BooksBarbecue
Back The Village
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

She longed for a normal life. For schoolfriends, homework, chores and football. Everything she once complained about she now missed most of all. Would she ever get it back? Her skin was still peeling from her last outbreak. Mummy said it was caused by a beam of light hitting her arm. But when her mother slept through the night, it brought peace for them both. The ceramic clock ticked on the sideboard, reminding her that precious minutes were passing. Her pulse quickened as she thought about the consequences if she was caught sneaking out. If Mummy found her there would be hell to pay. Biting hard on her bottom lip, she tugged at the locks on the door. This was the dangerous part. Once she got outside, her heart could resume a normal rhythm and she could breathe freely again. She turned the key in the lock in slow time, listening for every sound. And then she was out. Closing her eyes, she inhaled a lungful of cool, clean night air. There were no harsh disinfectants, no strange cleaning fluids or anti-bacterial wipes. No Mummy hovering over her, watching her every move, her face ragged with anxiety. She slid the key into her dressing gown pocket as she gently clicked the back door shut. Her eyes twinkled as brightly as the stars overhead as she relished the freedom of the outdoors. Unlike the harsh glare of the sun, the night loved her. The dark clouds swept across the moon and the soft grass cushioned her feet. She ran through the trees, giggling with delight. Tonight, she had no audience. Tonight, she was free.

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE

The air felt colder than when they had moved in just a few days ago. Naomi hadn’t meant to leave it this long to explore Nighbrook, but she had wanted to spend every minute with Ed before he left. In the end, she’d told him to go because he had barely slept a wink since hearing that Harmony had disappeared. A storm was on its way to Scotland. Better he leave now and be home before he found himself snowed in. At least the cottage was more homely, with their pictures and furniture set up. But it was the noises that unsettled her. Tapping on the walls. Footsteps dragging outside. The woodlands had them fully surrounded, and the screeches and howls that emanated from it woke her in the dead of night.

Ed laughed away her concerns. The house had been damp and unoccupied. It was getting used to the heat being switched back on. The footsteps belonged to one of the many deer roaming around outside. As for the screaming – there was nothing more unsettling than the humanlike cry of a fox in the dead of night. But had he known the house’s history, he might have been less relaxed.