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Back The Cottage Save as PDF
Chapters (82)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. TWENTY-NINE
  32. THIRTY
  33. THIRTY-ONE
  34. THIRTY-TWO
  35. THIRTY-THREE
  36. THIRTY-FOUR
  37. THIRTY-FIVE
  38. THIRTY-SIX
  39. THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. THIRTY-NINE
  42. FORTY
  43. FORTY-ONE
  44. FORTY-TWO
  45. FORTY-THREE
  46. FORTY-FOUR
  47. FORTY-FIVE
  48. FORTY-SIX
  49. FORTY-SEVEN
  50. FORTY-EIGHT
  51. FORTY-NINE
  52. FIFTY
  53. FIFTY-ONE
  54. FIFTY-TWO
  55. FIFTY-THREE
  56. FIFTY-FOUR
  57. FIFTY-FIVE
  58. FIFTY-SIX
  59. FIFTY-SEVEN
  60. FIFTY-EIGHT
  61. FIFTY-NINE
  62. SIXTY
  63. SIXTY-ONE
  64. SIXTY-TWO
  65. SIXTY-THREE
  66. SIXTY-FOUR
  67. SIXTY-FIVE
  68. SIXTY-SIX
  69. SIXTY-SEVEN
  70. SIXTY-EIGHT
  71. SIXTY-NINE
  72. SEVENTY
  73. SEVENTY-ONE
  74. SEVENTY-TWO
  75. SEVENTY-THREE
  76. SEVENTY-FOUR
  77. Suggested topics for reading-group discussion
  78. Keep Reading …
  79. Lisa Stone also writes under the name of Cathy Glass.Don’t miss her latest book …
  80. About the Author
  81. Books by Lisa Stone
  82. About the Publisher

A moment passed, then he was suddenly awake, head up and wide-eyed. Not from her voice but from whatever was outside again. A chill ran up her spine. It was back and Tinder’s hackles were rising. Her heart began to beat faster. He was staring at the curtain ready to attack. Without warning, he jumped from her lap onto the back of the sofa and, barking furiously, pawed the curtains to be let out.

‘Get down!’ Jan said, picking him up. He would damage the curtain.

He struggled to be put down, then raced to the back door in the kitchen, where he began scuffing the floor in his frenzy to be let out. The same as he had the nights before when he’d heard something.

‘No. Bad boy,’ Jan said, going into the kitchen.

The previous night he hadn’t come back for two hours and she’d been worried sick, thinking he was lost for good and she’d have to tell Camile. When he had come back he’d looked as though he’d learnt his lesson, and had been very pleased to see her, almost as if he’d had a nasty escape. But from what? A fox? Rats? A badger? Coming from the town, she had little idea.

He was frantically pawing the door and still barking. Jan had no choice but to let him out if he wasn’t to do damage. As soon as she opened the back door he shot down the garden. It was a cold night with a faint crescent moon in a clear black sky. She could see Tinder at the very bottom of the garden, having chased something into the shrubbery. Something quite large that had quickly disappeared. Then he too disappeared, following it into the bushes that separated the garden from the woods.

‘Shit,’ Jan cursed. ‘Tinder, come back now!’ she shouted. ‘Tinder!’ But he’d gone. ‘Tinder!’

Silence. She stood at the back door for a moment, listening, and then closed and locked it, hoping Tinder would return soon. She’d caught a glimpse of what was out there, a shadowy outline, before it had disappeared through the hedge. The previous nights she hadn’t seen a thing. It was bigger than a fox or badger, though, and not that shape. Perhaps there were animals living in the woods that as a townie she wasn’t familiar with.

And yet …

She shivered and moved away from the back door. In the second before it had disappeared, she could have sworn that instead of running on all fours as an animal would have done, it had stood on two legs as if human. Surely not.

TWO