The Scratch. Andrew Taylor
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Название: The Scratch

Автор: Andrew Taylor

Издательство: HarperCollins

Жанр: Ужасы и Мистика

Серия:

isbn: 9780008179779

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ id="u4e0958f9-bdf8-50ae-bd31-baa3e81b0f87">

      

      ANDREW TAYLOR

       The Scratch

       Copyright

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2016

      Copyright © Andrew Taylor 2016

      Cover design by Dominic Forbes © HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd 2016

      Andrew Taylor asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it, while at times based on historical fact, are the work of the author’s imagination.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books

      Source ISBN: 9780008171230

      Ebook Edition © JULY 2017 ISBN: 9780008179779

      Version: 2017-06-19

      Table of Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       The Scratch

       Chapter 1

       Chapter 2

       Chapter 3

       Chapter 4

       Chapter 5

       Chapter 6

      

       Chapter 7

      

       Chapter 8

      

       Chapter 9

      

       Chapter 10

      

       Chapter 11

      

       Chapter 12

      

       Chapter 13

      

       Keep reading …

      

       About the author

      

       By the same author

      

       About the Publisher

THE SCRATCH

       1

      The first time I saw Jack was when Gerald brought him from the station. We thought it might be easier for Jack that way. We didn’t know what to expect, and nor did he. Jack had been seven or eight when Gerald had last seen him. Gerald appeared to have almost no memories of the meeting.

      ‘Jack was just a boy,’ Gerald said. ‘He was trying to make something out of Lego.’

      ‘But you must have some idea what he was like.’

      ‘Clare, I just can’t remember. OK?’ He hesitated, frowning. ‘I think it was some sort of spaceship, though. Star Wars? The Lego, I mean.’

      The more I questioned him, the less certain Gerald became even of that.

      When they arrived, I was standing at the landing window looking down on the top garden and the gate. Most of the house faced the other way, towards the Forest, but from the landing window you could see the lane, with more cottages beyond and the piece of waste ground where we and our neighbours parked our cars. I wasn’t exactly waiting for them but I had gone up to our room to change my skirt. We used to make the run to the station so often that I knew, almost instinctively, when they were due. On my way downstairs I paused by the window.

      So yes, I suppose that in a way I was waiting. On some level I must have wanted to see Jack before СКАЧАТЬ