A Life Beyond by Mark Church (ebook reader web TXT) 📕

face as the odd looking man stopped in his tracks and smiled at Harvey as he took a deep breath before replying,

'Well young man, you never know do you, these woods have always been a source of wonder to many, some believe they hold magical qualities, some say they house the gateway to another world, people have gone searching in these woods and are yet to return….well that's the stories I have been told since I was a young boy growing up round here'

'Oh ok…' Harvey was taken aback by what the man claimed and for the first time in years was speechless, he muttered to himself and slowly slide down the fence out of sight, hiding from the man on the other side, Daniel was sitting there feeling rather relaxed as he didn't believe anything the man had said, he was looking down at Harvey who was cowering behind the fence now,

Daniel being Daniel laughed at his friend for slinking off out of sight then as he turned back said,

'Sounds like you're trying to scare u….' but there was no one there to be seen as Daniel stood up to see if he could spot the walkers.

'How weird is that mate!!!' Daniel beckoned Harvey up to the top of the fence,

'They've gone, there's no sign of them!'

Harvey climbed the fence post and peered over the top very slowly,

'Where have they gone?, they were just here, See I told you those woods were magical!!!, Maybe something ate them!!, OH no it's going to be us next….' Harvey panicked as he hid behind the tree shouting

'I'm too young to die!!!, Mum save me!!',

Daniel jumped down from the treehouse straight in front of his friend and picked him up and laughed at the way he was panicking,

'Ha-ha, stop being a baby Harv...do you really believe there's some magical place hidden out there, don't forget how many times we have walked those woods, we would of seen something by now!!! You big baby, we know every part of those woods and there's nothing but trees out there, I'm pretty sure we would've seen something by now!!.

'But you never know!!...' replied Harvey

'Well I'm telling you its fine out there, any way don't forget we are going to the hideout later anyway!!' said Daniel

'Mmm, might give it a miss today mate' Harvey scardily replied,

Daniel got his friend in a headlock and laughed as he held him tight,

'Stop being a wimp mate, as if I'd let anyone hurt my little Harvey warvey..'

Harvey struggled to get free as he started hitting his friend shouting,

'Oh you're so for it now Dan, just you wait!!!' and he broke free from Daniel's grip and they started fighting just as boys did,

'Ha-ha , I'm coming to get you!!!' Harvey shouted as he charged towards Daniel ready to pounce at him like a cat, But Daniel had other ideas and as Harvey leapt through the air Daniel managed to step to the side and watch as his friend went flying past him with a look of terror on his face as he realised he was going to crash onto the floor,

THUMP, he went as he hit the ground hard, laying face first on the grass,

'OWWWW, that hurt!!', Harvey grimaced as he turned over just as he caught the sight of a lesser spotted Daniel flying through the air, ready to pounce on his ‘prey’ who was whining about his face and elbows hurting.

'Yaaahhhhh' Daniel screamed as he landed full force on top of Harvey,

'Ha-ha you're mine now!!' As he pretended to slay his prey ‘dead’ with a swift swoosh of his hands as if holding a sword.

Harvey went along with it, twitching his body as if in his last throes of life, body bucking like a bull, then he fell silent apart from the odd twitch, Daniel stood victorious over his slain friend, raising his arms aloft shouting,

‘Ah-Ha!!! I have defeated Harvey ‘The Strong’, this epic battle is over, I am the win…..' He was stopped in his tracks by someone clearing their throat behind him, Daniel turned his head sheepishly, It was Harvey's mum standing there, arms crossed furiously tapping her foot on the floor as she saw that the boy's had skipped school.

'Well Well Well, what do we have here?, I'm guessing there's a good explanation for you two being at home!!' An angry Mrs Jones stormed over to Harvey who was picking himself up off the floor,

'Mum...I….' Harvey stuttered for an answer, trying to think fast,

'Harvey Maximus Jones….Don't you dare try and lie to me!!! I want an explanation right now!!!'

Daniel burst into fits of laughter as he had never heard his friend's middle name before,

'Maximus???.Hahahaha, oh my gosh that's the funniest name ever!!!, hahaha, I thought your middle name was Andrew….Maximus!!!, hahahaha'.

'Daniel Carter I suggest you be quiet!!, you're both in trouble unless someone explains to me why you are both standing in the back garden while you're supposed to be at school' Mrs Jones sternly replied.

