Whispering Hope by Marsha Hubler

feel better about a lot of things if she’d just talk them out.”
    “I know when she starts trusting us, she’ll start talking,” Skye said.
    “So, Skye,” Mr. Chambers said, “tell me more about your ‘girl whispering’ idea that you shared with me at Piney Hollow today.”
    “Girl whispering?” Mrs. Chambers said. “This should be interesting.”
    Morgan eased out a warm smile and pushed her hair behind her shoulders. “I would think that Wanda has gotten nothing her whole life but ‘girl yelling.’ ”
    “I keep thinking of what Chad and I learned last summer at that horse whispering camp,” Skye said. “Our mentor kept telling us over and over not to force ourselves on the horse. I think that’s what I’ve been doing—notjust with Rebel but with Wanda too. I’d like to be her friend, but she wants to stay a zillion miles away.”
    “She’s a totally hard nut to crack.” Morgan nodded, her freckles dancing with her signature smile.
    “So, what’s your plan?” Mr. Chambers leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “I’m all ears.”
    Mrs. Chambers grabbed a pretzel from the bowl and took a bite. “At this point in time, we need God’s wisdom to help Wanda. What’s on your mind, Skye?”
    “I remember how I was when I first came here,” Skye said. “I didn’t trust anyone because so many people had broken promises to me or they had just let me down. I wanted to have friends, but I didn’t want to risk being hurt all over again like I had been in the past. I think that’s what’s going on with Wanda.”
    “I think you’re absolutely right,” Mrs. Chambers said. “We have to win her confidence, but it’ll take time. And she has to be willing to try, as well. So far, she’s not done anything but buck the system.”
    “Just like Rebel,” Morgan said. “Always bucking the system.”
    Everyone chuckled while Mr. Chambers said, “That’s a good one, Morgan. Very good.”
    “Anyway,” Skye continued, “I’ve been thinking about how Morgan treated me when I first moved in. In a way, she was ‘girl whispering’ with me, and we didn’t know it.”
    “What do you mean?” Morgan’s freckled face lit up with another big smile.
    “Well, do you remember how you offered to help me with my homework, and you said you wanted to be my friend, but then you backed away and didn’t push it? You went on with your life, enjoying every minute, and you weren’t going to let me ruin it. After awhile, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I wanted to find out what made you click and enjoy things like you did, so I started coming around. Remember?”
    “Kinda,” Morgan said. “I do remember you asking me how I could enjoy life in this wheelchair. That blew your mind. Another thing I remember is that you were also a totally tough nut to crack.”
    “Ahem,” Mrs. Chambers teased, looking Morgan straight in the eye. “Speaking of totally tough nuts to crack…”
    “Maybe we should be playing ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ on a CD,” Mr. Chambers joked, and everyone laughed. Then his tone changed. “Seriously, Skye, what do you have in mind for Wanda?”
    “It’s simple,” Skye said. “I don’t want to be nasty to her, and I’m not going to ignore her, but I’m just going to be polite and go about my business. Maybe when she stands back and takes a good look at how happy I am—really, how happy we all are—she’ll want to be part of it. What do you think?” Skye looked around the table.
    “Anything’s worth a try,” Mr. Chambers said.
    “Just let me know if there’s any progress between you two,” Mrs. Chambers said.
    “Go for it,” Morgan said. “We might just begin to see another nut getting totally cracked!”
    Sunday morning, the Chambers family attended church. Although Mrs. Chambers tried to tone down Wanda’s looks, Skye thought Wanda still managed to look like a scared porcupine. Fortunately, Hannah Gilbert and Betty Feaster weren’t in class, so as far as Skye