Read Online Steadfast Heart by Tracie Peterson - Free Book Online Page A

Liang pointed to a cloth-covered tray as Abrianna entered the kitchen. The small Chinese servant threw her a toothy smile. “I take roast meat and put with bread, too. You like?”
    â€œOh, I like it very much, and the boys will like it even more. Thank you, Liang. You don’t think they’ll be missed, do you?” Abrianna began loading the food into a basket.
    The dark-haired girl shook her head. “You take and help the poor. I will make sure no one worries.”
    Abrianna loved this tiny girl. Liang made Abrianna want to fight all the harder for the Chinese. Why couldn’t they all share Seattle—America, for that matter—and live in harmony?
    â€œMr. Booth, he wait in the dining room,” Liang announced as if Abrianna might have forgotten that he was coming.
    â€œI’ll be going now. If my aunts worry overmuch about where I’ve gone just tell them I’m looking for Greta Booth with Mr. Booth.” Abrianna tucked a cloth over the food.
    The fourteen-year-old gave her a nod. “I tell them.”
    Abrianna swept into the dining room. Kolbein stood at the window, his back toward the room. Tapping him on the shoulder, Abrianna spoke in a soft tone. “I’m ready to go if you are.”
    He turned and smiled. “I am. Thank you for doing this. Here, let me take that.” He reached out for her basket.
    Keeping her voice hushed, she stepped closer and handed him the basket. “I would like to help you find your sister, and I think I have a pretty good plan.”
    He appeared to contemplate her statement. Finally he asked, “And what would that plan entail?”
    Abrianna put a finger to her lips and motioned him outside. “I need to keep my aunts from knowing what I’m about. They won’t worry as much if I’m escorted by you. Although they might think it inappropriate for us to be alone. They often think things to be inappropriate when I see no harm.”
    â€œThen why all this secrecy and whispering?”
    She hesitated, hoping that Kolbein wouldn’t refuse her or, worse yet, report her. “I have friends who live on the streets. I’ve called upon them for such help more than once.”
    â€œI can’t imagine how you might have need of them.” Kolbein frowned. “You are a most unconventional young woman, Abrianna.”
    â€œI’ll take that as a compliment. Now, if you’ll just accompany me, we can meet up with them and put them to work looking for your sister.”
    â€œBut I’ve already hired a private investigator,” Kolbein protested, but she was already heading down the street. “Abrianna, your aunts would never want you to take such a chance.”
    â€œI know that,” she replied, glancing sideways, “but I must do what I must do. The street folks are people just like you andme, but most haven’t the same benefits of education or a loving family. Others are old or very young and considered useless by society. I mean to prove that these people are just as valuable as any other. God has put a calling on my life, and I intend to help them.”
    Kolbein’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know it’s God and not the devil himself?”
    She grinned. “Because I know God. He has been a constant source of comfort to me. Believe me, Kolbein, I’ve been a mess most of my life, and only through God’s grace have I amounted to anything.”
    â€œWho told you that? Surely your aunts would not be so cruel.”
    Abrianna waited until they’d crossed the busy street before replying. “They are never against me. They chide and cajole and do their best to raise me right, but I am a stiff-necked woman. Of course, I am trying to correct that mistake. I do not tell it to you in order to revel in it. The fact is, I’m most ashamed. I just find it so hard to be good—like Lenore,” she added, remembering her promise to promote her