Dancing for the Lord: The Academy by Emily Goodman Page B

she had to walk into town and explore on her own.
    She tried to be quiet as she got ready.  Madalyn wouldn’t be up for hours yet, at least as far as she knew; the last thing Danni wanted to do was wake her new friend, especially since she knew Madalyn wouldn’t understand the need she had to go to church.
    The house was quiet—eerily so.  Since she was up at around the same time as the rest of the students and tended to retreat to her room earlier, Danni had never seen the house so quiet before.  She crept down the stairs, carefully avoiding the creaky step in the center.  She didn’t want to wake anyone.  She just hoped that Mrs. Baxter was up, and would be able to tell her where to find a church. 
    Thankfully, Mrs. Baxter was in the kitchen making breakfast when Danni came down—not nearly her usual spread, but enough, Danni thought, to feed two or three, with some leftovers tucked in the refrigerator. She raised an eyebrow.  “Sundays are for sleeping in around here, huh?”
    “What?  Oh, yes.”  Mrs. Baxter turned, startled.  “Yes, the girls work so hard all week, by the time Sunday rolls around, they can’t tear their heads from their pillows.”  There was nothing the least bit rude about her words; but Danni could hear the faint note of disapproval there nonetheless. 
    “It’s kind of sad,” she offered quietly.
    “Yes.”  Mrs. Baxter bent over to pull a tray of muffins from the oven with a sigh.  “Yes, it is.  I take it you don’t agree with their philosophy?”
    “Not in the least,” Danni admitted.  “Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me where to find a church around here.”
    “A church?  Well—I’ll tell you what.”  Mrs. Baxter transferred the muffins from the tin to a plate with a rapid skill that spoke of long practice.  “Why don’t you come in with me and Ken, my husband?  We attend Mount Tabor in town.  If it’s not to your liking, I’ll show you some of the others—but if you come with us, you’ll always have a ride.”
    Which was, Danni knew, important.  She had a car at home, and her parents would probably bring it up for her when they visited; but for the trip up, they’d wanted her to ride along with someone, and her mother hadn’t wanted to make the drive on that particular day. 
    “That would be nice,” she agreed. 
    It was wonderful to be back in church.  She had forgotten how much she missed it after missing even a week.  Luckily, the Baxters sat in the back, because Danni couldn’t help herself:  when the music started, she had to dance, at least a little bit. 
    Mrs. Baxter smiled slightly, watching her.  “You dance for God, don’t you, honey?” she leaned over to ask as they all resumed their seats.
    Danni nodded, feeling as though she was glowing.  “It’s the only reason to dance.”
    “Well.”  Mrs. Baxter patted her hand, her smile warming more than Danni had ever seen.  “It’s nice to have someone to share the faith with, don’t you think?”
    Danni agreed fervently.  There was nothing like worshipping along with another believer—someone who understood.
    She missed Michael fiercely that morning.  For the last several years, every time she had come to church, he had been right there in the pew beside her.  The two of them always moved instinctively to the music; and most of the time, they moved with one another, too, cueing off of one another’s body language with no more effort than if the steps had been choreographed ahead of time.  Several times, they had been asked to dance in church, and they had agreed without even needing to discuss it.
    She didn’t call Michael after church on Sunday in spite of the fact that she desperately wanted to.  He would have been through the same aching loneliness the Sunday before, probably experienced it today, as well.  No—worse.  Michael wouldn’t have been able to dance, wouldn’t have felt that indefinable connection to the Lord that passed between