AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Isaiah hoped not. Just as quickly as it came on, the vision wobbled, and then it was gone. When they came out of it, Isaiah was tired and a little cold.
“Whoo, that sure made me tired.”
“Me, too,” Sarah Beth said. “We’re going to have to get our strength up,” she said, patting his shoulder. “We’ll make our moon glow so bright!”
Isaiah liked that they had shared the same experience, the same feelings. It was a special bond between them. Everybody else was always so busy, but she had time for him. She was his friend.
He was starting to like Sarah Beth. She understood how hard it was to be a kid. He liked that they had their own special power apart from the other Diviners—a secret. Memphis was always fussing at Isaiah to grow up. What Isaiah just did with Sarah Beth, wasn’t that being his own man? Yes. He decided it was so.
“Come on. I’ll give you that push on the swing I promised.”
“Are you okay to push me? You won’t faint or nothing?” Isaiah said. At dinner, he’d gotten the idea from Mrs. Olson that Sarah Beth wasn’t well.
Sarah Beth narrowed her eyes. “I can push just fine, thank you very much.”
“I didn’t mean nothing by it,” Isaiah said, embarrassed.
“Go on. Climb in,” she said when they had reached the oak tree.
Isaiah put his hands on the rope. He was flooded with memory. Hadn’t he seen this very tree in his visions before? There had been something bad about it, something that had frightened him.
“Are you getting in?” Sarah Beth said, impatient.
Isaiah climbed in. Sarah Beth grunted and shoved. After the third push, Isaiah gained some air, reveling in the freedom of his body and the lightness of late spring bending toward summertime. The sun hadn’t gone to bed yet; it was sitting low on the land, getting sleepier. Isaiah thought about the kittens under the porch. He couldn’t wait to see them again.
The swing slowed. Sarah Beth had stopped pushing. She stood watching him with her skinny arms dangling at her sides, and she looked as sad as Isaiah had ever seen a person look. Sad and mad at the same time.
“I hate it here. I’m lonely. Ma and Pa don’t really love me. I don’t have any friends. Everybody’s scared of me.”
“How come they’re scared of you?”
“’Cause I’m different. Just like you. I can see things like ghosts and the future, and it makes people nervous. Even the pastor gets nervous around me. And I’m not pretty in the way the other girls are,” she said softly. “I don’t belong anywhere in this world, Isaiah. Not a blessed place.”
“That sounds real sad,” Isaiah said. He was afraid Sarah Beth might cry, and he wouldn’t know what to do then. “I’m not scared of you.”
This seemed to be the right thing to say, because Sarah Beth brightened. “You’re brave, Isaiah. I knew you would be.”
Isaiah puffed out his chest. “One time, Barney’s baseball went under the fence, and I was the only one who went after it!”
“The older ones ignore you, don’t they? I can see it.”
Isaiah shrugged it off. “Used to it by now.”
“It isn’t fair. Why, you have the most special power of all! They should treat you with respect. You can see into the future. And you can see him, too, can’t you?”
Him. The King of Crows.
Isaiah nodded.
“Well. We just have to stick together, I suppose,” Sarah Beth said and giggled, and Isaiah laughed, too. He felt lighter than he had in some time.
“Will you be my friend, Isaiah?”
Isaiah smiled. “You bet.”
It was after supper, and Theta and Memphis were hiding in the hayloft. They’d been frantic to be together after so long apart. Their reunion had been quick and fevered, nearly desperate. Now, they huddled together for comfort, listening to the cooing of night birds and the insistent buzz of cicadas. Memphis had his arm around Theta as she leaned her head against his chest.
“Do you think Evie will be all right?” she asked softly.
