An Unquiet Calm

A collection of five short works of speculative fiction, containing two new and three republished stories: Thieves in the Night: With Comet Grijalva predicted to wipe out life on Earth, Jason Pendrick fled to his uncle-in-law's farm. When the apocalypse doesn't happen, he has an opportunity to help rebuild society, but will the past drag him down? "(6,444 words)" Washed Clean: Seimunda lives in a hovel, eking out a living bartering herbal remedies to villagers. But an accusation of witchcraft threatens to rob her of even that. "(1,326 words)" Some Secrets: Always appearing when least expected, a mysterious man orders whichever sandwich Jo has been eyeing up. Do they just have similar tastes or is it something more inexplicable? Either way, there is definitely a connection. "(2,572 words)" Blossom: When Mari Austan's husband, Jerek, joins the army she is left to run their drought-stricken farm alone. As both her crop dies and the letters home falter, she relies on cold fury to get through the days. But will she break before the weather does? "(1,003 words)" An Unquiet Calm: When Frances Withrick is found holding the revolver that killed her husband, Inspector Stevens expects an all too human case of anger and regret. But a second killing and evidence the revolver was loaded with very unusual cartridge, force Stevens to consider a different theory: that the whispers of an inhuman force in the hills are true. "(4,913 words)"