Pure Innocence
The Extraordinary Life of Amy Winston, Book 1
Parents are not always as good as they should be. In the case of Amy Goodheart, her “parents” are thieves who killed her real parents and took their name. Since they were being sought by the law, they kept Amy and her little brother Tom, to throw off the Bow Street Runners from finding them.
When Amy births a baby, it sends the entire town into outrage, her ‘parents’ obey the Reverend in the town to throws her out of their house.
Tossing out the girl and her baby will save the parents two mouths to feed and prevent the town from scrutinizing their activities too closely.
John Winston and many of his soldiers are returning from battle when he spies the young woman pacing back and forth on the edge of an unstable cliff…
BLURB
For some, Amy is an angel incarnate; for others, she is the child of Satan. In her early years, Amy learns the skills of a soldier and discovers she can heal with the touch of her hand. Upon the death of her beloved Uncle John, he stays as a protective ghost to assist the soldiers in their vigilant efforts to keep her safe. Never has a girl arrived at Madam Cousec’s School for Young Ladies with more charm, more friends, or greater protection. She’ll need them all to survive the head girl and set her future in motion.
Excerpt
John turned his attention back to the girl. Her dark hair was wild and matted. In the center of the mats was dried caked blood. No doubt from the stones the townspeople threw.
The girl spoke rapidly in a shrill voice, declaring she was “bad, evil, the devil’s whore, and to go away, go away, go away.”
He suspected the voice was not hers but a mimic of the people who had said these cruel words. Suddenly, her voice dropped lower in a mimic of a man and she quoted dark bible passages about casting out demons.
Dear God, was it possible these were her parents’ words?
“Tell me the name, tell me the name, damn you!” the voice bellowed.
Finally, he heard the girl’s own voice. The pain and misery it held tore at his old battle-weary heart.
“There is no name,” she cried. “There was no man. Only a dream while I rested on the banks.”
“Then it’s the seed of Satan and it’ll not be raised in my house!” her voice deepened and bellowed
Inside the bundle of cloth, she held tight to her chest, a baby’s wail rose, almost as if in protest to her words. The baby’s cry startled her and for one terrible moment, John feared she would toss the child over the edge.
Then her madness dissipated, and she transformed into a young mother fretting over her new child, soothing it with soft words, as she sat down upon the ground. She opened her filthy torn blouse and placed the baby upon her right breast, rocking the child softly while it nursed. Her face held love and adoration for her helpless infant.
John knew he must save this young girl and her baby. She was not yet lost to madness.
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More About the Author
Liza O’Connor’s favorite books are Pride & Prejudice and Douglas Adams’ four book trilogy, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Go figure…
Raised in the southern mid-section of U.S., Liza escaped to the East Coast once out of college. She’s worked as a journalist, a radio DJ, a security guard, a stock broker, a strategist, and a business solutions consultant to name a few of her many occupations. Again…go figure.
She learned to fly planes, jump out of planes, hang-glide, kayak and scuba dive, to name of few of her ‘let’s kill Liza’ sports. However, her favorite activity is to hike with her dog Jess among the shaved mountains of NJ.
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