The Alchemist’s Corpse by Joe Talon EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
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- Author: Joe Talon
- Language: English
- Genre: Occult Suspense
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
February, sixteen months later
THE FIRE CRACKLED IN THE hearth, and the lumpy rug masquerading as a
dog twitched in his sleep. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift. Not too
far. I didn’t want to tempt the memories into the light, but I needed to
switch off for a few minutes. I couldn’t resist relaxing under the
circumstances. Woolly socks, warmed by the flames, made me wiggle my
toes and push further back into my favourite armchair. I reached for the
thick slice of Lilian’s Christmas cake that we’d been doing battle with in an
attempt to finish it before Easter.
“Well, Ghost, I don’t know when Heather’s due home, but I’m glad to be
out of that wind.”
The dog huffed but didn’t raise his head.
The wind and squally rain buffeted the old farmhouse, and it oozed into
my bones despite the thick walls of stone between me and the world
outside. I thought about Heather, out on the moor with Rick, her co-worker,
and knew she’d be longing for tea and cake as well. During the autumn,
she’d come home with a smile bright enough to dazzle the sun. The new
park ranger she’d lost out to at the job interview had failed to complete his
probation period, and he’d gone back to Yorkshire. The National Park had
offered Heather her dream job with Rick Morton as her new mentor. He was
younger than me, better educated, less traumatised and sickeningly ‘cute’—
not my description.
He liked Heather and when I saw them on the moor, or when he dropped
her off in one of the Land Rovers, she always laughed at something he said
or did.
I liked to see her happy, but did she have to be so happy with him?
The back door opened, and I heard the voice of my two favourite people.
“Where are you?” called Heather.
“Here,” I bellowed back over the sound of Ghost gathering his legs
together, then welcoming the love of his life home.
Ella walked in while Heather talked to the dog in the kitchen.
“Oh, fire,” Ella crowed.
“I have Christmas cake as well,” I offered.
She grinned. “I knew it would be worth bringing Heather home.”
“You brought her back? Where’s the bike?” I asked, sitting upright.
Ella dropped the local paper, the County Gazette, into my lap. “Don’t
panic. I happened to be in Dulverton, knew she’d be finishing work, and
figured a lift in Little Gem would be preferable over a dangerous ride on the
bike.”
Mollified, I returned to the snug embrace of my chair, the sag in the
cushions just right. I had a horrible feeling I was turning into my father.
“It’s good to see you home. How did the Deliverance course go?”
Ella stood in front of the fire, warming her back, while my toes grew
cold. I tried not to begrudge her stealing my heat. “Good. Odd. Difficult.
Weird, but ultimately worth it. We spent more time discussing mental health
issues in the community than anything else.”
I lifted an eyebrow and thickened my accent. “Watch out for the
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