Chasing Hope Read Online Free

her.”
    “I guess I’m not sure how I can help her.”
    “Well, Maudie’s lawyer said this judge is a bit of a maverick. He’s a stickler for the law, but he is usually willing to employ some unusual tactics to help kids straighten out their lives. Her suggestion was to get Brandy enrolled in some extracurricular activities. It will look good for the court, and hopefully convince them that she’ll be too busy to get into more trouble. The lawyer thinks the judge just might give her another chance if she can show she’s making an effort.”
    “Okay?” Sabrina still had no idea how she fit into this picture.
    “Maudie says Brandy is a fast runner.”
    Yes. She is. “Then she should sign up for the track team.”
    “There’s the problem. They talked to the coach, but because of her behavior issues, she won’t even consider giving Brandy a chance.”
    “I don’t see how there’s anything to do about that.”
    “Well, you know the cross-country coach pretty well, right? Could you maybe talk to him?”
    “Nana, cross-country is a fall sport and it’s only February. I don’t see how talking to him is going to be helpful.”
    “Please, Sabrina, just tell me you’ll try. I can’t bear this for poor Maudie if she loses that girl.”
    Nana was such a warmhearted person, there was no way Sabrina could let her down. “Sure, Nana, I’ll try. I wouldn’t expect much, though. Who knows if Coach Thompson will even remember me.”
    “Not remember you? Sabrina, how many training runs did the two of you make together?”
    “He’s paced hundreds of runners through the years, Nana.”
    “That man adored you since the first time he saw you running wind sprints around the high school track. You were visiting during Christmas vacation and it was snowing that day, remember?”
    For just a moment, Sabrina could almost feel the featherlike caress of the snow as she rounded the corner, see her mother’s mittened hands holding the stopwatch, feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She remembered the man who came to stand beside Mom and Nana at the rail.
    After finishing her last lap, Sabrina had walked over, curious about this person talking to her mother. He introduced himself as the cross-country coach from the local high school. “I was just telling your mother I’m excited about having someone like you on my team in a year or two. It near about popped my Achilles when she told me y’all live over near Chattanooga and were not considering relocating. Ah well, I guess the good news for me is that you won’t be direct competition.” He smiled then, nodded at Mom. “That girl of yours is something special. She’s bound for greatness.”
    Sabrina shivered and the memory faded back to blackness, back where she liked those memories to stay. “I remember, Nana.”
    She’d soon find out if Coach Thompson did as well.

    “Sabrina Rice. What a surprise to see you here.” Coach Cal Thompson set aside the Runner’s World magazine, stood, and came around his desk. Even at almost sixty, he moved with the agility of a great athlete and a world-class runner. “How are you these days?”
    Sabrina sort of smiled. “Oh, I’m fine.”
    But the look of sympathy on Coach Thompson’s face saidthat he did not believe that. Would never believe that, because he knew that she would never be fine again, at least to their way of thinking. “What brings you here? This is quite out of the blue.” When he smiled, a road map of wrinkles gathered across his face—a face that had spent years in the elements and showed it—with eyes that radiated warmth and genuine concern. And, though he probably wouldn’t admit it, pity. She hated that look, hated that others couldn’t keep it from their eyes around her. She just wanted to leave. Finish up this thing she did not want to do and then get out of there.
    “Well, yes. Actually I have a favor to ask.”
    “Whatever it is, count me in. You know I could never say no to anything