No Man's Bride
Chapter One
London, 1801
"Daddy, please. Please." Catie pounded her small, aching fist against the walls of her prison under the stairs. She barely rattled the door. She'd been locked in the tiny closet for hours, and all the crying had rendered her weak and pitiful.
She was pitiful.
Just like her daddy said she was.
"Please," she cried again, but no one came. No one ever came when she cried. No one cared.
She pulled her knees to her chest, trying to make herself small, trying to give the mice and rats as much room as possible. She was ten. She shouldn't be scared. Her mamma was always telling her to act like a big girl. But as her tears wet and chilled her knees, she shivered.
Please, God. Please.
Catie heard a creak and opened her eyes. Was it her imagination or was—
"Catie? Are you in there?"
It was her cousin Josephine Hale. Catie would know Josie's voice anywhere. And though it was dark, she could see Josie in her mind. Josie was tall for her eight years and skinny, with a shock of short red hair and fr ... read full excerpt from: No Man's Bride ebook
