Chapters 6, 7 and 8 of Phantom of the Hastings Caves

Chapter 6   In the ambulance

Joy held her head in her hands as the ambulance went over one speed hump after another.

Then she took her hands away from her head and said, “Oh, Dave, what about the party? The sandwiches are still by the front door.”

“I’ll text Dad and the others. One of them can go and get them.”

“They won’t get a signal in the caves.”

“You’re right. OK, I’ll phone the caves landline.”

“Thanks, love.”

“It’s OK.”

Dave took out his mobile and dialled the number.

Emma was in the staffroom making a pot of tea. She picked up the caves landline phone when it rang.

“Smugglers  Adventure…” she said.

“Emma? It’s me, Dave. Can you ask Jack and Steve to go to Steve’s house and pick up the sandwiches? Joy left them by the front door ... No, it’s better if they both go. ... Joy’s house has been burgled ... yes ... yes, but Joy’s worried about messing up Madeleine’s party ... yes ... no, we can’t come to the caves ... Joy was pushed over. She hit her head. ... Yes, we’re in an ambulance. I’ll stay with her ... yes, see you.”

He put his mobile in his pocket.

“Thanks, Dave,” said Joy.

“Can you see any better now?” he asked.

“Yes, it was just the numbers on the phone. They’re so small.  I’m all right. Thanks for dialling for me.”

“It’s easy with the little bump on the five. Once you feel that, you know where all the numbers are.”

“Is there a bump on the five on my phone?”

“Yes. It’s on every phone apart from touchscreens.”

“Oh, right. ... Dave, why did you leave the party? Did you come to get the sandwiches?”

“No. I came to find you. And I was fed up. I didn’t want to stay in the caves. I hate the way people treat me sometimes.”

“But your friends don’t...”

“No, it was this weird girl I met today. One minute she grabbed me and wouldn’t let go, and then later she pretended she wasn’t there. But she was so near me that I could feel her breath. But later on she walked all the way along the Monks’ Walk with me.”

“Who was she?”

“I don’t know. All she said was ‘nook’.”

“Nook?”

“Yes. ... Oh, I think we’re at the hospital.”

The ambulance engine had been switched off. A paramedic came and opened the doors to let them out.

Joy covered her eyes as the paramedic helped her out into the sunshine.

Chapter 7   The West Hill Ghost

Joy and Dave had to wait a long time in the Accident and Emergency waiting room.

When a nurse led Joy to a cubicle to be checked, Dave stayed in the waiting room.

“Hi,” a man’s voice said. “Do you mind if I sit next to you?”

“No, that’s fine,” said Dave.

“You work at the Smugglers Adventure, don’t you?”

Dave nodded.

“They say it is haunted.”

“Yes, they do,” said Dave.

“Have you ever seen a ghost there?”

Dave held up his folded white stick in answer.

“Ah, yes, you are blind. But have you ever heard about the ghosts there?”

Dave didn’t answer.

“They say there is a girl who walks the West Hill. She walks there day and night,” the man went on. “Sometimes she wears an old blouse and trousers. Other times she wears a silky dress...”

“Listen,” Dave said, holding up his folded white stick again. “I haven’t seen anything or anyone for a very long time. And I don’t believe in ghosts.”

Joy came out of her cubicle and walked over to Dave.

“I’m all right, Dave,” she said. “I just have to make sure I don’t fall asleep for the next few hours. Oh. ...Who are you?”

She was looking at the man sitting on the plastic chair next to Dave. She frowned when she saw a tattoo on his arm. She felt as if she’d seen it before somewhere, only smaller and slightly different.

“My name is Enver,” the man said.

“I guessed that. Your name is tattooed on your arm.”

“Ah, you noticed. Anyway, Dave and I were just talking about the West Hill ghost.”

“What West Hill ghost?”

“The girl who walks day and night, night and day...”

“Come on, Joy. Let’s get a taxi,” said Dave.

“We will meet again,” said Enver. “And perhaps then you will tell me if you have seen … I mean if you have heard or smelt it.”

“Heard or smelt what?”

“It. The ghost.”

Chapter 8   We kill them

As the taxi drove into Collier Road, Joy saw a police car pull away from outside Jack’s house, which was next door to hers.

“We just missed the police, Dave,” Joy said.

“Do you want me to drive to them?” asked the taxi driver. “They have stopped at the end of the road.”

“No, don’t worry, love,” said Joy. “I’m too tired to talk to them.”

The taxi driver stopped outside Jack’s house.

