Facts, Fiction, Legends and Lies , livre ebook

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd - B Pritchard Joan

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176 pages

English

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Read this book and meet people you already know - from your past, present and possibly future. They're real people although some of their situations may seem unlikely, or even impossible. However, you'll soon become involved with their dilemmas and problems whether you want to or not, but you mustn't be afraid of them, they're just you in a different place and different time. You'll soon work it out for yourself and perhaps understand why we do things one way whilst others would do them differently. You'll meet royals from history, famous figures known to everybody, murderers, victims, stalkers, and you'll certainly meet ghosts. Popping up from time to time, you'll meet Henry VIII Charles II, Nell Gwyn, Black Beard the Pirate, Boudica, Zeus, Rasputin - to name a few. You'll find you'll meet ordinary folk who have created many of their own problems and may need your help to solve them, like the father and son who go down on the Titanic. There are 22 stories all about very different situations and I guarantee they'll grab your attention and keep you turning the pages until the end of each story. There is a lot of fiction mixed with facts; some legends and some absolute lies. See if you can spot which is which.

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Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
Date de parution	08 janvier 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781528992664
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0175€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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F acts, F iction, L egends and L ies
Joan B. Pritchard
Austin Macauley Publishers
2021-01-08
FACTS , FICTION , LEGENDS AND LIES Now You See Them, Now You Don’t Where Have All the Children Gone Take Notice of Your Stalker My Home Is My Castle Matilda Had a Little Lamb… Twinkle Twinkle Little Star A Bad Start but a Good Life A Good Manure Helps the Roses Grow The Orphan Girl Little Ladies Aren’t Always What They Seem What Goes Around Comes Around Boudica – Warrior Queen How to Pass a Boring Day The Grey Lady Pretty, Witty Nell The Arrogant Pitiful Man The Holy Man of Russia Call Me a Witch – At Your Peril Blackbeard – The Pirate and the Man Mackie Castle Where Do We Go from Here?
The author is now retired after a life time’s work and has turned to what she truly enjoys – writing mostly about the unlikely and sometimes impossible. She places great importance on observing everyday people. It is a fascinating hobby and is the basis for her work.
This book is dedicated to family and friends, all of whom have helped and supported me throughout my life. Through sad, difficult but often happy times, they’ve always been there for me and this is my way of saying thank you.
Copyright © Joan B. Pritchard (2021)
The right of Joan B. Pritchard to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528992657 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528992664 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2021)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Now You See Them, Now You Don’t
Rachel climbed the stairs one by one. She leaned over the bannister and looked into the hall where the twinkling chandeliers burned brightly. She didn’t look upwards, as she knew she was being watched. She knew someone would jump out at her – would it be Great Grandfather or Great Grandmother? It would be one of them for definite. They were both dead and had died many, many years ago. Mother wouldn’t believe that the house was haunted, as she’d never seen the ghosts of the great grandparents. Johnny had though, and he was just as scared of them as she was. It wasn’t that they were horrid, or anything like that, it was just that they were always so unexpected. Great Grandma was standing at the top of the stairs with an ivory fan in her hand. She was dressed in Edwardian black and wore black jet beads around her neck, a large cameo broach on her right shoulder. She was a very dignified figure but that actually added to the fear Rachel felt. She never smiled – mind you, what was there for her to smile about – she was dead after all. Both the great grandparents had only started appearing in the past few weeks, as though something had happened quite recently to disturb their rest. Great Grandpa always appeared in the downstairs study – it must have been his favourite place when he was alive. He too was dressed in a sombre Edwardian suit, with waistcoat and a large watch on a solid chain hanging from his waistcoat pocket. They were both very much of their time – both with severe expressions and no smiles. The face everyone had in those days to have their photographs taken. Of course, they were actually Victorians – born way before King Edward VII.
Rachel hurried past her great grandma and went into her own bedroom. She plonked herself on the bed and lay down on the blue eiderdown. How was she going to persuade her mother that there really were ghosts in the house? Having asked herself this question many times before, she knew there was no answer. If her mother could see nothing, then why should she believe Rachel? She went across the hall and knocked on Johnny’s door.
