The Magical Legacy

FAITH 3

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - PRESENT DAY

"Hello?" Mrs. Portner spoke into the mustard-yellow handpiece she'd lifted from the phone on the kitchen wall. "Oh, Hi, Sister Peterson. Faith? Yes, she's here. Hold on a minute, and I'll get her for you." Mrs. Portner placed a hand over the mouthpiece and looked across the room to where her daughter was sitting on the plaid-fabric-covered couch. "Faith," she said in a hushed tone, "it's Sister Peterson. She wants to talk to you." Mrs. Portner extended her arm, holding the handpiece out in Faith's direction.

Faith looked up and raised her brows, eyes wide, and pursed her lips. "Oh, ok." She closed the denim-covered binder lying across her lap and sat it on the couch next to her before getting up to retrieve the phone.

"Hi, Sister Peterson. How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm doing great, Faith, thanks for asking. I wanted to call because I received some news from Nurse Yang at Primary Children's, and she asked me to share it with you and Lynn." There was a pause as the woman waited for Faith to respond.

"Wow. Nurse Yang has a message for me? That's weird." Faith glanced up at her mother, who had turned away from the bowl of cookie batter she was stirring on the counter. She was now gazing, wide-eyed, wooden spoon in hand, toward her daughter. Faith shrugged her shoulders in response and turned around to stare out the kitchen window.

"Yes, Nurse Yang said it was the strangest thing, but shortly after our group left the hospital yesterday, the boy you and Lynn were sitting with, Nathaniel?" Sister Peterson paused on the other end of the line.

"Yes, Nathaniel seemed fine when we were with him. We had a good chat," Faith's eyes grew big as saucers, and she covered her mouth, "Oh, no, Sister Peterson, please don't tell me that he..." Faith inhaled sharply, spinning around to face her mother again.

"No, no, Faith, it's nothing like that." Sister Peterson consoled, "Nathaniel is fine. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you." Faith exhaled audibly, and her shoulders relaxed, as she shook her head slowly from side to side.

"In fact, it's quite the opposite, actually. That's what Nurse Yang was calling to say." Sister Peterson giggled, "Nathaniel has made a spontaneous recovery. His cancer is in full remission. Nurse Yang said that the doctors are even using the word "miracle" when describing his condition."

There was a long silence as images of bright light passing through Faith's hand and into the boy's arm flashed in her memory.

"Faith?" Sister Peterson's voice erupted from the handpiece. "Faith, are you there?"

"Oh!" Faith pressed the receiver closer to her head. "Yes, yes, I'm here, Sister Peterson. That's just such shocking news. I mean, really fantastic news, of course!" She paused, eyes wide at her mother, who was looking back at her, with brows high on her forehead as she wiped both hands on a floral towel.

"Absolutely, such incredible news! Anyhow, will you please call Lynn and let her know, too? What a blessing! Heavenly Father must have some remarkable work for that young man to do. Hopefully, the Lord will use this miraculous healing to draw Nathaniel back to the gospel. Just think of all the lives that boy could touch with his story."

"Umm, yes, of course! I'll call Lynn right away. And thanks so much for letting me know, Sister Peterson." Faith pressed the disconnect lever on the wall-mounted phone and replaced the receiver in its cradle.

"Well?" Mrs. Portner was shaking her head; chin dipped at her daughter. "What was that all about?"

Faith shoved a hand through her golden locks and licked her lips. "Mom," she started, "I need to talk to you about something."