Samantha Bassett County Lines Rider First published by Flamco Publishing 2020 Copyright © 2020 by Samantha Bassett All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmittedin any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise withoutwritten permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distributeit by any other means without permission. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it arethe work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localitiesis entirely coincidental. Samantha Bassett asserts the moral right to be identified asthe author of this work. First edition This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy Find out more at reedsy.com To all the equestrians, wherever and whenever they are. May you ride on forever. Contents Sudden Death I. JUST TRYING TO LIVE MY LIFE 1. A Life In Care 2. New Blood 3. Back Stories 4. Show Time 5. The Passage of Time 6. Meeting With a Gangster 7. Foster Care on The Farm 8. A Mucky Business 9. Missing Persons 10. Wooing a Groom 11. Presents From an Admirer 12. The Morning After The Night Before... 13. In The Dead of The Night 14. Questions And Answers 15. Fly Away 16. Go West 17. Seasons Greetings 18. The Sisterhood II. A NEW LIFE 19. Safety in Numbers 20. Goodbye 21. New Ventures 22. Notes From a Stranger 23. A Change of Head 24. The Right People 25. A Matter of Money 26. Days Off III. FATE OR FATAL 27. Consequences 28. Darkness 29. Reunion 30. Enroute to Fate 31. Calling The Cavalry 32. Arnside IV. IMAGINATION OR REALITY 33. Forward Transitions 34. Drifting 35. Recovery 36. Cold Justice 37. Family Ties 38. Jump to it... 39. Waiting Time V. A PERCEPTION OF LIFE 40. Pressing Charges 41. Change And Celebration 42. Wedding Bells 43. A New Reality 44. Epilogue About the Author Sudden Death If I’d realised I was less than an hour from death I would have looked more closely at what surrounded me. Been more aware of what was happening. Drinking in last memories which would have to sustain me for a short lifetime. However, of course, we rarely get the benefit of foresight. Therefore, I approached oblivion unaware… *** It had been one of those days. The rain had been falling, shortening tempers and leaving a collection of soaked clothes and sodden tack. Amanda stared out of the window of the living area of the horsebox, Adam, her brother dozed on the bench seat beside her. He had done well, it had been one of his first shows and he had ridden well in the leading rein class. She smiled as she remembered the sight of him clutching a huge ice cream in one hand and a yellow Rosette in his other. Amanda sighed, despite her first place Rosette which hung from baler twine above her head, she felt disappointed with the show, she had tried her best and had succeeded, pleasantly smiling at Hilary Temple-Jones who, in a fit of pique had thrown her expensive show ponies reins at her mother and stormed off. However, she felt that she had not achieved what she’d set out to do. The field had been small, many of the riders dropping from the class as the jumping arena had become slick with mud so her victory had seemed weak, somehow less of an achievement despite good times and clear rounds. She stared out of the window, watching the water running down the window, back to school tomorrow, the summer holidays and weeks of carefree riding and caring for horses on her mother’s livery yard would be at an end, back to the grindstone of academic achievement, looking for qualifications she knew that she could never obtain. If only it could just go away, allowing her to live her own life. *** The truck driver yawned, he’d not slept well last night, their new baby refusing to sleep, screaming and crying into the early hours. He’d argued with his wife who had wanted to take little Jessica to hospital and had become almost hysterical. However, he’d calmed her down, Jess had a mild fever and a call to the emergency doctor had told them to keep her cool and keep checking her temperature. She had eventually fallen asleep in his wife’s arms just as he had left for the depot. He’d been delayed during his day, a supermarket manager had refused to accept his delivery until he had finished his lunch break and traffic queues on the motorway, however, he was now eventually on his way back to the depot and then home. The cab clock showed that he was almost over his driving hours. He reached for his can of energy drink, his fingers slipping he dropped the can which rolled under the driver’s seat. He swore, glancing up the road was clear so he reached down, fumbling for the can. He could feel the steel with his fingertips, swearing he grabbed again the can slipping from his grasp. A sudden blast of a horn made him sit up sharply, he gasped, slamming on the brake pedal which jammed as the drinks can lodged beneath. Amanda screamed as the horsebox lurched to the side before the massive thud, the living area shattering around her, the horsebox tipping, throwing her down. Adam was crying. They seemed to spin, before slamming to a stop. There was a sudden silence which seemed to go on for hours but was no more than
