A Waiting For Dusk Novel - Anna & Lucinda's Story
Broken Dreams
by Nancy Pennick
Two friends...
Blood sisters till the end...
Until they're not.
One cold night in a boarding school dorm, two fourteen-year-old girls make a blood sister pact. Friends forever. As young schoolgirls, they're determined to find true love, learning the hits and misses along the way. As graduation nears, the girls have different outlooks for the future. Lucinda longs for adventure. Anna chooses city life and marriage. Finding their way back together, the girls head west for an experience of a lifetime until a handsome cowboy bursts into their lives, changing the course of their friendship forever.
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Excerpt
Anna stuck out her hand, snapping her head in the other direction. “Do it quickly! Before I change my mind.”
“Hold still. You’re trembling so much I may make more than one cut.”
Anna felt Lucinda’s hand wrap around hers, squeezing tightly. Her heart pounded against her ribs. “Now!” she yelled.
The touch of the metal blade sent a chill down her spine. The pressure of the cold tip caused her stomach to flip as it dug into her finger. The pain shot down her arm, and a burning sensation filled her hand. “Ouch!” Anna let out the breath she held inside. The worst part was over.
“You can look now, you big baby.” Lucinda’s voice had a touch of sarcasm. She smiled at Anna. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
Anna shook her head. “I’m glad it’s over.” She slowly closed her eyes and took the deepest breath possible. “But I’m proud of myself. I hate the sight of blood, but it was worth it.” She lifted her left hand to examine the cut. Blood trailed down her finger.
Lucinda also raised her left hand. Her middle finger dripped with blood. “Then let’s get started.” She lit a tall taper candle on the table. The flame flickered slightly giving the darkened room a mystical glow. “On this day of January the twenty-fourth ...” She stretched out her arm toward Anna. “I, Lucinda Ann Walker, being of sound mind and body, make you my blood sister.”
Anna giggled. “You make it sound so formal.” She could tell Lucinda fought back a smile, but her face stayed solemn. “Alright, then.” Anna cleared her throat. “I, Anna Grace Douglass, also being of sound mind and body, make you my blood sister in the year of our Lord, 1923.”
They positioned their hands together, fingertip-to-fingertip, mixing the blood. Anna’s finger throbbed with pain, but she felt happy. She was thrilled she decided to come to this very exclusive private boarding school on scholarship. When she met her roommate she never dreamed they’d become best friends. Lucinda’s personality was bigger than life, quite the opposite of Anna. Now five months later, they were a sorority of two.
Lucinda wiped the blood from her hand on a nearby towel. “Mine’s good. Let me see yours.”
Anna gasped as she watched the blood still pool onto her finger. “You didn’t have to make it so deep.” She reached for the emergency supplies and wrapped some gauze around it.
“Sorry.” Lucinda’s lower lip began to quiver. “I’d never hurt you. Just like we promised. We’ll always be best friends. We have each other’s backs. You and me against the world.”
“Don’t cry, Lucinda. It will heal. I just don’t like ... blood.” Anna up held her hand. “See? All bandaged.”
Lucinda flicked on the overhead light and blew out the candle. “The ceremony is over and it’s time to have some fun.” She bounced onto her bed. “Remember the first day of school, Anna? You were like a scared rabbit. ‘Which bed do you want, Lucinda?’ ‘Where can I put my things, Lucinda?’”
“You challenged me all the time. At first, I thought you didn’t like me.” Anna clearly remembered the first day she walked in their room. She carried one tattered suitcase and set it next to designer luggage. Her heart raced when her roommate didn’t look up from the book she read. Anna stuttered out a hello as Lucinda glanced up, eying her from head to toe. Shyness overtook her, making her speechless.
“Take that bed.” The girl pointed with the book. “Or maybe you’d like this one?” Anna felt whatever bed she chose would be wrong. She shuffled to the open one and sat while Lucinda went back to her book.
“Of course I liked you.” Lucinda interrupted her thoughts. “That’s why I made you stand up for yourself. I wanted your bed, you know.”
“You did? You were sitting on that one when I came in the room so I thought that’s the one you wanted!” Anna began to laugh even though her hand still throbbed. “I tried to be polite. Thank goodness I got you for a roommate. I was just so nervous.”
“And I wouldn’t let you be nervous. Women have to stand up for themselves. Be bold and brave.”
“We’re only fourteen, Lucinda.” Anna had to smile as she stared at her young friend. Bold and determined, Lucinda didn’t let anything get in her way. Her looks were deceiving. Pale skin and faint dark circles below her eyes masked the passion inside. Her soft hair, not quite blonde yet not dark enough to be called brown, hung straight to the bottom of her chin, parted to one side. A clip held it in place. Her pastel blue eyes had a softness that could be replaced with fire at a moment’s notice.
“Soon to be fifteen, well, at least for me,” Lucinda reminded her. “Let me see your hand. Is that blood seeping through the bandage? I think you need to change it one more time before we go.”