The Recruit Read Online Free PDF Page A

begged her to
     stop. She was only torturing herself, he said. But even if her searches had yielded
     nothing, Mary couldn’t accept that her sister was gone. She would know … wouldn’t
     she?
    She turned at a sound, seeing that a mother with two small children had come up to
     examine a tray of colorful ribbons on the opposite side of the table. From their clothing,
     she could see that they did not possess the wealth of Bureford’s typical customers.
     She guessed the woman to be the wife of one of the farmers. She was clearly exhausted.
     She held one child in her arms—a babe of about six months—and another by the hand,
     a little girl of three or four who was staring at the ribbons as if they were a stack
     of gold. When the child reached for one, her mother pulled her back. “Nay, Beth. Do
     not touch.”
    All of a sudden another little girl peeked out from behind her skirts and wrapped
     her chubby little fist around a handful of the ribbons. Before the mother could stop
     her, she turned and darted off into the crowd.
    The young woman shouted after her in a panic. “Meggie, no!” Seeing Mary standing there
     and obviously assuming she was the merchant, she shoved the baby in her arms and put
     the little girl’s hand in hers. “I’m sorry. I’ll fetch them back for you.”
    It had happened so fast, it took her a moment to realize she was now holding two children.
     Mary didn’t know who was more shocked, she or the children. Both the baby and the
     little girl were staring at her with wide eyes, as if they couldn’t quite decide whether
     to cry.
    She felt a small twinge in her chest. She remembered so precious little of those few
     months she’d had with Davidafter he was born, but that look was one of them. It had terrified her. The
baby
had terrified her. She’d been scared of him crying, of every sound he’d made in his
     sleep, of how to hold him, of whether he was getting enough to eat from the wet nurse.
    Of him being taken away from her.
    She pushed the memory aside. That was a long time ago. She’d been so young. And now …
    Now it was in the past.
    But the twinge sharpened when she gazed into the baby’s soft blue eyes. David was
     younger than this when he was taken from her, and she didn’t think she’d held another
     baby since. She’d forgotten what it felt like. How they instinctively latched against
     your chest. The pleasant warmth, and the soft baby smell.
    Apparently deciding she wasn’t a threat, the baby gave her a big, gummy smile and
     started to babble at her like a sheep. “Ba, ba …”
    Mary couldn’t help smiling back at him. He—or she, it was impossible to tell at this
     age—was a cute little devil, with big blue eyes, a velvety cap of short brown hair,
     and bright, rosy cheeks. Brimming with healthy plumpness, he was quite an armful.
    All of a sudden, she felt a tug on her hand. She looked down, having almost forgotten
     about the little girl. Apparently, she’d decided not to cry either. “He wants his
     ball.”
    Mary bit her lip. She thought she was too young to be talking, but the girl possessed
     a confidence Mary would have envied at her age. “I’m afraid I don’t have one.” She
     looked around, not seeing anything that resembled a toy on the table. Recalling the
     coins the merchant gave her, she dug in her purse and retrieved the small leather
     bag. “How about this?” Holding it up before the baby, she started to shake it and
     was rewarded when he flapped his arms and started to laugh. He grabbed for it, and
     shegrinned as he mimicked what she’d done by jingling it up and down, albeit with far
     more enthusiasm. She hoped the bag was tied tightly.
    The little girl—Beth—must have read her mind. “Careful he doesn’t open it. He puts
     everything in his mouth—especially shiny things. He nearly choked on a farthing last
     week.”
    Mary frowned, realizing she hadn’t thought of that. This little girl knew more about