This excerpt is from a longer story called The Wezeer and the Sapphire. The aged wezeer, or more conventionally, vizier, on a quest to recover a stolen jewel, has found himself in India where he has been brought before a great maharaja. The maharaja embarks on a series of tales in order to make a…

This is the beginning of a chapter from the novel Campfire Gothic. It was taken out because of problems with chronology, so I put it here. SANTA PAULA [1875] A few days before Christmas the residents of Santa Paula woke up to the sight of snow coming down heavy and wet. Far up in the…

Mackusker again several chapters later. This is where he has his first encounter with the other principal character, Polmar – a Cornish miner who has arrived at the flats below San Emidio, now Frazier Mountain, after a series of grievous misfortunes. PLAYERS AND PROSPECTORS Based on priority MacKusker reckoned he had dibs on whatever gold…

Chapter 1 Lady Harue The first time Lady Harue saw the ghost she wasn\’t sure that it was anything at all. She was by herself looking out into the garden when she had a sense of another presence in the room. There was a movement just at the edge of sight. She turned her head;…

Selection from Chapter 5 Scavengers were hard at work this night. The battle had left bodies strewn across the narrow valley, now groups of men, some with wives and children in tow, flocked like crows to get at the remains. The burning pitch of torches sent shadows sweeping across the ground and flickers of light…