They had forgotten how arduous this hiking trail could be, but for seasoned walkers Joan and Kevin, they somehow couldn’t help themselves. This wasn’t the most popular of routes, being as it was, one that segwayed off the more popular Pennine Way, and was quite rough in parts. It was also raining heavily, but there was no wind to push at them, and it wasn’t cold. Hills sloped upwards on either side, dotted with coarse shr...

You might call me a successful entrepreneur, or businessman. A lot of people would envy my position. I am in my late fifties, and you could call me a career-minded individual. My name is Tristram Foley. It used to be Gary, but Gary is a dull name. I didn’t change it officially, just told new people I met, and they knew no different. I’m not the most attractive person you’ll ever meet, but certainly not the worst. When I s...

Was it paranoia? Perhaps it was, as the train pulled away from the station which was a three-minute walk from Frazier Street maternity hospital, with the little bundle of joy she cradled, sat looking out of the window. Was she being observed? Somebody had been following her she was sure. A man who looked like he slept on the streets. A scruffy individual of no fixed abode. She didn’t like to stare straight at him. In fact...

The boy was terrified, his eyes conveying fear like that he had never known. He was four years old and tied to a steel chair, a gag around his mouth, his tearful eyes staring at the man who stood by the doorway of the shed with a 7-inch wildcat Bowie knife, looking at the child with curiosity. He had killed before and knew he would this time. He preferred them as young as possible because they were more innocent, so a fou...

He reached the top of the stairs and paused to regain his breath. He sometimes wished that the small block of six flats had a lift, but then walking up and down to his home was, other than sometimes walking up to six miles a day, his only form of exercise at seventy-two. Switching on the hallway light, he made his way across to his flat door. The light barely illuminated the hallway, but it was enough for him to see what...

No matter how long he stared at the fuel gauge, he knew that it would not budge. Out here in the middle of the countryside, in the middle of a forest, in the middle of the track that doubled as a footpath and road, he was stranded in his brand new Vauxhall, faced with a long walk. He'd even forgotten to bring his mobile phone, so there was no way of communicating with anybody unless he walked to the nearest phone-box, or...

The horse was in shock. It didn’t know what had happened to it as it could not comprehend just what was going on, and the farmer to whom it belonged, could only stare with a similar level of incomprehension. Standing at the gate, as ‘Bessie’ a retired Haflinger horse, lay on her side in watery mud in the corner of a field, her legs cycling slowly, head moving around, eyes blinking, her heart pumping its last as it lay som...

It was, and still is, one of the great mysteries of its time. ‘The Bazookas’ were a rock and soul five-piece band, who, in the late sixties, simply vanished. Books were written, documentaries made, and even a TV docu-drama was made, but they’re still out there, their legacy written in the history books. There were bands that were bigger than them, but they towered over all other bands below them. Three number ones and two...

He noticed it as soon as he walked through the door, and was about to mention it, but then thought better of it as the youth settled behind his desk and set about turning on his computer. His black eye looked angry and painful, spread across the cheekbone and blending away on his right temple, as though prior to coming into work he had gotten himself into a nasty fight, him on the losing side. He seemed to get on with his...

He really tried his best, but it was impossible. He just could not get interested in the talks and lectures at the ‘Agricultural Innovations For Sustainable Economic Landscapes’ conference, but afterwards, there was drinks and a buffet, deep in Mexico City in one of its most upmarket hotels which was attached to the centre, so that was okay, but his wife loved it. She lapped the whole event up, and he was secretly glad th...

Turning the key in the garage door, there was a satisfying click as it locked. His left hand held a claw hammer which was swung at it. It took three swipes to break the key. He nodded in satisfaction. “There, now we’re locked in,” he said, dropping the tool, then turning and walking across to a full-length Hanoi mirror, leaning against a drawer chest. In its reflection he could see the object of his disgust, Kenneth May,...

Playing truant was always appealing. Always. Two nine-year-olds deep into their school days would always know better than what adults told them. Your years in school were not the best days of your life, and you don’t need to attend classes to get clever to get good jobs. They knew it all, so didn’t need to bother attending, and why do maths lessons and cross-country runs when it was much more appealing to play on railways...

He stared out from behind the glass of a small frame, the picture taken 22 years ago as he stood on a beach, the sea behind him beneath a cloudless sky. She wanted to feel emotion at his passing, wanted to shed a tear, but couldn’t. He hadn’t been a bad husband, and he certainly hadn’t been good, but then neither had she. Yet he had seemed to treat her as though she wasn’t really there. She had been someone he could fall...

As he watched the football results in an electrical retailer’s window, he saw that the only goal scored in the Denwick-Whitelaw match was scored by Tristan Simian, a Swedish striker. It didn’t surprise him one iota. Tristan played for Denwick in the third division, and at his current firing rate, his team were heading for the top of the league. They were fourth. It wouldn’t have surprised him if talent scouts had already...

The house was of no significance, and would barely warrant a second glance, nestled as it was a mile from the nearest town on a country lane leading into cloudy valleys. As Daniel Carter drove past, he slowed down, then halted the Volkswagen Passat and stared at the decrepit detached abode, with its flaking front door, grimy windows, and missing roof tiles. He pulled the car onto the verge and left the vehicle. At forty-o...