A sample chapter from Trouble at the church

Published: Jul 20, 2024 by

Here is a free sample chapter from ‘The Little-Astwick Mysteries - Trouble at the church’.

The torch battery was failing fast, the light getting fainter and fainter by the second. He quickly shone the pale light ahead of him to see as much as he could before it failed completely. The way ahead seemed clear for the next few metres but he couldn’t make out much more than that.

The batteries suddenly gave out and he was plunged into complete darkness.

He stretched his hands out in front of him and took a small step forward, trying to remember his surroundings as best he could. He took a few more steps forward without any consequences, but now he was at the spot where the edge of the torch light had reached. He now had to try and base his movements on his memory alone, hoping he had his bearings correct.

It should have been three more steps until he reached his goal. One step, two steps, three steps… BANG!

Ok, it was two and a half steps.

His outstretched hands grasped the things in front of him. One was touching the altar cloth and the other reached up higher and found the cold metal of the crucifix with his fingertips. He tried to grasp it firmly, but in the pitch dark he lost his balance and managed to knock the crucifix off balance.

It tipped slowly away from him, before finishing its arc and slowly starting to swing back the other way towards him. He desperately tried to catch the large metal crucifix before it swung down, but without the aid of vision in the darkness he missed it and the last thing he heard was the loud thud as it hit him squarely on his left temple.

He didn’t even have time to recognise the pain as he was instantly knocked unconscious, falling to the floor like a sack of spuds.

The Little-Astwick Mysteries - Trouble at the church, is available now on Amazon Kindle and Paperback.