-Two friends...
Blood sisters till the end...
Until they're not.
Blood sisters till the end...
Until they're not.
One cold night in a boarding school dorm, two
fourteen-year-old girls make a blood sister pact. Friends forever. As young
schoolgirls, they're determined to find true love, learning the hits and misses
along the way. As graduation nears, the girls have different outlooks for the
future. Lucinda longs for adventure. Anna chooses city life and marriage.
Finding their way back together, the girls head west for an experience of a
lifetime until a handsome cowboy bursts into their lives, changing the course
of their friendship forever.
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BUY THE BOOK
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GENRE
Romance
Historical (Early 1900's) Series |
Available
January 29, 2015 |
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Teens
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January 1923
Anna stuck out her hand, snapping her head in the other
direction. “Do it quickly! Before I change my mind.”
“Hold still. You’re trembling so much I may make more than
one cut.”
Anna felt Lucinda’s hand wrap around hers, squeezing
tightly. Her heart pounded against her ribs. “Now!” she yelled.
The touch of the metal blade sent a chill down her spine.
The pressure of the cold tip caused her stomach to flip as it dug into her finger.
The pain shot down her arm, and a burning sensation filled her hand. “Ouch!”
Anna let out the breath she held inside. The worst part was over.
“You can look now, you big baby.” Lucinda’s voice had a
touch of sarcasm. She smiled at Anna. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
Anna shook her head. “I’m glad it’s over.” She slowly closed
her eyes and took the deepest breath possible. “But I’m proud of myself. I hate
the sight of blood, but it was worth it.” She lifted her left hand to examine
the cut. Blood trailed down her finger.
Lucinda also raised her left hand. Her middle finger dripped
with blood. “Then let’s get started.” She lit a tall taper candle on the table.
The flame flickered slightly giving the darkened room a mystical glow. “On this
day of January the twenty-fourth ...” She stretched out her arm toward Anna.
“I, Lucinda Ann Walker, being of sound mind and body, make you my blood
sister.”
Anna giggled. “You make it sound so formal.” She could tell
Lucinda fought back a smile, but her face stayed solemn. “Alright, then.” Anna
cleared her throat. “I, Anna Grace Douglass, also being of sound mind and body,
make you my blood sister in the year of our Lord, 1923.”
They positioned their hands together,
fingertip-to-fingertip, mixing the blood. Anna’s finger throbbed with pain, but
she felt happy. She was thrilled she decided to come to this very exclusive
private boarding school on scholarship. When she met her roommate she never
dreamed they’d become best friends. Lucinda’s personality was bigger than life,
quite the opposite of Anna. Now five months later, they were a sorority of two.
Lucinda wiped the blood from her hand on a nearby towel.
“Mine’s good. Let me see yours.”
Anna gasped as she watched the blood still pool onto her
finger. “You didn’t have to make it so deep.” She reached for the emergency
supplies and wrapped some gauze around it.
“Sorry.” Lucinda’s lower lip began to quiver. “I’d never
hurt you. Just like we promised. We’ll always be best friends. We have each
other’s backs. You and me against the world.”
“Don’t cry, Lucinda. It will heal. I just don’t like ...
blood.” Anna up held her hand. “See? All bandaged.”
Lucinda flicked on the overhead light and blew out the
candle. “The ceremony is over and it’s time to have some fun.” She bounced onto
her bed. “Remember the first day of school, Anna? You were like a scared
rabbit. ‘Which bed do you want, Lucinda?’ ‘Where can I put my things,
Lucinda?’”
“You challenged me all the time. At first, I thought you
didn’t like me.” Anna clearly remembered the first day she walked in their
room. She carried one tattered suitcase and set it next to designer luggage.
Her heart raced when her roommate didn’t look up from the book she read. Anna
stuttered out a hello as Lucinda glanced up, eying her from head to toe.
Shyness overtook her, making her speechless.
“Take that bed.” The girl pointed with the book. “Or maybe
you’d like this one?” Anna felt whatever bed she chose would be wrong. She
shuffled to the open one and sat while Lucinda went back to her book.
“Of course I liked you.” Lucinda interrupted her thoughts.
“That’s why I made you stand up for yourself. I wanted your bed, you know.”
“You did? You were sitting on that one when I came in the
room so I thought that’s the one you wanted!” Anna began to laugh even though
her hand still throbbed. “I tried to be polite. Thank goodness I got you for a
roommate. I was just so nervous.”
“And I wouldn’t let you be nervous. Women have to stand up
for themselves. Be bold and brave.”
“We’re only fourteen, Lucinda.” Anna had to smile as she
stared at her young friend. Bold and determined, Lucinda didn’t let anything
get in her way. Her looks were deceiving. Pale skin and faint dark circles
below her eyes masked the passion inside. Her soft hair, not quite blonde yet
not dark enough to be called brown, hung straight to the bottom of her chin,
parted to one side. A clip held it in place. Her pastel blue eyes had a
softness that could be replaced with fire at a moment’s notice.
“Soon to be fifteen, well, at least for me,” Lucinda
reminded her. “Let me see your hand. Is that blood seeping through the bandage?
I think you need to change it one more time before we go.”
Nancy Pennick
After a great career in teaching, Nancy found a second
calling as a writer. Her debut novel, Waiting for Dusk, was a surprise to her
as much as it was to her family. Watching a PBS series on National Parks, her
mind wandered to another place and that is where the characters of Katie and
Andrew were born.
Nancy's called Ohio her home for all her life but loves to
travel the U.S. She enjoys reading and writing young adult novels with a good
cup of tea nearby.
Blog: http://nancypennick.wordpress.com
Thanks for sharing, Jo! I'm excited for release day.
ReplyDeleteAnd so you should be, good luck xx
DeleteI loved this story. Great historical YA.
ReplyDelete