Chapter 1: The Voice
"Mary."
The call was low and distant.
"Mary."
It came again, still gentle, but firm — and louder.
"MARY!" Now the voice seemed very close.
Mary, who was eight, pretended not to notice. She bent her curly, brown head and shifted her little chair closer to her twenty-three-year-old cousin, Mehitable, who was visiting the family that day. Mehitable looked up, as though she heard something, but Grandmother calmly continued with her knitting.
Mary wished the call would go away. She had been hearing it off and on for almost a year. It sounded like her mother’s voice, but when she ran to her, Mrs. Baker would shake her head. No, she had not called.
"Mother, who did call me? I heard somebody call Mary three times!" This had happened so often that Mary felt discouraged, and her mother perplexed and worried.
Again the call came, three times in an ascending scale.
"Why don’t you go? Your mother’s calling you!" Mehitable spoke sharply.
Mary got up, hoping her cousin was right, and ran to the kitchen.
"What is it, Mother?"
"Nothing, child!" Mrs. Baker’s plump, cheerful face had a puzzled frown.
Mary persisted. "Mehitable heard you calling too."
Mrs. Baker dried her hands and led the way back to Grandmother’s room. She took the older girl into the next room, but left the door open. Mary moved closer. She could hear her mother. "Almost a year now … mysterious voice." And then, "Did you really hear Mary’s name being called?" Mary caught her breath.
"Yes," Mehitable answered quickly.
Mary let out a deep sigh. This was the first time someone else had heard the voice. No one had believed her before. That night, before Mary’s mother tucked her into bed, she read her the Bible story of little Samuel, who also heard a voice calling his name. ...
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