Read Online Children of the Earth by Anna Schumacher - Free Book Online Page A

he suspect her of hiding part of her vision as well? Or was she just being paranoid?
    She wished, once again, that everyone could just forget about Owen’s role in Trey’s and baby Jeremiah’s deaths. He’d been there for both, yes, but that was coincidence, and neither was his fault. Pastor Ted spoke so often of forgiveness and redemption, but for some reason he refused to apply those values to Owen. All of them did.
    Pastor Ted finished his sermon to a round of wild applause, but Daphne could barely focus on his words. Owen dominated her thoughts, crowding everything else from her mind. Her life in Carbon County would be so much easier without him—but without him, she may as well not bother living at all.
    • • •
    Hilary found her at the potluck after the service, sitting at one of the packed picnic tables outside. Across the street the skeleton of the new mega-church towered above them, its expansive parking lot littered with lengths of lumber and fat, pink rolls of insulation. It was Floyd Peyton’s gift to the Carbon County First Church of God, and Daphne knew from his blueprints that it would be large enough to finally accommodate Pastor Ted’s hundreds of new devotees. Even though construction was moving along rapidly, with winter on the horizon and more people joining the congregation every week it felt like the new church couldn’t go up fast enough.
    “Great job on the pulpit.” Hilary gave her a hug that was all bouncing curls and smiles. “I’d seriously throw up if I had to get up and speak in front of everyone like that.”
    Daphne couldn’t help laughing. “I almost did.”
    Hilary giggled, but her expression turned serious as she finished her lemonade. “Hey, have you seen Janie at all today?”
    “No.” Daphne frowned. “She hasn’t been to church in ages.”
    “Damn it—I mean, sorry,
darn
it.” Hilary shook her head. “I went up to see her this week, and she promised me she’d come.”
    Guilt soured in Daphne’s stomach as she recalled the last time she’d seen Janie, and her cousin’s accusatory words.
She
hadn’t been up to the Varley house to see Janie. She’d been too busy with work and too preoccupied with Owen and the disturbing contents of her vision to make the time.
    “How did she seem to you?” Daphne asked cautiously.
    “Honestly?” Hilary lowered her voice and looked around, making sure the Peytons were out of earshot. “Not good. She was drinking vodka straight out of the bottle, and she looked like hell—I mean, she looked like heck. Is that even an expression? Anyway, I’m worried about her.”
    “Me too.” Daphne pushed her plate away, her appetite gone.
    “Poor Janie.” Hilary shook her head sadly. “Next week I’ll just go pick her up and
make
her go to church. I kind of feel like if she comes back, she’ll find her faith again. Want to come with?”
    “Uh . . .” Daphne shifted, the wood of the picnic bench suddenly too hard beneath her. “I don’t know if I should. I’m not exactly her favorite person right now.”
    “Really?” Hilary cocked her head. “But she’s always been crazy about you. You’d think now, with you being a prophet and all . . .”
    She trailed off, leaving Daphne to shrug into the gaping silence. “I don’t think she believes I’m a prophet,” she said finally. “She said she thinks I’m faking it.”
    “Oh, well, that’s just stupid.” Hilary tucked a curl behind her ear. “She’s going through a hard time, so she’s probably lashing out. You just need to turn the other cheek, like Jesus says. You didn’t take it personally, did you?”
    Daphne sighed. “Maybe a little,” she confessed.
    “You shouldn’t,” Hilary insisted. “There’s a whole mess of people who believe in you, people who came here from a long way off just to be near you.”
    Daphne shook her head. She knew that the church was growing, that people were coming to Carbon County from all over the country just to join,