The Devil's Daughter Read Online Free PDF Page B

pathetically small room was completely taken up by a narrow, lumpy bag of straw with a green blanket tossed over it.
    The lump shifted and moaned.
    “Jedidiah?” The voice coming from the bed was frail and feeble.
    “No,” Lucy said. “I’m Lucy, Jedidiah’s wife.”
    “His what?” Maggie scrambled from the bed, then stumbled back into the wall, her nightgown tangled around her legs. Stringy blonde hair fell around her shoulders in a matted mess, and her skin was so pale, so fair, she almost appeared transparent.
    “His wife,” Lucy repeated as she stepped forward.
    “Don’t touch me.” Maggie recoiled. She narrowed her eyes and squinted back at Lucy. “Who are you?”
    “I told you, I’m Lucy.”
    “Where did you come from?” Distrust oozed from Maggie’s every pore.
    “You don’t want to know,” Lucy laughed.
    “Why are you here?” Maggie hadn’t moved from the wall.
    “To look after you.”
    There seemed to be a barrier of some kind around Maggie’s soul; one that made it impossible to read, but Lucy could still see the woman was obviously mad.
    “Who sent you?” Maggie’s voice grew tighter. Lucy was certain the other woman would have crawled through the wall if it meant she could get away from Lucy.
    “Nobody sent me, Maggie. I’m here to help you.”
    Where was the stove? And the floor! Not a single sliver of wood to step on, nothing but more dirt. How could anyone be expected to keep that clean?
    Obviously, by marrying Jed Caine, Lucy had done nothing more than trade one form of Hell for another.
    At least the other Hell was warm.
    “I don’t need your help.”
    “Really?” Lucy shrugged indifferently. “That’s not what I hear.”
    Maggie turned a little more into the room. “What did you hear?”
    With a heavy sigh, Lucy stopped and turned to face her. “Your husband ran off because he couldn’t stand being married to a mad woman. The whole town is afraid your baby will be born mad, too, and I was the only one Jed could convince to come out here and help you.” She paused, then waggled her brow. “Cost him plenty, too.”
    “How much?”
    Lucy fought the snort. “Practically sold his soul to the devil.”
    Maggie gasped, her eyes round as dish plates, her hands splayed protectively across her enormous belly. “Get out!”
    “I can’t do that, Maggie.” Lucy planted her hands on her hips and shrugged. “Jed paid good money for me, and I have a job to do.”
    “Jedidiah will make you go if I tell him to.”
    “No, he won’t.”
    “Yes, he will,” Maggie screeched as she ran past Lucy and out the door. “Just you watch, devil woman!”
    Shock stopped Lucy from chasing her outside. Surely Maggie couldn’t know. . .
    No. That was ridiculous.
    Lucy didn’t have time to worry about it anyway. She had a plan and she needed to make it work. Unfortunately, things weren’t quite going the way she’d figured. The dress she’d so carefully selected now lay in a heap on the bed, and in its place, she wore the plainest, most boring cotton sack of a blue dress she’d ever seen. Its high collar nearly choked her, and the long sleeves hugged the length of her arms down to where they buttoned tightly at the wrists.
    Even in Hell, she had better clothes.
    Outside, Maggie’s screechy voice continued to plead with Jed to send Lucy away. Though she couldn’t make out Jed’s end of the conversation, it obviously wasn’t what Maggie wanted to hear.
    Lucy searched the shelves until she found a knife sharp enough to serve her purpose. She slipped out of the dress and in seconds, left the itchy collar and half of each sleeve in a pile at her feet. Without the benefit of a looking glass, she’d have to hope for the best, but to help matters along, she yanked the top three buttons off, leaving it open to the V between her breasts, and fluffed her hair around her shoulders.
    “There,” she muttered. “Now we’ll see how strong you really are, Jedidiah.”
    Lack of sleeves would