The Shadow on the Mountain

By Jenny Arnesen

Alli
The mighty and majestic mountains capture her heart Allis incredible ability to lock away the hurt and sadness of lost love and surround herself in music and dance happens once more when her heart is left bleeding. She throws all her love and passion into the relationship with a man who loves her unconditionally.
She moves with him to the little Town deep in the mountains.
For a time the nightmares are left behind and Alli revels in the closeness of a remarkable and loving relationship that grows stronger with each passing day. But her peace is shattered by a visit from the past which brings back the horror of war.
The Shadow on the Mountain takes her back to face the tragedy, intrigue and bloodshed that she has to endure alone once more to save the life of a lost love. The final confrontation of the evil force that destroyed his brother still beckons to her as the Shadow takes her back deep within the bush war.
A place of desolation and hatred that she has been forced to bear. Where her tears and sorrow flowed like a river to the sea.
To live her life she is forced to release the spirit of her late husband and her lost love and lay to rest finally the demons that tie her to the past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Sep 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453572283

Jenny Arnesen

Jennifer was born in Natal where she lived most of her life with the exception of one year she spent in the Free State where she came to know and love the mountains of Golden Gate and the little town of Clarence! Her inspiration comes from the love of her three children, her daughter-in-law and son-in-law, three grandchildren a loving mother and a devoted sister and all the friends that have stood by her and encouraged her in her time of writing. The kindness and assistance of her niece, Cindy Crow who was instrumental in making this all happen! The encouragement and support of David Underwood and all the staff members of Sharpline, the publishers and all those involved in the success of these books.

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Copyright © 2010 by Jenny Arnesen.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2010913160

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4535-7227-6

ISBN:   Softcover   978-1-4535-7226-9

ISBN:   Ebook   978-1-4535-7228-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

0-800-644-6988

www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

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CONTENTS

The Two Men in My Life!

Jim’s Farewell

The Note on the Door

The Coffee Shop

The Invitation from Lance

The Seminar

The Beautiful Patron

Pete Hears the Story

Simon Visits

The Cave

Love in the Orchard

Back to the Cave

Love on the Mountainside

Party Time at the Game Farm

Carl Meets Jacklin

The Final Farewell to Rory

Belinda and Ben Go Overseas

A Marriage Proposal

Christmas—A Time for Giving and Sharing

The Wedding

3 January!

I Believe in You

The Memories Are Rekindled

The Game

The Time Is Now

Jim: The Mutual Friend Returns

THE TWO MEN IN MY LIFE!

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Jim: A deep love that had touched my heart and my soul! The one love that I was destined to lose to the desert! To a war that was raging in the Middle East. A war that had nothing to do with me!

A man who had spent years of his life in a violent and bloody Bush War; who had spent years looking for his young brother and never finding him! Finally giving up and accepting the inevitable that he had been murdered and that his body lay hidden somewhere deep in the bush.

He had turned his back on the heartache, the violent and gruesome life of that terrible time that he had endured, and moved to South Africa where he sought relief and the chance to live a normal and happy life.

He met and married Melissa with whom he had two children, but the marriage was empty and devoid of any love or affection. But for the sake of the children, they had agreed to stay together. The hate and anger still raged within him. The ravages of the Bush War remained embedded in his heart and mind like a wild animal waiting to be released!

Each day he fought the demon of hate and anger that threatened to destroy him, but within his heart lay a love so deep it would eventually consume the hate and set him free—for a while! But the demon lay ever present. Waiting! Its revenge and thirst for blood and death was so great that it fought against his love in its struggle to control his mind, body, and soul!

Jim accepted a position as head of security for a very large timber company in Natal and for a few years was content just to exist in the life he led—a life of loneliness and heartache, where he tried to come to terms with the evil and horror of his experiences in the bush that had held him captive for so long.

From the first day we met the spark of electricity between us was impossible to ignore.

We fell in love! But a dark side was awakened with this love, and through ‘the Shadow and the Rose’ I was transported into a time of terrible heartache and murder.

Of a ravenous hate that consumed the human mind devouring all knowledge of compassion or love! With this love we had awakened the demon. Its desire for revenge and morbid control became a power that I had no escape from!

