by Talia Mason
“A bit?” The man hissed as the vodka and salt soaked wad of gauze came into contact with the wound.
Slowly the blood-matted hair was soaked clean and moved aside to reveal a two-inch long gash just above his temple.
“If you think that hurt you’re going to love the next bit” Gracie said as she took up the needle and one of the lengths of cooled fishing line.
“Jesus that hurts” the man complained after Gracie had threaded the needle and made the first stitch.
“Well there are only another five or six left to go” Gracie said cringing as she once more forced the needle through the skin at the edge of the wound.
Ten minutes later the wound was cleaned and closed and the man had been fully awakened by the experience of having his head stitched without anesthetic and complaining about the pain as Gracie cleared away the things that she had used.
“You’ve lost too much blood for that.” Gracie snapped grabbing the vodka bottle out of his reach once more, as he made a clumsy attempt to grab it.
“Oh come on, I’ve just been stitched up without anesthetic. All I want is a little drink to numb the pain.” He groaned.
“I’ve got pills for that, they will have to suffice.” Gracie said going to the kitchen drawer that she had filled with medications after her last visit to the supermarket for resources.
“These aren’t even the strong ones” he complained after Gracie passed him a box of ibuprofen and a box of combined codeine and paracetamol pills.
“Well I’m sorry that my stores don’t live up to your expectations but as I am not capable of breaking into the chemist shop, which by the way was all locked up, these will have to do you.” Gracie said angrily.
“I could” he said.
“Really, You? The man who almost got himself eaten by the undead?” Gracie said, her tone dripping with sarcasm and disbelief.
“Yeah, you never know when we might need antibiotics.” He said.
“Hang on a minute, you said we...You’re not staying, there is no we...it wouldn’t work. I don’t even know your name.” Gracie floundered.
“It’s Sam, Sam Cairn. Now that you main objection is remedied, how about that chemist shop?” He said.
“No, my objections stretch way beyond your name. There aren’t enough resources here for two and I...” Gracie trailed off, unable to come up with a better argument.
“Ok, so you need convincing that this is in your best interest.” He said with a shrug. “Take that range for example, I’m guessing that it burns through your wood supplies quite quickly and at some point you’ll have to start felling trees and chopping wood. How are you going to do all that alone?”
“I’ll manage.” Gracie said stubbornly.
“Alright then, but how about when your resources in the village run out, what will you do for food then?” Can you set a snare for example or gut a rabbit? When you have to start farming your own food will you be able to dig all of that garden alone?” Sam said.
Even though Gracie saw the logic of his words she was still reluctant to trust a total stranger in her home.
Yet what would happen if she were to throw him out? It wouldn’t be too hard for him to work out the location of her house even if she took measures to stop him seeing the drive back to the village.
“So do you have anything to eat around here? I assume that it was you that locked up the supermarket.” Sam said. “And I’ll need to get cleaned up too, if you can tell me how that’s done here. Do you go and bathe in the lake?”
“Well usually I have a bath.” Gracie said.
“Isn’t that a waste of your water supply?” Sam asked doubtfully.
“Not really, I have a well that feeds a pump on the back boiler of the range for hot water and the scullery sink pump for cold.” Gracie said feeling a little like she was gloating as she led the way to the tub in the scullery.
“Hot water and cold water.” Gracie said pointing to the tap on the hot water tank and then the cold-water pump before turning to nudge the tub with her foot. “Wash tub.”
“Towels?” Sam asked.
“I’ll get you some.” Gracie said.
“And clothes if you have some” He called after her as she left the room.
Gracie went upstairs, first to the bathroom where she gathered towels, toiletries, a wash cloth, disposable razor and shaving mirror that she took to the box room where she had stored the house owners possessions.
Spreading one of the towels on the bed she dumped the collected items in its centre and added a change of clothing before gathering up the towels corners and carrying the bundle downstairs.
When she walked into the scullery, she found that Sam had stripped of his jacket and shirt and was stood barefoot in his jeans awaiting her return with the towels.
Trying to appear unaffected by the semi naked man before her, Gracie dumped the bundle on the counter by the sink.
“Don’t get that wound wet.” She said as she turned to leave the room.
Ten minutes later as she stood staring at the tinned foods on the pantry shelves trying to decide what she should feed Sam she realized that she was already no longer thinking of him as an unwelcome guest.