“Oh,” he said. “It’s number 28. You said 27 when you called for a taxi.”

“Yes, 27. That’s right.”

“But the police came out of 28.”

“Oh, maybe they were asking Jack’s dad about the burglary...”

“Burglary?”

“Yes, my house was burgled.”

“Ah, in my country we do this if someone burgles our house.” The taxi driver drew his index finger across the base of his neck.

“What do you do?” asked Dave.

“Ah, sorry. You cannot see. We kill them if we catch them. Well, we don’t really. But we get very angry.”

“Which country are you from?”

“Albania. ... Oh, here are your neighbours.”

Jack and his dad came and helped Joy out of the taxi while Dave paid the driver.

“Are the sandwiches still by the door?” asked Joy. “I’m really hungry.”

“No, sorry, Joy. We took them to the caves and ate quite a lot of them. There were some left over, but we left them there. We decided to clear up tomorrow ... Joy, our house has been burgled.”

“What? Yours too? How did the burglar get in?”

“Well, there’s no sign of a break-in.”

“The woman who burgled my house used front door keys,” said Joy. “I just can’t work out how she got keys that fit my front door locks.”

Copyright text © 2013 Fiona Cullen

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 9781492309604

Phantom of the Hastings Caves, Chapters 4 and 5.

Chapter 4   I haven’t seen a ghost

When Dave got back to the party, Emma, Trevor and Madeleine were dancing.

“I suppose this is what it was like when the caves were used for dances,” shouted Trevor. “Don’t you like dancing, Steve? How about you, Jack?”

“We’re hungry,” said Steve. “Hey, Trevor ... you nearly knocked Dave over.”

“Oh, you’re back, Dave. … No sign of Joy?” said Jack.

“No. I just came back to tell you I’m going to go to her house and see if she’s there,” said Dave.

“Shall I guide you?”

“No!”

“OK, sorry.”

Dave unfolded his white stick and started walking away, swinging the stick gently from side to side in front of him.

“What’s wrong with Dave?” Jack said to Steve.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him like that before.”

Dave stopped walking and turned round.

“Don’t talk about me as if I can’t hear you!” he said. “I’m blind, not deaf.”

“Sorry,” said Jack.

“Yes, sorry, Dave,” said Steve.

When the song came to an end, Madeleine came over.

 “Dave, are you OK?” she asked. “You look as if you’ve seen a …”

 “Seen? Did you say seen?”

“But, Dave, you always use that word. You say things like ‘I’ll see if I can find Joy’ or ‘See you later’...”

“Yes, well, I can’t see, can I? And you were going to say I look as if I’ve seen a ghost. Well, I haven’t seen a ghost.”

Chapter 5   The Burglary

Steve and Madeleine’s foster mother, Joy, put her hand up to her head. Her hair felt wet and sticky. When she looked at her hand, it was covered in blood. There was blood on the radiator and blood on the freezer bag full of sandwiches on the hall floor.

She sat up. Her head was throbbing.

She was next to the radiator on the floor in the hall of her house. There was a trail of blood from the top of the radiator down to the bottom. She must have cracked her head on the top corner of the radiator as she fell.

She had been looking for her earrings upstairs in her bedroom. She’d wanted to wear earrings and lipstick to Madeleine’s birthday party.

Joy had sung as she searched for the earrings. She was looking forward to the party in the caves.

But then she heard the sound of the front door being unlocked and opened downstairs. It was a stiff door and it made a loud creaking noise every time it was opened.

Joy stopped singing. She was confused. Her foster children had gone to Madeleine’s birthday party. And they usually used the hidden passageway from the cellar under Joy’s house to get to the caves. If they had come back, they would have come through the cellar. And then they would have gone to the back door, not the front door. And anyway, she just couldn’t imagine what might be so important that they would leave the party.

She shouted, “Hello! I’ll come down as soon as I’ve found my earrings.”

No-one shouted back. But she could hear someone walking around downstairs. She knew it couldn’t be burglars because she had heard the key in the lock.

“Did you forget something?” she shouted. “Hey, why don’t you answer me?”

Then she saw her earrings on her bedside table. She put them in her earlobes, put some lipstick on, picked up her shoulder bag and made her way downstairs.

The wind was blowing in through the open front door. Joy could hear the sound of a car engine outside.

A woman came out of the front room. She pushed Joy very hard and ran out of the house. Joy fell and hit her head on the radiator.

Her head was throbbing so much that it took her some time to stand up.

Once she was standing up, she went into the front room.

The TV had gone. So had the family laptop.

