- Calum
- Lachlan,
- a
- 40-year-old
- bachelor,
- landowner
- and
- hero
- of
- World
- War
- Two,
- is
- driving
- along
- a
- lonely
- Lakeland
- road
- when
- he
- is
- flagged
- down
- by
- a
- highly
- distressed
- young
- woman
- who
- appears
- to
- have
- been
- the
- victim
- of
- a
- violent
- attack.
- The
- stranger
- merely
- introduces
- herself
- as
- September
- and
- will
- say
- nothing
- about
- how
- she
- came
- to
- be
- where
- she
- is,
- where
- she
- is
- going
- to
- or
- from
- whence
- she
- came.
- It
- is
- raining
- and
- late
- on
- a
- Sunday
- evening
- and,
- reluctantly,
- Calum
- feels
- it
- incumbent
- upon
- himself
- to
- offer
- the
- woman
- food
- and
- shelter
- for
- the
- night.Thus
- commences
- a
- journey
- which,
- whilst
- beginning
- in
- good
- faith
- and
- charity,
- rapidly
- moves
- the
- reader
- through
- many
- of
- the
- fraught
- emotions
- and
- behaviours
- which,
- sadly,
- so
- often
- define
- human
- life
- –
- loneliness,
- decency,
- love,
- romance
- and
- even
- adultery.
- Then,
- as
- this
- darker
- side
- of
- human
- nature
- manifests
- itself,
- raw
- evil,
- and
- cynical
- treachery
- combine
- to
- create
- the
- dire
- but
- often
- inevitable
- corollary
- of
- such
- an
- unholy
- pairing
- –
- brutal,
- pre-meditated,
- cold-blooded
- murder!Now
- incarcerated
- in
- the
- dark
- reaches
- of
- the
- 12th
- century
- castle
- prison
- at
- Lancaster,
- abandoned
- by
- the
- wife
- who
- so
- successfully
- and
- comprehensively
- framed
- him
- and
- in
- the
- long,
- threatening,
- and
- sinister
- shadow
- of
- the
- gallows
- and
- the
- hangman’s
- noose;
- Calum
- waits.
- Waits
- with
- only
- the
- company
- of
- the
- spectre
- of
- someone
- from
- the
- shadowy
- reaches
- of
- his
- violent
- past
- to
- comfort
- him,
- waits
- to
- learn
- about
- his
- own,
- very
- uncertain
- future;
- or
- perhaps
- more
- accurately,
- if
- he
- is
- to
- be
- allowed
- to
- have one.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
