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Keeley
Smith

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Smith

The Pendle Hill
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The Soul Keeper
trilogy

First
Soul

Second
Soul

Published
in 2014 by Smashwords
Publishing

Copyright
© Keeley Smith

The author has
asserted their moral right under the

Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of
this work.

All Rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder,
nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other
than that in which it is published and without a similar condition
being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Cora, Jack,
Tabitha, Ember, Ayden, Clay, Eli, Clio, and Laura have been my
friends since 2006, so it is safe to say we’ve had our fair share
of arguments, heartache, laughter and adventure
. They are the perfect family; they are a family I love as
much as anyone can love their own fictional characters.

I began
plotting their story because I missed witch books - I was in the
Harry Potter grieving stage- and I have to say, it was one of the
best decisions I have ever made! I adore this series and I will
miss all of my characters dearly. I hope that at least one of my
characters have found a place in your heart, if they have, then my
work is done.

I hope you
love them as much as I do, and I hope their ending is what you
always wanted. Thank you for making this journey such a memorable
one!

1

BABY

“
Cora, hold
still!” Tabitha snapped whilst Cora fidgeted for what seemed to be
the hundredth time.

The last
twelve weeks had been easy for Cora, well easier than what was
considered to be the ‘usual’ in her witch life. She’d been able to
live, to laugh and forget all of the impending doom and gloom.
Forget all witch related drama. Now, however, the twelve weeks had
flown by and the fun had started.

The imminent
baby scan.

The growing
baby bump.

These were
just two of the many things Cora had to look forward to now that
Alastair had pushed his way into her life.

Alastair. The
grating thorn in her side. He wouldn’t leave their village for more
than one day, because he liked to stick his skinny neck into their
business. He spent every waking minute in the shop or simply
walking into her house without invitation. The latter action had,
on many occasions, pushed Ayden to the point of losing his
patience. Well, the little patience he had when it came to
Alastair.

Ayden had
pushed Alastair once too often in those clashes, meaning Tavish had
become quite unhappy. Cora had yet to see that man happy. How
terrible could his life be if he never smiled? But he did spend
most of his time with Alastair...When Tavish was unhappy, his fists
liked to come out and play, which happened a lot.

Cora really
didn’t like the drama that came with being a witch.

On one
occasion, Tavish had moved rather quickly, wrapping strong hands
around Ayden’s throat. The situation, it was always a situation
whenever Tavish was close by, escalated rather quickly.

Seeing no
other option, Cora had pushed her way in-between them with a sneer
placed firmly on her face and a protective hand on her belly, to
enforce her point. The tension had dissolved as soon as Alastair
had grasped Tavish’s shoulder. Alastair wouldn’t risk anything near
the baby. At least for now, they had some power over him. This was
her only saving grace, because the rest of the time, she had no
control over her life.

Cora had lost
count of the amount of times she’d run to the bathroom in the
pretence that she needed to throw up. It was becoming rather
annoying. A small part of her wished she was pregnant, just so all
of this was worthwhile.

Unfortunately,
Alastair had watched her throw up. “For proof,” he’d sneered at
them. Cora had had to drink a concoction of potions that Tabitha
had created to help her vomit, it hadn’t been pleasant. But then
again, vomiting never was.

“
How will this
work?” she asked Tabitha, feeling the butterflies flutter in her
chest.

Jack remained
by her side, keeping his own thoughts in his head. The look on his
face was one she knew well, anger, frustration and fear, all rolled
into one big shit storm. Words weren’t needed between the two of
them. The story could be told with just one look. His chocolate
eyes were hard but his hand held hers, soft and
reassuring.

“
It will work
in tricking the scan. At twelve weeks they will not see much but a
small heartbeat. That is one thing we can manipulate.”

“
But after
that, are we ready for what is to come?” Eli asked
Tabitha.

“
We will be.
Ember is working on it. We are going to be just fine. The thing you
need to focus on is the plan, Cora. Alastair must be overthrown.”
Tabitha’s leaf green eyes studied her.

Cora nodded,
even though Tabitha’s look was intimidating to the point of making
her feel ill with nerves. Ridding Alastair from their lives was the
main reason they were doing this. She had to pull herself together.
“I can do it.”

“
Good, because
he is here,” Ember said as she popped up in the living room and
then disappeared back into the shop, on guard.

“
Remember, we
have to kick his ass in whatever way we can. Seeing the heartbeat,
believing the baby is there, this kicks his ass. Don’t let the
nerves show, beautiful,” Jack held her hand and kissed her softly
on her lips. Despite their audience, he deepened the kiss which
worked perfectly at dispersing her nerves.

They walked
down the stairs into the shop together and faced Alastair who was
accompanied by a woman. One Cora recognised. Cathella. Fear surged
into her bones, refusing to let go.

“
What the hell
is this?” Cora asked, glaring at Alastair and then at Cathella.
“What is she doing here?”
So much for not
letting my nerves show.

