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Back The Woman in the Wood Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Also by M.K. Hill
  3. THE WOMAN IN THE WOOD
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Epigraph
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. 45
  53. 46
  54. 47
  55. 48
  56. 49
  57. 50
  58. 51
  59. 52
  60. Acknowledgements
  61. About the Author
  62. An Invitation from the Publisher

‘Do you have other brothers or sisters?’

‘No, as far as I know, there’s just me and Je— Oh Lord.’ Lore’s eyes widened as a thought struck her.

‘What?’ asked Sasha.

Lore blinked. ‘She’s back.’

Sasha asked the next question quietly, but blood raced in her veins. ‘Who’s back?’

Lore shook her head, smiling grimly, and Sasha waited for her to continue. ‘Let me tell you about Rachel Weston, my darling mother. Me and Jez were put into care because she went to prison for bashing the brains out of one of her shitty boyfriends.’ Lore narrowed her eyes, trying to get the time frame right in her head. ‘This was back in the early nineties, when I was eleven, and Jez was, what, nine or ten.’

‘What were the circumstances?’

‘The lucky fella was called Alan Hart, a really odious character, even more so than the usual sewer rats she brought home. Men used to come and go in our house, they didn’t stick around for long. They were unreliable chancers, and Mum had a temper on her. So before long there were screaming fights, things getting hurled everywhere. And let me tell you, Ma could take care of herself, the men always came off worse. The police were always coming round, and social services – it wouldn’t surprise me if Child Protection kept their own teabags at our house, they were in and out so much.

‘But this Alan was something else entirely – she bit off more than she could chew with that one. He cracked her head, broke her collarbone, she was in and out of A&E. They fought nearly every night. But she clung to him because he had deeper pockets than the others, and she was desperate to give Jez a good start in life.’ Lore leaned forward and smiled. ‘Notice I said Jez, not me – he was the apple of her eye. Darling Ma couldn’t care less about me. Anyway, she let Alan move in for a while, but then he started creeping into Jez’s bedroom at night and… well, you can guess the rest.’