Blessed Child by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page B

hardly a thieving scoundrel,” Jason said. They were speaking in separate languages now: the merchant and the boy in Amharic and Jason in English. “He’s an innocent boy who obviously loves birds. Not everyone is set on killing every piece of meat they can find.”
    The merchant’s face grew red. “And what do you know, you farenji? Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson.”
    â€œI meant no insult. Just tell me what you charge for the birds.”
    â€œIn the cages, two pounds each. But they are not in their cages. They are on the roofs. Now you must pay five pounds each.”
    A rumble of agreement went through the crowd, as if this ploy were a particularly clever move on the merchant’s part.
    â€œAnd that’s highway robbery, my friend,” Jason said.
    A note sounded very softly, like a tuning fork, quiet but pure, echoing at the back of Jason’s mind. Someone was singing. Jason extracted some small bills from his wallet, and the crowd hushed.
    The note sounded like the perfect C, held unwavering, and it occurred to Jason that it wasn’t his wallet but this singing that had hushed the crowd. He looked down to see Caleb’s chin lifted lightly and his eyes closed. The boy’s mouth was parted in a pure, crystalline note that carried on the air, effectively silencing the crowd. Even the merchant had frozen and now stared at the boy.
    From the corner of his eye, Jason saw Leiah step from the rest room and pull up at the sight. He turned to her and their eyes met. It must be strange, he thought, to look across the street and see him and the boy surrounded by a crowd while the boy sang this odd note of perfection. The entire street seemed to have turned its attention to the boy now. A donkey drawing a cart twenty yards up the street stopped and turned its head to the scene. Even the drivers in the cars that drove by were craning their necks for a view of the commotion by the bird merchant’s cages.
    Still the note hung in the air, undisturbed and soft. The crowd now stared at the boy as if he were performing an astounding feat right before their very eyes. But it was just a note sung from the thin lips of a ten-year-old boy.
    And then it was more. Because then the two Abyssinian birds who had flown to freedom took flight again. Only this time they flew to the boy. On wings that seemed to flap too slowly for their flight, they fluttered through the air, over the street and over the crowd, which lifted its eyes as one and watched. The birds hovered just above the boy for a moment and then settled onto his shoulders.
    Caleb opened his eyes and smiled. He took the birds from his shoulders and set them back in their cages. Now the crowd found its voice: murmurs of incredulity.
    Caleb looked up at him, and Jason knew precisely what the boy was thinking. He wanted the birds. Jason pulled out four pounds and paid the reduced price to the merchant. “Your price for the birds?”
    The man nodded.
    â€œJason!” The piercing scream came from the gas station, and Jason spun to see Leiah frantically pointing up the street. He followed her arm. A truck blared its horn as it picked its way through the crowded traffic.
    Jason saw the markings clearly then. It was an EPLF Land Rover identical to the one that had cornered them in the canyon!
    Panic crowded his throat and he spun back to the boy. Caleb had one bird out and he threw it in the air. He laughed and went for the second bird, oblivious to the danger behind them.
    â€œWe have to go, Caleb! Leave it!” He grabbed the boy’s arm.
    But Caleb pulled away, snatched the second bird from its cage, and threw it into the air.
    Jason lifted the boy from his feet and spun to the street. Someone from the crowd had spotted the EPLF vehicle and was shouting frantically. The street broke into pandemonium. From the truck’s direction a machine gun began to pop, and the Land Rover broke through the traffic.
    Jason saw