Heart of Winter

By James Hartley

This creepy winter story is about a young girl, Enid Waters, who arrives at St Francis ́ School in the middle of a violent storm. Welcomed by the headmaster, Enid soon finds that the school in the middle of nowhere contains eerie, powerful forces. Instead of feeling afraid, the young girl feels at home for the first time in her life. And so does the magic which resides in the old buildings.

Heart of Winter is a short story which introduces you to the world of St Francis ́ School, scene of an upcoming series of Young Adult Books by James Hartley. It forms the prequel to The Invisible Hand, a novel due to be published by Lodestar Books in February 2017.

This disquieting, gothic tale is for readers who have a taste for the macabre.

Look closely at the School in the cover. Do you see yourself there? Or Enid, perhaps? Waiting for you...

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Hartley
• Release date: Oct 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370646937

James Hartley

James was born in Heswall, on the Wirral, England, on a rainy Thursday in 1973. He´s lived in Singapore, Oman, Scotland, Thailand, Libya, Syria, Ireland, France and Germany during his forty-odd years on the planet and has worked as a journalist, waiter, childminder and dishwasher. He lives in Madrid, Spain, with his wife and two children and teaches English.

Book preview

Shakespeare´s Moon:

Heart of Winter

A Short Story Prelude to The Invisible Hand

By James Hartley

Copyright 2016 James Hartley

Published by James Hartley at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Note to the reader

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About The Invisible Hand

Dear Reader,

This horrible little story forms an introduction to my Shakespeare´s Moon series of novels, the first of which, The Invisible Hand, will be published by Lodestone Books in February 2017.

Visit my website, subscribe to my newsletter, and I will send you a new, exclusive, FREE Shakespeare´s Moon story called Delirium. This story is only available to website subscribers, so don´t miss it.

www.jameshartleybooks.com

Many thanks to the very talented Lpixel for the fantastic cover of this ebook, and for she, Miss Jane Appleton of Box Hill School and Mer Rooney´s SPF English Class at Obersee Bilingual School for proof-reading it. Any lingering mistakes are all mine.

I would like to dedicate this tale to Seets and Matty, my own little devils.

Han, couldn´t do any of this without you.

So now, without further ado, settle down and enjoy the story.

James

Madrid,

Halloween, 2016.

Dark frost was in the air without,

The dusk was still with cold and gloom,

When less than even a shadow came

And stood within the room.

From Winter Dusk

By Walter De La Mare

I

Imagine you are the full moon high in the heavens, your face lit bright by the sun. Hanging below you in the starry darkness is the blue marble earth, silent but flashing with the fireworks of world war.

Down from the northernmost ice-cap some green islands are speckled with points of fire. The capital city is alight, under attack from waves of planes and the bombs tumbling from them. Beyond the conflagration is a vast zone of darkness where the country is hiding. You must look very closely to spot a pair of headlights flickering under swaying boughs as a car makes its way along country lanes swirling with leaves.

A storm has come in off the sea with the bombers, and now, hitting land, is gathering pace, tearing tiles from roofs, tipping fences and uprooting oaks which have stood for generations. The sky is fast moving cloud, tangling and untangling to reveal and hide your pale, white face.

A well-groomed man is driving the car, wearing gloves over his spotless hands, squinting as he peers through the rainy windscreen. There are hedges on either side, the road only wide enough for one vehicle, a