Annie’s face twitched. Her father was making no sense. The young girl did not say anything but ran out of the room to find her mother.
Joseph climbed out of the bed. His feet were bare and he wore nothing except his pyjamas, but he walked past the open door of the kitchen and out into the drizzle of morning before Annie had even spoken her first words of concern. The cold, wet grass squelched beneath his feet, and when he left the confines of the garden and ambled onto the road, even the jagged stones and tiny slivers of glass from bottles broken years ago did nothing to shake Joseph from his confused rambling. He walked down the lane and came to a large galvanised steel gate. A trigger, a faint recollection of another time and a happier place, made him stop. He leaned and looked into the field. Half of it had been prepared for planting. The other half was covered with tall yellow grass.
“Peter! Peter!” Joseph shouted, looking older and more haggard with each passing moment. He climbed over the gate and walked towards the thick covering on the other side. The saturated ground sucked at his bare feet as he went. The damp grass whipped at his discoloured, fatal ankle wound as he turned around and around desperately looking for his son.
“Peter! Peter! Peter! Peter!” He continued to shout, he continued to call, and when his son didn’t appear, he fell to the floor and closed his eyes. Now he saw him. Now he saw his son. “Don’t worry, Peter, I’m coming,” Joseph whispered as he lost consciousness.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost I need to thank Tina, my beautiful wife, not just for being a critical eye, not just for keeping me on the right path with this book as she does in life, but for being the reason I get up on a morning.
I would like to thank Annella whose tireless efforts and insightful thoughts helped steer me in the right direction time and time again.
Thank you to Anne for her support and encouragement throughout this entire process. To Gary for showing me where to start. To the numerous people who have conveyed nothing but positivity and shown genuine interest.
And finally... the professionals. Caroline, my fantastic editor, for making the whole process as straightforward and painless as possible. And Jake, a great artist and a great guy. Your generosity will not be forgotten. Thanks man.
SAFE HAVEN:
REALM OF THE RAIDERS
Coming soon
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgements