The following excerpt is taken from the book Sara Book 2 by Esther and Jerry Hicks . It is published by Hay House (October 2007) and available at all bookstores or online at: www.hayhouse.com

Chapter 3

Who Is Solomon?

t was a warm and sunny afternoon in Sara’s mountain town. In fact, Sara had decided earlier that this was the prettiest day so far this year. And to celebrate this extra-pretty day, she had decided to go to her favorite place in the whole town, her leaning perch. She called it her leaning perch because no one else in town even seemed to notice that it existed. Sara couldn’t come to this spot without remembering how it came to be. How the metal railing atop the Main Street Bridge had been bent way out over the river when a local farmer had lost control of his truck while trying to avoid running over Harvey, a friendly and always roving dog, who weaved his way in and out of traffic every day, always expecting everyone to stop or swerve to make way for him. And, so far, it had always worked out that way. Sara was relieved that no one had been hurt that day, not even Harvey, who many thought deserved to get run over. I’ve heard of cats having nine lives, Sara thought to herself as she remembered that day, but not dogs.

Sara lay there, lazily watching the river flow by beneath her. She breathed deeply and enjoyed the wonderful smell of this delicious river. She couldn’t remember ever feeling better. “I love my life!” Sara said right out loud, feeling a fresh exuberance and an eagerness for more.

“Well, better get going,” Sara said to herself, climbing back out of her perch and gathering up her book bag and jacket that she had piled in a heap on the bridge. She was still standing on the bridge when the Morris family’s rattling, sagging, overloaded truck drove across it. It wasn’t the loud clanging of an out-of-tune engine, the crates of chickens tied to the roof, or the old goat teetering in the back of the truck that caught Sara’s eye, but the intense, interested gaze of a boy riding in the back. His eyes locked with Sara’s, and for a moment, they each felt as if they had met an old friend. Then the truck sputtered on down the road. Sara threw her bag over her shoulder and ran down the road to the intersection, looking to see where the truck pulled in. It looks like it pulled into the old Thacker place, she thought. Hmm.

Sara picked up her pace as she walked toward the Thacker house. She was intensely curious about what she would find.

Sara had heard that old Grandmother Thacker had passed away, but she hadn’t given much thought to what would happen to her old house. Her husband had died even before Sara was born, and it seemed to her that Mrs. Thacker had been waving Hello! for Sara’s whole life. Sara never knew her children, for they were all grown up and gone before she was old enough to walk around town by herself. Over the years, Sara had come to know the life patterns of this independent old woman, and it felt empty now that she was gone.

Sara had heard someone in the drugstore talking about Grandmother Thacker. (Everyone in town called her that.) “Her damn kids didn’t even bother to come to her funeral,” she heard Pete, the druggist, complain. “Bet they’ll be around fast enough to collect any money she’s left behind, though. You just wait and see.”

As Sara walked, she felt worse and worse. And she knew why, too. “Solomon, I don’t want anybody moving into Grandmother Thacker’s house,” she complained. “Solomon, can you hear me?”

“Who’s Solomon? Who are you talking to?” Sara heard a boy’s voice from behind her.

She wheeled around, startled that she had been overheard. She was certain that her face was turning bright red. Where in the world did he come from? she thought, embarrassed out of her mind. Sara just couldn’t believe that this had happened.

She’d been caught, for the first time ever, talking to Solomon.

Sara was not about to answer his question. She had never told anyone about Solomon, and she certainly wasn’t about to tell a total stranger this most important secret.

It was a pretty amazing story. She didn’t know how she would ever get anyone to believe that she had met an owl last year on Thacker’s Trail, the owl could actually talk, and that he called himself Solomon. And that even after her little brother, Jason, and his friend Billy had shot and killed Solomon, she was still able to have conversations with him. Sara knew no one would believe that she could hear Solomon’s voice in her head.

There were times when Sara longed for someone to share this extraordinary experience with, but it felt too risky. If they misunderstood, they could ruin things. And Sara liked things the way they were with Solomon. She liked having this special friend all to herself—a wise and wonderful friend who had answers to anything that she could ask—a teacher who always seemed to appear just at the right time to help bring clarity to something that Sara was trying to understand.

“Don’t be embarrassed. I talk to myself all the time, too.” Seth said. “They say there’s no need to worry unless you start answering yourself.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sara stammered, still flushed

and embarrassed and looking mostly down. She took a deep breath and looked up. And there were those eyes again, familiar-seeming eyes like those of an old friend.

“I’m Seth. I guess we’re going to live here, I mean, over there,” he said, pointing in the direction of the old Thacker place.

“I’m Sara. I live past the river and down the road a ways.” Sara’s voice quivered as she spoke. This had really set her off balance.

“My dad sent me over to see if the creek water is clear, and to check out how far it is. I’d better get back.”

Sara was relieved. All she wanted to do was run away, as far away as possible, from this strange new boy who hadn’t even been in town for a whole hour and had already managed to intrude into the most important secret of her entire life.