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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

Silently, she brushed past Connie into the sanctuary of her room. There was that time in the past when she had heard her parents arguing, and Ed had shouted at Harmony to ‘put the knife down’. She’d presumed that Harmony had been preparing dinner and waving her potato peeler in the air. She’d done it before. It didn’t mean anything. Was she more unhinged than Morgan realised? Laying her mug on the dresser, she pulled on her warm clothes, feeling emotionally numb.

Sod her mum. Sod the lot of them. She peeked through her open door, watching Connie as she went back to bed. Morgan needed a friend. If she had to go traipsing through the woods in a storm to speak to Dawn, then so be it.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Morgan waited until the house had fallen into silence before slowly opening her bedroom door. Naomi wouldn’t check on her until the afternoon. She knew what a night owl Morgan was. If Naomi pulled back her duvet, she’d find nothing but a lumpy pillow there. She told herself that she was going on an adventure. In her experience, the cool kids in school soon lost interest in people who didn’t play along.

Her eyes crept to the skies as she climbed out of her bedroom window, zipping up her coat to protect her from the winter storm. The contents of her dad’s hip flask would take the chill from the night. She needed to bring something to the party; it was the best she could find. She paused to take a swig, her face souring as his whisky warmed her insides on the way down. Trees loomed above her, their leafless branches creaking like old arthritic bones. There was something about these woodlands that held a sense of menace, so at odds with the beautiful landscape of home. At least her iPhone torch granted her enough light to follow the path to the village. It’s just a couple of miles, she told herself, just over one if she took the shortcut.

Dawn had explained the route. Turn right into the forest and follow the bridle path, past an old wooden shack, and then follow the lights to the church. Glancing at her phone, Morgan checked the time: 1.35 a.m. On she trudged, wishing she’d worn her Dr Martens instead of her Converse as wetness seeped through.

‘Fuck,’ she gasped, as her foot became submerged in another icy puddle.

Head down, she walked onwards, grateful when Nighbrook’s only church finally came into view. But where was Dawn? A shot of panic chilled her bones as she realised she was alone in a graveyard at 2 a.m.

‘What kept you?’