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Rachel Greenham

Fiction by Rachel Greenham

Chapter 4 ("This is bad blood.")

Wed, 2005-08-31 13:31 — Rachel Greenham

Chapter 4

The treehouse is on fire! The dream was still too vivid in Mike’s mind. It had pulled him sharply into wakefulness in a second, but somehow hadn’t stopped. The black bird, glinting in the firelight. The treehouse is on fire, and Tuck’s trapped inside. And he wasn’t helping. He wasn’t sure if it was because he couldn’t, or wouldn’t. Either way…

Chapter 3 ("I spilt my brother's blood in anger.")

Wed, 2005-08-31 13:30 — Rachel Greenham

Chapter 3

Charlene’s bed, Valerie thought fuzzily as she woke. Mmm, where’s Charlene? Then the last half-year caught up with her, followed rapidly by the night before. She made a dash for the bathroom.

She was a long time sitting there, realizing just how dehydrated she was. Her head hurt. The more she thought about it the more conscious of it she became. It felt like someone had been taking practice swings at her skull with a baseball bat. She flushed and made straight for the shower. It wasn’t the bliss she had been hoping for, the noise of the water being too intrusive, her skin feeling too tender, so she made it a quick one and got out, wrapped herself in a towel and went back into the bedroom to open the thick curtains.

Chapter 2 ("Viewing is by appointment only.")

Wed, 2005-08-31 13:28 — Rachel Greenham

Chapter 2

Have to admit, Valerie thought, as she trundled up main street, Westbury has a better class of tacky Christmas decorations. It was cold and gusty and the roads were slick with grey slush, so she picked her way carefully.

Finally she came to the right junction and swerved off and headed out of town.

The gates to the mansion sported a FOR SALE sign, Valerie noted without surprise as she sped through. The house itself stood dark and lonely amidst the unkempt grounds. There were no obvious signs of habitation. She pulled up in the deepening shadow at the bottom of the steps, killed the engine and took her helmet off.

The Taken

Tue, 2005-08-30 23:13 — Rachel Greenham
With seemingly no way home, Valerie has accepted Jane's offer of adoption, and they have both moved to England, each seeking healing and a new start. While Valerie finds new friendships and the possibility of love, Jane takes on a new student, and old demons.

Chapter 1 ("Which one of us gets to be the evil one?")

Tue, 2005-08-30 23:11 — Rachel Greenham

Chapter 1

Valerie Tucker strode quickly down the path to where she had parked her bike. The appointment with Sheila had been its usual mixture of tension and boredom, and the inevitable feeling of being graded. Still, she thought, it was overcast but the rain looked like it might actually hold off and she had a full tank of gas, so a good hoon out of the city was definitely on the cards.

It was getting to be a tradition for her, after headshrinking sessions, as a way of unkinking all that tension. “Hoon”, she pronounced, enjoying the sound of it. It was a word she picked up from a British bikers’ newsgroup and it was just right for what she had in mind.

Tuck Squared

Tue, 2005-08-30 23:08 — Rachel Greenham

Months after returning from her summer spent at Jane's academy, Valerie Tucker finds herself thrown into a parallel world; one where Tuck is trying to erase everything of Valerie from his life, and where, after a tragedy Valerie had not been there to avert, Jane broods alone in a dark and empty house.

Chapter 3 ("Double the chocolate.")

Mon, 2005-07-25 13:41 — Rachel Greenham
The lazy double-beat of the train's wheels ran over the joins in the tracks. Sara was sketching something quietly. Jack knew this moment. "What is it?" he asked. "Nothin'." "Okay." He sat with her for a while and watched her draw. Sara was easy company; happy to get on and do her own thing. There wasn't much of a view to look at, the carriage windows having been scratched to translucency long ago, but Sara seemed to be drawing something else anyway. Two figures: A little dark-haired girl looking up at a tall, elegant lady. "That's Áine, the fairy queen," Sara corrected him.

Chapter 2 ("And boomps-a-daisy!")

Fri, 2005-06-10 13:38 — Rachel Greenham
Nathan felt warm and immensely comfortable. He didn't want to open his eyes yet. The room was bright with sunlight, but it wasn't shining directly on him. He was lying curled up on his side, which wasn't how he normally slept, but he didn't mind. There was a cool breeze from somewhere, and the distinctive sound of someone typing on a laptop keyboard. It was a comforting sound, like home. He opened his eyes.

Chapter 1 ("You're not alone.")

Sat, 2005-04-30 13:37 — Rachel Greenham
"Stop giggling!" Jack complained. "She'll hear." Danny said, "But that's _silly!_" "It's true! My Granny told me, they really used to do this. The fairy folk're always on the lookout for little boys, she said. They come an' take you away when the grown-ups in't watching an' put their own sick kids in their place, and no-one would know any different 'cept you got sick and din't get any better." "So they'd really dress 'em up in girls' clothing?" "Yeah!" "_Really?_"

Prologue - Part 1 ("Don't ever let her back.")

Wed, 2005-03-16 23:13 — Rachel Greenham
There was no such person as Jane Thompson. There never had been. All the events of the past year were a delusional fantasy, a symptom of her illness. So Valerie had been told, and told, and told again, ever since Val had disappeared. It was as if the people who had seen them both together had just got together and agreed that because it _couldn't_ have happened, it _didn't_ happen. She couldn't blame them: who else but a Tucker would be dumb-stubborn enough to insist on a story in defiance of obvious reality, and keep insisting until they got time on a psych ward?
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