Chapter Nine
Matthew waited until his brother had left the property, then he waited some more. He heard the distant slam of a car door and the firing of a familiar engine. Then the car drove away, out of the village and on its way to Sheffield.
Letting out a heavy sigh, he turned and picked up his axe, glad he had the chopping to do—it was a suitably violent act, yet one that took up next to zero brain power. It meant he could unleash his anger on the branches while working out a strategy at the same time. He hated lying to his brother, hated that he’d had to act like everything was going to be okay when he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be. He was hopeful this didn’t mean the end of everything they’d built in the village over the centuries, but he did believe this was the relative calm bef
