An Awakened Heart An Awakened Heart by Jody Hedlund

Author:Jody Hedlund [Hedlund, Jody]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042030;FIC042040;FIC027050
ISBN: 9781441230041
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Elise pressed her finger to her lips in warning to the others to stay silent as a gang of boys passed by their hiding spot. After almost a full week of living on the streets, her fingers were deplorably dirty, her nails cracked, and her clothes so filthy that she could hardly stand the stench of herself.

But she was too busy trying to keep her small family alive to worry about how clean they were. Their lack of cleanliness was the least of her concerns. The four pairs of frightened, hungry eyes staring at her told her that their problems were growing bigger every day, especially because she suspected that Friedric was searching for them.

No matter what abandoned doorway they slept in or what pile of garbage they buried themselves behind, eventually someone would spot them. And whenever that happened, they had to move on because they didn’t know who to trust to keep their location a secret from Friedric.

“I’m hungry,” Olivia said again. Sophie cupped her hand over the little girl’s mouth. But the tears forming in the wide eyes taunted Elise. The hunger and discomfort of their situation wouldn’t go away no matter how hard they wished it would.

She knew she should be glad that they’d all escaped from the tenement without any trouble. But part of her wondered if she’d done the right thing in leaving. Even with all the dangers of living with Friedric and Uncle, was it safer than living out here?

Once the rowdy group of boys turned the corner of the alley, Elise leaned back against the brick wall with a bone-weary sigh. The four pairs of eyes were still upon her. Waiting. They trusted her to come up with a solution to their problem. But she hadn’t been able to do anything all week but attempt to keep them alive.

She had to do better. But what could she do? They’d spent all the money they’d taken from Uncle’s purse and now they had nothing.

Nicholas was curled up on Sophie’s lap, in her arms. He was growing more listless. Today he’d hardly moved, hadn’t made a sound, not even a whimper of complaint.

“We need to take them to the Orphan Asylum, Sophie,” Elise said. “That will be the best place for them until we find jobs and a place to live. Then we’ll go back and get them.”

Rather than protesting the idea, Sophie finally gave in and nodded this time. The tears that escaped down her cheeks rolled onto Nicholas’s head. Elise guessed that Sophie had come to the same conclusion. That in order to save the infants’ lives, they would have to give them up.

Marianne dug into her skirt pocket and fished out a handkerchief that was already brittle with use. She reached over to dab Sophie’s cheeks. A wadded paper separated from the handkerchief and landed on Nicholas’s head.

Marianne picked it up and lifted her arm to toss it onto the pile of rubbish that hid them, but then stopped. She smoothed out the wad with her cracked and dirty fingers.

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