Even the phone had gone. The woman had unplugged it and taken the whole thing.

But Joy still had her shoulder bag. She reached into it and took out her mobile.

She tried to find the 9 on her phone so that she could dial 999. She couldn’t see the numbers clearly. Then she saw Dave. He was swinging his stick from side to side as he made his way down the path and into her house.

“Dave, come in. The front door is open. I’ve been burgled,” said Joy.

“Have you called the police?”

“I can’t see the numbers properly ... Dave, the burglar pushed me over. I don’t feel OK. Maybe we should call an ambulance.”

“Have you got a touchscreen phone?”

“No. It’s a Blackberry.”

“Good. Give me the phone.”

She handed it to him and he felt for the bump on the number 5. Then he moved his finger to the number 9.

Copyright text © 2013 Fiona Cullen

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 9781492309604

Next chapter of The Phantom of the Hastings Caves

Hope you enjoyed yesterday's short story for adults. now it's time to remember you're young at heart. Here is Chapter 3 of Phantom of the Hastings Caves. If you didn't read chapters 1 and 2, you can find them on amazon

Chapter 3   The disappearing dress

The next evening, James, Luke and Aidan made their way through the caves to the cavern where they were having Madeleine’s birthday party. Steve was there when they arrived. He was putting candles on a birthday cake on a tablecloth on the cavern floor.  The only light in the cavern came from a small, flickering electric lamp on the floor.

While James, Luke and Aidan were taking their guitars out of their cases, Emma came into the chapel.

“Has anyone seen Black-eyed Meg’s  dress?”  she asked. “We can’t find it anywhere. Dave is still looking for it.” 

“Black-eyed Meg’s dress? ” said Aidan.

“Yes, it’s a beautiful, old-fashioned dress I wear when I’m haunting the caves. I can’t haunt the cavern in my jeans and Smugglers  Adventure sweatshirt.”

“Emma?”  said Dave, feeling his way into the cavern.

“What?”

“How did you get there?”

“What do you mean, how did I get here? “

“I passed you just now on my way in. I checked the cupboards for the dress, but I couldn’t find it. Then I came here. And I thought I felt you pass me in the dress. I thought you’d found it and put it on.”

“Well, you didn’t pass me.” 

“But I felt Black-eyed Meg’s dress as I passed you. I said hi to you …” 

“You felt the dress? Well, I wasn’t in it.”

“Emma’s wearing her jeans and sweatshirt,”  said Steve.

“So who did I pass?” asked Dave.

“I don’t know. But it wasn’t me.”

“No, I know. I can smell your perfume now. And I didn’t smell it when the person in the dress went past. Oh, I can hear footsteps. I think it may be time to sing Happy Birthday.”

Madeleine and Jack came into the cavern.

James, Luke and Aidan picked up their guitars and everyone started singing Happy Birthday.

“Wow, thank you,” said Madeleine.

“We’ll sing it again later when we’ve lit the candles on the cake,” said Aidan.

“OK… Oh, what was that?”

 She looked round. Trevor was standing behind her. He was dressed as a smuggler.

“You scared me when you brushed past me,” she said.

“You didn’t see me emerging from the shadows...” said Trevor in a husky smuggler’s voice. “I’m Hairy Jack. And that’s Black-eyed Meg. We’re ghosts of the caves.” 

Trevor pointed to the other side of the cavern. As he did so, a figure in Black-eyed Meg’s silky black and white dress swished out of the cavern and disappeared. Emma turned to look to where Trevor was pointing, but the figure had gone.

“Let’s have some music, boys!” shouted Emma.

Aidan started playing Apple Tree, a song he’d composed himself.

Trevor walked over to Emma.

“Emma … If you’re here in your jeans, who was that dressed up as Black-eyed Meg? I was sure it was you over there.”

“I didn’t see anyone,” said Emma. “And it wasn’t me. I was going to do some haunting at the party, but I couldn’t find the dress. ... What’s wrong, Steve? You look worried.”

 “Joy should be here by now,” said Steve. “She was going to come here soon after us. She couldn’t go with us, because then Madeleine would have guessed we were planning something.”

“I’ll see if I can find her,” said Dave. “If she’s lost in the dark, I can guide her to the party.”

He started feeling his way along the sandstone wall of the cavern.

“We can’t cut the birthday cake without our foster mum,” said Steve. “And she’s bringing the sandwiches.”

Aidan put down his guitar at the end of the song.

Everyone clapped loudly.

“Over to you, James and Luke,” Aidan shouted.

