The Hidden Flame

HIDDEN
FLAME

ACTS of FAITH , BOOK 2

HIDDEN
FLAME

DAVIS BUNN

JANETTE OKE

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Bethany House Publishers

with heartfelt thanks for the wisdom, care, and creativity with which you bring our stories to the world.

C H A P T E R

ONE

Jerusalem, AD 33

ABIGAIL QUIETLY WITHDREW from the celebration and limped into the shadows' coolness. Her leg throbbing, she eased herself down onto a stone bench by the courtyard's outer wall. Around her hummed the gaiety of wedding revelers. Never had she witnessed such joyous festivities. She felt as though the tension, the anguish, the uncertainties of the past weeks had been transformed. The group was not merely celebrating the wedding of Alban and Leah. There was a far greater reason beyond the joyful union of these two new followers of the Way.

They all rejoiced in the truth they had believed but that now had been confirmed. Their leader, the rabbi Jesus, had indeed risen from the dead, and there were eyewitnesses to the fact.

Abigail watched twelve-year-old Jacob as he danced back and forth among the merrymakers with a fervor bordering on hysteria. Abigail was still marveling that her brother was alive-whole and well. The time since the massacre of her family had seemed an eternity. A lifetime of feeling lost and alone. And just hours ago, she had caught a glimpse of the boy across the courtyard, and it was as if he too had been resurrected-a miracle that seemed like a dream. The very thought brought tears to her eyes once again.