Chapter 1 – Morning Tea, A Newspaper, And A Bothy
A batch of burnt toast, the kettle whistled in protest, and the TV remote had been eaten by the couch for the fifth time.
Rose Marley shuffled her arthritic hips across the blue vinyl, removing the kettle from the heat ending its tantrum. She made herself a cup of tea, discarded the cremated toast, and took her newspaper with her into the living room. She placed her tea, and newspaper upon the table turning off the TV. The set is over ten years old but Rose preferred her books anyway so the television along with the VHS would be outside by tonight. She put on a pair of spectacles, and licked her thumb separating each page of the paper. Most of the articles were either people complaining or about politics which made her disinterested but an advertisement caught her eye. The ad was for a local bothy that had become dilapidated, the seller preferred someone from the village but was open to bids from buyers in the surrounding areas. She tilted her glasses, she squinted her eyes at the picture, it would take a lot of work but the Bothy had potential. Rose took a sip from her tea, and made the choice to wait before rushing into anything.
Rose is retired, she didn't have much to do during the day aside from the miscellaneous tasks like cleaning, buying food, and paying for utilities. She never wanted to become one of those people who needed to be taken care of especially since her husband had recently passed away from Dementia. This Bothy was an opportunity to do something else, and Rose knew she had to when she saw Mrs Green hobbling into the care home across the street, and saw herself doing the same thing. She removed her gardening gloves before rushing into the house to call the seller. The next morning Rose had awoken early getting washed, and changed. She closed each window making sure that were sealed but ended up locking the backdoor twice because she wasn't sure if it was really locked. Her hip twinged so she leaned against the worktop for a minute spluttering swears under her breath until the pain subsided. She left a note on her coffee table just in case Mrs Goldstein came by to borrow some sugar like she did from time to time. Rose said a prayer by her late husband's picture, and kissed his urn before walking out the door.
The drive there was pleasant, she lived in a small village, but its compact. The town she was going to is spread out amongst hills, and the wilderness. Her four-by-four is sturdy so she knew that it could take the pothole covered roads but she wondered if her hips could take the bumpy terrain. Rose had been offered surgery for her hips but had declined. She detested hospitals, and preferred treating her own ailments when she had the means to do so. Rose passed a few farms, some brown and blonde horses, as well as many herds of cow. Eventually, she saw an open iron gate with a grassy field ahead where a crowd was gathered. She parked her car into the side of the road then took a moment to quell her nerves before exiting the car. She double-checked the handles, and approached the crowd who were in a half circle formation.
It was difficult to see over the crowd because Rose had gotten shorter in her golden years, and most of people here were closer to six feet than she would ever be, even in the height of her youth. With that in mind, she stuck out her pointy elbows, and marched through the people. After, being knocked back a couple of times, she made it to the front of the crowd, and started bidding against a stout farmer wearing tartan clothes head to toe, who was giving her the evil eye. She flashed her nicest smile, trying to keep her dentures at bay as she continued bidding. The bidders were eliminated one by one. Rose was up against the most affluent farmer in the area. His air of arrogance made Roses skin crawl. "All that money but no sense." she thought to herself as she watched him jump up, and down as he countered each bid she made. They were at a tie but this man was not about to back down so she took a leap of faith. "I raise my bid to sixty-thousand pounds!" she shouted out, as gasps rang out from the spectators. The bidder turned his attention to the other gentleman who started sweating buckets but was ironically staying quiet. She grinned as the man shot her a dirty look before shaking his head, and backing down. The bidder exclaimed "One Bothy going for sixty-thousand pounds going once, going twice, and sold to the lovely Rose Marley" he slammed down his gavel. She danced a little but gulped when glaring eyes surrounded her.
