The Cottage

By Michael T Ashgillian

A young couple buy a cottage that the wife comes to believe is haunted, but can the strain it puts on their marriage survive the investigation of a cynical radio presenter? This is one in a series of six short stories by David P Elliot from an anthology published under the title 'Pieces of Fate'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Cap Publishing
• Release date: Apr 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9780956885715

Michael T Ashgillian

David P Elliot was born in Reading in the UK and, apart from 8 years in the Police Service in the 1970s, he spent almost 30 years in the IT industry before leaving to concentrate on his first love, writing. His debut novel ‘CLAN’, to which ‘The Gathering’ is a sequel, is a historical, supernatural thriller, first published in December 2008 and so far has sold in 16 countries, as well as being translated into German and can be downloaded as an audio book in MP3 or iPod formats narrated by the author. He has 3 grown up children and 3 grandchildren one of which inspired the novel. He now lives in Faringdon UK, with his partner Monika, a native of Munich. ‘Pieces of Fate’ his second book is an anthology of short stories in the ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ mode and is available in paperback or as an e-book, with the individual stories available only in e-book form. He is also working on developing ‘Clan’ as a feature film. You can find out more at www.davidpelliot.com

Book preview

Part of the ‘Pieces of Fate’ Series

RED CAP PUBLISHING

Red Cap Publishing

THE COTTAGE

David P Elliot

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © David P Elliot 2010, 2011

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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This is a work of fiction. The characters, events and places are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used totally fictitiously.

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 (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Cover Artwork by DARE

The Cottage

ONE

‘Again, we see that most things we put down to some kind of supernatural activity can be explained much more satisfactorily in a perfectly logical way. So, don’t worry about ghosts and sleep tight. That noise is probably just the wind, or the natural creaking of ageing beams... that strange light some perfectly natural phenomenon.’

 Steve Finding eased himself in his chair as he continued to speak into the microphone.

 ’I’d like to thank our friends in Norfolk for this week’s fascinating tale, even if we were able to show that the ghostly lady in front of Barry’s car was simply mist from low lying water.’

 ’Well, that’s all we have time for tonight on ‘Finding Ghosts’. Join me next week for another expedition into the world of the paranormal.’

 He slid the fader button cueing the closing music and leaned back wearily in the chair, pulling off his headphones and hanging them on the microphone.

 Kneading his knuckles into tired eyes, he sighed, swivelled in his chair to look through the glass panel separating his sound-proofed studio from his producer who also removed his earphones, smiled and gave Finding a ‘thumbs up’.

 The signal confirmed they were ‘Off Air’, and Finding climbed painfully out of the chair, stretched, yawned and, picking up his script and coffee mug, walked out of the studio.

 ’Good show, Steve,’ John Wilson, his producer said, ‘Fancy a pint?’

 ’Not tonight, John,’ Finding said, ‘I’m absolutely knackered. I think I’ll just go home to bed. What’s on for