Lead Me to the Cross

Bendalin West was named after a witch born centuries ago. Her father filled her to the brim with voodoo and spells, convincing her she was a witch. No matter how hard she practiced or how many grueling nights she would stay up with her lonely father trying to concoct a love potion, trying to read the messages "right in front of her face" in the black bowl filled with water, or even when her father tried to make her raise the dead, revive her mother, by chanting spells in graveyards long past bed time, she never succeeded.

This all ended when her father died. At the ripe age of fifteen, she had nowhere to go but foster care. Her father left no money for Bendalin in his will. It wasn't the least bit surprising to discover that he didn't even write a will. Hanging by a thin thread, she held her head high, resigning to her fate as a foster child for the next three years. That is until Duke Carpenter pulls up in his Mercedes-Benz and says, "You're coming home with me, darling."

Thrust into a world she's never got the chance to experience behind her father's locked doors and shuttered windows, Bendalin is eager to taste life without having to say a few spells. When Duke and his father, Pastor Craig, and his loving mom, Kelly, introduce her to the experience of Christ, she's astounded. No magic wands? No wooden broomstick? No foul-tasting potions formed God? With the help and persuading of Duke and his family, Bendalin has no choice but to let God enter her life. But will he stay there for good, or will her wicked past prevent her from having faith?