*Sisterwife* is her first novel, and she has also written *The Murdered Man* and *Outer Darkness.*

Natalie has worked in newspaper journalism and advertising, and has been published both in print and e-zine format with non-fiction articles, short stories, and poetry. She worked on the editorial staff of the 2001 and 2002 Sundance Film Festivals, and also served as a filmmaker liaison. She is currently the agent/publishing columnist for the popular writing e-zine, Fiction Factor (http://www.fictionfactor.com).

Natalie finished in the top ten in two categories of the Annual Preditors and Editors Poll. *SisterWife* was voted eighth in the novel category, and Natalie finished seventh in the author category.

Natalie makes her home in Utah, with her husband Chad and two daughters, Carissa and Cambre. She finds her home state, and the predominant Mormon religion, a great source of fodder for her writing.

Visit her Web site at http://www.nataliercollins.net

Prologue

She was just seven, just barely seven, not old enough to be in this much trouble.

She thought of her birthday cake with seven candles and Mommy singing to her. The candles on the cake had been so bright, and Mommy had turned the lights out so they lit up the whole room. She stopped crying when she remembered the cake, even though she was so scared. More scared even than she'd been when Gordy Bright threatened to pop her eyeballs out at school last year. Mommy had explained eyeballs didn't pop out that easily, but she hadn't been able to stop thinking about her eyes rolling around on the playground like marbles. She'd been really scared that time, but this was much, much worse.

She lay in the back seat of the car, blindfolded and damp from wetting herself. The redlady hadn't said anything in a long time, at least not to her, and she felt invisible. She could smell smoke and hear the harsh coughing. The car radio played, and once in a while the redlady tried to sing along to the songs, but she didn't seem to know any of the words. I know lots more words than her, she thought, bouncing on the seat when the car hit bumps in the road.

She tried not to get "wound up" again. That was what Mommy called it when she couldn't stop screaming and crying.

They'd been in the car a long, long time. It felt like days, but she knew it hadn't been more than one. She'd noticed the changes between light and dark, even through the blindfold. It must be morning, because it was getting light again. She had to poop. Bad. Really, really bad. She was too frightened to ask the redlady, who had ignored her since they left the school. She'd peed her pants like a little baby as soon as the redlady had thrown her into the back of the yellow car, tying her hands together, putting the blindfold over her face and shoving a cloth in her mouth. Now she was beginning to get a little bit dry, but was still cold and uncomfortable. She'd worn her favorite blue skirt to school. She'd fought with Mommy because it was dirty, but she plucked it out of the dirty clothes hamper and yelled until she got her way. She loved the skirt because when she twirled it fanned out around her. She wished now she hadn't fought with her Mommy, and she wished she'd just put on the pants Mommy had wanted her to wear. Instead, she was wet and cold and something had happened to Mommy.

Her mouth still tasted like the dirty cloth the redlady had shoved in her mouth. She'd pulled it out almost as soon as the engine of the car roared to life. Her hands were tied at the wrists in front and she could still use them. She'd pushed the blindfold up just a little bit so she could peek out, but she didn't dare sit up and couldn't see anything but the back of the front seat and the redlady's head. Blonde hair peeked out from under the hat the mean woman wore.

She wasn't sure what the redlady wanted. She didn't even know who the redlady was. Teacher had called her up to the front of the class and told her to go to the office. The redlady had been standing there in the principal's office when she walked in. She'd worried she was in big, big trouble. Then the redlady knelt down and whispered to her sadly, telling her something had happened to her mommy.

She got a bad taste in her mouth when she remembered what the redlady said. Since Daddy left, Mommy was all she had. Mommy was her best friend. She started sobbing, right there in the office with all the old office ladies watching her. She couldn't even tell the principal she didn't know the redlady. She cried so hard, she tried to talk but only gasped.

The redlady picked her up and carried her out bawling, and she'd known the other kids stood watching. She hadn't been in this school long and she had very few friends. They all acted like she was weird because she was smart. Mommy kept telling her it would get better, but it didn't, and she wondered if maybe the other kids had killed Mommy and sent the redlady to get her, like in those scary movies she wasn't supposed to watch.

The redlady was very scary. She looked pretty until you got really close, then you could see she was wearing too much makeup and her dress was way too bright and tight. As soon as they got to the car, the redlady stopped smiling. The redlady looked mad, too. Really mad. That was when she'd been blindfolded and gagged.

Now, so tired, she was sleepy, lulled by the roar of the engine and the gentle rocking of the car as it traveled. She comforted herself by sucking her thumb, both hands near her face, since they were still tied together. Her left thumb slowly stroked her cheek, back and forth, while she sucked on the right one. She usually rubbed the fur on Mr. Peepers' belly, it felt so nice, but of course, he wasn't here. Sucking her thumb was a very bad thing, she knew, but a habit she had been unable to break. She simply learned to hide it from Mommy, and especially Daddy, when he was still around.

She was really hungry. Her stomach was empty, and she thought again about her birthday cake with its seven candles. It had been chocolate with strawberry filling, her favorite. Her tummy growled and she almost giggled at the noise it made.

When the car suddenly stopped, she lurched awake from her half-sleep, and felt the scary feeling that began in her tummy and moved up to her throat. She heard the rustle of the redlady as she opened the front car door. It slammed shut, and she began to sob again, feeling herself getting "wound up."

She had never been so frightened, never.

The door closest to her opened, and she felt the chill as it wafted down her bare, wet legs. She shuddered violently, sobbing and wailing as the redlady picked her up.

"Shut up kid, or I'll slit your throat and feed you to the bears." The redlady's deep voice meant business, and she began kicking and screaming, her panic overwhelming her. She didn't know where they were, could see nothing, but there could be bears around. There could be. Maybe the redlady had taken her to Yellowstone where all the bears were. She knew about Yellowstone, had seen pictures in school.

She heard a deep breath, then she felt an incredible pain in her head.

~~Natalie R. Collins~~
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