I was shown the awful truth of what had happened to Jim’s young brother Ian, and to save Jim from this knowledge, I had to release him from my life and my heart!

Pete: My lifeline! The greatest friendship and love that I ever could have expected and so much more! The man who never asked anything more of me but just to be there when I needed him or when he needed me. The one and only person with whom I felt safe and protected. Always ready to give his love and his affection, never hiding his feelings from anyone. The person with whom I shared my family life and his! The man who loved me unconditionally and completely!

Pete had become an obsession in my life—an obsession to befriend and then the realisation that I had fallen deeply in love with him.

Pete: My shelter from the storm and my refuge from the heartaches I faced with ‘the Shadow and the Rose’. The open arms, always ready to protect and console without question. The dancing partner that knew the food of my soul and was prepared to share it with me at whatever cost!

The love we shared for music and dancing, the majestic mountains of Golden Gate and the little town of Clarens. The intriguing knowledge he had of the geography of the mountains and of insects and wild flowers.

The trips we shared to Bloem, the drives through the game farm that belonged to Mark and Tracy.

The games he played with the children. The mischievous antics he got up to. The utter joy of having him around at any time filled my heart with an insurmountable love. His fun-loving ways, infectious laughter, and sense of humour.

The amazing height of passion he could awaken within me, and that flowed between us so readily.

Pete, my soulmate and so different to any other man I’d ever known!

Jim and Jarrod (lifetime friends) had accepted a position as a bodyguard to a president in the Middle East, and now he was making plans to leave for the desert, but he was fighting his conscience as to how to explain this fact to me.

The two men were excited about the prospect of once more being together in the face of danger. It had been a lifelong ambition of theirs to do something like this. They both thrived on the adrenalin rush of close danger, and now that ambition could at last be fulfilled.

Jarrod had accidentally let the cat out of the bag when he phoned me looking for Jim one Sunday morning and told me their plans. He was under the impression that Jim had already told me, and when he realised his mistake, it was too late.

In my shock, frustration and heartache set in, and I had gone through to my personal dance studio, played my music as loud as I could, cried heartbrokenly, and then danced myself into a state of calm acceptance, pushing the love I held for Jim to the deepest part of my heart, to stay hidden together with the memory of my late husband Rory.

When Jim had walked into my house that Sunday evening, I was no longer emotional, and I could now help him to accept the choice he had made.

Though my heart was breaking, I loved him enough to set him free.

I begged him to leave without a farewell and the tears I would still shed for him.

He knew that I had already shed many tears that day and would rather not be comforted by him but rather that he should leave and remember the good times and not the sorrow that would inevitably stay behind in his absence.

He kissed me and walked away, vowing to return!

I could not share this heartache with anyone, not even Pete. So I pushed it down into that corner of my heart where I hid the heartaches that I was not brave enough to face!

That corner that was reserved for Rory’s memories and also now for the memories of Jim. I prayed that it would stay hidden.

Though Pete knew Jim was leaving and that something had happened between us, he accepted the fact that neither Jim nor I had any desire to share the knowledge with him or anyone else. He knew that I was doing everything in my power to hide the hurt and frustration, and he went all out to protect me.

Pete and I had returned from the most wonderful weekend in Clarens, where we had celebrated Pete’s parents’ anniversary.

Neither of us wanted the time to end. But like all good things, our weekend came to a close, and we returned back home to Natal, each spending that night alone in our respective homes.

Pete was waiting for me in the car park when I got to work on Tuesday.

I felt nervous. He never waited in the car park! He always got to work early. But here he was standing in the car park waiting.

He opened my door and pulled me into his arms, kissing me urgently!

‘Alli, my darling!’ he said tenderly.

‘Pete! What’s wrong, honey?’ I asked concerned, pulling away to look into his eyes.

‘I hate being away from you! I have never missed anyone as I missed you last night. Can we compromise a little? Is there any possibility that maybe you could stay at my place with me a day or two and let me stay with you for a day or two? Then we could stay in Clarens for a week or three? Or anything! I just want to be with you!’ he said.

