دانلود رمان انگلیسی “نگهبان کودکان گمشده”

A hand pounded against the front door. Startled from her morning prayers, Sister Proba clutched the cross hanging around her neck, hoping it was just the wind. But then she heard it again. Rap, rap, rap. Wearing only her thin nightgown, she quickly got to her feet and grabbed her robe. The knocking got louder and more aggressive as she moved down the winding back stairs, draping her veil over her wispy hair and pinning it in place. At the bottom of the steps, Junior Sister was dressed just as haphazardly, brow furrowed with concern. With only a look between them, the two nuns moved down the long hall, passing the dining room, and then through the foyer. After flipping on the light in the small vestibule, Sister Proba looked through the peephole. She touched her forehead and then made the sign of the cross before unlatching the door. Under the portico stood a woman with pasty skin and slightly wrinkled clothes. Streaks of dried tears stained her hollow cheeks. A child’s legs wrapped around the woman’s waist, and tiny arms were tightly fastened against her neck. “Help me,” the woman croaked. The nun stepped aside and ushered the pair into the parlor, where Junior Sister was already at work starting a 􀐙re. “I cannot keep him.” The woman’s eyes were filled with shame. The child stayed fitted around her so tightly, it was hard to see where one began and the other ended. Sister Proba gestured for the woman to take a seat. “My father banished me from our village.” The young woman repositioned the boy in her lap, and when he faced forward, his sweater was a size too small and his thick hair unruly. It was just as the nun had suspected.