“
She is yer
scan equipment,” Alastair replied, once again completely unbaffled
by her rage.

“
I thought she
could only give details about objects?”

“
Nae.”

“
Yes, you said
before that she could...”

“
Nae, A
didnae.”

“
Can you at
least answer one of my bloody questions properly?” Cora snapped and
heard Ayden and Clay snicker.

“
She will touch
yer belly, as she touches all objects, and will see the
truth.”

“
How is that
even the same thing? The baby isn’t an object!” Cora barked. Anger
had firmly pushed aside any remaining nerves.
Who does this man think he is? Who is he to think he can run
my life?

“
If yer say
so,” Alastair spat.

Cora shot a
passing glance at Tabitha but saw no concern in her leaf green
eyes. This hadn’t been expected. Could the witch really know if
Cora was pregnant or not? There was only one way to find
out.

Cathella
stepped towards her. “Yer will need to sit down for
this.”

Cora sat and
watched as Cathella placed her hands on Cora’s belly. Cora thought
it was bizarre that a stranger was touching her belly. Cathella
looked at her, those wide amber eyes made Cora’s heart palpitate.
Did Cathella know something? Why had they believed such a plan
would work for them? In her short time as a witch, Cora had
experienced nothing but bad luck. The only thing that kept her sane
was her coven. Her family. Cora looked at Tabitha, her eyes full of
questions. Was this plan going to work? Even if it didn’t, it was
too late now anyway.

“
Okay,”
Cathella muttered.

“
Okay?” Tabitha
asked. The relief in her voice was only obvious to those who knew
her.

“
Yeah, yer huv
a healthy baby boy in there.”

“
What?” Jack
questioned in unison with Cora.

When had
Tabitha put a gender to this fake baby? How had she done it?
Tabitha hadn’t mentioned it.

Alastair
hovered around them as Cathella stood behind him, waiting for her
next command. Cora definitely couldn’t live like that. Especially
when the command came from him. She had a pretty good idea what
life was like under his rule, suffocating, stressful, miserable. No
wonder Tavish rarely smiled. She would feel sorry for him if she
didn’t hate him so much.

“
So, has Quinn
been in touch yet?” Jack leered, throwing his cocky grin in
Alastair’s direction.

Alastair
didn’t respond. He scowled and then walked out of the shop followed
by his own coven members.

“
Well, that got
rid of him,” Clay smirked.

Cora looked at
Tabitha again. “Tab, why is it a boy? Why did you pick
that?”

“
Another
question, how the hell did you do it?” Eli marvelled.

“
Ember is just
as good as myself, she projected the sex of the baby.”

Clay laughed
and pushed his hand through his dirty blonde hair, “You two are a
force to be reckoned with.”

Tabitha
smiled. “Alastair would only be happy if it was a boy. He is a
chauvinistic pig, but I’m surprised Cathella could pick up on it so
quickly. We need to keep our eye on her as she is more powerful
than we know, and she’s so quiet. I do not like the quiet
types.”

They looked at
the closed shop door.

“
This is going
to be a long six months,” Eli sighed, shaking his head.

Cora couldn’t
agree more. She couldn’t wait for the whole thing to be finished.
One way or the other, it would. If she died trying to overthrow
Alastair, it wouldn’t be a wasted death. She’d be pissed after, if
there was an after.... but it wouldn’t be a waste.

Maybe she
could come back and haunt him?

2

No Rose, just the thorn

“
Morning, Cora,
I think it is best for you to stay at home today and rest,” Tabitha
instructed. Something was off, she sounded too jovial.

“
Alastair’s
there, isn’t he?” Cora asked, holding the phone between her ear and
her shoulder. A finger was firmly stuffed in her other ear, trying
to plug out the noise of the builders.

“
Hmmm... so
yes, we are doing the Christmas decorations today because we did
not have the chance to do it
yesterday
.”

Tabitha’s
words held anger, an anger which was aimed at Alastair who would no
doubt be listening to their conversation at a safe-ish distance
from Tabitha.

Christmas was
only four weeks away. It was frightening to even think of such a
thing. Where had the year gone? It only felt like two minutes since
last Christmas. One she’d spent with her mum. One where she’d
shared the news about her pregnancy. She shook herself. She
wouldn’t slump into the sadness. She’d told herself this year would
be different.

“
Okay, Tab,
I’ll stay home,” Cora agreed, pushing aside the ache in her
chest.

“
It is not like
you do not have things to do there, how is the renovating
going?”

“
It’s loud and
chaotic, but it is getting there, slowly.”

“
Are the men
being useful?”

“
If by useful,
you mean not helping at all, then yes, they are being very useful.
I’ve left them to pick up the table.”

Tabitha
laughed and Cora heard Alastair ask what was happening.

“
Apart from
Ciaran, he is a gentleman and does everything I ask him to
do.”

“
Hmmm... we
knew that from the moment we met him. Well, have fun and take care
of yourself. Love.”