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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

Jan nodded thoughtfully. ‘OK. For the first few weeks here, everything seemed fine. I mean, living in the country took a bit of getting used to, but I enjoyed the peace after everything that had happened. It gave me time to think and I didn’t see or experience anything odd. Then something started coming into the garden after dark when the curtains were closed. I assumed it was an animal, out here in the middle of nowhere.’ Ruby nodded. ‘It came right up to the window. Tinder always knew when it was there. His hackles would rise and he would run to the back door, wanting to be let out to chase it. One night he disappeared completely and didn’t come back for hours. I was worried, thinking he’d got lost. When he did return he was so pleased to see me, as if something had frightened him.’

‘I would think just getting lost scared him,’ Ruby said sensibly.

‘Maybe, but then the next night he came back with food stuck in the fur by his mouth. It was cooked meat, possibly sausage. It hadn’t come from here and there are no other houses until you get to Merryless. So I began to worry that there could be someone living in the woods. This cottage backs onto the deepest part of Coleshaw Woods and you’d never know if there was someone in there.’

‘Couldn’t a bird have dropped the food?’ Ruby suggested.

‘I suppose so.’ Jan hesitated. How easy it was to explain away what was happening if you hadn’t been here. ‘But the next night I caught a glimpse of something as Tinder chased it through the hedge at the bottom of the garden. It was dark so I couldn’t get a good view, but it was really strange, not like any animal I’ve ever seen. I researched online what animals live in the woods and it just came up with the usual, like badgers, foxes and so on. So I sort of convinced myself it could have been a fox. I told Chris – we were on good terms then – and he thought it could be a fox or a dog that had come from the village.’

‘He should know, living around here all his life,’ Ruby put in.

‘That’s what I thought, but then I discovered something that convinced me it couldn’t be a fox.’

‘What?’