The Infidels by Joe David

Author:Joe David
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78308-200-1
Publisher: Anthem Press

Chapter 12

The Bazaar in Urmia

Judith was looking at other dolls, while her grandmother paid for the two dolls that she had selected. As she gazed with greedy interest at the other dolls, Judith wondered if it would be prudent to ask her grandmother to buy her a third one. She was pondering this when a man wearing a pince-nez and a western suit entered the shop and approached her.

“Hello, Judith,” the man said.

She looked up at the stranger, puzzled. Did she know him? If she did, she had no idea when or where they might have met. “Hello,” she said politely.

“Your father sent me,” the man said softly, as though sharing an important secret. He smiled handsomely, revealing a beautiful set of white teeth. “He has a surprise for you.”

“Surprise!” she erupted with delight.

He quickly put his finger to his lips. “Not so loud,” he said. “I’m not supposed to say anything. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

She lowered her voice and gushed excitedly, “What kind of surprise?”

“I can’t tell you. It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.”

“Then give me a little hint,” she begged. “Just a tiny one. That’s all.”

“Okay, but only a very small one,” the man said, ingratiating himself to her with his playful glance. “It’s something you’ve always wanted.”

“Hmmm, what could that be?” She tried to remember the long list of things she absolutely had to have, when a thought unexpectedly exploded in her head. “I know! It’s a dollhouse. Of course, it’s got to be a dollhouse. My daddy’s been promising to build me one for a long time.”

“Better than that!”

She couldn’t control herself. The thought of receiving a really special gift, one that she had always wanted, was just too exciting. But what could it be? Everything that came to mind was nice, but nothing was really special.

“Oh, tell me, please. I must know.”

“I can’t. I promised your father I’d keep it a secret. You’ll just have to come with me and find out for yourself.”

“Okay,” she said, “but I’ll have to tell my grandmamma first. She’s right over there, talking to the salesman.”

“No need to. She already knows,” he said. “Come, hurry. I don’t want you to miss out on all the fun.”

He held onto her hand firmly, almost to the point of discomfort. Too excited to care, she gave in to the stranger and eagerly hurried from the shop. All the things she had ever wanted flowed through her mind, uninterrupted. Which one could it be? she kept asking herself. Oh, I can’t wait to find out. They hurried through the bazaar hand-in-hand, breaking through the crowd ahead in what was almost a run. But when they left the bazaar, and he was leading her, faster than she could walk, towards a side street, she halted in her tracks.

Judith stared at the winding, quiet street ahead. A man wearing a jacket of many bright colors was standing next to an ox-driven cart a short distance away. “Where are we going?”

“Just down the street.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.