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Andrews UK - Jilly Bowling

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133 pages

English

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Sophie has been in love with Calum since they were in college. After three years of marriage during which she worked at three jobs to keep them while he went to auditions and did poorly paid acting jobs, he has finally got his big break in a film opposite an A list star. To give Sophie `something to do` while he is away filming they buy a derelict cottage to renovate. At times, when alone in the caravan she is living in, she hears strange noises, seemingly coming from inside the hill, that the cottage is built into.Then she is dealt a heartbreaking blow and one night, unable to sleep, she hears the noises again. Going to investigate she falls through a time slip, back to the ninth century, when Vikings rampaged through the land. Now she is fighting for her life and has to find a way to survive in this cruel and terrifying time.

Sujets

Erotic literature

Romance

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Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	19 décembre 2016
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781785386176
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Goldhill’s Treasure
Jilly Bowling

Goldhill’s Treasure
First published in 2016 by
House of Erotica
www.houseoferoticabooks.com
Digital edition converted and distributed by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
© Copyright 2016 Jilly Bowling
The right of Jilly Bowling to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.
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 without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

With love for
Daniel and popeye Pete
Who had their own adventures
On the Hill

Bradwaesse 869 A.D.
Eirik held his torch to the funeral pyre, then stood back and watched as the body of his pagan slave became engulfed in the flames. His men watched his face, looking for some emotion. When they saw none, there was a collective murmur of relief; the woman had meant nothing to him so he would not be seeking vengeance on the Saxon slave who had killed her.
Leif, his friend since childhood put his hand on his shoulder “What do you want to do about the Saxon? By rights she is yours or her sale price is.”
Eirik shook his head “I don’t want her, let Stenar keep her. I will take the price of my Pagan slave from his next share. She was worth more than that Saxon dough faced lump of lard.”
Leif laughed “At least she would keep you warm at night.”
“She smells like a pigsty, I’d rather freeze!” Eirik turned away from the pyre “I’ll find another Pagan, at least they wash occasionally!”

