Another peek....

After supper, Bronwyn retired to the back porch swing to write. Bethany and Lillian sat with her, relaxing in rockers sipping iced tea with lavender, enjoying a calm Sunday evening. Mavis joined the girls, occupying another rocking chair and reading the paper. Bronwyn was listening to her ipod in an attempt to drown out any conversation on the porch.
“You girls enjoy the fireworks last night?” Mavis asked from behind her paper.
“Yes, they were amazing.” Bethany was somewhat startled by the randomness of the question.
“What about you Bronwyn?” Mavis asked, her face still hidden behind the paper.
The music piping into Bronwyn’s ears prevented her from hearing Mavis’s inquiry.
“Bronwyn!” Bethany raised her voice trying to overpower the music.
Bronwyn was busy searching the Bible she found in the inn’s library, attempting to look up the message in Isaiah 42:9.
“What?” She pulled out her earbuds.
“Mavis just asked you if you enjoyed the fireworks last night.” Bethany said, glints of warning in her eyes.
Bronwyn quickly glanced at Mavis, whose face remained hidden by the paper.
“Yes I saw them. They were beautiful.”
“That’s good.” Mavis casually turned the page.
“I was hoping you had a good view.”
Bethany’s eyes widened as she looked at Bronwyn. Bronwyn felt as if her stomach had fallen on the floor. Mavis had to be suspicious. Why hadn’t she asked Lillian the same question? Bronwyn wanted to blurt out “Nothing happened!”
Instead, she returned to her search for Isaiah 42:9. She flipped through the many smaller books, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Isaiah. She found the book. Her hands began to tremble from the adrenaline rush that had accompanied Mavis’s question. She was only seconds away from reading, “The message that had been delivered just for her” Bronwyn wouldn’t at all be surprised if it said something to the effect of, “Adulterers will burn!”
Her finger scanned the pages, Isaiah 39…40…41…42... Verse 9. Bronwyn read silently:
“See the former things have taken place, and new things I declare. Before they spring into being, I announce them to you.”
The heat sensation. Speeding heart. Lightness in the head.
Bronwyn shakily scribbled the verse on the back of the scroll.
The melodies of the late evening dulcimer player began drifting through the trees, as they did every evening. This was becoming clockwork. The mystifying voice accompanied the dulcimer and beckoned her. The winsome melody drew her attention away from the crowded porch and into the woods. Bronwyn laid the Bible and her computer aside. Standing, she stuffed the scroll back into the pocket of her shorts, and left the porch.