by Nancy Moser
“May I help you, ma’am?” Julia asked.
When the woman turned to look at her, Julia felt an odd jolt pass through her. She had the kindest eyes. They were the eyes of an old friend, yet Julia was certain they’d never met.
“Do you know anything about Haven?”
The woman’s question pulled Julia out of her thoughts. “Haven? I don’t think I’ve heard of it. I’m afraid we don’t have adult books.” She looked around at the children, trying to match one of them with the woman. Then she thought of something, “Haven? Perhaps you mean The Raven? The poem by Edgar Allan Poe?”
The woman smiled. “No, Julia. I mean Haven.” She held out a creamy white envelope.
Julia took it, then looked at the woman. “What’s this?”
“You’ve been chosen, Julia. You have things to do.” With that she moved toward the door.
Julia frowned, confused. “Things to do? What are you talking about?”
As the woman stepped onto the pavement, she turned back and pointed to the envelope, then gave Julia a wink.
“Mrs. Carson? Mrs. Carson?” A child tugged at Julia’s skirt. “David took The Dawn Treader and I wanted that one. Do you have another copy?”
Julia watched the woman walk away from the Book Bus.
“Mrs. Carson? Do you?”
Julia let her attention return to the immediate needs of the little girl. “I’ll bring a copy for you next time, Telisha. I’ll even put your name on it. Why don’t you pick another book for today.”
Telisha nodded and wove her way down the aisle to find another book.
Julia looked down at the envelope in her hand. Her name was written in an elegant cursive across the front. She slid a finger under the flap, breaking the seal. She removed an ivory card. Along the side was a botanical drawing of a broad-leafed plant bearing a cluster of small flowers.
“Mrs. Carson, can you help me find a book about spaceships?”
Julia held up a hand, her eyes scanning the contents of the card. “I’ll be right with...” She trailed off.
Julia Eugenia Carson is invited to Haven, Nebraska.
Please arrive August 1.
“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,
you can say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you.”
“Haven?” Julia mumbled.
“What’d you say, Mrs. Carson?” asked the boy.
Julia shook her head, trying to clear it. She walked to the door of the bus and called to Murray and the school director. “Do either of you know who that woman was? The grand-motherly type who came in the bus?”
They looked at each other over the heads of the last few children in line. “I don’t remember seeing anyone, Julia.”
“Me, neither,” Murray said. “But we were busy with the juice.”
“Mrs. Carson, the spaceships?” asked the boy again.
Julia shrugged. She didn’t have time to worry about the odd woman. Or the invitation. She stuffed the card into the pocket of her skirt and turned to help the boy.
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