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Scarlet

Jen Geigle Johnson
Chapters (42)
  1. Scarlet
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Author’s Notes
  41. About the Author
  42. Other Books by Jen Geigle Johnson

Scarlet

Title Page

Cover image: Arch of Marius-Illustration © duncan1890 courtesy of Istockphoto

Brunette Vintage Woman with Flowers in Hair © Dorota Gorecka / Trevillion Images

Cover design by Hannah Bischoff

Cover design copyright © 2018 by Covenant Communications, Inc.

Published by Covenant Communications, Inc.

American Fork, Utah

Copyright © 2018 by Jen Geigle Johnson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any format or in any medium without the written permission of the publisher, Covenant Communications, Inc., P.O. Box 416, American Fork, UT 84003. The views expressed within this work are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Covenant Communications, Inc., or any other entity.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, incidents, places, and dialogue are either products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real, or are used fictitiously.

ISBN: 978-1-52440-596-0

Dedication

To Sarah, who has her own love of performance and costume and

who also cares for those who cannot care for themselves.

Acknowledgments

I am blessed with very talented and helpful friends. Kimberly Vanderhorst’s edits and beautiful way with words guided me early on. Dustin, John, and Adrienne Burger; Amy Wilson; Mindy Strunk; Didi Lawson; and Kristy Johnson all read early drafts. My weekly critique partners: Lisa Fenley, Jennifer Looft, Stacey Wells, Nuha Said, and my Latter-day Saint group: Matt Sullivan, Jessica Bell, David Christiansen, Reese Legara, and Cheryl Callison all added helpful guidance. I love working with Kami Hancock at Covenant. My family remains ever supportive. And of course, I must acknowledge the brains behind the original, the brilliant Baroness Orczy, who created the character of the Scarlet Pimpernel. All similarities to her story are my attempt at a nod in her direction.

Chapter One

Paris, France—1793

The young urchin’s sharp gaze flitted through the crowd as if he knew things he shouldn’t. Scarlet stood next to him, strangers pressed together by the mass gathering for the executions. Baked between the stone walls by the heat of the afternoon sun, Scarlet’s neck beaded with sweat under her wig, and she longed to scratch her head.

“Kill the aristos!” a woman shrieked at them.

Scarlet jumped, hand at her heart, swallowing.

The woman’s eyes bulged in their sockets, veins protruding along her neck. Her hand shook as she lifted a stained and wrinkled finger, pointing upward.

The last blade of the day rose by inches to the top of the guillotine. The angry woman, like everyone around her, willed it to drop, her expression full of yearning, nostrils flared wide to catch the scent of blood.

“Don’t watch. She is deranged.” Scarlet shielded the eyes of the young urchin standing at her side. His friends, also milling about them, far too young to witness, called him Abelino.

He did avert his eyes at first, but his neck turned, stretching out of her reach, until he found the woman again.