Read Online The Believer by Ann H. Gabhart - Free Book Online

have a hard time finding us without a path to follow if we venture farther." She looked up through the tree branches to catch a glimpse of where the sun was in the sky. It had surely been more than an hour since Payton had run back toward the cabin. "I thought he would have caught back up with us by now. We've been slow on the path"
    "Maybe he isn't coming" Hannah moved closer to Elizabeth as she peered through the trees back the way they'd come.
    "He promised:" Elizabeth forced confidence in her voice as she added, "He will come. We can rest here and wait for him"
    Elizabeth sat down on the ground and leaned back against a maple tree. Hannah dropped down beside her and put her head in Elizabeth's lap. Elizabeth picked out a twig caught in Hannah's curls and smoothed down her hair. The minutes crept by so slowly that Elizabeth counted to sixty five times just so she'd know how much time had actually passed.
    "Will the Shakers like me?" Hannah asked without raising her head off Elizabeth's lap.
    "They will feed us"
    "But will they like us?" Hannah didn't wait for Elizabeth to answer, as if she knew there was no sure answer before she went on with more questions. "Will we have to spin and dance the way Father said they did? Will we have to wear caps on our heads?"
    "Perhaps the caps. I know not about the dancing. But Father said there was singing too. You like to sing."
    Hannah lifted her head up to look at Elizabeth. "Do you think a cap will stay on my head?"
    "Perhaps:" Elizabeth smiled and pushed down on Hannah's hair and then let her hand spring away. "Perhaps not:"
    Hannah laughed and the sound buoyed Elizabeth's spirits. Hannah didn't laugh often. The child's smile lingered as she put her head back in Elizabeth's lap.
    Elizabeth was counting to her second set of five sixties when the girl spoke again. "How long has Payton been gone from us?" Every trace of her smile was gone.
    "Too long:" Elizabeth did not hide her worry from Hannah. The girl would know anyway. She had a way of looking at Elizabeth or Payton and somehow divining their thoughts without them speaking a word.
    "Do you think Mr. Linley has caught him?"
    Elizabeth took hold of Hannah's shoulders and pulled her up until she was looking into her light blue eyes. "Caught him doing what?"
    "I do not know. Whatever he went back to do:' When Elizabeth looked at her without saying anything, Hannah went on. "You fear him. Mr. Linley. Is that not why we go to the Shakers? But he only makes Payton angry. You are more like our father"
    "What do you mean?"
    "Our father feared him too"
    "What reason would Father have to fear Mr. Linley?" Elizabeth frowned at Hannah.
    "For you, he feared. I know. I saw his face:" Her eyes seemed to be looking inward at a memory of their father's face.
    Elizabeth pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Perhaps we should go back to find Payton:"
    Hannah stood up. "First let me climb a tree to see if I can see him coming. Mr. Linley may not have caught him yet:"
    Hannah climbed up through the branches of the tallest oak near them. Elizabeth looked up at her far above her head and held her breath as the limbs swayed under Hannah's feet. "Be careful," she whispered under her breath, more a prayer than an admonition.
    I see smoke;' Hannah called from her perch high above the ground. "Back to the west"
    Back toward the cabin. Elizabeth's heart jumped up in her throat, but she made her voice stay calm as she called to Hannah. "Do you see Payton?"
    "Someone comes, but I cannot see who. The leaves hide him" Hannah started down, moving as lightly as a squirrel between the branches.
    "Were they on a horse, do you think?"
    "No, on foot:" Hannah reached the bottom branch and swung out of the tree to let Elizabeth catch her.
    Elizabeth set her down on the ground. "Then it has to be Payton. Colton would be on his horse"
    No sooner were the words out of her mouth than she heard the crashing through the trees. Payton was running up the path toward