Destiny's Wrath (Destiny Series - Book 3) by Straight, Nancy (manga ereader txt) 📕

those she looked after. Though Jessie and Noah had never fully trusted anyone up to this point in their lives, there was something about Miss Bryant. They believed her when she said things were going to be okay.

Miss Bryant arrived outside Abigail’s home at 3 p.m. Both children had their worldly belongings stuffed into two plastic grocery bags. Miss Bryant stopped on the porch, kneeled down to eye level of both of the children and said, “I know you’re scared. Do you two trust me?”

Jessie nodded immediately; Noah was slower to agree, but he, too, trusted Miss Bryant. “You know that I would never take you somewhere that wasn’t safe, right?” Again both children nodded their agreement. “Miss Abigail is a very nice lady; she wants you to live with her. Now, she hasn’t had children in her home in a really long time, so she is just as scared as you are. But I know you both will take good care of her, won’t you?” Jessie and Noah looked at each other quickly, then both silently agreed.

Miss Bryant stood back up, straightened her jacket, and rang the doorbell. Abigail opened the door and saw the two children standing in front of her holding their grocery bags stuffed with clothes. She could see Jessie had a blanket and a stuffed bear peeking out of the top of hers. Noah’s pants were too short, his shirt was clean but stained, and he wouldn’t look her in the eye. He stood close and slightly in front of his sister. He didn’t consciously think that Miss Abigail was a threat, but he had grown accustomed to being Jessie’s protector, so this was the position he always took.

Abigail was so excited to have children in her home again she could barely contain herself. Abigail held out her hand to Noah, “Good afternoon, Noah. My name is Abigail. You can call me Granny or Miss Abbey, whichever you prefer.” He nodded but said nothing. Abigail turned her attention to Jessie, “And you must be Jessie?” She held out her hand to Jessie, but Jessie looked to Noah instead of the outstretched hand. Noah gave a short nod and Jessie put her little hand inside of Abigail’s outstretched fingers.

Within ten minutes of their arrival, the children knew they had been transported to another time; they wouldn’t have been surprised to hear this was another universe. In the entire house there only looked to be one television, which was turned off.

Abigail showed the children to the play room, which was like nothing they had ever seen before. The walls and furniture were colorful; a white board lined one wall with markers of every color in the rainbow. Toys lined another wall in colorful bins: trains, blocks, animals, wooden sticks, and even Hot Wheels cars. A table with four chairs was in the center of the room with markers, colors, glue, scissors, and more paper than either had seen in their school classrooms. A large bookshelf held hundreds of books. Near the bookshelf was a loveseat with big pillows tossed all over it.

Abigail’s playroom rivaled that of even the most posh daycare facility. Jessie tugged on Abigail’s sweater and apprehensively asked, “Can I draw a picture?”

Abigail smiled at Jessie, “You don’t need to ask my permission. This is your room to play. The only thing I ask is that if you take something out, you must put it back when you are finished.” Abigail and Miss Bryant stepped out of the play room and back into the foyer. The ladies said their goodbyes, and from that moment on, Abigail wasn’t lonely anymore.

It took some getting used to. Abigail was very set in her ways: bed time and morning wake up were on a strict schedule, and a hot breakfast waited for the children every morning. School lunches were packed with all the food groups. After school snacks were waiting for them when they arrived home. Dinner was every night at 5 p.m. sharp. In all of Noah’s eight years, he had never had so much structure. These were things from make believe. No one actually lived this way, right?

Noah and Jessie did. They had been with Miss Abigail for nine years, longer than they had lived with their own mother.

Things weren’t all roses. Abigail refused to purchase televisions for bedrooms, video games or any other device she didn’t understand. When Noah started middle school, Abigail bought a computer that they were allowed to use for school work, but neither had ever played so much as one computer game on it.

Noah was now seventeen years old. He was preparing to graduate from high school and had already been accepted to the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Jessie was fifteen and dreaded the day that Noah would leave. He had been her rock her whole life. Over the years, many children came to stay in their home with Miss Abbey, sometimes for a week, or a month, or sometimes for a few months. Each time the children went home either to their parents or to some other family member. Jessie and Noah never did. Eventually they called Abigail, “Granny.” Holidays and birthdays were a big occasion because Abigail’s children and grandchildren filled the house. Jessie and Noah were accepted as part of the family; although shy in the early years, they grew to love their new extended family.

In March of his senior year, Noah began to be headstrong. He had always been independent, but he was nearly an adult. His life was very much on course. He had worked hard and was excited and nervous at the same time about the fall when he would really be on his own in college. Abigail, having raised her own children and watched her grandchildren turn of age, knew this was a time that Noah had to work through. She tried not to mettle or to provide too much advice.

The two were in mid-conversation when they heard a knock at the door, his