Ten Thousand Charms (41 page)
Read Ten Thousand Charms Online
Authors: Allison Pittman
Tags: #West (U.S.), #Christian, #Prostitutes, #Prostitutes - West (U.S.), #Western Stories, #General, #Christian Fiction, #Western, #Historical, #Fiction, #Religious
“She's calling for her mother! Does anyone know where her mother is?”
Kassandra wanted to tell him that she had no mother, but when she opened her mouth to say so, she could only whimper.
“Well, then,” said the voice, “where does she live? What is her name?”
She knew nobody could answer him. Nobody knew her name, and she didn't live anywhere. She wanted to tell the voice all of this, but before she could she was weightless, lifted by one strong arm under her legs and another around her shoulders. Then she was flying through the air until she finally felt soft solidity beneath her. She tried to open her eyes, but the effort seemed too great and an onslaught of pain a promise, so she contented herself to enjoy the comfort of what must be a cushion.
She felt her body shutting down, felt uncontrollable drowsiness take over. She thought to herself that maybe she was dying—she'd never felt quite so comfortable and tired ever in her life. Maybe the arms she'd felt were the arms of God Himself, lifting her to this upholstered heaven. Her mind filled with a sense of relief. What perfect timing this death would be. After nine (or ten? eleven?) years on this earth, how convenient to be taken at her hungriest. Before the winter came to find her without shoes.
Her reverie was interrupted by the voice speaking softly just to her.
“Haben Sie nicht Angst,”
it said, telling her not to be afraid.
And strangely enough, she wasn't, even as her body lurched forward into what was surely a journey into the next world.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents,
and dialogues are products of the authors imagination and are
not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events
or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
TEN THOUSAND CHARMS
published by Multnomah Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
© 2006 by Allison Pittman
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible,
King James Version (KJV)
Other Scripture quotations are from:
The Holy Bible,
New International Version (NIV)
© 1973, 1984 by International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House
Multnomah
is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers,
and is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The colophon is a trademark of Multnomah Publishers.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission.
For information:
MULTNOMAH BOOKS
12265 ORACLE BLVD, SUITE 200
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80921
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pittman, Allison.
Ten thousand charms : a novel / Allison Pittman.
p. cm. — (Crossroads of grace; bk. 1)
eISBN: 978-0-307-56260-9
1. Prostitutes-West (U.S.)-Fiction. I. Title.
PS3616.I885T46 2006
813′.6-dc22
2005035675
v3.0
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