by David Carter
Diane Shearston bore a child.
Vimy’s child; and his name was Albert, though he was known as Al, I guess he was named after the place where he was conceived. When they discovered she was pregnant, they both wanted to keep the baby. Diane was shunted off to the United States where she spent six months, ostensibly planning new offices in New York and Chicago. They went as far as viewing rooms on the eighty-eighth floor in the South Tower of the World Trade Centre. But that idea came to naught. Vimy deemed it an unnecessary expense and the project was dropped. When she returned to Britain, she brought with her an infant son. Technically he was, and is, an American, though I wonder if he knows it.
Diane had a sister named Sandra who never amounted to much, and when Diane and Vimy put the proposition to her of giving her a pretty detached cottage in Willaston in rural Wirral, along with a generous monthly allowance, on condition she took in and raised that little boy as her own, she jumped at the chance. She was required to swear his true parent’s names to secrecy, which she did, and Sandra Shearston brought up that little boy, acting as his mother as well as any true parent could have done. He is a credit to her, to all of them. Diane visited every week with presents and smiles and hugs aplenty, and little Albert loved his auntie Diane as much as his live-in mother.
Next year the boy comes of age. He is nearing the end of a business degree course at Loughborough University and is showing every sign of becoming fascinated with commodity markets. Vimy Ridge’s blood swirls excitedly through his veins. The Ridge bloodline gushes through him like the River Mersey on flood tide, my family’s blood, and one day, in the near future, now that Vimy and Rocky are both gone, Diane will seek an opportune moment to introduce him to Laura and the girls.
Diane will have a problem there, explaining his existence, but she is capable of dealing with that. Everyone will adore him for he has inherited the Ridge charm and inner strength. Hergest Ridge and the Sandolino boys will not, after all, have everything their own way.
I have seen the young man.
I came across them quite accidentally one afternoon in the city centre, though they did not see me. Auntie Diane was buying him a new outfit for his return to University, a birthday treat, I guess. She couldn’t keep her hands off him. He is the spit of me, even if I say so myself, as I was when I tramped the docks seventy-odd years ago, traipsing respectfully behind my big brother, Rocky. It was like seeing myself in the mirror from long ago. A throwback, a phantom, but a strange pleasure, and one I wouldn’t have missed for anything.
The truth is Michael (Midge) Ridge, and for that matter the sisters, have a half brother they know nothing about, and I wonder if they ever will. The girls will meet him some day soon but they won’t know he carries the Ridge gene.
There is not a day go by when I don’t think of Rocky and of Vimy too, and of how I wish I had done things differently. I know I should have made my presence known, but I did not, and it is far too late to change that now.
Sometimes in life we wait too long to do the things we should, and when we try to put them right, it is often too late. If that sounds familiar to you, if it is not yet too late for you, attend to those matters soon, while you have the opportunity.
I am apprehensive of the future, not of dying, especially, I am reconciled to that, but of the thought of meeting Rocky and Mary again, when I will have some explaining to do. What am I to say? And what will they say to me? That I was a coward? The truth is, I was. That is my never-ending nightmare, still to come.
For now, I am still here, and I watch with great interest to see what will happen. I am old and only work four hours a month. I work for Diane for pin money, but money has never been my guiding star. I have given up drinking and smoking in the vain hope that God will spare me a little longer, for there are turbulent times ahead for Ridge Commodities, and Pegasus Trading, and for all the Ridge family, to which I secretly belong.
You may not think it, but I am proud to be a Ridge, Jackie Ridge. I always have been, and pray I shall witness the beginning of the next generation.
One thing is certain, you may be sure that so long as I am able to hold a pen, for as long as my heart beats, these events will be recorded, the legal and the illicit, and in the brief time that remains, I solemnly promise you this, I won’t miss a thing.
God bless the Ridge family.
God bless us all.
Take care of those that you love, and those that you don’t.
The time has come to set down the pen.
I’d love a shot of tequila, but that is never going to happen.
Be happy, and be content,
Jack.
Author’s Notes
Thank you for buying my book and I hope you enjoyed it. When you have time I would appreciate you posting a brief review on any of the main book sales sites. That would be kind of you, and as an indie writer, it does help me.
