Long Winter
Contents ( 61)
- Long Winter
- Rachel Ember
- Mailing List
- Contents
- Chapter One
- Lance
- Chapter Two
- Robbie
- Chapter Three
- Lance
- Chapter Four
- Robbie
- Chapter Five
- Lance
- Chapter Six
- Robbie
- Chapter Seven
- Lance
- Chapter Eight
- Robbie
- Chapter Nine
- Lance
- Chapter Ten
- Robbie
- Chapter Eleven
- Lance
- Chapter Twelve
- Robbie
- Chapter Thirteen
- Lance
- Chapter Fourteen
- Robbie
- Chapter Fifteen
- Lance
- Chapter Sixteen
- Robbie
- Chapter Seventeen
- Lance
- Chapter Eighteen
- Robbie
- Chapter Nineteen
- Lance
- Chapter Twenty
- Robbie
- Chapter Twenty-One
- Lance
- Chapter Twenty-Two
- Robbie
- Chapter Twenty-Three
- Lance
- Chapter Twenty-Four
- Robbie
- Chapter Twenty-Five
- Lance
- Chapter Twenty-Six
- Robbie
- Chapter Twenty-Seven
- Lance
- Author’s Note
- About the Author
- Also by Rachel Ember

Long Winter
Rachel Ember
Copyright © 2021 by Rachel Ember
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not meant to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, persons, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
ISBN (ebook): 9781735443072
ISBN (print): 9781735443089
Cover Design by Cate Ashwood Designs
Beta Reading by Blue Beta Reading
Editing by Jennifer Collins
Proofreading by Jennifer Griffin
Mailing List
The best way to keep up with Rachel’s writing is by joining her mailing list. Mailing list subscribers also get exclusive content like free short stories and advanced copies of Rachel’s new releases.
Contents
Chapter 1
Lance
Chapter 2
Robbie
Chapter 3
Lance
Chapter 4
Robbie
Chapter 5
Lance
Chapter 6
Robbie
Chapter 7
Lance
Chapter 8
Robbie
Chapter 9
Lance
Chapter 10
Robbie
Chapter 11
Lance
Chapter 12
Robbie
Chapter 13
Lance
Chapter 14
Robbie
Chapter 15
Lance
Chapter 16
Robbie
Chapter 17
Lance
Chapter 18
Robbie
Chapter 19
Lance
Chapter 20
Robbie
Chapter 21
Lance
Chapter 22
Robbie
Chapter 23
Lance
Chapter 24
Robbie
Chapter 25
Lance
Chapter 26
Robbie
Chapter 27
Lance
Author’s Note
About the Author
Also by Rachel Ember
Chapter One
Lance
Fourteen years ago.
It’s the first day of school, and Lance can’t find his new shoes.
He tries not to panic, but his mind is spinning. How could this have happened? He’d put them under the floorboards by his bed, the only place in the house where his father couldn’t find anything. He’d been determined that, when the time came to get on the school bus, for once he’d be wearing decent shoes. Not his worn-out boots, with their soles gaping apart from the toes like ragged tongues.
It’s not like the other kids don’t already have enough to make fun of him for. He doesn’t want to add his old boots to the list.
Lance fits the floorboards carefully back into place and stands up. The lace curtains, once white and now dingy gray, hang perfectly still over his bedroom window even though he pushed the bottom sash all the way up last night when it was so hot that he couldn’t sleep. There isn’t a breeze to be found on this sticky August morning. His throat is dry, too. He forgot to bring a glass of water in with him last night, and once his father had been home by the television, draining one can of beer after another, Lance had known better than to risk coming out of his room.
He doesn’t have time to keep looking for the shoes, and it would be pointless anyway. If they aren’t in the hiding place, then he knows where they are, and he won’t be getting them back.