Sneak Peek: The Advocate's Conviction

Teresa Burrell

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Preface

The fourteen-year-old girl struggled to break free from the bindings on her hands and feet. One woman on each arm held her as she fought. Her feet were in stirrups, and the unbearable pain shot through her abdomen. Her blonde hair was wet with sweat. She yanked her right arm away but the heavy-set woman holding her arm threw her body across the teenager, pinning her down on the hospital bed.

“No,” the teen screamed. “No! Don’t take my baby.”

“Push,” the body-blocker said. “Just push.”

The tall, thin woman holding the teen’s left arm spoke calmly. “You need to stop fighting and breathe. Your baby is coming. You need to push.”

The girl looked around the small, dirty room for help, but all she saw was a man wearing a surgical mask sitting at the end of the bed between her legs, waiting for her to give birth. He would be no help. After all, she had agreed to this. The candles flickered around her, casting soft shadows around the room. The oak tree painted on the wall and the circle around her bed would protect her, or so she was told. But she hurt so badly and no one seemed to care.

The heavy-set woman was face to face with her. The girl could feel her breathing and smell her garlicky lunch. “Just push,” she said again.

The girl screamed.

“This is your child’s fate. Your baby must be sacrificed. Are you a believer?”

The girl wanted to say no. She didn’t know what to believe, but fear won out. “Yes,” she said.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I believe. I believe in the power of the oak. I believe in the power of the oak.” She was chanting now and the two women joined her.

“I believe in the power of the oak. I believe in the power of the oak.” The young girl screamed again as another contraction shot through her. She pushed as hard as she could, then stopped.

“Again!” the man at her feet yelled. “Push!”

She pushed and screamed in agony until she felt the mass exit her womb. Her body lay limp on the bed as she heard the baby cry. The heavy-set woman continued to hold her in place while the tall woman took the baby to the back of the room and out of sight. The baby’s cries still filled the room.

Then, silence.

A few minutes later the woman returned without the child.

The girl turned her head away and closed her eyes. What have I done?