes betrayed an element of surprise. “What fire?” she asked with innocence written all over her face.
    “The fire in the barn!” Skye blurted out.
    “Easy, Skye,” Mrs. Chambers said.
    Mr. Chambers leaned forward and folded his hands. “Around two thirty this morning, there was a fire in thehayloft of the barn. If Skye hadn’t noticed the fire when she got up for a drink, we probably would have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in property and six very special horses. Were you smoking in the barn again last night?”
    Wanda looked down and mumbled, “No.”
    “We know you’ve been smoking out there,” Morgan said.
    Mrs. Chambers said, “Are you sure you weren’t out there at all last night?”
    Wanda sat up in her chair as though someone had poked her with a pin. Her face flushed red and she clenched her fists. “I said I wasn’t out there, and I’m telling you the truth. You’re just like everybody else. You don’t believe me. I didn’t start no fire!”
    “Then how did it start?” Skye asked while her own face flushed with anger.
    “Easy, Skye,” Mrs. Chambers gently chided again.
    “How should I know?” Wanda spouted. “Wheels picked me up around two o’clock. I wasn’t even here at this stupid place all night.”
    “But the fire started shortly after that,” Morgan said.
    Wanda launched out of her chair. “I’m telling you, I wasn’t near your stupid barn. The last time I was around those stinking horses was yesterday when she made me ride her precious Lucy!” Wanda pointed at Mrs. Chambers.
    “Wanda,” Mr. Chambers said softly, “please sit down. We’re not accusing you of anything. We just want to know what happened.”
    “So,” Mrs. Chambers said, “why did you run away?”
    Wanda sat with her head down.
    “Wanda?” Mrs. Chambers said.
    Silence for several more moments. Finally Wanda’s glare threw daggers at Mrs. Chambers. “Because I missed my boyfriend, and this place is the pits,” she moaned, pulling her hat down over her eyes. A tear trickled downthe left side of Wanda’s face, and she quickly brushed it away.
    “Wanda, we’ve told you that he can visit you here anytime he wants,” Mr. Chambers said. “You are not in prison.”
    “But we do have rules,” Mrs. Chambers said. “Wanda—”
    This time Wanda looked up at Mrs. Chambers almost immediately.
    “We want to—we are going to—believe your story,” Mrs. Chambers said, “unless we find out differently. But you will be grounded for two weeks because you used the phone several times without permission and ran away. That means no shooting pool either. Understood?”
    Wanda slouched lower into her chair and pulled her arms tight against her chest. “I hate this place,” she grumbled, “and the first chance I get, I’m outta here—for good.”

Chapter Nine
    S unday night after church, Mrs. Chambers joined Skye in her bedroom after finishing a short talk with Wanda on the futon and bidding her good night. Mr. Chambers and Morgan were in the dining room playing chess. Skye