Free A Test of Faith by Karen Ball Page B

hanging upside down on the jungle gym at the time, and she dropped to the ground with a yelp and a plop. Faith went to help her up and say sorry.
    But Winnie just gave her a shy smile. “That’s okay. You jus’ scared me a little.”
    From that point on, Faith knew Winnie would be her best friend forever.
    “Hey, Faith!”
    She looked to where Winnie was swinging. “Yeah?”
    “How deep is a frog pond?”
    Faith grinned. “How deep?”
    “Knee-deep! Knee-deep!”
    Winnie was trying to sound like a frog, but she sounded more like a goat strangling on a tin can. Even so, it made Faith laugh. She went to sit on the swing next to Winnie, but before she reached it, another girl pushed past her, grabbed the swing, and plunked down on it.
    Trista Jennings. She always did things like stealing swings. Mean things.
    Winnie frowned. “That’s Faith’s swing.”
    Trista wrinkled her nose and made a face at Winnie. “These swings are for big girls, not babies.”
    Faith put her hands on her hips. Who was Trista calling a baby? She was the same age as Faith. “I’m not a baby!”
    Trista pushed off, swinging, barely missing Faith with her feet. “Yes, you are. That’s why your
mommy
has to bring you to school.”
    “Faith’s mom is nice.”
    Faith smiled at Winnie. She said things real quiet, but she said them real firm, too. Faith liked that.
    Winnie went on. “I
like
Faith’s mom. I think it’s neat she walks Faith to school.”
    “Yeah, well, who cares what
you
like?” Trista kicked her feet out, sending the swing higher. “
You’re
a baby, too. And you’re stupid.”
    With that, Trista jumped off the swing. She landed with a thud right in front of Faith, then crossed her arms and pushed her face into Faith’s. “Go ahead, take the swing. I don’t want to be around you babies anyway.”
    Faith felt the mad deep inside. She wanted to yell at Trista, to tell her to stop saying mean things. But she didn’t. Trista might get mad at her. The other kids listened to Trista. They kind of looked up to her because she did things other kids were afraid to do. They liked the people Trista said to like—and didn’t like the people Trista said not to like.
    People like babies.
    Whose mothers had to walk them to school.
    “Come swing, Faith.”
    Faith crossed her arms and turned to frown at Winnie. “I don’t
want
to swing.” She grabbed the swing and flung it away from her. “Swinging’s for babies.”
    The hurt on Winnie’s face made Faith’s tummy hurt, but she didn’t say sorry. She turned and walked away. And that made the icky feeling in her tummy even worse.
    Stupid playground. Stupid swings. Stupid Winnie
.
    She kicked at the ground.
Ring, you stupid bell
. She rubbed a fist at her stinging eyes.
It’s no fun out here anymore
.
    Anne sipped her tea, savoring the momentary quiet in the kitchen. Faith had gulped down her breakfast, then raced from the room to gather her things.
    “You all ready for Faith’s second day of third grade?”
    Anne smiled at Jared, watching him fill his travel mug with steaming coffee. “Well, I’m ready, but I don’t know about Faith.” She glanced toward the hallway leading to Faith’s room.“She gulped down her oatmeal then disappeared into her room.”
    Jared set his mug on the counter and moved to the hallway. “Faith, honey, come on, time to go. Your mommy’s waiting.”
    Anne expected their daughter to come bounding out of her room, but all that met Jared’s words was silence. They looked at each other and frowned.
    “Maybe she fell asleep again?”
    Anne shook her head, starting down the hallway. “I don’t think so. She was all dressed—” She jerked to a halt near the stairs. Faith’s coat, which had hung there moments ago, was gone. A shiver of panic sliced through Anne as she angled a look back into the kitchen. The lunch she’d just finished packing for Faith was gone as well. Then she noticed the front door was slightly ajar.
    The shiver exploded