Novel Sneak Peek!

Who doesn't love a (literary) peep show?😉... 

Please note: this excerpt is taken from a draft manuscript and may differ from the final published version.

Treading softly, Maven approached the sheep from her position behind it. One wrong move and the creature would rush further into the salt marsh. Her heart thrummed against her chest as she inched the lasso up and over the animal's head down to the base of its neck. Success! Maven let out the breath she had not realised she was holding.

The sheep turned to look at her and blinked slowly. Maven's face flushed. All of that effort and time to secure the sheep and it wasn't even going to put up a fight? She was unsure whether to feel frustrated or relieved. Perhaps, both.

            The sheep then dropped itself the ground in the front-legs-first-then-back-legs way that they did. Its thick woollen coat - more brown and grey than white - rippled in the breeze. Maven tugged gently on the rope in an attempt to get the animal to move, but it barely acknowledged the movement around its neck. After a minute of tugging, it turned to Maven with a look that said, 'no chance'. She sighed and sat down next it, finally accepting there was nothing else she could do until it decided to move.

            'You would not know,' she said to the sheep, 'but, it is my birthday today.'

            The sheep said nothing.

            Maven looked back towards the sanctuary. There were no other living creatures around them; none big enough to see at least. She smiled and lay back onto the soft grass. She thought of her last birthday back home in Hazelstead. Dulcina's older brother had convinced his father to let Maven have a day away from work. He and Maven's brother had then taken her to a fair that was being held in the village. She had eaten candied fruits, boiled bacon and mushroom pastries, and even drank ale. Her father had met them there during a break from his daily duties and surprised her with a wooden sculpture of a dog he had purchased just for her.

     Her heart was squeezed by something that felt like grief as she realised the sculpture was still in her room at Hazelstead. She had forgotten it in their urgency to leave for the sanctuary and now Maven doubted she would ever see it again. What if she never saw her father again? Or her brother? Never got to hold them close and breathe them in. She could barely remember what they smelled like. How long until she forgot what they looked like? Or, what their voices sounded like? Could she be happy living in the sanctuary forever, alone, with no true friend or family?

            Maven let the tears run free as she lay there surrounded by the egg smell of the salt marsh and the stubborn sheep that would not move.

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I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek from my novel - keep your eyes peeled for more news on my writing here and on my Instagram!