Roger Ley

  The village was a scene of destruction centred on the remains of the lorry, which stood wrecked and burning in the middle of the road a hundred yards away. They approached it carefully. The man who’d threatened them was in the driving seat, virtually decapitated by the blast. His companion, horribly burned, was attempting to crawl out of the other side of the ruined cab and onto the road. He was mewling piteously.  Tom did his best to help him to the ground, but he screamed from the pain of his injuries. Tom laid him down in the road, spoke gently to him, telling him that everything would be all right and that they’d get him to a hospital. Harry saw Tom slide a pistol from the man’s holster. There was the sound of a gunshot. Tom placed the pistol in the dead man’s hand and stood up. ‘Best thing for him, I did him a mercy,’ he muttered. Seeing Harry’s shocked expression, he added, ‘Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission. That was one of those times.’ An

  On the show’s farewell night at the pub, as Harry sat at the entrance to the music room selling tickets, a strange figure approached. From the build and height, he guessed it was a woman, but she wore a pin-striped suit, with wide lapels, turn-up trousers, a trilby hat, shiny black brogues and what looked like a regimental tie. She carried a silver handled Malacca cane, which Harry suspected was a sword-stick. The monocle through which she stared unblinkingly at him made the costume even more incongruous as he fumbled for her change.  ‘I haven’t got all f***ing day, you know,’ she hissed as he handed the coins over.  An extract from 'Harry Lampeter and the War with Scotland' Amazon code ASIN ‏ : ‎ B095KN13N2 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B095KN13N2 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095KN13N2