“Are you there, Johnny? I want to talk to you.”
He was exactly the same age as his sister – actually, he was three minutes old – as they were twins, but they didn’t resemble each other in the slightest as they weren’t identical. Their characters too, were quite different – Johnny was more placid than his sister, whose personality was more vibrant. She tended to lead and Johnny followed.
“What are we going to do? The house has become really uncomfortable with those two popping up when least expected. I’ve tried to talk to Mummy and Daddy, but to no point. They say it’s my imagination – what do they say to you?” She made herself comfortable on Johnny’s bed.
“I’ve only told Mummy so far as I know Dad would think I was mad.” Her twin was building a warship with lots of glue and screws. “Look Rachel, I don’t want to talk about them just now. Go away and leave me alone.” He removed a turret which he’d placed upside down.
Ignoring him completely, Rachel went on, “We’ll have to form a plan to try to find out what they want. They say ghosts only appear when they want something, maybe they want to tell us something. The fact that the parents can’t see them, must mean that it’s you or me who could help. Right Johnny, listen. When we get back from school tomorrow, we’ll have to confront them and demand to know what they want. Is that a deal?” She stood up and made for the door.
Loud voices floated upstairs. The parents were arguing again. It was becoming so frequent of late. What would it be this time? Rachel said, “It’ll be about the house again, I bet. We might have to sell it apparently as everything is too costly. I don’t want that, do you? We’ve been here such a long time, haven’t we?” She looked thoughtful. “Maybe it’s that, that’s causing them to haunt the house. They don’t want us to sell it either. What do you think?” Rachel felt she had sussed out the problem.
Johnny stopped what he was doing. “That could be it, Sis – after all, it was they who built it originally – about 1910, I think – so this family has been here for about 50 years. It would be sad to leave it, wouldn’t it? Perhaps, we should go and confront Great Grandma now – you say she’s at the top of the stairs?” Johnny was suddenly ready for action.
However, when they went out into the hall, the ghost had gone. “Right Johnny, tomorrow we face the problem. Great Grandpa always appears in the study beside the fireplace. It obviously was his favourite place. Okay?” Johnny nodded and went back to his boat building.
Next day, the parents were out, doing some shopping and wouldn’t be back for a while. The twins arrived home together and after milk and biscuits, they sat in the kitchen to make plans. “There’s no sign of Great Grandma, but I bet Great Grandpa’s in the study. Come on Sis, let’s get to it.” Johnny was trying to be braver than he actually was. Sitting in the armchair beside the fireplace, the elderly Edwardian gentleman sat, staring at the fireplace. Strewn around the floor, there were some papers that looked like maps. He was obviously getting more agitated as he’d not made a mess before – the children weren’t moving fast enough for him and he suddenly raised his right hand and pointed towards the fire.
Johnny asked, “Great Granddad, do you want us to burn these old papers? They’re in a bit of a mess. Anyway, we can’t burn them in that grate, it’s not been lit for years.” The boy began to pick up the papers. “Why Rachel, they’re old maps of South Africa. He and Great Grandma lived there for a number of years when they were young. That’s true, isn’t it?”
“Yes, they did and when they came back to this country, that’s when they built this house. I’m getting strong vibes that it’s all to do with the house.” Rachel knelt in front of the old man. “What is it, what do you want?” But all he did was point again at the fireplace.
Their parents could be heard in the hall. Needless to say, they were shouting at each other again. That’s all they seemed to do these days. Great Granddad disappeared and left them to explain why they’d thrown all the maps on the floor. Mother just tutted and began to pick them up.
She said, “Is this your doing, Johnny – why must you always make such a mess?” Johnny started to defend himself and tell them that Great Grandad had done it but Rachel put her finger to her lips and shook her head. “Would you and Dad like a cup of tea, Mummy?” she asked innocently.
In the sitting room, they were all sat around the room, when Daddy suddenly said, “You know we’re going to have to sell the house and move away from here? It’s not something we want to do but we can’t afford to do anything else. Things are so expensive these days and I’ve just been told that my company is to close down in three months and I’ll be without an income then. You do understand, don’t you?” he appealed to them.
“Of course, we understand, Daddy, but we don’t want it. We love this house and it’s been in our family for so long now, it seems disloyal to think of leaving it.” Rachel was genuinely upset and began to cry. There was a banging sound from the study and Johnny went in to see what had happened. All the South African maps were lying around the room again. He started to pick them up, but Mummy came into the room. “Really Johnny, what are you doing? We can’t talk about our problem just now. I think you two should go to bed anyway. It’s getting late. Have you got homework to do?” She was obviously upset too.
As the children climbed the stairs to b