They started playing a song called Silly Games, which James had composed.

Emma came over and said, “Help yourselves to something to drink.”

She put a crate of lemonade and a crate of beer on the tablecloth on the floor.

“Are you OK, Emma?” Trevor asked. “You keep looking over there...”

“Well, I’m a bit worried about Joy ... and who was that person you saw wearing the dress?”

“Don’t worry. It was probably just the ghost of Black-eyed Meg. We need a few ghosts. They bring in the tourists.”

Emma frowned.

“Hey, I’m only joking, Emma. You know I don’t believe in ghosts. And I’m sure Dave will come back with Joy in a minute. We’ll soon be eating her sandwiches.”

But Dave hadn’t found Joy. He was walking along the Monks’ Walk with the girl in the disappearing dress.

just click on LOOK INSIDE You can also find it on amazon.de and all amazon sites

Copyright text © 2013 Fiona Cullen

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 9781492309604

DAVID'S LAST WORDS, A SHORT STORY TO RELAX WITH

As promised, I'll soon be posting chapters from my mystery stories set in Hastings. But today, I'm going to give you a story for adults. so sit back, relax and enjoy it. It's in simplified English, so it won't tax your brain (= stretch your intellect). I'll tax your brain another time.
the story is called DAVID'S LAST WORDS.

The young woman on the plane seat beside Nadya was wearing expensive clothes and lots of make-up. Her short hair was brown and shiny. There was a man beside her. He was holding a baby. He was feeding the baby from a bottle.

The young woman wasn’t looking at the man and the baby. She was putting on more lipstick.

The baby’s bottle was empty now. The man put the bottle in his bag and touched the woman’s right hand gently.

‘Hey, Masha,’ he said. ‘Shall we put our rings on our left hands? They don’t wear wedding rings on the right hand in England.’

His wife smiled at him. ‘OK,’ she said.

Nadya watched as they moved their rings from their right hands to their left hands. They looked so calm and happy.

Nadya wanted to be happy. She wanted to be part of a family. And she wanted to have money to buy things.

‘I need to go to the loo,’ the man said to the woman called Masha. ‘Hold Sasha a moment, Darling.’

‘OK,’ said Masha. She put her lipstick in her bag and took the baby from him. The man got up and walked down the plane to the loo.

Sasha was looking at Nadya. Nadya smiled at him.

‘You’re smiling because you haven’t got a baby,’ said Masha in Russian. ‘Babies make you tired. You can’t put your lipstick on with a baby. You don’t get time to look in a mirror when you’ve got a baby. Everyone else on this plane can put their lipstick on or enjoy a drink. David and I are the only passengers with a baby.’

‘You think you’ve got problems,’ thought Nadya. But she didn’t say it.

She said, ‘I’m glad we’re sitting by the emergency door.’

‘Yes, there’s a bit more leg room,’ said Masha.

‘Are you going to England on holiday?’ Nadya asked.

‘No. We’re going to live there. We’re going to live in my husband’s flat. He’s English.’

‘Yes, I know. I heard him speak.’

‘He lives in the same town as his parents.’ She smiled.

‘You look happy about that,’ said Nadya.

‘Yes, I am. If his parents live near us, they can look after the baby,’ said Masha.

‘What, all the time?’’ asked Nadya.

‘Well, not all the time…’

‘Have you met his parents before?’

‘No, but we’ve talked a lot on the phone. They’ll do anything for David. And he’ll do anything for me. I smile at him and he does what I want.’

‘Were you sad to leave Russia?’

‘Yes, a bit. But I won’t miss anyone there. My parents are dead, and I haven’t got any real friends. Women don’t usually like me, so they don’t stay friends with me for long. How about you?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe I’ll miss Russia. But my mother died last year, and my father works on a factory ship, so he’s away most of the time.’

‘A factory ship?’

‘Yes. He cleans fish. It’s a horrible job. And I couldn’t get a job at home in Volgograd. But I speak English, and I’m going to work in England. I went for an interview with an agency in Volgograd, and they gave me a job. They’re going to wait for me at Heathrow Airport. But at Passport Control I have to say I’m going to stay with my uncle.’

‘You’re crazy. Do you know what kind of job it is?’

‘Well…’

‘Oh, no!’ Masha said. ‘Look! My favourite jumper! David gave the baby too much milk, and now it’s all over my favourite jumper!’

‘It’s only a jumper,’ Nadya wanted to say. But she didn’t say it.

‘I need to go to the loo and clean my jumper,’ Masha said.