Gabriel walked stoicly by his informants side. He walked through every possible way that he could permanetly get rid of Audreys former husband. His heart still felt foul at the fact that his daughter had been taken from him. There was no justification for that but there would be complete justification for his own actions. His footsteps crunch against the frosty dirt as he continued walking. His mind was torn between his current situation and hs worry for Audrey. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. The cool air nipping at his exposed skin. The harshness of the winter seemedv to grow with malice the deeper into the forest they walked. His informant was walking in silence, only taking glances at his partner. The situation was unusual. He was normally called out for information not to do the actual job but since himself and gabriel were on such good terms he decided to agree to accompany him. So, here they were, walking through the woods, down a
Gabriel double-checked everything in the cabin. Each window, lock, and door. He wanted to ensure that the little wooden cabin was secure, he didn't want to chance anything. His daughter meant everythin to him. She was the key to healing their family. He'd just wished that son had been there as well, but it seems that his demise was genuine. However, as sad as their loss had been, they still had Angel, and in that respect, they still had hope. He drifted from his thoughts as he finished up changing Angels diaper. Yesterday, his associate had kindly went out and bought a boatload of baby supplies.The baby had perked up, and Gabriel had used yesterday to put his plan together. He'd contacted a couple of his friends stroke associates to accompany him. He saw set to leave today, he had a gun hidden in his office and gave his asscoiate instructions as to how to get it and what to do, just in case. This knowledge gave him a bit of relief. It was un
Gabriel rushed back to the car with his asscoiate trailing behind him. His heart was overflowing with love and care for his daughter as she snuggled closer to his chest. He used his foot to open the side door. He wanted to get out the cold as soon as possibe.He slid into the seat and ushered the baby into the arm so that he close the door with his free hand. His associate rushed into the car and started up the engine.He cradled his daughter who was falling asleep. Whilst she napped he formed a plan within his mind as to how he would attack the creeps that did this to his family. His mind was racing but the feeling of despair was melting into a puddle of sunshine. He felt beyond grateful that she was okay.As they continued travelling he decided to call his daughter Angel, since she was so beautiful and had survived such a rocky beginning in life. A smiled curled against his lips, he'd never seen a smile as precious or little fingers as small an
The journey he had undertaken to reach the secluded cabin he owned on the other side of Scotland had been absolutely brutal. He was in the heart of the highlands where the snow had already started to fall. His eyes ached from the brightess of the snowflakes that formed into one oversized series of blankets covering the landscape. He stood on his porch watching the snowfall, the cool air blew over the exposed skin of his hands and face. He didn't flinch, his body had grown numb to feeling. The grief didn't leave him, he knew that until he had concrete answers about his daughter then these feelings would continue to fest within the chasm of his soul. He sighed, he turned around and headed back inside. He leaned against the closed oak door. As soon as he had arrived he had contacted a couple of connections in order to get information on the doctor from the hospital. He was waiting for a phone call. He did his best not to obsess over the possibilities. He walked through his living room.
A couple of weeks had rushed by since Audrey had lost the twins. She had regressed into her shell, a smile hadn't touched her lips since that day. A ghost of smile had only touched Gabriels lips when he looked at pictures of his wife or sonograms of the twins. The constant calls and letters had decreased in frequency but still occured. He had filled out police reports but there wasn't much they could do until the people invovled actually hurt himself or his wife. He found himself going crazy with th nightmares he was having and the constant feeling that something wasn't right. His relationship with Audrey hadn't been fairing well either. After, a particular brutal argument, he had regrettably stated that he wished he had never done any of this in the first place which cut her like a hot knife into playdough. She hadn't spoken to him much since that argument. He had apologize profusely and repeatedly but her eyes had become hollow over the following days. He hated seein
The fiasco would prove to be the first in a long line of annoyances this man had planned for Gabriel. Upon, arriving back in Scotland he recieved harassing phone calls, letters, along with people showing up to threaten and intimidate him. On top of that, the detective kept contacting him, asking him to confirm people, and places he had been. The stress was getting to him but he did his best to support Audrey who was heavily pregnant and seemed to be acting off recently. She started sleeping longer, and wasn't eating as much as she normally would. He would ask her if she was okay but she always assured him that it was just pregnancy stuff and that it was nothing to worry over. He wanted to believe her but he couldn't shake the feeling of sadness that had began to wash over him whenever he looked at the sonogram pictures of his children. The day he'd come back from Scotland she had practically shoved the sonogram pictures into his face. He was delighted at the news, not