The Poppets

By Laura Beth Caldwell

A tinker in Victorian Dublin, Patrick Dunleavy is drowning in mediocrity. That all changes when a mysterious gentleman walks into his shop with five talking dolls in need of tuning. Paddy soon discovers that these haunted dolls have something more to recite than nursery rhymes--they have messages from beyond the grave--messages from the victims of the most infamous serial killer of all time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laura Beth Caldwell
• Release date: Dec 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311234490

Laura Beth Caldwell

Laura Beth Caldwell is a novelist and screenwriter. Her works of fiction include the novel Perpetual Care, the short story series The Dead Time Diaries, as well the upcoming series The Covenant of Eve. Her screenplays include the supernatural thriller Hush Harbor. Ms. Caldwell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Ancient Near Eastern Studies. She currently resides in Savannah Georgia where she is also a licensed tour guide.

Book preview

THE POPPETS

The Dead Time Diaries

Volume 1

Laura Beth Caldwell

Copyright 2013 Laura Beth Caldwell

Smashwords Edition

For Polly, Annie, Liz, Kate and Mary.

1

MEDIOCRITY is a creature with an insatiable appetite. It can devour entire lives. Such was the life of Patrick Dunleavy, a man swallowed whole by indifference. So ordinary was his existence that his entire life had found a way to grow up around him. He was educated by his father, a man who barely knew how to write or figure properly. The arithmetic he did know had solely to do with keeping the books of a tinker, which in all truthfulness were rarely kept.

Paddy’s inadequate training was matched by his inability to properly express his feelings. He blamed this shortcoming on his rather resourceful mother. When hard times befell the family she would sell her hair to the wealthy women of Dublin. Sometimes she would sell more to their husbands.

Paddy was well aware of his dull existence, even as he entertained himself with the prostitute in the alley behind his house. From there he could see his wife doing some entertaining of her own in the upstairs window, vigorously earning back the sixpence he just spent.

And so it was according to this balance that Patrick Dunleavy became a man of survival. He was for all practical purposes a tool. However there was one thing Paddy could do—he could fix things that were broken.

A tinker and a watchmaker, his shop was as common as any in Dublin. Just a little corner store above which Paddy lived with his industrious wife and three ginger-headed girls. This modest home brought the burden of a palace on poor Paddy. The tinker shop rarely received proper customers. Those who visited were mostly acquaintances of the family, or beggars looking for handouts. The genteel of Dublin had little use for the Dunleavys. That all seemed to change the day the Gentleman walked in and redirected Patrick Dunleavy’s fate.

Good Mornin’ to you sir; if it’s taxes you’re lookin’ for I keep proper record and assure you all will be settled by the end of the year. Paddy announced.

The Gentleman didn’t respond, he simply approached the counter and set down a large physician’s bag.

Are you not here for the taxes? Is it the money me wife owes to the infirmary? I assure you we shall have it in full next week. She has been a dreadful sick of late, poor soul. Paddy continued.

Still the Gentleman said nothing. He merely removed his grey kid gloves, laid them neatly on the counter and opened the bag.

What’ve you got there? Paddy asked, leaning in to get a closer look.

The Gentleman retrieved from the bag five bundles, each neatly wrapped in a silk scarf.

Are they clocks? Paddy inquired.