About this story
Beyond Helstonleigh he found townspeople moving quietly toward an old churchyard where burials had ceased. You step into this one-chapter preview with Alletha Rye at the center, where choices turn on the people, promises, and pressure already in the room. Before my own door opens, I must be ready to hear why Alletha risked her name to defend the dead. The chapter closes on a continuation question rather than resolving the novel's larger arc.
How it opens
Near midnight in March, Richard Jones walked from Bromsgrove after missing the last train home.
Beyond Helstonleigh he found townspeople moving quietly toward an old churchyard where burials had ceased.
Richard JonesA crowd at this hour means calamity or folly; which one has brought respectable neighbors outside?
BystanderLower your voice and look toward the grave beside the crossroad.
I followed the pointing hand and saw torchlight over fresh, shallow earth.
Choose
Ask why the grave lies outside the usual ground.
Wait for the approaching bearers.