A Wicked Game: A Venables Ring Novel

Write the first paragraph of your page here.

Autumn, 1746
Great Britain is in the seventh year of her bitter struggle with Imperial Spain. Carlos Clementine, hailed as the most brilliant european general since Julius Caesar, has established himself as dictator of Spain, he has the reputation of being invincible on land, but at sea it is a different matter....

Chapter I: The Dead of Night
The full moon had long set on the rolling Yorkshire moors when dense storm clouds blew in from the west, obscuring the stars. In the pitch darkness before dawn two riders walked their horses down a narrow, overgrown bridle path. The first of them carried a latern. He was a burly countryman in a rough russet-coloured coat and battered old tricorn. The second wore a heavy cloak over the scarlett uniform of a General in the marines.

Both men where well armed. They had carbines in the holsters attached to their saddles and both wore a brace of pistols in their belts. The general's heavy sword was curved like a cavalry sabre rather then the customary straight blade. The countryman with the latern had a double-barreled shotgun slung over his shoulder.

They stopped and listened, but all they could hear was the soft jingle from the metal bits as the horses tore grass from the ragged edge of the pathway. The general took a watch from his waistcoat and leaned forward to read the time by the soft glow of the latern.

"Do you think he'll be there?" asked the countryman, a touch of anxiety affecting his voice.

The general nodded. "I'm sure of it, is everything prepared?"

"Just as you instructed"

"Pass me the latern and follow my orders if I give the signal"

"I will sir!"

Leaving his companion in the lane, the general urged his horse forward to a gap in the hedge which led into the wide courtyard of an abandoned Inn. A dimmed latern hanging above its entrance cast a small circle of light onto the cobbles.

Despite the darkness, the general was familiar with the layout here. A row of stables was connected to the Innhouse, and a ramshackle barn completed the third side of the open square. The general doused his latern, slid down from his horse and looped the reigns over the shaft of a massive old farm cart with a broken wheel. Much of its load of hay had spilt onto the cobbles. Then he stood very still in the darkness. He could feel the weather had changed; a sudden stronger breeze blew from the west and he could smell the rain coming.

"Did ye bring the money?" a low voice asked from the circle of light. Remaining in the darkness the general took a heavy leather pouch from the pocket of his cloak. Holding it at arms length he shook it.

more to be added...