Whoops! Looks like I got carried away a bit. This isn't from Mary's Diary nor yet from the life of this middle-aged marm from way back in the North Country. Maybe you want to take a break from other things and see what's going on in the next book I am writing. (Well, one of them.)These are the introductory paragraphs
"You have to be awful careful about what you
say, Stephen,” Tayletha cautioned. “The sentry walks by
every half hour or so, and if he even suspects that we might be out after dark because we are …”she glanced
furtively about and her voice lowered, “or because our parents are
-you –know-what- we will be in deep trouble.”
Her five-year-old brother nodded soberly. He knew very well
how the “enemy” raged against the Christianus and would use any
excuse to throw them to the lions. Stephen shivered a little at the thought,
and clutched the loaf of bread closer to his thin chest.
Tayletha crouched even lower than she had been and inched her way
over to the balustrade bordering the flat roof. Every so often, she flattened herself against the rough surface and listened.
Far in the distance, the clomp-clomp-clomp of hobnailed Roman
sandals on cobblestone streets sounded loud in the stillness. Soon the eerie flickering of the patrollers’ smoldering torch briefly revealed some ragged beggar boys darting back into the shadows. Tayletha sensed that the boys knew they were in danger of being clouted with a brawny fist if they were caught slinking around. Scavenging in the garbage strewn in the corners could most definitely wait for a safer time.
