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    The Penny Legacy
    The Penny Legacy
    The Penny Legacy
    Ebook61 pages1 hour

    The Penny Legacy

    By Les Broad

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    About this ebook

    When an old lady dies and leaves a legacy of one penny to somebody neither her only son nor the family solicitor had ever heard of the son is intrigued. So he sets out to discover the background to that unusual legacy.
    His discoveries throw up a fascinating, and very secret, story. Told in four separate but connected supporting stories, you'll learn how and why it all came about, and what the final, shocking outcome is.
    As they unfold, these stories will take you from provincial England in the 1930s to war-torn Europe before a diversion to the afterlife and a final confrontation in modern-day England.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLes Broad
    Release dateAug 27, 2011
    ISBN9781466053410
    The Penny Legacy
    Author

    Les Broad

    That picture isn't me. It's my much-loved Border Collie bitch, who I lost to a spinal tumour in April 2011. She deserves this memorial.I was born a very, very long time ago, very close to my mother in England. Now I live in Wales, which isn't England but is part of the UK. I've written all sorts of stuff, but mostly science fiction. It's sort of believable sci-fi - maybe it can't happen today, but might tomorrow, you know? The sci-fi novels are all on the theme of 'first contact' and the first one is being given away free. You'll have to pay for the others. Sorry.I've got other novels, short stories and things that are supposed to be funny too but whether they are is your decision, right?Some of the books are based on real incidents - I know they are, because they happened to me. There are five in total, I've released two, two are being tidied up and the last one won't be finished for a while yet. If you read one, remember it all happened to me and that I don't mind being laughed at. I'm used to it.A while back I released a free book, 'Top Of The Shop'. (If you're a writer you might want to read it. I'll say no more.) I've since released another one, 'Tea, Drums And Speed'. So now the first sci-fi novel is free, 'Top Of The Shop' is free, and there's a free volume of short stories. I must be mad, giving this stuff away. Mind you, it hasn't stopped me giving away a book of political thoughts. If you're from Wales, or British, or even interested in Welsh politics, it might be worth reading.There's also a free book about some films that appeal to me. You might find it interesting but I thought it would be a bit cheeky to want money for it. Have it on me.There's one little thing I don't understand. Of everything I've put on this site, I think the stories in 'Swift Shifts' are the funniest, yet it's the title that's looked at least often. Why is that, do you think?After a gap of several months I've now added a new three-story volume of funny stories. To balance this, there's a thoroughly miserrable one on its way!A word or two about my pricing strategy might be worthwhile. A lot of people on this site (and I apologise if I've got this wrong) quote prices that are just a bit cheaper than you'd see in a bookstore. I don't do that. Ebooks don't have production or distribution costs, so why should you, the book buyer, have to pay even a tiny share of something that doesn't exist? Isn't it better to spend, say, $3 on three little books than on just one? I want you to enjoy what I've written, and at a realistic cost to you that I can live with. Simple, isn't it?I'll add to this from time to time - there's no point saying everything at once, is there? You'd have no need to come back, would you?

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      Book preview

      The Penny Legacy - Les Broad

      The Penny Legacy

      Les Broad

      Published by Les Broad at Smashwords

      Copyright 2011

      Discover other titles by Les Broad at Smashwords.com

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      THE PENNY LEGACY

      1. The Penny Legacy

      How it all started

      2. The Penny Legacy – The Swiss Position

      Why they thought it was necessary

      3. The Penny Legacy – Essie's Story

      How an innocent girl became involved

      4. The Penny Legacy – Aftermath

      What Carter and Singer really thought

      5. The Penny Legacy – The Carter Solution

      How it all ended

      1. THE PENNY LEGACY

      Who is Roger Carter?

      That was the question that nagged at me as I drove away that Tuesday afternoon with a long, long drive in front of me.

      Let me explain the background to the question. My mother, from whom I had been, well, not exactly estranged, more sort of distantly non-communicative, for the past eight years or so had died at home in Swanage, in Dorset. I didn't know until a letter arrived at my house several weeks later – I live in Northumberland – telling me it would be in my interest to attend the reading of my mother's Will, which was taking place in a solicitor's office in Weymouth. Although I reckoned that I'd get less from her estate than I'd have to spend on petrol I decided to go.

      The day before the reading – a Monday – I left Sarah, my fiancée, at home to look after our business and headed south. By the way, Sarah and I probably won't ever get married but we took the halfway step because when you're both over fifty 'girlfriend' just sounds silly and 'partner' can get confusing, especially when you run a business together, and anyway is, as with so much so-called political correctness, completely the wrong term.

      I arrived in Weymouth in one piece, checked into the hotel I'd booked and did nothing at all worth recording before I got to the solicitor's office at two on the Tuesday afternoon. Of the bequests that my mother had made there were just two that interested me and the first of those was that she'd left me a painting. Just a painting, nothing else, and she'd only done that because she knew I'd always loathed the thing. I found out later that there was somebody who not only wanted a painting of a sobbing little girl but was prepared to part with over five thousand to own it, because that's how much I got from the auctioneers when I sold it.

      The other bequest that intrigued me was far less valuable. My mother had left one penny to somebody called Roger Carter 'to be retained by my executors to repay the penny he owed me'. So this chap Roger Carter owed my mother a penny, and she left him a penny in her Will to cancel out the debt. Maybe most people would think 'so what' but I'm not most people. That's why that question was nagging at me on my trip back north. Call me weird, but I resolved to find out who this bloke was and why he owed that penny.

      I was kept busy for the rest of the week, but as soon as I could spare the time I rang those solicitors to see if they had an address for this bloke Carter. They didn't, arguing that as there was no actual money changing hands there was no point in trying to find him. I couldn't disagree. What to do next was to be decided; I talked to Sarah and we decided to take a week off. Her brother, who's retired, and sister-in-law could look after the business so that we could go down south. So on Sunday morning, stupidly early, we set off.

      It's a full day's drive from Northumberland, even our bit in the Tyne valley, to Swanage. Years ago a drive like that probably wouldn't have bothered me but, on the wrong side of fifty, it took a lot out of me. Still, a restful night would put me right, and Sarah, who'd got just as tired sitting in the passenger seat just watching the scenery.

      It did too. After breakfast the next morning we were both raring to go. But where? Ah, that was the question, but Sarah suggested the solicitor. It seemed like a good idea so off we went.

      He agreed to see us, even without an appointment, as long as we were brief. Sitting across a desk he looked to be

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