I'm baaaack! and this week sharing a sample from a Novella coming soon from Books We Love, The Pendant. This is going to be a re-release and probably one of the hardest works I've done because there really is no hero or heroine...just a story about an inanimate object. Enjoy:
Sheila Townsend hauled open the heavy
cathedral door and slipped inside. She scurried up the long aisle into the
safety of the confessional and collapsed. Panting, she creaked open the little
sliding door. The priest’s
outline loomed on the other side.
"Father, forgive me, for I have
sinned.”
She swiped at her bangs, wet from the fog outside.
“How
long has it been since your last confession?” The priest’s voice
filtered through the mesh between them.
“Six
months, Father.”
“Tell me of your sins, my child.”
“I-I’ve had evil
thoughts and fear I’ve
done something horrid.”
“What
have you done?”
“I
might have killed someone because of the curse.”
“Curse?” His deep voice climbed an octave.
“Yes,
the one that plagues this necklace.”
She dangled a chain close to the screen. “I must leave it here with you and stop
this madness.”
Sheila rose, dropped the silver
pendant onto the shelf separating parishioner from priest, and fled without
another word. She paused at the door long enough to secure her scarf over her
head and pull her coat collar higher. The stained-glass window, an image of the
Holy Mother, she’d
seen before looked far less impressive at night than when the sun shone through
the tinted panes.
Sheila pressed her weight against the door,
allowing the breeze to flicker the candles at the altar. The gripping hatred
that had consumed her for the last month melted away like snow in springtime.
Gone was the unexplained need to hurt the same person whose picture she’d displayed in
the locket. Now she was free—free from
everything except the guilt and memories of plunging a knife deep into her
boyfriend’s
back.
Stepping into the misty night, she
headed toward the river. She hadn’t been totally
forthcoming with the priest. Her ‘might have killed’ was totally
misleading. The police were sure to soon find Andre’s body in her
living room, and she no longer had a will to live. She’d made peace
with the Lord; now she needed to find peace within herself and what she’d done.
****
Father Finnegan’s brow furrowed
at the woman’s
sudden departure. “A curse?”
He stood and pushed through the
curtain at the rear of the confessional, walked around and opened the door to
the parishioner’s
side. There on the shelf lay the
necklace the woman had left. A silver locket hung from a long chain, and when opened, displayed a picture of a
handsome young man wearing a black sweater.
Father Finnegan pinched the locket closed. The pendant looked entirely harmless—nothing more
than a delicate piece of jewelry.
“What
have you got there, Father?”
The priest turned to find Sister Mary
Catherine standing behind him, her brow raised as always when something stirred
her nosy side.
“A necklace…supposedly a
cursed one.” He laughed. “Me thinks ‘tis
the soul of the person who left this beauty behind is the one who needs the
blessing.”
“The
piece looks to be a great match for the fund-raising bazaar, if you’ve no other
plans for it.” The nun smiled and opened her hand.
*************************
You can find all my books available on my
Amazon page. I hope you'll enjoy one.
Now, if you'd be so kind as to check out the following links and make sure I still have some playmates on Sunday:
