Home for Winter by Rebecca Boxall

Author:Rebecca Boxall [Boxall, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781503940055
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2016-10-18T04:00:00+00:00

21.

JULY 2015

The start of the summer had been predictably changeable, but at last it seemed to have begun in earnest, not that this did much to lighten the general mood at the Vicarage. It seemed the fete had signalled the start of trouble for all the occupants of the house. Ashna had taken on a hunted look, her large eyes constantly watchful, even though her father and brother had been bailed on the strict condition of not going within five hundred yards of her. As well as being investigated for the assault on Max and causing an affray, they were suspected of new offences relating to forced marriage under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. But Ashna was nervous – they knew where she was now, after all – and had retreated into herself.

Max was equally subdued and no longer sang as he worked around the house. Even Pete seemed a little quieter. And for Will and Serena, it felt as if there had been a seismic shift in the village. When they’d first moved to Cattlebridge, they’d expected to be received with hesitation: of course a new vicar had to work hard to win round the villagers. But it was as though, having started to engender support, the tide had suddenly started to turn against them. The disastrous fete hadn’t helped, but events the previous weekend seemed to have cemented the start of bad feeling.

In an attempt to throw himself into village life, Will had decided to take part in a local cricket match on the Saturday. The morning had gone well and he’d just got his fifty when he spotted Serena running across the pitch looking panic-stricken.

‘Will, the wedding! You’re late for Fay Holland’s wedding. Had you forgotten? It was meant to start at midday. The bride’s there already!’

Will paled immediately and ditched his bat, making hurried excuses and legging it to the church in his cricket whites. He arrived, panting, and – after apologising profusely to the bride, who was waiting in the churchyard, chewing gum laboriously, her eyes vacant and her expression grim – he scurried into the vestry where he slipped his cassock on over his whites, pads and all.

After that, Will put on a sterling performance and the service went without a hitch, but he was not going to be let off the hook by the Holland family, old gypsy stock and the least forgiving sorts to live in the village. Old Mrs Holland gave him a cold, hard stare as she left the church. She said nothing, but there was a challenge in the way she looked at him. Will felt a sense of dread creep over him.

During the week that followed, a further incident had occurred that had also blotted Will’s copybook. Another influential family in the village were the Huntingdon-Loxleys: an incredibly important family in the village. Or at least, they thought they were. Granny Huntingdon-Loxley, the matriarch, had finally given in to the inevitability of death at the grand age of ninety-seven and her funeral had taken place on Tuesday.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.