Read Miss Polly had a Dolly (Emma Frost #2) for Free Online Page B

something.
    "Where am I?" Nina asked when she lay
down on the bed again. The mattress was green and had yellow spots on it.
    The ice cream lady didn't answer, she kept
looking at Nina, like she was examining her. Then she asked her to open her
mouth and she held on to her chin way too hard, while looking at her teeth. The
lady then grabbed her dress and pulled it up. Nina whimpered. She didn't like
it, but the lady continued anyway. She grabbed her panties and pulled them
down, then examined her privates. Afterwards, she walked away. Nina pulled her
panties back on while sobbing and watched as the lady talked to the man in the
other end of the room. They had a short
conversation while the man’s eyes were fixed on Nina. He handed the lady what
appeared to be a roll of money. Uncomfortable with the man’s glare, Nina looked
down at the floor while sitting on the edge of the bed. Soon the lady came
back. She sat down next to Nina.
    "I bet you're
wondering why you're here," she said.
    Nina nodded while
pressing back tears.
    "Well, your mother
no longer wants you. She told us to take you away." The woman paused and
looked at Nina. Then she shook her head. "What did you do, huh? Have you
been acting very bad lately?"
    Now Nina couldn't hold
back the tears any longer. She couldn't believe it. Her own mother didn't want
her?
    "Don't feel sorry
for yourself," the lady said. "You did this. You put this upon
yourself. If only you had listened to your mother more, then she wouldn't have
sent you away, now would she? I guess you're just too much for her to handle,
so now we have found someone else who will take good care of you. But you must
promise me to behave. You must promise me to do everything this nice man tells
you to. His name is Sergei. He will bring you to a new home where he has work
for you to do. If you do it nicely and to his satisfaction, he will take good
care of you, okay?"
    Nina sniffled and looked
at the man with the almost black eyes. He looked dirty and sweaty. His hair was
glistening. How could her mother sent her away to be with a man, when they both
hated men so much? Was that her punishment for her? Had she really been that
bad?
    "We leave in a few
seconds," he said. His Danish was poor and hard for her to understand.
    "Where are we
going?" Nina asked while wiping away her tears.
    The man smiled. Some of
his teeth were brown and Nina wondered if that was because he hadn't brushed
them well enough like her mother always told her to.
    "Don't you worry
about that," the lady said and helped Nina get up. "Just behave and
everything will be fine."
    "Come on,"
Sergei said in horribly bad Danish. "The car is waiting outside."

Chapter 12
April 2013
    On Wednesday at
around noon I usually had lunch with my neighbor from
across the street, Sophia. She was a teacher at the local school but was on
maternity leave now with her newborn. Today I had prepared a nice salmon quiche
with spinach and feta cheese. It was one of my favorite dishes to make.
    Sophia came over just before noon and sat in my
kitchen while her baby was sleeping in the carriage. Like most Danish moms, she
had left the carriage outside on the porch so the baby could sleep in the fresh
air, as the doctors recommended. That always made them sleep better and longer
and it was good for their lungs and the whole respiratory system. Her baby was
a heavy sleeper so usually we would have two hours to chat, something we both
needed a lot. With her six kids and no husband, she needed to unburden herself
every now and then, and so did I, especially today since I had just found out
the day before that my dad had a girlfriend.
    "I can't believe he never told you about
her," Sophia said while I cut a piece of the quiche and put it on her
plate. "I mean how long have they been going out?"
    "He said they had known each other for two
months."
    "Two months?"
    I nodded and poured some water in our glasses.
    "I don't believe it," Sophia
continued. "I mean you'd think we would