Chapters (48)
- Cover
- THEFEUD
- Dedication
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
‘No, Frankie, and I mean no. Do you wanna stay in the car with the kids, Jess? There’s more animals running around than there is in a fucking circus.’
Jessica opened the car door. She needed to know that Eddie had said the right things to Mr O’Hara. ‘I’m coming with you,’ she insisted.
With a Jack Russell trying to shag his right leg, Eddie made his way towards the house. Seeing a miniature tractor drive past, he took little notice. Goats, horses, dogs, tractors – they all seemed to blend in with the territory.
With a heavy heart, he knocked on Jimmy O’Hara’s front door.
Frankie looked in amazement as the tractor stopped by the car and Jed, whom she’d met at the party, leaped off it.
‘Frankie!’ he exclaimed. He opened the door of the car and urged her to move over.
Unusually for Frankie, she came over all shy. ‘Do you live here?’ she mumbled, averting her eyes from the grinning Jed.
Joey could feel his heart pumping though his T-shirt. This was the boy who had hit him in the boxing ring and he was petrified of a repeat performance.
Aware of Joey’s anxiety, Jed held his hand out to him. ‘I’m really sorry for hitting you so hard. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I had to do it, else my dad would have beat me.’
‘Shake his hand then, like Daddy does,’ Frankie urged her brother.
Joey did as he was told and sat quietly as Jed spoke to Frankie.
‘Come for a ride on my tractor,’ Jed urged her.
Frankie shook her head. ‘My dad said I had to stay in the car. He’ll tell me off if I get out.’
Jed laughed. ‘You’re a scaredy cat. Go on admit it, you’re frit to death. You think I can’t drive, but I can. I can even drive my dad’s car – I can, honest I can,’ Jed bragged.
Jimmy O’Hara smiled as he locked eyes with Eddie Mitchell. ‘Well, well, well, this is a nice surprise,’ he said, with a hint of sarcasm.
Embarrassed that the Jack Russell was still trying to mount him, Eddie gently pushed it away.
Jimmy O’Hara laughed as he picked the dog up. ‘His name’s Rocky; I named him after me cousin. He likes you, look. Got his cory out, for you, he has.’
Eddie ignored Jimmy’s crude comment and held out his right hand. ‘My wife and I were just passing and we thought it could be a good idea to stop by, just to say no hard feelings about last week. As you said at the party, we’re neighbours now and all of us want a quiet life.’