When I left school, I accidentally found a job at a Liverpool commodity merchant. The Liverpool Echo has a lot to answer for! I didn’t plan on staying long, but spent more than twenty happy years in that taxing industry.
The mid-seventies were a particularly exciting time in the commodity world. The Soviets were buying everything in sight. I have never worked for so many hours as I did in that period, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
If you are interested in reading more Inspector Walter Darriteau cases, “The Murder Diaries – Seven Times Over”, “The Sound of Sirens”, “The Twelfth Apostle”, “Kissing a Killer”, “Five Dead Rooks”, “Old Cold Bones”, and “Falling”, are all out and available for a modest sum!
Next year there will be all new Walter Darriteau book released, God willing, and he is excited about that, Walter not God, and so am I.
If you’d like to keep up to date with my stuff please subscribe to my occasional newsletter, and you can do that here: http://eepurl.com/czen0T .
As ever, any mistakes in this book are mine and mine alone. We kill them when we see them! Thank you for supporting independent writers and publishers. Without you we would all vanish. Have fun!
You can contact David on any matter at his website www.davidcarterbooks.co.uk
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Did you love The Legal & the Illicit? Then you should read Five Dead Rooks by David Carter!
A calculating killer, a laid back policeman, and a frantic phone call mark the beginning of the "Five Dead Rooks" mystery, Inspector Walter Darriteau's seventh case, and unquestionably his most difficult to date.
Bilk Thomas runs a Chester city centre nightclub catering for the more mature drinker and dancer. Why not? They have the money and they have the time, and when time's pressing people occasionally make rash decisions. It's the wee small hours of Wednesday morning, the quietest day of the week, and Bilk is keen to count the money, lock up, and get home to his big and pleasant house in suburbia.
He's only been in a matter of minutes when the doorbell rings. Who the heck comes ringing doorbells at coming up 2am? Bilk goes to the door and sees a man he does not recognise.
After some discussion, he lets him in. Would you let a stranger into your home at 2am? Not many people would. But Bilk Thomas did, and maybe that was a big mistake.
"Five Dead Rooks" is available now and will keep you interested to the very end. Order your copy here today…
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Read more at David Carter’s site.
Also by David Carter
Grist Vergette's Curious Clock
The Inconvenient Unborn
The Death Broker
The Bunny and the Bear - A Cold and Frosty Winter
The Legal & the Illicit
Falling
Watch for more at Da
vid Carter’s site.
About the Author
David Carter lives in the south of England and has written more than 20 books including a series of murder/mysteries featuring his detective Inspector Walter Darriteau based in Chester, Merseyside, Liverpool, and North Wales.
If you’re interested in this genre look out for The Murder Diaries - Seven Times Over, The Sound of Sirens, The Twelfth Apostle and Kissing a Killer, aIl featuring Walter Darriteau.
David has also written a male equivalent chicklit novel dubbed “manlit” by some. The Life and Loves of Gringo Greene features a character who doesn’t treat women well and it comes back to haunt him.
Margaret Henderson Smith, a seasoned writer in her own right, wrote about Gringo Greene:
In its easy style it simply bounces along, every page sheer entertainment, compulsively turned, but at the same time I found myself grateful for the sheer length of this chunky, fun-filled book because I never wanted to reach the end. I feel sure readers will be hankering after a sequel, or a prequel as Carter puts it and I hope the author will oblige.
From the start, the reader readily engages with the characters, the context, the setting, the story. With its low-key running plot gradually stepping up as the story progresses, Carter has the balance just right for he allows no distraction from each of Gringo’s lover’s own tales. This has got to be one of the most fascinating books I've ever read, for Carter has the knack of placing the reader in the thick of it. One is hardly aware one is reading, the experience of interacting with the characters is strangely powerful, and I read this with the ease of watching a film. I congratulate the author on this work for it takes a very clever author to be able to hold the reader’s fascination continuously in this way. He has created a superb male `slick-lit’ character in Gringo Greene and the work has much to commend it. Within its genre, it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and it goes without saying I highly recommend it.
David’s aim is to release one full-length novel every year, though two would be nice! There’s a much-requested sequel to Gringo Greene in the offing, time permitting. Read more on David’s books and see lots of reviews at: www.davidcarterbooks.co.uk
And you can get in touch and follow David on Twitter @TheBookBloke.
Read more at David Carter’s site.
