Read Online Bless the Child by Cathy Cash Spellman - Free Book Online
Authors: Cathy Cash Spellman
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couldn’t decipher. Something terrible and haunted. She took the child into her arms and held her to her heart for a long while, without speaking. She could feel the tension drain, and relief fill up the space it had occupied.
“Sweetheart, let’s go outside for a walk, shall we? She said, when she was sure she could control her voice. “The weather is lovely and we’ll have a chance to have a good, long talk.” Cody nodded her head yes, but looked so apprehensive that Maggie hastened her out the door. She felt better the minute she hit the lawn, but Cody twice looked back fearfully toward the house. Maggie followed the trajectory of her gaze and saw Ghania, standing sentinel-like at an upstairs window.
She hurried Cody along, protecting her from the malevolent stare with her own body. She headed left, off the great lawn, and zigzagged toward the beach. Surely there was some spot on this vast estate where Ghania’s presence could be unfelt for an hour.
The beach was March-cold and the water, slate, with occasional specks of foam. Maggie wrapped the child’s coat close around her; took the scarf from her own neck and tied it around Cody’s ears to protect her from the chill ocean breeze.
“I love you, sweetheart,” she began, not quite knowing how to proceed in her mission, without further frightening the child. “You know I love you with all my heart . . .”
“Ghania says you don’t,” Cody murmured, not looking at Maggie, but down at the sand. “She says if you loved me, you would take me home.”
Maggie’s heart lurched at the cruelty of the lie.
“Not love you?” she exploded. “How dare she say such a terrible thing? You listen to me, sweetheart, and listen with all your might, understand?” Cody nodded her head yes, but she still didn’t look Maggie in the eye. “The reason I haven’t taken you home is because your mommy and Eric won’t let me .
“I love you so much, Cody that every single day and night, every single minute since you left, I have missed you and thought about you and wished we were together! How could you ever believe such a lie, sweetheart, when you’ve know since you were the size of a mouse how much I love you?”
“Ghania knows a lot of things, Mim,” Cody whispered.
“What things, Cody? What does Ghania know?”
“She knows how to look in my head and see what I’m thinking,” the child answered guilelessly.
“She does not know how to do that, Cody!” Maggie said, horrified. “No one does.”
“Ghania knows God, Mim,” the little girl said in an awestruck voice that took Maggie aback.
“What do you mean, sweetheart? We all know God, that’s why we pray to Him.”
Cody shook her head vehemently. “It’s not that God, Mim. Ghania knows a different one.”
“Cody!” Maggie said with great seriousness. “There is only one God, and no matter what Ghania says, she does not know Him any better than we do!”
“Yes, she does,” the child persisted.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I prayed and prayed for you to save me and you never came. And the Ghania told me about the God who could make you come here. And I prayed to him last night and then you came.”
Rage at Ghania’s vile manipulation filled Maggie. She took Cody by the shoulders and turned her around so that the child’s eyes couldn’t avoid her own.
“Now you listen to me, my little love,” she said in a tone that left no room for dissent. “And you listen very , very carefully. Here’s how you can know for sure that I love you: You just reach inside Cody, and you remember every day and every night we ever spent together. You remember how you felt , safe and warm and loved. You remember every happy moment we ever had together since you were a tiny baby. Nobody can talk you out of those memories, Cody. They belong to you. Forever. And if anybody ever tries to confuse you, or lie to you, or
“Sweetheart, let’s go outside for a walk, shall we? She said, when she was sure she could control her voice. “The weather is lovely and we’ll have a chance to have a good, long talk.” Cody nodded her head yes, but looked so apprehensive that Maggie hastened her out the door. She felt better the minute she hit the lawn, but Cody twice looked back fearfully toward the house. Maggie followed the trajectory of her gaze and saw Ghania, standing sentinel-like at an upstairs window.
She hurried Cody along, protecting her from the malevolent stare with her own body. She headed left, off the great lawn, and zigzagged toward the beach. Surely there was some spot on this vast estate where Ghania’s presence could be unfelt for an hour.
The beach was March-cold and the water, slate, with occasional specks of foam. Maggie wrapped the child’s coat close around her; took the scarf from her own neck and tied it around Cody’s ears to protect her from the chill ocean breeze.
“I love you, sweetheart,” she began, not quite knowing how to proceed in her mission, without further frightening the child. “You know I love you with all my heart . . .”
“Ghania says you don’t,” Cody murmured, not looking at Maggie, but down at the sand. “She says if you loved me, you would take me home.”
Maggie’s heart lurched at the cruelty of the lie.
“Not love you?” she exploded. “How dare she say such a terrible thing? You listen to me, sweetheart, and listen with all your might, understand?” Cody nodded her head yes, but she still didn’t look Maggie in the eye. “The reason I haven’t taken you home is because your mommy and Eric won’t let me .
“I love you so much, Cody that every single day and night, every single minute since you left, I have missed you and thought about you and wished we were together! How could you ever believe such a lie, sweetheart, when you’ve know since you were the size of a mouse how much I love you?”
“Ghania knows a lot of things, Mim,” Cody whispered.
“What things, Cody? What does Ghania know?”
“She knows how to look in my head and see what I’m thinking,” the child answered guilelessly.
“She does not know how to do that, Cody!” Maggie said, horrified. “No one does.”
“Ghania knows God, Mim,” the little girl said in an awestruck voice that took Maggie aback.
“What do you mean, sweetheart? We all know God, that’s why we pray to Him.”
Cody shook her head vehemently. “It’s not that God, Mim. Ghania knows a different one.”
“Cody!” Maggie said with great seriousness. “There is only one God, and no matter what Ghania says, she does not know Him any better than we do!”
“Yes, she does,” the child persisted.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I prayed and prayed for you to save me and you never came. And the Ghania told me about the God who could make you come here. And I prayed to him last night and then you came.”
Rage at Ghania’s vile manipulation filled Maggie. She took Cody by the shoulders and turned her around so that the child’s eyes couldn’t avoid her own.
“Now you listen to me, my little love,” she said in a tone that left no room for dissent. “And you listen very , very carefully. Here’s how you can know for sure that I love you: You just reach inside Cody, and you remember every day and every night we ever spent together. You remember how you felt , safe and warm and loved. You remember every happy moment we ever had together since you were a tiny baby. Nobody can talk you out of those memories, Cody. They belong to you. Forever. And if anybody ever tries to confuse you, or lie to you, or
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