The boy's looked at each other and at the same time said

'Boiler broke, toilets flooded' they said at the same time but Harvey's mum was wise to the usual type of school boy lies and demanded they tell the truth but they both fell silent,

'Well if that's the way it's going to be then Daniel I suggest you go home, I'll be calling your mum in a while just as soon as I've had a nice quiet word with Harvey here…' she replied in a calm manner,

'Don't you mean Maximus!!!...hahaha', Daniel spluttered loudly as his stomach was hurting from laughing so much,

'Right Daniel, time you went I think and take that overgrown carpet with you, he's smelling out my house!!', Mrs Jones pointing towards the back gate demanding he go,

'Alright I'm going!!! Jeez no need to be so angry!!, come on Bucks let's move' Bucksy came bounding over to Daniel and they both headed towards the back gate,

'See you later mate' Said Daniel as he turned to Harvey, but he was preoccupied by his mother chasing him across the garden towards the house ready to deliver a sweet backhander across the back of his legs for lying to her, Daniel opened the gate and huffed as he walked out of the gate with his faithful friend, he stood there long enough to hear Harvey shouting,

'I'm sorry...I'm sorryyyyyyy!!!....', He smiled to himself as he thought about what had gone on,

'Maximus!!!!!, oh that's bad!!' he said as he shut the garden gate behind him and made his way along Mumbles Drive and back to his house at the end of the road still chuckling to himself as Bucksy walked beside him wagging his tail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Six

And So It Begins

 

Daniel reached his house and quietly peered through the letterbox to hear if anyone was in,

Good, no one is in!!', he smiled as he swung the front door open and Bucksy bounded in past Daniel and off into the front room for another lay down,

Then it hit him like a sledgehammer to a wall...He could hear a voice coming from the kitchen, sounded like someone was talking on the phone,

'Yes Mr Whitworthy...I'm sure there's an explanation for this…Yes, I'll get onto it as soon as I see him',

It was his mum Stephanie, and by the sounds of it she was talking to his teacher,

'She wasn't supposed to be home for hours!!..Now I'm for it!!...' Daniel went to sneak back out of the door just as the phone slammed down and a voice shouted from the kitchen,

'Daniel Carter I know it's you, don't you dare try to sneak off!!!, I think we need to have words, come here RIGHT NOW!!',

Daniel sheepishly shut the front door and made his way towards the kitchen, passing the front room on the way where even Bucksy knew he was in trouble as he buried his nose under a pillow and whimpered.

Daniel was trying to think of a good excuse to tell his mum as to why he was home early from school but he realised it was pointless as his mum seemed to always find out the truth. And as he entered the kitchen his mum was sitting on a kitchen stool with a look that could stop a herd of buffalo in its tracks.

'Well the Daniel care to explain to me why I was just on the phone to Mr Twitcher?? And don't even think about lying!!' Stephanie said sternly as Daniel looked at the floor hoping he could talk his way out of it.

'Well..Uh..I...You see, the thing is...Look mum I really hate that school I'm at, everyone is awful to me and I'm sure the teachers don't like me!'. He tried to justify his skipping of school as his mum listened on,

'Well, I don't really feel like I belong there at all and the stuff I’m learning is pointless, I’ve only left class a few times'.

'A FEW TIMES!!!!...' His mum's voice getting louder and louder as she grew even angrier at what her son was saying

'Well according to your teacher, this is about the twentieth time you have sneaked out of school this term!!, How do you expect people to get on with you if you keep giving them a reason to not like you!!, You need your education now more than ever as it's not long until you take your final exams..'

'But mum….' Daniel tried to interrupt his mum but she carried on,

'Don't you ‘But Mum’ me!!, I am struggling to keep everything together at the moment and you aren't helping in any way, I am trying to run this house on my own, make sure you two are kept safe, if only I could get some help from your fath….'

'My what???...'Daniel questioned his mum further,

'Were you going to say father??, do you know where he is??, I think I have a right to know if there's something you need to tell me'

'I've said too much as it is Daniel, I just need you to trust me at the minute and I promise in time I will be able to tell you everything, I'm struggling with a lot of things at the minute and I need you to stop this silly behaviour as it isn't helping matters' His mum tried her best to sort of explain what the matter was,

'And what do you mean ‘keep us safe?’, Are we in trouble or something??', Daniel got more inquisitive as he pushed his mum for more answers which seemed to agitate her further.

'Look Daniel...I...I can't say any more but please just stop all this, I need space to try and sort all this mess out so just for now please just help me out ok?' Stephanie was becoming visibly more upset with every passing comment,

'But mum please, if this is to do with my father then I need to know!!, I want to help you as I hate seeing you this upset but I need you to tell me what's going on, Please...These dreams I’ve been having are really making me worried..'

Stephanie turned quick as a flash to face her son and replied,

'What dreams?? Tell me!!'

So Daniel went on to tell his mum about all the strange dreams he'd been having lately and how they were always of the same thing and of the warrior type man at the front of it all. And how Harvey had been getting the same kind of visions too, also about the incident at school with Harvey telling him he spoke weird when the teachers were near.

Stephanie’s face suddenly drained of colour as she tried to process what her son was saying to her, it looked as if she knew what he was talking about, the she suddenly blurted out,

'It's too soon!!! It's too soon, I need to sort this now…'

Daniel looked puzzled as he replied,

'What are you talking about mum??, You're scaring me now'

Stephanie stood up quickly and threw her jacket on before saying to Daniel,

'Stay here Daniel, I..I need to go out for a while, please stay inside and stay out of trouble,