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First published in Great Britain in 1996 by HarperCollinsPublishers
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Copyright © Reginald Hill 1996
Reginald Hill asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780007313167
Ebook Edition © JULY 2015 ISBN 9780007386772 Version: 2015-06-22
And what may I deem now, but that this is a land of mere lies, & that there is nought real and alive therein save me. Yea, belike even these trees & the green grass will presently depart from me, & leave me falling down through the clouds.
WILLIAM MORRIS, The Wood Beyond the World
No evidence was found to lead us ⦠to think that the convictions were unsound or that the accused were treated unfairly ⦠we cannot rewrite history by substituting our latter-day judgement for that of contemporaries â¦
JOHN MAJOR, Response (Feb 1993) to request to reconsider cases of British soldiers executed during WW1
si canimus silvas, silvae sint consule dignae>*.
VIRGIL, Eclogue IV
* If we must sing of woods, let them be woods that are worthy of a prime minister
Monday morning, start of a new week, air bright as ice in a crystal glass, brandy-gold sun pouring from delft-blue sky, the old bracken glowing on the rolling moors, the trees still pied with their unblasted leaves, the pastures still green with their unmuddied grass, as October runs into November and thinks itâs September still.
Edgar Wield drove slowly out of Enscombe, slowly because on mornings like this what you were driving through was far more important than where you were driving to, and also because during the short time heâd been living in the village heâd learned that only a fool assumed that the narrow roads ran clear further than the next bend.
His caution was rewarded when he eased round a corner and found George Creed shepherding the stragglers of a flock of sheep through a gate into a field set up with holding pens. The sight made him smile at the echo of his first sighting of Creed doing much the same task on this very road. Since then theyâd become both neighbours and friends.
ââMorning, George, fine-looking beasts,â he called through his open window.
Domicile entitled him to this pretension of expertise, though he wasnât altogether sure whether the term beasts could legitimately be applied to sheep as well as cattle.
ââMorning, Edgar,â said Creed. âHappen theyâll do. Sounds daft, but Iâll be sorry to see them go.â
âTheyâre off then?â said Wield now taking in the significance of the pens.
âAye, folk have got to eat, thatâs what farmingâs all about. But the older I get, the more it bothers me, selling off what Iâve bred up. Donât be saying owt of this down in the Morris else theyâll be thinking Iâm going soft in the head!â
âWhich market are you taking them to?â
âNo market. Iâve always dealt man and boy with Haigâs of Wharfedale. They give me top price âcos they know my stock, and I sell them my stock âcos I know theyâll see them right. So watch out for their wagon on your way into town. Take up most of the road them things.â
âIâll be careful,â said Wield. âNo hurry on a morning like this. Iâd as lief be staying here to give you a hand if youâd have me.â
âIâm always willing to set on a likely lad,â laughed Creed. âBut I think youâd be wanting your cards afore the end of the day.â
He glanced upwards as he spoke and Wield followed his gaze into the unflawed bowl of blue sky.