The Pastor's Wife Wears Biker Boots by Karla Akins Read Free Book Online

tiny little box. “Now,” she smiled, “open them.”
    We opened our boxes and found tiny bells inside.
    “Oh, how cute.” Lily pulled hers out of the box and held it up.
    “Those are gremlin bells.” Reba grinned and popped a piece of bubble gum in her mouth.
    “Gremlin bells?” Opal and I spoke in unison.
    “Yep. They keep the gremlins away from you.”
    “Gremlins?” Was I hearing her right?
    “Yeah, you know, evil road spirits.”
    “Evil road spirits?” Boy was I glad Aaron wasn’t here.
    “Yes. Motorcycle gremlins love to ride, but they cause all sorts of problems when you’re on the road. Remember that man who cut you off in traffic, Opal?”
    “Yeah…” Opal whispered.
    “Motorcycle gremlin. And, Lily, remember when you couldn’t get your bike out of neutral into first gear at the light?”
    Lily nodded.
    “Motorcycle gremlin. And Kirstie, that time you couldn’t get your turn signal to turn off…”
    “Hold it right there, Reba. You’re scaring these ladies to death. Get to the point.”
    “You spoil all the fun, Kirstie.” Reba whined. But she was enjoying herself. “When someone gives you a bell, you hang it on your bike, and it wards off the attacks from the gremlins.”
    “Oh, yeah, like that insurance commercial.” Lily laughed.
    “Exactly,” Reba smiled. “If the gremlins are already riding with you, they get trapped inside the bell, and the ringing drives them so crazy they lose their grip and fall off. Now, if you buy your own bell, the power’s still there, but if you are given a bell, then the power’s doubled.”
    “That’s so sweet of you, Reba.” Opal didn’t sound convinced. But at least she tried.
    I looked at my bell and wondered what to do. Should I hang it on my bike and pretend I believed in gremlins? If I didn’t, would Reba be offended?
    From the darkness of the trees, I heard a cough. “Did you hear that?” I looked at the other girls.
    “Hear what?” Lily admired her little bell.
    “That cough. I could have sworn I heard a cough from somewhere in those trees.”
    “I didn’t hear anything. Oh, Reba, I love this tinkly little thing.” Opal flicked at her bell to make it ring.
    I must have imagined the cough.
    “All your bells are different,” Reba said. “Lily, your bell has a rose on it and says Lady Rider. I got that one for you because of your garden.”
    “Aww, thanks, Reba.”Lily gave Reba a hug, and Reba embraced her so hard Lily gasped for air.
    “Opal, I gave you one with an eagle on it because you’re just learning to fly, and once you do, you’re gonna soar.”
    Opal looked closely at her bell and back up at Reba. “Thanks, Reba. I hope so.”
    “There ain’t no hopin’. Two weeks ago you’d have never gotten out of your neighborhood. Now look at ya—you’ve done your first group ride, and you lived to tell the tale.”
    “Do these things scare deer?” Opal asked.
    “’Fraid not.”
    “Rats.” Opal stuck out her bottom lip and pretended to pout.
    “And you, Kirstie, well, I think you know why yours says what it does.”
    I pulled out my reading glasses and looked closer at my bell. It had a cross on it and said “Jesus” inside the shape of a fish. Well, well. The old girl listens.
    “Thanks, Reba.” I hugged her neck and kissed her cheek.
    “Sure, honey,” she said. “I’m not a heathen, you know. I did go to church once.” She seemed almost wistful. “I know Who protects you when you ride. Me, I’m not so sure anymore.”
    “Oh, but He does, Reba.”
    “If you say so.” She shrugged and showed us where to hang the bells on our bikes.
    “Most people hang them low on the frame somewhere just behind the front wheel.”
    But we all decided to hang them where we could see them. I hung mine from my handlebars. I wouldn’t hear it ringing, but that was OK because I knew Who it was that protected me on the road. And so did Reba.
    “Now, it’s time to announce your bike’s name,” Reba said. She turned