The Hidden Flame (Acts of Faith Book #2) by Janette Oke & Davis Bunn

Author:Janette Oke & Davis Bunn [Oke, Janette]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: FIC042030
ISBN: 9781441207388
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2009-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

An hour later, Jacob led Linux toward the southern gates. The city baked as though on a red-hot anvil. Most of the market stalls they passed were shuttered and the lanes largely empty. The few people they passed flitted from one spot of shade to the next.

A pair of dogs lay directly in their path, panting hard, unwilling to lift themselves out of the way. Linux stepped over them and continued on. Once again he was a lone Roman walking along Jerusalem’s streets. But no one even bothered to glance his way. Today the heat was his shield.

His thoughts weaved and shimmered like the sunlight reflected off the cobblestones. He recalled Abigail dancing with joy after she had been healed, her face filled with an ecstasy so intense it stunned him still. He heard again the power in Peter’s voice, and felt anew the desperate longing he had known that night.

He remembered the palace gardens and the shimmering fountain and the way the daylight had glinted in the prelate’s eyes. Now, as he walked the empty lane, Linux heard the governor inviting him to carry out a mission, a theft from the Temple. Would he be stealing from the Judean God? Though from what he knew of their religious leaders, they likely had stolen the gold themselves.

Jacob, beside him, took a hard breath, and Linux was drawn back to the empty lane. Clearly the lad carried an immense burden. “Steady, lad.”

“I was thinking about that dreadful day. They’d sent me on a delivery. When I left, everything was fine. When I came back . . .”

Linux finished the thought for him, seeking to make the concept real. “They were gone.”

They continued on in silence for a time, then Jacob added, “Everything seems so confusing. For months and months I’ve longed for Alban’s return. Now he’s here, but nothing seems to be any clearer. Like everything is tied up in this terrible confusion. . . .” He shrugged. “I don’t know how to say it.”

Linux gave that a long moment, then offered a confession of his own. “I first came to Judea five years ago this summer. I feel like I’ve spent five years waiting for something to happen. Waiting for my time to come.” He glanced over. “Do you have any idea what I’m talking about?”

“Oh yes, sire. I have felt the same way since going to work for the carpenter.”

“Now I’m getting hit from all sides. First my brother pulled me back to Umbria and reminded me of all I have never been allowed to claim as my own. Then Rome . . . feeling the empire taking a turn that, well . . .” Linux stopped. He could not finish that confession, not even to this lad. “Then I return to Judea and see Abigail once again. Now the meeting at your compound and the healing.”

Jacob turned toward him. “Do you ever have the feeling that all these things are somehow connected?”

“Jacob, you might as well have taken the thought from my own head.

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