The Change of Heart
by
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The young girl clutched the railing with a mixture of feelings as she watched the Coast of Malabar slowly fading into the distance. She felt a little sad that she was leaving her home and yet when she thought about her forthcoming marriage, her face sparkled animatedly and her dark eyes shone. The creaking timber and the swelling white-fringed waves lapping the sides of the ship drowned her name being harshly called. The voice was now directly behind her. 'Katrina.'
She spun round and faced the man who was shortly to become her husband. She gasped as he seized her by her slender wrist and in a deathly quiet voice said, 'You come when I call you.'
Confused, she was about to tell him she hadn't heard when he grabbed her tightly by her long black hair. "Matthew...What are you doing?' she asked in horror.
Without answering, he yanked harder on her hair and on her tiptoes he pulled down below the top deck, along a passage towards a cabin. A chill of fear crept over her as he gave her a brutal push into the cabin, flinging her to the wooden floor. He kicked the door closed behind him. On her knees, Katrina looked up at the man with whom she was in love. 'Matthew...Matthew', she cried in horror as she struggled to a standing position. 'Why are you...doing this...to me?' A smart slap across her face knocked her painfully back onto her knees. A strangled scream broke from her, 'Matthew, No!’
The scream froze in her throat as she watched him unbuckle his belt and drop his white trousers to his shinning, spit polished, black shoes. Ripping her green velvet dress from her body, he picked her up and threw her onto the bunk. With his red swollen maleness standing to attention he straddled her and drove himself into her.
'No...no...noooo' She bit her bottom lip in silence as she endured the excruciating pain. After a lengthy time he withdrew from her and stood up, leaving Katrina shuddering on the bunk. She slowly sat up and swept her long hair which was wet with tears and sweat from her face as she spoke, 'You have raped me, why Matthew...why? I don't understand. I would have given you... all you desired on our wedding night.'
He laughed cynically as he buttoned the last button on his white trousers. 'Did you really think I was going to take you to England to be my wife?'
Katrina instantly stopped crying and stared at the man who had turned into a stranger. He walked towards the door, turned back at the threshold and said, 'I have plans for you my dear. Have you heard of slave trade?' It was a few moments before Katrina took in the full impact of his words. Her mind was in turmoil as her glistening bosom heaved up and down in terror. 'You're a madman', she cried. 'This is the year eighteen forty four; the slave trade was abolished years ago. With a nervous laugh she asked, 'So, what are you talking about?'
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About the Book
Katrina’s teenage years in a small village, off the Coast of Malabar ends abruptly when she is lured onto a ship by the man she has fallen in love with, and to her horror he sells her as a slave to a wealthy wine farmer in the Cape of South Africa.
Katrina's daughter Heart sees her mother die at the unscrupulous hands of her tyrannical master, and revenge cost her dearly.
Andre, the master’s nephew is the man who Heart had thought loved her but when he abandons her she is devastated and again revenge cost her dearly.
The death of her mother and the abandonment catapults Heart into a feud between the man she hates and the man she loves. Their lives turn to touch one another, change direction then grow close time again until they connect and embrace for whatever fate intended to happen.
Heart is a strong willed survivor, despite the horror, obstacles and traumas she has to overcome. The terrible secrets that she guards threatens to expose her and destroy her life forever.About the Author
Mona Gagadelis was born in South Africa and lived most of her adult life there until she, her husband and four children moved to England. Wander lust has taken her to many countries and between her travels she is working on her second novel.