‘I can’t be without you anymore! It was a tremendous effort to stay at the apartment last night! I almost came over to you at midnight! I missed you like you would not believe! I had the strangest dream. I dreamt I was at some foreign airport waiting for your plane to land. But the plane kept circling the airport and wouldn’t come down! I woke in a panic! We are meant to be together, Alli! Of this, I am certain.’

I burst out laughing.

‘A day or two here and a day or two there would be quite fine, darling! You can stay with me anytime you like, and when you want me to come over to you, you just need to say. I have no problem either way! I missed you too,’ I said, taking his face in my hands and kissing him on the mouth.

‘I love you, Peter Preston! I don’t want to be without you either!’ I murmured as his lips covered mine once more.

With Pete, I had a permanent dance partner, one who needed no second invitation to dance. A partner who was happy to fall asleep to music as I was. Someone who was not afraid to show his love and affection. Someone who laughed and loved from his heart! What more could I ask for?

JIM’S FAREWELL

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Three weeks later, there was to be a farewell at the Durban office for Jim.

Pete and I had once more been approached to taxi the credit controllers to the venue.

Since our return from Clarens we had spent the first weekend setting house between our two respective homes. The second weekend we had gone to spend with the children and Mark and Tracy on the game farm, and now the third weekend had arrived—the ‘farewell to Jim’ weekend that I dreaded with all my heart and wanted to avoid at all costs!

Pete was not sure what my reaction would be. He still did not understand what had happened between Jim and me, and though he had never brought the subject up, I knew that it bothered him. I also knew that Jim had almost begged Pete to get me to attend the farewell. I had been in the credit controller’s office one morning unbeknown to either of them when I overheard their conversation.

‘Pete, bring Alli to the farewell, please. I need to see her one more time before I leave,’ he begged.

‘Ask her yourself, Jim. I am sure she won’t turn you down. You have been very close friends for a long time. Ask her!’ Pete said.

‘In case you haven’t noticed, Preston, I have not been anywhere near her for weeks. Please, man. As a last favour to me, Pete, I am begging you!’ he said.

‘What did you go and screw things up for, Jim? You knew what it would do to her. So what possessed you? You can be such a jerk! Well, you’ve lost her now. You know that, don’t you? I love her, Jim, and I will not let you or anyone else hurt her,’ Pete said.

‘I have no intention of causing her any hurt, Pete. You know that I could never do that to her. I love her for God’s sake. Please do this for me. I beg you! You are the only one that she will listen to,’ he pleaded.

‘You have hurt her, Jim. Are you so stupid that you can’t see that? What other reason would there be that would keep her away from you? For old times’ sake, I will try to convince her, Jim. But if she says no, then that’s what it will have to be. I am not going to plead with her on your behalf. I don’t know what happened between you, and I don’t want to know but remember who she belongs to now!’ he said.

I felt terrible that I had listened in on their conversation, but I had no way of getting out of the office without them seeing me.

The two men walked outside at last, and I quickly escaped.

It was early Friday afternoon, and I was in the kitchen making coffee when Pete walked in behind me and put his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my head.

‘Alli, my darling! You two loved each other! Come to the farewell, honey, please! I promise I will not leave your side! For my sake, please! He was a good friend to me when I really needed one. Give him this one time!’ he pleaded.

So much for not pleading with her! I thought. But I knew that Jim had been a friend in a million when Pete really needed one, and it was in his nature to help where he could even if it meant he would be hurt in the process.

‘You really want me to do this, Pete?’ I said, feeling a slight panic. ‘I honestly don’t know if I can,’ I said, leaning against him and rubbing his hands at my waist.

‘Yes, darling! I really want you to. I want you to let him go the way you should! You are strong enough for this, and I will be there for you! I don’t know what happened between you, and I am not asking you to tell me. But I am asking you to do this the right way. He deserves that much, and so do we! The three of us have been very close over these last three years!’ he said quietly, with sadness in his voice.

‘I love you, Alli, and I don’t want there to be any regrets between us. Don’t block him out of your life, darling. I don’t expect that of you. I don’t want you to look back with any regret. I know that my love for you is strong enough to win your