Mother of Demons (19 page)

About the Author

Len Maynard & Mick Sims are the authors of several thriller novels, including
Nightmare City, Stronghold
, and
Stillwater
, and the Department 18 books
The Eighth Witch
and
A Plague Of Echoes
, all from Samhain.
Mother Of Demons
is Department 18 book 5.
Convalescence
, an e-novella, is scheduled in 2015.

They are currently working on more thrillers. They have been published in romance under a pseudonym, have had nine story collections published, and are currently completing the tenth. They have had numerous stories published in a variety of anthologies and magazines. They have won awards with their screenplays. They also work as editors, and do ghost writing projects, and have been essayists, reviewers and small press publishers.

www.maynard-sims.com

Look for these titles by Maynard Sims

Now Available

Nightmare City

Stronghold

Stillwater

The Department 18

The Eighth Witch

A Plague Of Echoes

Coming Soon:

Convalescence

A modern ghost story

Stillwater

© 2015 Maynard Sims

Life was good for Beth, once. Now a car crash has left her confined to a wheelchair. To help her recuperate and rebuild her life, she’s leased Stillwater, a house with a lake in the countryside. But her dreams of peace and quiet are thwarted when she realizes she’s not alone. A girl who once lived at Stillwater—until she drowned in the lake—has never left, and she does not seem pleased by Beth’s presence. Beth sets out to solve the mystery of Stillwater. But can she find a strength she doesn’t know she possesses as she fights the fury of the dead girl, and tries to establish herself as the true mistress and keeper of the Stillwater house and lake?

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Stillwater:

The dinner, when it finally arrived, was superb. Gwen was a great cook. The meat fell away from the bone as soon as the knife touched it, and the carrots and broccoli were crisp and tasted fresh, unlike vegetables Beth had bought in the past from supermarkets.

“You can thank Arthur for those,” Gwen said, when Beth commented on them. “He’s been blessed with green fingers. Our garden is like an allotment.”

Sitting opposite Arthur Latham Beth watched his face flush with embarrassment, and not a little pride. The pair of them seemed well suited to each other. Beth felt a twinge of envy.

“Tell me,” Beth said. “Have you ever met the owner of my house?”

“Bernard Franklin? No, I’ve never seen him,” Gwen said. “Arthur has though.”

“Only very briefly,” Latham said. “I saw him around town from time to time, and bumped into him once or twice at the post office. I tried to make conversation with him, but he didn’t want to know. I thought he was a surly devil.”

“Really?” Beth said. “Why was that?”

“Well, this is a fairly friendly community. I wouldn’t say we’re in each other’s pockets, but we all pass the time of day, and if push comes to shove we all look out for each other. Franklin on the other hand wouldn’t have anything to do with us; kept very much to himself. And his daughter wasn’t much better. Jessica, her name was. She’d walk around the village with her nose in the air, and wouldn’t really talk to anyone, not even the people her own age. I don’t think she was deliberately rude. Mr. Samuels who runs the grocer’s told me she was always very pleasant to him. I put it down to the way she’d been brought up. Thought we were too normal, too boring.”

“It was very sad what happened to her,” Gwen said.

“What was that?” Beth asked.

“She died…drowned…a few days after her seventeenth birthday.”

“How did it happen?”

“An accident,” Latham said. “So the inquest found. She’d gone for a swim in the lake, and got entangled in some weeds. At least, that was the theory.”

“You sound skeptical,” Beth said.

“I was then. I am now,” Latham said. “She was a pupil at Greysmeade, the local high school, for the short time she was living here. I was a teacher there before I retired, and I remember that Jessica Franklin was in the school swimming team. She wasn’t a popular member but they tolerated her because she was such a strong swimmer. She helped the school bring home a number of county trophies. It seemed unlikely to me a girl like that would have become victim to some pondweed.”

“Did you give evidence at the inquest?” Beth asked.

“Oh yes, I gave my opinion, but it didn’t count for much. The postmortem also found a high level of alcohol in Jessica’s blood. Given those details the verdict was a foregone conclusion. Poor girl.”

“That’s very sad,” Beth said.

“I think it broke her father. From what I could tell he doted on his daughter once his wife left him. I think that when Jessica died it finished him. He moved away…abroad…Malta, I think…but kept the house on. He returned to England after a while, but settled near Cambridge. He never came back to live at Stillwater, and it’s been a rental property ever since.”

“How long ago did all this happen?”

“About fifteen years now,” Gwen Latham said.

“And the house has been let out ever since?”

“Yes, but only sporadically,” Latham said. “You’re the first tenant in about four years. The place was standing empty before you came along. I must say, it was a relief to many of us in the village when we heard that Stillwater was going to be occupied again.”

“Why’s that?”

“What is it they say?” Latham said. “Nature abhors a vacuum? Just six months ago you wouldn’t have recognized the place. The garden was completely overgrown. The rhododendrons were rampant, and so many plants had been strangled by the bindweed.”

“The house was in a shocking state of disrepair. Houses die if they’re not occupied, and Stillwater was well on the way.” Gwen continued. “Many of the windows were broken and at least three of the shutters had gone. The gutters were down, and the paths were cracked and broken. It was a vandals’ paradise.” She paused, noticing the look of surprise on Beth’s face. “Oh yes, even here in the back of beyond we still fall foul of many of society’s ills. Luckily Falmer’s are a fairly conscientious company. They put the place straight. I think the only part of the estate that wasn’t refurbished was the lake. No one touched that.”

“Which is just as well,” Latham said. “Considering that Jessica met her end there. In my opinion, to tart it up would, I don’t know…tarnish her memory.”

Gwen Latham laughed sharply. “You sentimental old fool,” she said tartly, and then, to Beth, “You listen to him and you’d think the whole village was in mourning for her.”

“And that wasn’t the case?”

“Well, I didn’t shed any tears for her, and I can think of many who shared my view of her. Good riddance, I said at the time.”

“Gwen!” Latham said. “That’s not very charitable.”

“Maybe, but I still think the girl was a troublemaker.”

“You’ve no evidence for that. Just local gossip.”

“Well, as they say, there’s no smoke…”

“Enough!” Latham said. He turned to Beth. “What must you think of us, Beth? Honestly, we’re not small-minded people. Would you like a coffee?”

“I’d love one, but decaf if you have it, otherwise I’ll spend the night bouncing off the walls.”

“No problem,” Latham said, and left the room.

Beth glanced across at Gwen, who was grinning mischievously. She caught Beth’s questioning look.

“Oh, take no notice of us. Arthur’s a lovely man and I care for him deeply. He just has blind spots in certain areas. He’s far too trusting. He tries to see the good in everyone. But sometimes there’s no good to be found.”

“And that applied to Jessica Franklin?”

“In my opinion, and that of many others in the village.”

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

Mother of Demons

Copyright © 2015 by Maynard Sims

ISBN: 978-1-61922-749-1

Edited by Don D’Auria

Cover by Kelly Martin

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: August 2015

www.samhainpublishing.com