5:00 AM
Hidden Intentions by Dave Flint
Summary:
Toby could... and Toby would.
‘Enjoy yourself as you rot, old man. And you’re not my dad – you never were.’
Southern England, September 1957
When thirteen-year-old Toby Mitcher’s mum collapses, never to wake up,
Toby’s alcoholic stepfather becomes his legal guardian.
He thought life couldn’t get much worse, but was he wrong.
Time passes, and an orderly direction comes into his life.
That is until problems start and the disappearances begin.
No more being put upon or allowing bad situations to happen.
From now on, Toby is in control. Or is he?
Information about the Book
Title: Hidden Intentions
Author: Dave Flint
Release Date: 21st July 2020
Genre: Mystery
Page Count: 366
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
Excerpt
The summer
holidays were over for what good they had been, and Toby had hated every
minute. The last six weeks had left his body with multiple bruises from where
his stepfather had struck him. Whenever a task had not been completed the way
his stepfather had wanted it, which was more often than not, Toby had born the
results of his brutality. His stepfather’s belt stinging him, his fists
pummelling his body, and all because he was told he was useless at everything
he did. It had been six weeks of hell, and he realised it would never end.
Living on the
outskirts of the village of Collinston, a few miles from Portsmouth in
Hampshire, Toby felt older than his thirteen years and wished school was over
and done with.
Pulling on a
colour-faded shirt, Toby winced at the bruise under his armpit. It was changing
to a blackish-purple in colour, besides another on his upper arm and cursed his
stepfather for the umpteenth time. Stood there in his ill-fitting clothes, Toby
wondered what the rest of 1957 had in store for him.
Slouching to the
open sash window, Toby looked out over the tree-lined fields leading towards
the village of Collinston. Wearily, he looked down at his old bike still in
bits leaning haphazardly against the collapsing garden shed, rusting away like
most things around the place. Everything in the house was either damaged or
broken and needed renewing. Even his bed had a broken leg that was now wedged
with different blocks of wood. His stepfather had told him to fix it, but he
thought sod it – why should he? He loathed this suffocating life but, as
always, it was his stepfather that was causing him all his problems.
Slipping his
finger down the dirty windowpane, Toby let his imagination wander before being
distracted by his mum as she moved towards the clothesline at the back of the
house, struggling with a basket full of wet washing. Suddenly, she looked up
and waved, beckoning him to come down. Pushing away from the window, he sat
heavily on his bed, wishing he’d stayed there, and realised another chore was
coming his way.
Retrieving his
socks and plimsolls from under the bed, Toby pulled them on and resentfully
left the room. On the landing, he listened to his stepfather curse as a glass
smashed and stood still a moment, before making his way steadily and silently
downstairs. Stopping just before he got to the bottom two steps, Toby hesitated
before carrying on, when his stepfather’s aggressive voice bellowed.
‘That you,
Toby?’
Toby wondered if
he was coming out to bawl at him as he usually did, and listened to his
stepfather curse again as he rattled through some more glasses in the
sideboard. The kitchen clock on the wall showed ten past nine. Christ, he’s
started early he thought as he carried on warily, ignoring another bellowing
call. Pulling open the back door, Toby moved out of the house, making his way
along the path, wondering what his mum wanted. Turning the corner, he was
greeted by his mother kneeling on the ground with wet washing all around her,
clutching at her chest, gasping for breath.
‘Get William –
hurry, Toby.’ Her eyes reflected the fear her body felt.
The door banged
open against the water-filled sink as Toby ran into the kitchen, heading
towards the living room and slammed into his demanding stepfather.
Bang! His
stepfather’s calloused hand caught him powerfully across the side of his head,
throwing him violently against the tiled fireplace. Toby wiped a trickle of
blood from his mouth and tried to speak through a split lip as his stepfather’s
legs settled around him.
‘It’s mum; she’s
in the garden, she—’
A brutal hand
grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, bringing him face to face with bad
breath and a scowling intoxicated figure.
‘The next time I
speak to you, you answer me. You hear me, boy?’ He shook Toby, throwing him back
across the floor. ‘I’ve had enough of your moody ways of late.’
Climbing to his
knees, Toby spoke again, ‘It’s Mum, she’s—’
Another clout
caught him, landing on the other side of his face as he tried to clear the pain
throbbing through his head. This time, Toby shouted at his stepfather as he
attempted to make himself heard. ‘Mum’s collapsed in the garden!’
Slowly the
stockily built figure took in what was being said. Kicking Toby to the floor,
he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and headed out of the room, taking
his drink with him.
Toby stood up
and held onto his face as tears welled, and wiped the blood seeping from his
lip as his stepfather ambled unsteadily through the kitchen and out of the
house.
Toby spoke as
soon as he left. ‘You bastard!’ He never understood why his mum married him, he
had told her he was a drunkard, but she insisted he loved her and that they
needed a man around the place. And that’s when everything had begun to go wrong
in their lives.
Within a few
moments, Toby’s stepfather came in and shouted at him from the kitchen.
‘Boy, get out
here. Now!’
Holding his
face, Toby walked into the kitchen and watched his usually harsh, ill-tempered
stepfather wipe perspiration away from his reddened face with the loose material
of his vest. He was agitated and shaken.
Author Information
Dave Flint has been an avid reader since his twenties.
Married at the age of twenty, and eighteen months later with three days' notice,
he and his wife discovered their baby was going to be twin girls.
He thinks the shock at that time ended their thoughts of having any more children.
He served in the Merchant Navy for a short period until he realised being engaged and married,
for him, would not work too well. So, he worked in industry and later the aircraft and radar sector
until his retirement in 2012 at the age of 64. Finding a hobby, he joined a writing group not knowing
where it might lead him. Low and behold all those books he read over the years must have had
an impact on him. The writing group he joined gave him encouragement and criticism,
enabling him to find his feet in another world.
Together, he and his wife have holidayed in many countries.
China being the most astonishing last year, they just made that one!
They like the scenic trips where they can take in the different wonders of the world,
such as in America's Parks and Canyons, Yellowstone, and New Orleans Bayous, Italy's Pompeii,
and what its cities have to offer with its past. The Vatican and Rome, Sicily and Etna,
The Catacombs and so much more. He did stop in Southern Africa in his early years while in the
M.N. that could probably be why he was so taken with Wilbur Smith and his books.
Being in good health, he enjoys playing Badminton and going on long walks with the Ramblers
group he belongs to, and now looks forward to when he can get back into the swing of things.
Tour Schedule
Monday 20th July
Tuesday 21st July
Wednesday 22nd July
Thursday 23rd July
Friday 24th July
Saturday 25th July
Monday 27th July
Tuesday 28th uly
Wednesday 29th July
Thursday 30th July
Friday 31st July
Saturday 1st August
Monday 3rd August
Tuesday 4th August
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