It took her a few minutes to realize that this was because she was actually pleased that he was there, pleased that she was no longer alone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Talia mason is the author of The Hidden Heir, The E Killer and Aynesworthy House (all available on amazon.com).
Talia lives in a large village in the countryside of Yorkshire, England with the youngest of her three daughters, her partner of ten years and her three cats and three dogs.
Now in her early forties, with her youngest child in the final years of her high school education, Talia who had trained in canine psychology has turned a passion for books into a writing career and is currently working on her fifth book.
You would never guess that this prolific scribbler of tales could barely read at all until the age of twelve and left school with little reading ability and so when one particularly unpleasant (and rude) teacher angered the then precocious child sufficiently to cause her to sit up all night just so that she could tell that teacher what she could do with that book.
From then on books became an obsession, an addiction, much to the chagrin of her friends and family.
As an imaginative child she found that books could take her anywhere and everywhere that she might want to go, she could slay dragons, ride rapids, wage magical wars or just solve a crime all without leaving her chair and it also gave the fourteen year old Talia something to do whilst she was supposed to be tidying her bedroom, procrastination between the covers of a book.
Yet upon the completion of some of those many books Talia was often dissatisfied with either a plot twist or the ending and so she took to writing her own tales, as there is no point in complaining about a thing if you are not going to try to do something about it.
Then was born a new obsession, writing, weaving tales or just writing for the sound of the flow of the words.
Within months she had filled notebook upon notebook with tales, ideas and interesting phrases.
The notebooks then filled shoe box upon shoe box and after almost thirty years of reorganizing and restacking these boxes to fit them into the average family home, and after repeatedly hearing the words can you do something with these boxes, she created her first book.
That book was The Hunted Heir.
Other books by this author
The Hunted Heir
When Denna’s mother suddenly dies she finds herself alone in the world with the suspicion that her mother’s death was not all that it may seem and in the search for her mother’s family she finds that her mother never officially existed nor did Denna herself during her early years.
Then when strange things begin to happen around her and she is faced with the terrifying realisation that she is the one causing them and when Denna finds a post on an online forum that seems to be talki
ng directly to her she discovers that she is in grave danger.
Hunted by men that she is told mean her harm can she trust these people that claim to be her family?
Does she have any choice?
Enveloped into a secret world of people who have strange powers that is hidden within our own she is suddenly expected to lead them as her grandmother had…but can she?
THE E KILLER
The E killer
Alison Murphy has secrets that threaten to tear her life apart.
How far would you go to keep a secret that could destroy your life, land you in prison and have everybody judging you?
Allie is prepared to kill to keep the life that she has built for herself but that doesn’t mean that it is an easy decision to live with, Constantly looking over her shoulder and worrying when she might be found out making life in the small village of Hexmoore, where everybody knows everybody else’s business, a kind of prolonged self torture.
Then when half of the village turns against her and the other half see her as their champion against the coven of old women who use gossip and manipulation to control and destroy anybody that they take a disliking to it seems that all eyes are on her every move even as she is the target of a hate campaign and a blackmailer.
The pressure grows for Allie as everything is on the line… Her freedom, her place in the village, her home, her job and even her sanity all hang in the balance as she scrambles to regain control of her life.
AYNESWORTHY
HOUSE
AYNESWOTHY
HOUSE
Lilly Chatham lived a privileged life as a child living in pre-war England.
With her father, an officer of the British army, away in India and her mother having died when she was a child she was raised by a doting grandmother and an army of servants that were more like extended family than household staff.
Once Lilly had wed and both her father and grandmother had passed away Lilly inherits her childhood home, Aynesworthy house.
Aynesworthy, built in the mid fifteen hundreds, had been the site and cause of many an evil deed in the far distant past yet not all of those involved rest in peace, one of the spirits of Aynesworthy wants closure whilst another would protect her own, and the house’s, greatest secret at all cost.
Lilly, now a grown woman with children of her own, suddenly begins sleepwalking within weeks of returning to the house where she grew up and always wakes up in the same place.
She is about to uncover a secret that will scar her mind for life.
Yet the closer she comes to the truth the more hostile one spirit becomes, putting her whole family at risk.
Determined that she would get to the truth Lilly turns to the local records and makes one horrifying discovery after another.
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Talia Mason
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