Read Online Whispering Hope by Marsha Hubler - Free Book Online

anything to help?” the third man asked.
    “One of our girls might be in there.” Mrs. Chambers’ voice quivered as she wiped a barrage of tears from her face and tried to clear her lungs. “She likes to sleep in the barn.”
    “I’m going in,” Mr. Garside said, turning toward the barn.
    “Oh, no you’re not.” The male EMT grabbed the man by his T-shirt. “You’ll be more help if you just stay here with these ladies.”
    Skye watched the action, running her fingers through her hair, chewing her lip, and coughing. Her stare darted from the scrambling firemen to the shooting flames and billowing smoke to the open door of the barn and back. Soon the tanker at the bottom of the field came racing up, ready with a fresh water supply. But within minutes, the powerful hoses from the first two trucks had put out the flames, and all that seemed damaged on the barn was the one corner and, of course, the damaged hay bales inside.
    As the firemen stretched out their now silent hoses, Mr. Chambers, coughing, hurried out of the barn. Mrs. Chambers and Skye, still struggling with their own breaths, rushed to his side.
    “Tom, where’s Wanda?” Mrs. Chambers could hardly contain herself.
    Skye’s eyes stung with hot tears and she felt her face flush with fear. “Dad, did you find her?”
    Mr. Chambers let out another string of coughs and then struggled to force out his next few words. “She’s not in there!”

Chapter Eight
    T hank the Lord,” Mrs. Chambers said with a huge sigh of relief. “But…where could she be?”
    Mr. Chambers turned and started hurrying toward the house. “I’ll call the local authorities and ask them to be on the lookout for Wanda. I’ll be right back.”
    “Maybe she’s in town,” Skye said to Mrs. Chambers and Morgan.
    “But nothing’s open in the wee hours of the night except the donut shop,” Morgan said. “And, somehow, I don’t think Wanda’s into donuts.”
    “I just pray she’s okay, wherever she is,” Mrs. Chambers said, her voice cracking.
    With the smoke cleared, Mr. and Mrs. Chambers and Skye checked the barn for further damage while the firemen checked and re-checked the loft for hot spots. Then the family rounded up the horses, including an uncharacteristically compliant Rebel, and put them into the pasture to continue their morning feast. Thinking about Wanda through the whole clean-up, Skye found her own expression matching those of Mr. and Mrs. Chambers, now draped in constant worry.
    At dawn, Mr. Chambers finally had a free moment to call the local police again and see if they had spotted Wanda. With a negative report, he then called Wanda’s grandmother and Officer Connors in Harrisburg, alerting them. Then the Chambers’ family gathered around the dining room table. Despite the concern for Wanda, all four somehow managed to breathe their first collective sigh of relief in hours. Tippy and Tyler, sensing the drama of the entire situation, lay as close to Mrs. Chambers’ feet as they could get.
    “Girls,” Mr. Chambers said, “We need to pray that God keeps Wanda safe, wherever she is. I also think we need to take time to thank the Lord that no one was hurt and that our barn wasn’t destroyed. We lost a few dozen bales of hay, but that was last year’s cut. It can easily be replaced with this summer’s crop. It looks like I might have to replace a few boards in the loft, too, but first we need to try and figure out what started the fire.”
    “I’m sure the firemen already have a good idea,” Mrs. Chambers said. “I sure hope it’s not what I think.”
    “Like a certain kid named Wanda?” Skye inserted.
    “It sure looks suspicious,” Mr. Chambers said, “but we can’t jump to conclusions.”
    “And I certainly agree that we need to pray for Wanda and thank God that the fire was put out quickly. It could have been devastating, not only in loss of property but in the loss of our horses. I’ve been thanking God all morning that you saw that