Ever Vigilant(e)

By David Little

The Dark Plumber reacts to a call for distress in the dead of night. Unfortunately he literally bumps into another dark vigilante, The Night Thumper and ends up flat out on the cold ground and black out. When he awakes, The Night Thumper is dead and he is the last person to have seen his fellow crime fighter alive.

Detective Inspector Pontius Smith and Detective Constable Robert Lawson are assigned the case which will lead them into the dark, and often rubbish, world of the dark vigilante as they seek to find the killer before he/she/it strikes again

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Little
• Release date: Feb 13, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310318511

David Little

David Little wrote his first full length novel when he was 16. Titled "The Old Firm" it was an homage to the classic Universal horror films that he used to watch as child - but shouldn't have really - juxtaposed with the modern, blood filled remake culture of the 80s. One person read the novel and asked if it was for adults; when Little nodded, the reader shook his head. The reader asked if it was children; when Little hesitatingly nodded, the reader shook his head again.Undeterred, the author embarked on many years of hopeful writing, whilst battling against the crippling disease Procrastination. It was a long, hard slog and a battle that often he felt he would never win. Ideas, plots, characters and potential product placements came and went, as did a mild addiction to A1 steak sauce, but it was not until 2010 that he was able to finally complete that tricky second novel."Am/Dram" - the slash is important here - told the tale of murder, rain, affairs, rain, more murder and some rain, all centered around an amateur dramatic company and their production of the difficult "play after the Christmas Panto". It has not been read or critiqued, and may stay mysterious for quite some time.Turning his attention to writing short stories, Little found himself focusing on an idea that had been gestating for many a year; a small Scottish village that had once inextricably found itself as the Capital of that great nation and as a result seemed to harbour strange and unusual characters and events. After some soul searching, and a dalliance with A1 sauce once again, the premise of the Hope Town series was fleshed out and is running along like something that runs along quite quickly and may take quite a bit of effort to stop.The first tale from Hope Town "The Devil's Patissier" was published on 31st October 2015 and as of January 2016 there are 4.5 published. Subsequent tales will evolve over what is planned to be a 3 year lifecycle.David Little lives in Scotland with his wife, two children, dog and a cupboard only half full of A1 steak sauce.

Book preview

Ever Vigilant(e)

A Tale from Hope Town

By David Little

Copyright 2015 David Little

Smashwords Edition

For Holly

Who loves superheroes more than princesses (for the moment)

Table of Contents

A Brief History Lesson

Ever Vigilant (e)

Thoughts

More Tales from Hope Town

A Brief History Lesson

While the superhero comic genre rebirth took off in the US the 1960s, and the UK struggled to keep pace with the wonderful and garishly clothed men and women who represented the dreams and aspirations of millions of children, Dóchas hadn’t even gotten off the ground. Cartoons depicting political satire had been a mainstay for centuries, pre-dating even the earliest efforts by James Gillray. However, while the father of the political cartoon cast his critical eye over the current King, the Dóchas Courier’s targets skewed a little lower in the feudal system. In saying that, the popularity of cartoons depicting local farmers, plumbing specialists and salesmen – often all three professions in one – is still a hit to this day.

It wasn’t until the mid 1970s that the first attempt at a superhero comic was birthed. Shostakovich Man was the brainchild of Leonard Minsk - who as you might imagine from the name of his creation, had a love for the Russian composer – and depicted a colourful superhero who used a keyboard possessed by the great man’s spirit to dispense great justice throughout the world. While people thought the concept was brave and exciting, sales were not and with the local publishers Dóchas Funnies Inc. about to pull the plug on the superhero genre, Minsk tried to think up other worthy heroes to capture the imagination of the readership he knew was out there, and drive sales up. However, nothing seemed to click and the publisher rejected each pitch made.

A friend from his that he met at Krasnoyarsk State University, a Professor Valentin Semin, visited Leonard around this time asking if he could stay for a few weeks, months or perhaps longer. Leonard did not question why his friend had appeared or why he needed shelter, but he did enjoy their chats where Valentin would recount some experiment or machine that he had dreamt up and how he was hoping that it could be used to better mankind, before his dialogue trailed off as if he were remembering something horrific and the story would end with no real closure. It was during one of these chats that Leonard told of his despair at failing to dream up a winning formula, that something was sparked within the Professor. Within three days, Valentin presented his friend with what he called a magical wishing helmet which he bid Leonard wear at night.

Leonard did, and that night dreamt of swathes of wonderful humans flying through the skies over Dóchas. The next morning, the Dóchas Courier reported eye witness accounts of superheroes taking to the skies and coming to the rescue of local residents in peril. Dóchas Funnies Inc. was straight on the phone to Leonard to ask him to write stories based on these characters, but unfortunately found that their only comic book writer had passed away blissfully in his sleep, his brain having been fried by something that the police never discovered.

Not to lose out on the potential cash from this new phenomenon, the publishers turned to the society writer of The Dóchas Courier, who began working with these real life superheroes and churned out comic after comic recounting their daring tales. They were a great success for almost two decades...

Ever Vigilant (e)

He sat perched on top of the roof, straddling the ridge flashing with one foot firmly planted in the slates on either side, waiting to spring into action.

The padding of his costume was less pronounced in the seat area of his leggings, and with the threat of developing enflamed haemorrhoids from spending so much time sitting on cold, often wet, roofs he had taken to bringing an easily inflatable aircraft pillow with him.

The ease of use was important as he needed to be agile; his mission for the evening could shift in a matter of seconds and he would need to be able to react appropriately. Finding a suitable space to hide a