The Healer's Touch by Lori Copeland

Author:Lori Copeland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736956543
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.

10

Joseph jabbed a hoe into the soft earth and then dropped a potato seedling into the black fertile soil. He’d spotted the box of plants on the service porch and instinct told him the weather was warm enough to get the early crop into the ground. The garden spot sat half overturned, bearing silent witness to the recent upheaval in the Bolton household. He had a feeling that normally the soil would have been tilled by now. Grinning, he thought of the imaginary help she’d mentioned—“a big man with a gun who wasn’t afraid to use it”—and decided that he had begun to fill the job.

Lyric sat on the back stoop visiting with the Jennings woman. The two seemed to have a warm friendship. He struck the ground and an image of a young boy planting seed potatoes, standing beside a woman wearing a blue and white bib apron, flashed through his mind. But the picture disappeared almost as quickly as it had materialized.

Shaking his head, he poked another hole in the ground and dropped another seedling in a row running north to south. Today the effort to bend was less awkward; each new sunrise brought with it a bit more strength. For the first time since he’d come here he was starting to think that he might live long enough to be hanged.

And for the first time rebellion burned like hot coals in his belly. God, if I am the man I’m thought to be, why didn’t You let me die? Hanging is fair punishment, but now I’m left to watch the look on Lyric’s face when I climb that platform. She’s an innocent bystander. Why involve her in this?

And he knew she would be there. Wild horses wouldn’t keep her away, but he didn’t want her to witness the ugly sight. Maybe that was God’s punishment—to make him witness his sins in the most anguished way, through a woman’s eyes. A woman who appeared to put her trust in him.

God, how I pray her faith isn’t in vain.

He slowly moved down the row, planting, praying. After a bit he noted Katherine embracing Lyric and the young neighbor striking off toward home. Lyric slowly walked down the hill. When she reached the garden, she smiled. “Planting potatoes, I see.”

“Hope you don’t mind. I needed something to fill the time.”

“I don’t mind—but how did you know it was time to plant potatoes?”

Pausing, he pulled the handkerchief knotted around his neck up and wiped away the perspiration from his forehead. “Couldn’t say. Instinct, maybe?”

Nodding, she reached for a seedling and followed him down the row.

“Did you have a nice visit with your friend?”

“Not really. Katherine’s moving.”

“Moving?” He dug another hole. “I thought you said they’d just settled here.”

“They have, but the light keeps tormenting them.”

He covered the hole with dirt. “That light again.”

“The light.”

Straightening, he met her eyes. “They’ve seen it too?”

She nodded. “Everyone’s seen it.”

Blue, yellow, bouncing. The image ricocheted through his mind.

“I wondered if my mind was playing tricks. That thing leaves you with a heck of a question in your mind.

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