The Hope of Refuge Read Online Free PDF Page A

it together.”

    Cara nodded. “Good idea. We need to run the pencil over the whole area very, very lightly or we might scratch out the message rather than make it visible.”
    Lori passed her the pencil. “I already went first. It’s your turn.”
    Relieved, Cara took the pencil and began lightly rubbing the lead over the page. Words that had been there since before her mother died suddenly appeared on the page. It looked like an address. The street numbers were hidden under the heavy-handedness of her daughter’s artwork, but the road, town, and state were clear.
    Mast Road, Dry Lake, Pennsylvania
    “What’s it say, Mom?”
    Hope trickled in, and tears stung her eyes. Lori had no one but her, a single mom who’d been an orphan. She had no support system. She wanted… no, she ached to give Lori some sort of life connections, a relative or friend of Cara’s mother, something that spoke of the things life was supposed to be made of—worthy relationships. Maybe this was the answer. It had to be better than Jersey. “It says where we’re going.”
    “Where’s that?”
    Cara closed the book. “As close to Dry Lake, Pennsylvania, as a bus route goes.” She put the backpack over one shoulder and held her hand out for Lori. “You discovered a secret I didn’t know was there. Come on. We’ve got bus tickets to buy.”
    In a blur of confusion and fears, Cara bought tickets to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. The man at the ticket counter said they were heading for the heart of Amish country. When she shrugged, he told her they were easy to spot—wore clothing that looked like something from the eighteen hundreds and traveled by horse and buggy.
    With the tickets in hand, they boarded one bus, rode for hours, had a long delay at another station, and then boarded another bus. Now it was night again. Between purchasing bus tickets and food, she had little money left. The uncertainty scared her, and it stole all sense of victory for getting free of Mike and discovering the long-held secret in her diary.

    While Lori slept, Cara studied each passing town, hoping something would look familiar.
    Hours of light mist turned into pelting rain, making it difficult to see the landmarks. Her eyelids ached with heaviness. She blinked hard and sat up straighter, concentrating on each thing they passed.
    Spattering drops smacked the window endlessly. She wiped the fog from the glass, studying the water-colored world. As the bus pulled into a Kmart parking lot, the bus driver said, “Shippensburg. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.”
    A peculiar feeling crawled over her. An elderly woman stood and made her way to the front of the bus.
    The idea of waking Lori from a safe, dry sleep to enter a rainy, unknown world was ridiculous. She had a few dollars left. Maybe she could pay to ride farther.
    “Shippensburg?” The driver looked in the rearview mirror, giving each passenger a chance to get off.
    She clutched the armrests, assuring herself any good mother would stay put. When the doors to the bus began to close, Cara jumped to her feet, signaling her intention to get off here.
    She stuffed her diary into Lori’s backpack and lifted her sleeping child into her arms. She stopped next to the bus driver. “Any idea how to get to Dry Lake?”
    “Follow this road for a few blocks.” He pointed in front of the bus. “When you get to Earl Street, go right. It’ll be about six miles.”
    “Thanks.”
    “There’s a nice motel straight ahead, Shippen Place Hotel. Only hotel I know of near here.”
    “Thanks.” Cold rain stung her face as she stepped off the bus. Since she didn’t have enough money for a fancy hotel, she’d have to find somewhere free to stay for the night.
    Lori lifted her head off Cara’s shoulder, instantly whining. “No, Mom. I want to go home.”

    “Shh.” Cara eased Lori’s head against her shoulder and placed the backpack against her little girl’s cheek, trying to shield her from the rain. “Listen, kid,