Amber Dan-Dwayne Spencer (romantic books to read .txt) 📖

thirteen-year-old hippie stood where my reflection should have been. The fact I was still chasing puberty glared back at me yet again.

“Who in their right minds would take you seriously? You’re the guy who is supposed to prophesy about the end of the world? Well, no one is going to believe a kid who looks as young as you do. Good luck trying to make anyone believe you. A few fashionable duds won’t make you more credible,” Mr. Dark whispered.

“I look like a hippie wannabe,” I admitted.

“There’s no way any adult will listen to a word you say.”

I thought for a while and said, “It doesn’t matter if the people believe anything I say. According to Flower, my job is to say it. Whether I’m taken seriously is someone else’s bag.”

Flower stepped up behind me. Gazing at my reflection, she met my eyes. “When you finally look twenty and everyone you went to school with is in a nursing home. You will be thankful.” With a melancholy expression, she paused, “And a little sad too. Right now—it’s hard to be thankful when you want to grow up, and more, when you are told to take charge and challenge something—something supernatural.”

“How d’you know what was troubling me?” I asked.

She smiled. “I know. I’ve been there.” She gave me an understanding nod. “We better load up and get going. Blue Eye is not getting any nearer with you standing here, admiring yourself in the mirror.”

That disturbing feeling overtook me again. Were we doing the right thing by going to Blue Eye? When it actually came time to speak prophecy, would they take me seriously? My mind went back to the Roundhouse when Miss Tabitha got my breakfast for me. She was well respected at the commune and the people in line still had a hard time believing I could handle commune business of any kind. If they wouldn’t believe they could trust me to go buy supplies, then why would they believe I was a prophet? I felt doomed before we began.

Thinking about the Roundhouse on that morning brought Kelly Carter to mind again. He told me we were going to see a phoenix, and I saw his excitement—so I asked him to come along. Doubt hovered over me like a storm cloud. I couldn’t shake off my guilt. Mr. Dark might have been totally pessimistic, but he made a point. I was just a kid. How could I save the world when I couldn’t save one commune member?

Chapter Eighteen

Rose

With more than a little apprehension, I climbed into the van. Maybe Mr. Dark had been right all along. I had no right to think any adult would take what I said seriously. I already knew Flower would, but she had a gift herself and knew about this stuff.

To my surprise, Stoney was there. He not only had on a tie-dye T-shirt covering those stone-hard abs of his, but he sat in the driver’s seat. Flower insisted she was too tired, and he was an excellent driver. Roger and I sat behind Stoney on the center bench seat, while Jimmy brooded in the far back of the van.

I had no idea what a messenger’s bag was when I saw it, but Stoney had a rawhide satchel–he looked for all the world like he was carrying a big purse. I reached forward and slapped Stoney’s arm in a friendly gesture. Maybe he had some sage wisdom to relieve my anxiety over driving. “Have you ever won any racing awards?” Completely serious, he didn’t even smile when he nodded his head, indicating he had. “Oh, okay then,” I replied. Silence followed. He wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

Flower had made it clear, she was the only one living at the commune with a spiritual gift, but from what I could tell, everyone at the commune had some kind of gift. The elder’s nagging indecision about my residency ate away at me, as I wondered if they would let me live there. It was where I belonged.

Reflecting on where I belonged made me automatically think of home. No matter where I lived, home would always haunt me. Unresolved conflict and remorse were like angry ghosts haunting my consciousness. Even with everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours, I couldn’t escape thinking about it. I enjoyed living at the commune, and Texas… Well, the Lone Star State was a place filled with painful memories.

Jimmy’s backseat brooding erupted. “I can’t do it, I just can’t. I changed my mind,” he exclaimed. “I can’t leave Rose here and go traipsing off to find some dumb old book. Take me to town and drop me off. I’ll find a way to set her free myself.”

“We talked about this,” Roger blurted. “The best way to save her is to get the talisman and use it to—”

“I know what you said, and at the time, I thought it was a good idea. But… I can’t. You don’t understand. She needs me. I just can’t leave her there.” The expression in Jimmy’s eyes was sincere. “You guys go on and find the book and I’ll set Rose free.”

Leaning forward, I made my declaration. “No. You’re right,” I agreed. “I changed my mind too. We stick together and work as a team. No more separating. If we had stuck together at the carnival things would have been different.”

Flower complained, “The angel said rescuing her wouldn’t change anything.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I insisted. “We rescue Rose before we do anything else. Then we all go to Blue Eye. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

It wasn’t yet daybreak when Stoney pulled away from the commune and headed into town, toward Cherokee County Jail. He didn’t pay attention to the posted speed limits, and my fear of being stopped by one of the Sheriff’s monster officers