Angel of Mercy Read Online Free Page A

huh?
    The only daytime company I have is Mrs. Lopez, who at least takes care of food for me (or I’d starve!), and the gardeners. There’s a really cute guy trimming the hedges as I look out the window. Oh, BTW, I put a 2-inch blond streak in my hair. My friends think it looks cool. Mom says I look like Cruella in “101 Dalmatians. ” This from a woman who hasn’t changed her hairstyle in 20 years!
    One bright spot to report. Last Thursday, I came out of the mall to a flat tire on my car. (That’s not the bright part.) I was freaking, when Dylan Simms came up to me. You remember him? He’s on the basketball team and he’s going to be a senior like me in the fall. Surprise! He’s really cute—how did I fail to notice until now? Plus, we have something else in common— we both think I’m adorable.
    Honest! He’s had a crush on me for almost a year. Good timing, huh? I mean, nothing else is going on, so I might as well have a fling with a new guy. And BTW, I don’t care what you say about you and Ian. I can read between the lines, and I know when my sister’s got the hots for someone. Besides, what’s more romantic than to be out on the high seas with a dreamy guy?
    Well, got to run. Dylan’s taking me to a movie.
    Amber (who’s tan and thin and looks like a goddess, or almost)
    A pang of homesickness stabbed at Heather as she read Amber’s e-mail. She pictured the screened-in pool and her sister stretched out on her hot pink bubble raft, floating lazily in the middle. Amber would have a soda can propped in the raft’s cup holder. She’d be reading a hot, sexy novel and listening to music blasting from the poolside speakers. They’d followed this routine together for years growing up.
    But Miami was more than two thousand miles away from the tip of Africa. The
Anastasis
had sailed around the Cape of Good Hope two days before and was now on the final leg of the journey. Soon the Great White Ship would anchor off the coast of Kenya and Heather would be bused into Nairobi airport, then flown to Entebbe, Uganda, with the rest of her team. If only she could communicate the grandness of her adventure to Amber. But she couldn’t.
    She closed her laptop with a sigh. Amber was right about one thing, however: Heather did have a thing for Ian. The more they talked, the better she got to know him, the more she liked him. But she wasn’t going to let him see that. She hadn’t come on this trip to have a romance. She’d come to help people have a higher quality of life. This trip wasn’t about her, but others. Ian understood the concept perfectly. Amber might never get it.

    One afternoon, Heather wandered into the refurbished lounge where school was held for the children of the crew and staff. Tables, desks, computers, and student artwork made the room look overstuffed. She found Mrs. Hoover, the teacher, busy scrubbing modeling clay off desks. “Can I help?” Heather asked.
    The small, dark-haired woman straightened and flashed a tired smile. “Absolutely. What was I thinking to let them have clay and finger paints on the same day?”
    Heather picked up a wet sponge from the bucket on the floor and set to work on a desk. “How many kids are on board?”
    “Twenty—and a half, if you count Melissa Vanderhousen, who’s due to give birth this fall.” She chuckled. “But only fourteen come to school. The rest are too young.”
    “But you teach all of them? Even though they’re different ages?”
    “Yes, it’s a real zoo some days.”
    “How do you do it?”
    “Independent study for the most part, some group activities. And the older ones help the younger ones.” Mrs. Hoover looked up. “You’re Heather, aren’t you? I’m Barbara. My husband, Bob, is in charge of the construction crew going into Uganda. Our kids and I will stay here on the ship.”
    Heather liked Bob Hoover and told Barbara so. “You know, I can’t remember a time I haven’t wanted to do this. How about you? It doesn’t seem easy