by Keith Walsh
“Mr Giant is dead,” she said, clutching his neck with her little arms and tears starting to stream. “I’m sorry to hear that,” said the man, struggling to hold the child properly. “Here, I’ll take her,” said the woman but he shook his head. “Don’t cry little one,” he said, making every effort to look into her eyes. She snuggled into him but her tears didn’t stop and he decided it best to leave her to her emotions.
Something inside him suggested he should know more about this unusual situation but nothing would come. Nonetheless, he trusted his instincts and moving back to his horse he asked the girl if she would like to go with him. She looked at him, confused for a moment before finally saying, “Of course I want to go with you.” The man smiled at her and although he sensed his question had been a stupid one from her point of view he couldn’t yet understand why she would feel that way. In truth he just didn’t want the child to get scared if he simply put her on his horse.
Knowing now that she had no objection he sat her on his horse’s neck just in front of his saddle. It took him some time and quite a bit of effort but in the end he got there, and then he carefully climbed into his saddle behind her. Once underway he and the woman headed out of the clearing. As they reached the tree line, the man took one last look over the scene behind him. A feeling of sadness swept over him although he still could not understand why.
Then he grabbed the reins of his horse with his left hand, for his right bore only a stump.
Acknowledgements
Firstly I would like to thank my lifelong friend Tim Daley without whom this novel may never have seen the light of day. His continued support, honest feedback and tireless effort in keeping my spirits up whenever the doubt demons lurked are a testament not only to the strength of our friendship but to his exceptional patience and dogged resilience. Thank you sincerely for all your help my friend.
To my Editor Ben Way a man with nothing short of miraculous vision and experience and whose expertise brought my novel to a level I can only aspire to. Ben taught me many things during my time working with him but I believe the most important lesson of all was its damn hard work editing a novel because up until the editorial point I thought writing it was the hard part. Wrong!
Thank you Ben for your never ending patience, professionalism and wisdom. All are greatly appreciated.
A big thank you also to my phenomenal cover artist and designer Jamie Noble Frier who created with pretty much his first try, exactly what I wanted for my cover. Jamie truly has awe inspiring talent and I feel humbled, privileged and delighted to have worked with him. Thank you Jamie.
To my Publisher Lettertec for doing an amazing job in bringing my book from hard-drive to reality. I would like to give a particular mention to Andrew Haworth and his team who provided me with unwavering understanding and professionalism. Not to mention some wonderful advice. Thank you most sincerely for your help.
I would like to give a short mention to the people on the Writing4all site who inspired me to turn my short story into a novel in the first place. You all know who you are and I’m very grateful for your belief in me. Thank you all.
And Finally I would like to give a huge thank you to my Family, particularly my Mum and Dad, both of whom are still with me today and I hope will be for many more years to come. Your guidance, wisdom, compassion, discipline (when needed. Rarely with me of course!) and most of all Love should be gifted to every child of this world for no-one has done it better. Thank you both so much for everything you have done and continue to do for me. It never goes unrecognised or underappreciated. With all my heart, Keith.
Contents
CHAPTER 1 9
CHAPTER 2 24
CHAPTER 3 40
CHAPTER 4 45
CHAPTER 5 59
CHAPTER 6 63
CHAPTER 7 80
CHAPTER 8 83
CHAPTER 9 100
CHAPTER 10 111
CHAPTER 11 128
CHAPTER 12 135
CHAPTER 13 153
CHAPTER 14 171
CHAPTER 15 187
CHAPTER 16 190
CHAPTER 17 202
CHAPTER 18 214
CHAPTER 19 228
CHAPTER 20 250
CHAPTER 21 261
CHAPTER 22 285
CHAPTER 23 295
CHAPTER 24 300
CHAPTER 25 308
CHAPTER 26 313
CHAPTER 27 319
CHAPTER 28 322
CHAPTER 29 331
CHAPTER 30 334
CHAPTER 31 343
CHAPTER 32 352
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
