Tied Cottage , livre ebook

Chartridge Books Oxford - Gary Taylor

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295 pages

English

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This is the chilling story of a family that thought all their dreams have come true when they are gifted a beautiful rural cottage, but everything comes at a cost. Would you be prepared to pay the ultimate price for this apparent idyllic life, the Collins family have to do exactly that with potentially dire consequences

Informations

Publié par	Chartridge Books Oxford
Date de parution	03 janvier 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781911033547
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0750€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

The Tied Cottage
The Tied Cottage

Gary Taylor
Chartridge Books Oxford 5 & 6 Steadys Lane Stanton Harcourt Oxford OX29 5RL Tel: +44 (0) 788 55 02319 Email: melindataylor295@gmail.com
First published in 2023 by Chartridge Books Oxford
ISBN print: 978-1-911033-53-0 ISBN ebook: 978-1-911033-54-7
© Gary Taylor, 2023
The right of Gary Taylor to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publishers. This publication may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without the prior consent of the publishers. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. Permissions may be sought directly from the publishers, at the above address.
Chartridge Books Oxford is an imprint of Biohealthcare Publishing (Oxford) Ltd.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. The publishers are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this publication. The authors, editors, contributors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologise to any copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged, please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. Any screenshots in this publication are the copyright of the website owner(s), unless indicated otherwise.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty The publishers, author(s), editor(s) and contributor(s) make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this publication and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This publication is sold with the understanding that the publishers are not rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. No responsibility is assumed by the publishers, author(s), editor(s) or contributor(s) for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. The fact that an organisation or website is referred to in this publication as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publishers nor the author(s), editor(s) and contributor(s) endorses the information the organisation or website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that internet websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this publication was written and when it is read.
Typeset by Domex e-Data Pvt. Ltd., India Copy-edited by Melinda Taylor
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Also by Gary Taylor:

• A Soldier’s Tale , 2015. ISBN 9781911033004.
• A Deal’s A Deal , 2007. ISBN 9781843344315.
• Troubled Minds , 2010. ISBN 9781907568435.
1

As the disturbing sound of his alarm clock signaled the start of another stressful day, Geoff Collins reached out into the darkness, his hand fumbling around on his bedside cabinet in an attempt to silence the familiar, annoying sound that woke him six out of seven days a week.
‘No,’ groaned Geoff, ‘it can’t be morning already.’ Lying next to him, Samantha, Sam to her friends, his wife of over seventeen years, stretched her arms above her head.
‘Here we go again,’ she said yawning as she stretched. It was Friday, 5:30am on a cold and frosty March morning. Geoff was in work every morning by 7am, taking advantage of an hour’s overtime. Sam had a cleaning job at a local school; it helped with the bills and anything else their two extremely demanding teenage children needed. Throwing back the quilt, he instantly felt the drop in temperature; winter had arrived early this year and he wasn’t looking forward to it. He flicked the light switch and reached for his dressing gown, quickly pulling it round his broad shoulders. ‘Do you have to do that every morning?’ said Sam, covering her eyes.
‘It’s the only way I can guarantee you will get up.’ Geoff smiled. Sam lay back and dragged the quilt over her face.
‘I need a holiday,’ she said.
Geoff headed down the hall towards the bathroom. Turning the shower on, he slipped off his dressing gown. As always, the water seemed to take forever to come through hot. Gingerly, he tested the water temperature with his hand. ‘Finally,’ he said, under his breath. Within five minutes he was showered, dried and hastily brushing his teeth. Everything he did in the morning was a time-designated routine. Fastening his bathrobe he walked out of the bathroom as Sam walked in, their timing impeccable. The routine continued as he quickly dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen, filled the kettle with just enough water for two mugs of tea, and dropped four slices of bread into the toaster. Sitting at the kitchen table, he wondered what the world had in store for him today. He was not disappointed with the way his life had turned out but, as with most working class people, a little more money would have made a big difference. He had always wanted to own his own house and still believed that one day, with hard work and a little bit of luck, it would happen. Renting a council house on an inner city housing estate and trying to bring two kids up with the right life ethics was not easy, but for now it was all he had; he just needed a break. He always told his kids ‘you make your own luck in this world’ and that was partly true, but the last few months had really tested his resolve. One thing after another had gone wrong. The factory where he worked had started laying people off, his old Ford Focus car seemed to be in the garage more than it was on the road, and the bills were just piling up. He worked every hour he was offered, but it just wasn’t enough. Sam appeared, her long, mousy brown hair scrunched up in a towel.
‘What time you in this evening?’ she asked, reaching into the fridge for a carton of milk. Geoff glanced up from the table, yawning.
‘Sorry, love, what did you say? I was miles away then. Thank God it’s Friday, I’m tired before I even start.’
‘What time you back tonight?’ she asked again, ‘I’ll get tea ready for when you get in.’
‘No later than 6 o’clock,’ he replied, ‘they laid two blokes off last week so there isn’t any overtime, not that I feel like doing it on a Friday, and it looks like Saturday mornings have gone for a Burton for the next few weeks at least.’ As Sam carried on making tea and toast, Geoff sat back in his chair. ‘Fancy going out for the day this weekend?’ Buttering the toast, Sam raised her eyebrows and laughed.
‘Yes, why not?’ she replied. ‘Let’s jump on a train down to London and see the sights, maybe pop into Harrods for some shopping and go out for a meal in the evening.’
‘You know what I mean,’ said Geoff, a little irritated by her sarcasm. ‘We could take a drive out into the country, make up a few sandwiches, have a picnic. It’ll get the kids out of the neighborhood for a few hours if nothing else.’ Sam thought about it; a few quid on petrol, a picnic, wouldn’t cost much to put together. As she put the breakfast on the kitchen table she smiled.
‘Sounds great. Now get that toast down you or you’re going to be late.’ They ate quietly. It was always nice to have something to look forward to, even if it was just a few sandwiches out in the country. Swallowing the last dregs of his tea, Geoff stood up.
‘Right, I’m off,’ he said.
‘Don’t forget your lunch,’ said Sam, ‘it’s in the fridge door, ham and ch