Chapter One.
Kate Winslow.
The Mid Martin Henge Mysteries. The Witches Coven.
Book Two.
Introduction:
The Kate Winslow books are a story of good and evil, and how a faithful 93-year-old woman and with a strong Christian faith uses her agile mind and belief to aid her nephew Inspector Simon Culvate in solving crimes.
In Book One. Kate Winslow had solved the crimes, which had befallen the village of Mid Martin Henge in Somerset, United Kingdom,’ and even after an attempted murder upon her life, now the suspect, lies within hospital, and having almost been killed by the very forces, which she drew upon to commit these crimes.
Within her womb, lay the unborn child of a demonic spirit, and young Justine fights to keep the baby, even though it is killing her and awaiting release from the confines of its mother’s womb.
Those closer to Kate start to experience strange happenings, and Kate finds herself accused of witch craft and of been responsible for local murders, can she solve these mysteries and avoid a witch hunt, and of been accused of murder, abandoned and rejected, and can young Justine be rescued from the evil within her...?
Read as Kate Winslow draws upon years of experience, a strong Christian faith, and the hope and love of others, yet will this be enough to save her and clear her name?
It was now early Spring, the flowers were in full bloom, and the birds were singing after a night of gentle rain, as the early morning mist had cleared, the residents of Mid Martin Henge in Somerset, were starting to hear of the metaphorical jungle drums, which were delivering the gossip of the village. Painted across the door to the All Saints Church, was the word WITCH! and a photo of Kate Winslow, pinned centrally to the writing.
Only the priest who discovered the vandalism, had tried to remove the offending photo knowing it to be slanderous and untrue. Yet on trying to remove the photograph he discovered it was very firmly pasted or glued onto the ancient Oak doors and had also been sealed by a heavy layer of clear varnish, making it extremely difficult to extract without damaging the woodwork.
To worsen the situation, upon entering the sacred chapel, the crosses were pushed over, and the sanctuary of the communion area had been defiled, as well as stain glass windows, hundreds of years old, which had the word witch! And written in animal blood, and dead crows decorated the floor.
Poor Adrian stumbled to the ground in shock and held his chest, as his left arm went into cramp, and he found his chest tightening. Twenty minutes later Ruth from Mid Martin Henge Christian Fellowship, called in to talk about the flowers, only to discover the scene of devastation awaiting her, and Adrian the priest lay dead upon the flagstone floor.
As the police arrived photos were already posted upon Facebook and YouTube, and the gossip chain started. Kate’s Landline phone rang, and as she answered all she heard, was the words, Witch, Witch, Witch... and it continued until Kate hung up, and was puzzled by the strange phone call, only seconds later, the phone rang yet again and Kate answered, only to find a repeat of the earlier call, so she smiled and simply placed the phone onto the Livingroom table and went to her kitchen laughing to make herself a pot of Tea.
As Kate sat in her rear garden, she heard the latch to the rear gate being lifted, and as she looked over towards the noise, the gate started to open. “Kate..., Kate are you in the garden..., we have been trying to reach you by phone, but your number is constantly engaged?”
Kate recognized immediately the voice of her nephew Inspector Simon Culvate. “Over here Simon..., there is still some tea in the pot, would you like a drink?”
“Not just now Kate, I have only called to ensure you are OK, we have some unfortunate news, and I wanted you to hear it from me.”
As Simon walked into the garden the smell of the flowers filled the air, and bees were busy collecting pollen, as the birds sang, and butterflies appear to drift from flower to flower. “I have some upsetting news, Adrian from All Saints Church, died this morning, he was found upon the sanctuary floor, the church had been vandalized and unfortunately you were targeted.”
Kate looked at her nephew, “Witch..., am I been accused of being a witch”. Simon looked at his aunt, she was incredible for her age and long past retirement, yet to look at her one would never suspect she was in her mid-nineties, as she was mobile, agile and looked at least thirty years younger. “Yes! how did you know...?” enquired Simon.
Kate laughed..., “phone calls, I have been receiving unwanted and strange phone calls, with someone accusing me of been a witch..., so I left the phone off the hook, it’s their phone bill,” she replied laughing.
Simon shook his head, “A stupid volatile reaction, without researching into this stupid false claim,” he said. “False..., is it, you and I know that to be the case, but in the recent murders committed here, Devil Worship was involved and even though I was attacked and later targeted, there are those who will say there is never smoke without fire.”
Simon looked at Kate. “Kate that is crazy,”
“Is it Simon, I noticed even members of your own team have recently avoided talking to me, a community can be such a wonderful unit when it is positive and people unite as one common body, looking after each other and truly caring for others. Yet if that same community looks upon something with a negative mind, well look at Jesus as an example, the same people who were placing palm leaves before him, were the same who later demanded his death.”
Kate placed her cup onto its saucer and reached over resting it onto the garden table.
“Tell me what happened this morning.” Simon breathed in deeply and then held his breath some seconds, and then slowly released it.
“It would appear someone glued your photo to the oak doors of All Saints and painted in blood red the word WITCH across the door, and after that went to considerable trouble to varnish it sealing it onto the door.”
Kate looked shocked, “is there more?”
“Yes, the inside sanctuary was violated badly, the crosses were pushed over, and the ancient stained-glass windows were painted by the same blood, spelling the word, WITCH. Also, there were dead Crows and Ravens scattered upon the sanctuary floor, and again your photo was upon the communion table.”
Kate held a hand to her mouth, “Oh poor Adrian, I imagine after the episode with the demonic attack upon his son, the murders and now this attack upon me and the church, was just too much for him.” As she finished speaking the sound of glass breaking was heard, Simon rushed into the front garden only to witness a car
driving from view and as he turned one of Kates windows was broken, and the Word WITCH was painted across her front door.