‘Shall I hold Sasha?’ asked Nadya.

‘Oh, yes, please. I won’t be long,’ said Masha.

Nadya took the baby from her.

Masha got up and went to join the queue for the loo.

Sasha held one of Nadya’s fingers and looked at Nadya. Nadya felt happy with the baby.

But suddenly, Nadya’s stomach jumped and the plane started going down fast. The lights went off, and the pilot spoke over the loudspeaker:

‘This is your captain speaking. We are making an emergency landing on the English Channel. Please put on your lifejacket. Do not inflate your lifejacket until you leave the plane.’

Some people screamed. The people in the queue for the loo pushed and shouted and tried to get back to their seats.

With her right hand, Nadya held the baby close to her. The baby’s head was on her shoulder. She put her left hand under the seat and pulled out her lifejacket.

She stood up and put the lifejacket over her head and the baby’s. She pulled it down over them. She pulled the emergency door, but it didn’t open. Two stewards came to help her. Some people behind the stewards were shouting and screaming. They pushed the stewards because they wanted to get out first.

Nadya was holding the handle of the heavy emergency door when the plane crashed into the sea. The stewards and the people behind them fell down on the floor of the plane. The heavy emergency door opened. Nadya climbed through the door and saw an escape chute. She pulled the cord of her lifejacket.  The lifejacket inflated and pushed the baby very close to Nadya.

Nadya held the baby’s head close to her shoulder as they fell down into the cold sea. When they hit the water, the baby began to cry.

‘It’s OK, Sasha,’ Nadya said into his ear. ‘Look, I’ll lie on my back and then you’ll be out of the cold sea.’

But Nadya couldn’t lie on her back. Because of the lifejacket, she had to stand up in the water. The baby’s head was still close to Nadya’s shoulder.

Nadya turned round in the water and saw the plane. It was going down into the sea. She also saw a very big wing lying on the water.

‘Sasha,’ said Nadya. ‘There’s no-one here. It’s just you and me. They’re all in the plane. They can’t get out.’

Nadya’s hands were very cold, but the water inside her clothes was warm. She moved her legs and feet. She wanted to stay warm.

Her hands were yellow, like a dead person’s hands. And the top of her head began to feel very cold. But the baby was warm.

‘It’s OK, Sasha,’ she said.

Sasha stopped crying. He was listening to her. She talked to him for a long time.

Then she saw a boat. She blew the whistle on her lifejacket.

The baby began to cry again.

‘Sorry, Sasha,’ she said. And she blew the whistle again.

The boat came near them and stopped.

‘It’s all right, love,’ a voice shouted.

Two fishermen leaned over and took her arms. They pulled her into the boat.

‘Where are we?’ asked Nadya.

‘This is the English Channel, love,’ said one of the fisherman. ‘You’re all right now. We’ll take you to the town we’ve come from - Hastings. And we’ll call an ambulance for you.’

‘What’s your name, love?’ the other one asked.

‘Nad … Masha,’ said Nadya. ‘And my baby’s name is Sasha.’

They kept Nadya and Sasha in hospital that night. The nurse wasn’t surprised when Nadya didn’t know how to change a nappy.

‘Nappy?’ said Nadya.

‘Yes, you know, these.’ The nurse held up a packet of nappies.

‘Oh, yes. Sorry about my English.’

‘Your poor hands got very cold in that sea,’ she said. ‘And then, of course, maybe you use real nappies in Russia. Not these paper nappies.’

In the morning, Sasha’s English grandparents came to the hospital. Sasha’s grandmother was crying. She put her arms around Nadya and Sasha.

‘Masha, my dear. You know me from the photos we sent you, don’t you? I’m Martha, David’s mother.’

‘Yes, hello, Martha.’

‘Hello, Masha,’ said the baby’s grandfather to Nadya. ‘I’m John.’

‘Hello, John,’ said Nadya.

‘If you’re ready, we’ll drive you home,’ said John.

Nadya and Sasha slept in the car all the way to Martha and John Green’s house.

When they arrived at the house, they all had soup and bread.

‘Sasha loves your soup,’ said Nadya.

‘Good,’ said Martha. ‘I’ll show you your room now. You look very tired.’

‘Yes, I am,’ said Nadya. She followed Martha upstairs.

There was a double bed in the room.

‘I’m sorry there isn’t a cot for Sasha,’ said Marta.

‘A cot?’

‘Yes, a child’s bed.’

‘Oh, I see. Sorry my English isn’t very good.’

