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Back The Village Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

‘No,’ Morgan moaned, her voice soft and weak. ‘Take me home.’

Naomi’s heart melted for the girl on her lap; angry with the world but beneath it all, desperately needing to be understood.

‘Shh.’ Naomi cradled her for warmth. ‘Don’t talk.’

At last, Lloyd made an appearance, his mobile phone pressed against his ear. Ending the call, he jumped in next to Naomi and turned the engine over.

‘She’s lucky we got to her in time.’ He turned the heating up full blast.

‘She’s still shivering,’ Naomi piped up.

‘Think yourself lucky she is,’ Lloyd shot back as they continued on their journey. ‘It’s when they stop shivering that hypothermia kicks in. Lucky she got shelter when she did.’

She must have got lost in the woods, Naomi thought, grateful that Lloyd knew exactly where to go.

‘Some people aren’t cut out for country life,’ Lloyd drawled. ‘It ain’t fair to force it on them.’

But Morgan had grown up in a mountainous landscape and had a better sense of the outdoors than most. Naomi exhaled a sigh of relief. If Lloyd hadn’t found her when he did, this could have been a lot worse. The wind whistled through the windows as Lloyd picked up pace. What was she going to say to Ed?

Blinking, Naomi took in their direction as her home came into view. A plume of smoke rose from the chimney stack from a fire she didn’t recall lighting.

‘We’re going to the hospital, aren’t we?’ she said. ‘Why are you bringing us here?’

‘It’ll take too long to get there in weather like this,’ Lloyd said with a grunt. ‘She needs warming up now.’

Screeching to a halt, he ran around to the back, scooping Morgan up from the back seat as if she weighed nothing at all.

‘Wait,’ Naomi said, as he took control. ‘She needs the hospital!’ But Lloyd wasn’t listening as he carried Morgan towards the cottage.

Jumping out, Naomi watched as her front door was opened from the inside. Who was in her home?

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY

Outside, the storm rattled every windowpane as it hit Ivy Cottage with full force. Lloyd walked straight into the living room, to the fire that Joanne had prepared. He had given her, among others, the heads up as soon as he found Morgan in the hut. There was something else he’d found, too, and he had made good use of it. But his wife didn’t need to know about that.