Temptations in Time

By JW Andrews

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 9, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462860692

JW Andrews

Jonathan lives in the beautiful state of Tennessee. He resides there with his muse and beloved wife, Vickie. Vickie is a RN and is herself a very aspiring artist. An example of her work is the cover of this book . Jonathan retired from the USPS and now is using his ample time to do his hearts work , writing. This is his first book, a set of short stories.

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Copyright © 2011 by JW Andrews.

ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4628-6068-5

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4628-6069-2

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

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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96816

Contents

HEDGE HOUSE

Geraldine

Philip

Jay-Jay and Philip

Henry

Present Day

The Cold

Philip of the Garden

The Truthful Return

Jan Hyden and Geraldine

Henry’s Ugly Self

IN REMEMBRANCE OF YOU

STAINED GLASS

Two Days Earlier

The Guards of Truth

Paul

Luke

Ida

The Coven of the White Maidens

Margaret

May’s House

Ida "Out of Control

The Grand Confrontation

Some Years Later

THE TEMPTATIONS OF PETER PEPPERDINE

Around the Bend

Uncle Jack

Joe Steel

The Burning of Jack

Matt Brady

Matt’s Fiery Finish

Peter, Matt and Joe Steel

Peter’s Final Fire

THE TIME OF MY LIFE

I

Joseph Remze

II

The Box

III

Back To The Present Day

Under the Bridge

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATE

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

This book is dedicated to my

wonderful muse and loving wife,

Vickie, who’s love and

support has meant so much to me.

Also many thanks to her for the

beautiful painting that she did for

the cover of this book.

HEDGE HOUSE

On the outside of town, atop a small rise, there sits a house, surrounded by a rather large hedge.

The top of the house can be seen from just about every point in town, so you see the hedge was not so high as to obliterate the house from sight. As a boy me and my mates would sometimes sneak around the place and see if we could spy on anything or anyone beyond the hedge. Curiosity of youth, I guess you would say. We never did find or see anything. Beyond the hedge was an expansive lawn and some shrubs, the usual landscaping. It was pretty much just another house, except for the huge size of it.

Now here I am, many years later, standing on the outside foyer of the old house. It was pretty massive, an American castle, to say the least. Hearst would have been in awe of this one.

The house was built in the 1800’s by an eccentric family whose lineage was of the Hamilton family. {Not the Alexander Hamilton}, but a rather rich family, that made their fortune in the booming oil industry of West Texas. It is not known why the house was built. Some stories have it that Philip Hamilton built the estate for his beloved fiancée Geraldine, who soon after the house was finished, perished in a riding accident on one of the many fields on the property of the estate. It was said that Philip never got over her death and he himself went mad and hung himself in one of the many long corridors or hallways that ran throughout the house.

I was sent here by a real estate company that wanted the house appraised so that they might purchase it. I was known as an expert in field of old real estate, especially old estates of substantial acreage, so, of course, I was sent to appraise this one.

Geraldine

Geraldine Franklin was the second and younger daughter of Benjamin Franklin (not the BEN Franklin}, who earned his fortune building ships. He started building riverboats along the Mississippi River around turn of the century (1800) and eventually, since business was good, moved to San Francisco and started building ocean going ships, some of the best built in the country. It was said if you sail a Franklin you could outrun any hurricane. So Franklin made a modest fortune making quality ships in the booming economy.

Geraldine, who was called Jay-Jay by everyone in her family, especially her father, who doted on his youngest daughter as all fathers usually do. She was ‘long and lean’, as her father used to say. At seventeen, she was the picture of propriety and beauty. She loved anything to do with outdoors’ events, except for hunting, she couldn’t bring herself to kill anything. She especially loved horses and riding. It was this love that brought her to Philip and eventually to her death.

Philip

Philip was the eldest of four siblings of the Hamilton family. At the ripe old age of twenty-two, he was tall and built like a prize fighter. He was strong and lean. He was, of course, the primary heir to the Hamilton fortune and was very educated in the business of oil and all things oil related. His favorite hobby was his horses. He owned many and held much property for ranches, from coast to coast. He loved going to horse shows, especially those that featured riders of exceptional ability. Whether jumping or barrel racing or even horse races. He was considered one of the foremost experts on horsemanship.

Philip was invited to a horse show at a ranch north of San Francisco. He was to be a judge during the jumping phase of the competition. Although he would rather be riding in the competition, he grudgingly accepted.

Jay-Jay and Philip

The horse show was quite impressive and Philip was glad he had accepted the judgeship. The judges table was elevated so as to see all parts of the course. Not a jump would be missed from this vantage point. After perfunctory handshakes and hellos to his many friends and acquaintances, he decided to walk around the paddock area and view some of the horses and riders. His interest beginning to peak, for he so loved the performances and of course, the horses and riders. In the paddock he saw many beautiful horses and knew from the looks of them, they were all capable of winning. He was about to leave the paddock and return to the judges table when he saw her. She was walking a strong gelding around the paddock. He was totally awestruck and immediately knew he must talk to her. Whether he would be able to talk without stuttering and stumbling all over his tongue was another question. He made his way to her and said something completely stupid about the horses hoofs. She fought off a snicker and thought how wonderful this young man looked. He introduced himself as Philip Hamilton and that he was one of the judges. She returned the introduction by telling him that she was Geraldine Franklin and was pleasured to make his acquaintance. Needless to say the thoughts of love at first sight and soul mate danced in their heads. They both knew that this was the love of their lives.

They were soon engaged and at the time Philip had asked her to marry him and she said yes, he started to build Hedge House. He had the stables finished first, so that he and Jay-Jay could spend time together doing the thing they most loved; riding. The house was near completion when Geraldine went to stay at the house so she could ride everyday. Philip was in Virginia at a horse show when the worst had happened.

Henry

Henry was the second in line of the Hamilton family and was, needless to say, very envious of his older brother. He was most envious of the relationship that Philip had with their father. He knew if it were not for Philip he would be the star in his fathers eyes. It was not that his father didn’t love him, it was just that his father only had time for Philip. Now, as if to add salt to the wound, Philip had found the most amazing woman and Henry wished he had found her first. Henry was not much for horses and preferred the racy life style of the automobile set. He, of course, had learned how to ride and had nothing in particular against horses, but preferred race cars. So it wasn’t very likely that he would have met Geraldine. Even so, Henry was completely taken with Geraldine, so much so, that he connived schemes so that he and Geraldine would be alone together. Whenever Philip was out of town and he knew Geraldine would be riding at Hedge House, he would make some excuse to be there also. It was soon very obvious to Henry that Geraldine was totally in love with Philip and that Henry stood no chance of stealing her away from Philip. That is when his infatuation became something ugly.

Present Day

Entering the house through the foyer and into the main hall, I noticed all the furniture had been covered to prevent damage from dust. The pictures and chandeliers all had dust laying upon any flat and even some beveled edges. Above the fireplace in the main hall was a painting of Philip and Geraldine standing in front of the stables. Probably painted just after the stables were finished. Everything in the painting looked fresh and new. But then again, I suppose everything in paintings looks fresh and new. On the mantle were figurines of horses and riders that were probably collected