‘Oh, but it is good,’ said Martha. ‘And your accent is nice. Just like when we spoke all those times on the phone. Only…’

‘Only what?’

‘Oh, nothing. It’s … well, your voice is so gentle. On the phone it was different. Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes, the cot, the baby’s bed. We put a cot for Sasha in David’s flat. Well, it’s your flat now. But you stay here with us as long as you want.’

‘Thank you,’ said Nadya.

‘Now, I’ll leave you and Sasha to rest. I’m going shopping.’

When she was alone with Sasha, Nadya held the baby close to her and danced around the bedroom. Then she sat on the bed and spoke to the baby in Russian.

‘Thank you, Sasha. I had nothing. And now I’ve got everything. I’ve got a family. I’ve got a flat. And I’ve got YOU! I’m so HAPPY. But I must try to look sad, because they must think I’ve lost my husband.’

When Martha came back from the shops that afternoon, John was in the living room holding Sasha. Nadya was in the kitchen making tea. Martha was carrying lots of bags of new clothes for Nadya and the baby.

‘I tried to buy the kind of clothes you were wearing in the photos you sent us. And I bought you some make-up. You look so different from the photos. You’re the same slim woman, and you’ve got the same short brown hair. But you’re very pale. But all you need is a bit of make-up.’

‘She’s pale because she misses David,’ said John.

‘Yes. Yes, of course. I’m sorry,’ said Martha. ‘Excuse me. I’ll make some more tea.’

She put the bags of clothes and make-up on an armchair. Then she went to the kitchen and closed the door.

‘Sasha looks like David already,’ John to Nadya. ‘Those big blue eyes. And his nose…’

‘Yes, and he doesn’t look a bit like me,’ thought Nadya. But all she said  was, ‘Yes, you’re right.’

‘You don’t wear your ring, my dear,’ said John as he gave the baby back to Nadya.

‘No. I think it came off in the sea. My hands were so cold.’

‘Ah, yes, of course. Now, Masha, I need to tell you something. Some newspaper and TV people phoned when you were upstairs. They wanted to ask you about the plane crash. I told them that you can’t speak to them at the moment.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Not at all. But, my dear, I want you to know that you’re not alone. You have us. I mean, it’s not only because you are … er, because you are our son’s widow.’

‘No?’ 

‘No. You saved our grandson’s life. We will never forget that. You didn’t jump off that plane alone. You took Sasha with you.’

‘You know, don’t you, John? You know I’m not …’

‘Yes, my dear, I know. Ah, here’s our next cup of tea.’

Martha put a tray of tea and biscuits on the table. Her eyes were red.

‘You haven’t looked at your new clothes, Masha,’ said Martha.

‘Oh, sorry.’

‘No, no, my dear, don’t be sorry,’ said John. ‘Martha is only surprised because you were so different on the phone. You talked about clothes a lot … And about shopping and clubbing.’

Nadya held Sasha close to her.

‘It’s all right, Masha,’ said John. ‘We’re very happy that you are as you are.’

‘Yes, on the phone you never talked about the baby. But now we can see that you are a wonderful mother,’ said Martha.

 ‘Masha, can I ask you something?’ said John.

 ‘Of course.’

‘What were David’s last words?’

‘His last words were, ‘Hold Sasha a moment, Darling,’ said Nadya.

The Phantom of the Hastings Caves

The Phantom of the Hastings Caves is the second in the Hastings Mysteries series. Together with its sequels, Hastings Rock and Byron's Vampire, it's just gone on Amazon. It could be some time before it reaches other online stores and also bookstores and Hastings outlets. You can read the first two chapters by clicking on http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phantom-Hastings-Caves-Fiona-Cullen/dp/1492203297 and then click on SEARCH INSIDE. If you enjoy it and want to read more, let me know at mysteries.hastings@gmail.com Then I'll post more chapters here on my blog. (If it gets snapped up by a mainstream publisher, as The Smugglers' Caves did, I will remove the chapters from my blog.)

The Smugglers' Caves and its sequels

If you've been in my class, you've probably read The Smugglers' Caves, or at least part of it. If you haven't, you can read about it here http://www.cornelsen.de/home/katalog/titel/9783060329519 and you can download free sample worksheets that accompany it if you register for newsletters etc here http://www.cornelsen.de/home/katalog/material/1.c.3098149.de/back_link/search

I'm under contract to Cornelsen Schulverlage, so I can't upload any chapters of The Smugglers' Caves for you to read on my blog. but I can upload chapters from the sequels..... See my next post....