Read Shadowed by Grace for Free Online

as I know we’re alone out here. But there are a lot of men in the army.”
    “You’re right.” Rachel turned around and tried to focus on what was ahead of them. She’d anticipated many things when she asked for a war assignment. She tried to weigh the costs, and compared to her momma’s life, this seemed small—when she was half a world away reading the stories and watching newsreels. Now that a shell could explode next to the jeep or a bullet could pierce her, it seemed real. Too real.
    She longed to excel at her assignment, to see her name grace the byline for photos that filled newspaper and magazine pages next to Therese Bonney’s photos. Maybe Rachel’s photos could impact breakfast conversations around the States. Then she would belong with the elite photojournalists who could tell an entire story in fewer column inches than their typing brethren. That was an important purpose. One that gave meaning to her time in Italy even if she never found her father. Even more important, with each photo that found its way into the papers, she’d earn the extra money needed to keep her momma alive until she could finance a miracle.
    A formation of planes flew overhead, and Scott jerked the jeep to a stop at the side of the road under a tree. She hunched down reflexively and startled when Scott pushed her down, then placed his body over hers. She felt him move, then ease away, and she fought the urge to pull him back down. She felt safe with him between her and danger.
    “They’re ours.”
    Relief surged through her veins, making its way to her brain even as she missed the security his arms around her generated. She tried to relax her muscles but felt locked in place.
    “Village should be over the next hill.”
    “All right.” It was all she could squeak out. Please help me find my father. Fast. Then she could leave on the next ship headed home. To safety. To her momma.
    The gears ground as Scott restarted the jeep and shifted to force it up a steep hill. The vehicle slowed, chugged, lurched, and then grunted over the crest. Rachel breathed out. “Guess we don’t have to push.”
    “Not yet.” Scott pointed ahead of them. “If I read the map right, that’s it. You wouldn’t think much is there, but according to my list, we should find an interesting altarpiece in the local cathedral.”
    As they approached the town, a couple young boys kicked a small bucket back and forth. Their clothes hung in tatters from their filthy bodies, their hair long enough to braid. Rachel longed to scoop them up, take them to the creek for a good scrubbing, and then somehow find clothes and shoes for them. The boys stepped from the road as the jeep eased by. She could imagine the pain of nothing to protect their feet from the sharp rocks and ruins.
    “Slow down!” She scrambled for her camera. If she could capture their image—children playing in the aftermath of war. All the mothers back home could imagine their children caught in the same situation and pray for an end to this war. Maybe they’d even send money to the relief organizations that began to infiltrate southern Italy.
    Scott waited while she snapped a shot. “Got it?”
    “I hope so.”
    “All right. In that bag I’ve got a stash of chocolate bars. Grab a couple?”
    Rachel nodded and found a few.
    “Buono giorno . Cioccolato?”
    The boys eyed them then each other, leaned toward the vehicle, then away. The taller one cocked his head. “Sì?”
    Scott waved the bars at them. “Per tu.”
    The boy nodded, dashed to the jeep, grabbed the bars, then stepped back. “Grazie.”
    Scott drove to the town square.
    Rachel glanced around. Other than the two boys, no one was about. “It’s so quiet.”
    Scott nodded. “It is. But we know someone is here. The boys can’t be alone.”
    Rachel hoped he was right. She couldn’t imagine what their lives were like now, let alone if they’d been abandoned. Movement caught her attention. “Over there.”
    The road