Chapter One
There's no sweeter stench than the scent of a burning baby.
Grace raced across the yard, her steps hastened by the cries upon the wind.
"Somebody help me," she cried. "My grandbaby's trapped inside the house."
She grabbed a large branch and began to beat against a window. It broke away and
released a menacing gust of fire that licked the edges of her hair and sent her
reeling backward in a choking fit.
The anguished cries from inside the house escaped through the broken pane,
hanging upon the wind.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."
It was a wild and airy sound, a wailing that trailed off into a whirlwind of
echoes. In the midst of the biting-cold night, the house was engulfed in a
blizzard of flames.
Polo stood out front, drenched in sweat, flinging buckets of water. The fire
became more savage with each bucket he threw. Grace found her footing again and
began beating her house with another tree branch.
"Mama, it's not slowing down," Polo said, out of breath. "It's getting bigger.
The water's making it worse."
"Just keep trying. It's got to be stopped.&quo ... read full excerpt from: Child of God: A Novel ebook