Chapter 1
“Have you both lost your minds?”
Sophie laughed “Maybe, but we’ve fallen for the place.”
Calum grinned “Well Soph’s fallen for it and I think it could be a good proposition.”
John Langtree leaned back in his chair and said “The surveyor’s report isn’t brilliant and there’s some doubt whether you’d get it fully insured. Subsidence is the problem.”
“We know” Calum said “but we’ve had a good dig around it and a friend who’s a geological surveyor says that, yes it did have a subsidence problem fifteen years ago, but the ground works done then were very thorough and there’s no further signs of a continuing problem. An insurance company already insures it, apart from subsidence, and we are going to practically gut it and start again. We’ve got enough cash to buy it and some over so we only need a top up for the renovations.”
Their bank manager, and friend, said “Why can’t you do what normal movie stars do and buy a mansion?”
Sophie snorted and Calum chuckled “I’m not a movie star, don’t have that kind of money and Sophie wants something to do while I’m doing this film”.
“It’s got great potential, lots of land and a great barn at the bottom of the drive that will make a great pottery studio, and sales area. Please John, say yes!”
“Mmm, don’t make eyes at me Sophie, you know I can’t resist you, but I’m working, and as your business manager I won’t rush into anything.” He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers, looking at them keenly. “You really want to do this?”
“Yes” they both replied.
“Why?”
They looked at each other and Sophie nodded. Calum frowned and marshalled his thoughts. “I’m going to be away for months once the film starts shooting but I’ll be around for the next few months, apart from an occasional trip to London, so I’ll be here to see the work well under way. Sophie needs a studio; the shed in the garden just isn’t big enough now that her pots have taken off. She needs a bigger kiln and better work area, plus where the cottage is situated is the ideal place for passing trade. A couple of shops in London and Hampshire are selling her things and want more, so we must move to somewhere she can have a bigger studio. What could be better than an eighteenth century cottage with large barn and land. It’s in beautiful historical countryside, the outside of the cottage is sound and I’ve always wanted to put my own stamp on somewhere.”
Sophie smiled at him. They’d been married for three years and she had been the main bread winner while he struggled through auditions, television dramas, adverts and a low budget movie. She’d taught at the local art college and made pots in her shed in the evenings, when she wasn’t taking evening classes, to pay the mortgage on their modern two up and two down starter home. Her Mum and Dad had given them a decent deposit as a wedding present; they adored Calum, everybody did, this Robert Redford look alike, and he got on alright with them.
“Ok, personally I think you’re mad but if you buy it and get it reasonably insured I’ll give you the loan, but only if you invite me to the housewarming party.” John stood up and Sophie hugged him.
“Oh thank you John, the party might not be for a year but there’ll be a Jack Daniels with your name on it!”
“More than one” Calum added getting to his feet and holding out his hand.
As they left the bank Sophie put her arms around his waist and hugged him “Thank you, I know you’re not as keen as me but you’ll see it’ll be worth it in the end.”
Calum kissed the top of her head “If you’re happy it’ll be worth it. I know you hate me being away filming and you’ve worked so hard to keep us afloat while I was struggling, but you know that you’ll have to do most of the donkey work, while I concentrate on my career.”
“Yes I know,” she murmured thinking what’s new about that, and they walked towards their car, oblivious to the admiring glances from the people along the way. They were worth looking at, Calum tall and muscular with Robert Redford good looks, with a slightly rougher edge. Sophie was petite but voluptuous, with lustrous long wavy dark blonde hair, deep blue eyes and a lovely heart shaped face. A five foot five she wasn’t too short but next to Calum she looked like a doll. They both ran and worked out regularly, Calum for his career and Sophie because she enjoyed it and wanted to stay in shape for her husband. Even before he became a known actor women had thrown themselves at him and she was well aware of the temptation placed in front of men who looked like him.
They had been together since college, him studying acting and her, art and design. To start with they’d lived together in a grotty bedsit, and marriage had been the next obvious step. Because Sophie had never suffocated him or reacted jealously he had appeared never to have been been tempted to stray. Because she was always ready to make love, and not expecting too much of him, she had, or so she thought managed to keep him faithful. The fact that he had such an accommodating wife and was too lazy to put much effort into wooing women had lulled her into a sense of security.
Instead of heading back to their tiny house, already with a firm offer of the asking price on it, they drove into the countryside towards the Hereford border. It had been a joint decision not to move closer to London for Calum’s career, as he had enough of it when he was working or auditioning, and Sophie was a country girl at heart. Being an actor it didn’t matter where he lived as he had to travel anyway to wherever the work was.
Sophie Dickton ceramics sold well no matter where they were made and the studio owners were always begging for more, only too happy to travel into the country to collect new designs or have favourites delivered by a carrier.
Arriving at the almost derelict cottage on the Worcester/Hereford border, Calum skilfully manoeuvred the car through the overgrown bushes at the bottom of a sloping path, which looked as if it was ready to slide off the side of the hill. As they climbed up the pathway they had to push brambles and overgrown vegetation aside to move up it safely. At the top of the path the cottage nestled close to the hillside; a warm brick building it exuded charm and Sophie always felt a frisson of excitement whenever she approached it. A mixture of excitement and nerves.
The extensive gardens behind the cottage were a sad mixture of bramble bushes and damson tree suckers, which had grown from the dropped fruit for years without disturbance. Gazing at the side of the old building they discussed the plans that they’d already agreed with a top architect. They would keep the character of the place but with clever design more than double the living area. It wasn’t permitted to build up too high, so they had decided on an extension to either side, with a good area of hill cut out behind the existing kitchen for a new larger one; glass skylights would make it light and airy. The largest extension would be on the right of the original building and would be a large living area with retracting all glass doors, so that in the summer it would be like sitting outdoors. In front of the living area would be a large paved patio surrounded by concrete planters full of shrubs and flowers. The extension at the other end and part of the old cottage would hold four bedrooms, all with ensuites; the master bedroom being at the very end with views over the river Teme to the Malvern Hills, and a large ensuite with wet room.
“I think it will work, don’t you?” Calum asked frowning in concentration as he pictured it in his mind’s eye.
“I think it will be beautiful.” Sophie smiled.
“As long as we can get enough of the old bricks!”