The Shade In The Sands and other stories

An excerpt from “Six Geese a-Laying” in The Shade In The Sands and Other Stories –

December 1920

Mr Timothy Wicklow arrived at Harewood Court after six in the evening. 

The wheels of the motorcar bounced along the country road from the station to the mysterious home of his host, Virginia Dawson-Langley. His host’s home, Harewood Court, stood proud in the moonlight, its Gothic turrets pointing to the cloudless, starlit sky. Mr Wicklow rubbed his hands on his knees, and wondered what the hell he was doing there. A firm believer of carpe diem since his two years’ experience of gambling with death in the trenches, Timothy had jumped at the invitation. 

As much as he wanted to believe he was seizing the day, it was actually Mr Wicklow’s inability to say no, that brought him to Harewood Court. This weakness was firmly ingrained into his soul even before the war. It is rude to decline when you have no other plans, his late mother used to say. As a child, he felt he had been dragged along to many a dull gathering simply because his mother couldn’t say no. The corners of his mouth turned upward; he was just like her, after all.