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Book Release...Diamonds Fall (Diamonds Fall Series Book 1) by Rebecca M Gibson
“She noticed, as if in a dream, a single diamond hair comb fall to the floor. The sparkling jewels landed face down in the mud.”
Annabel Maria Hoddington is the epitome of high society. She has everything money can buy and as befits a lady of her station, is engaged to the richest bachelor in England. However, on the day of her eighteenth birthday – her perfect future on the brink of fulfilment – she is abducted and held hostage in an isolated village, where she finds herself entrapped in the harsh world of poverty. Forced to live amongst three mentally scarred siblings, she must adapt to her new, sinister world…or die.
Excerpt:
Annabel looked up. Her breath caught in a sigh at the sight before her. She had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.
She had gazed upon this forest from her bedroom window a million times. From a distance, the dense gathering of trees had seemed rather magical. Once inside the magic doubled. The trees embraced each other lovingly above her head as the birds sang in their own melodic symphony. An ocean of bluebells washed over her feet, filling her nostrils with sweet perfume, as she strolled further into its depths. Every nerve ending in her body ignited, such as she’d never felt before. It was as if everything had ceased to exist, as if the world itself had stopped spinning.
Annabel found that, for the first time in her life, she actually wanted to be alone. She noticed how the sun shone at the perfect angle through the thin leaves to catch the vivid purple of the flowers. She watched it dart off her embroidered skirts, casting rainbows in the air around her. The insects flying lazily above the plants looked, in this setting, like fairies gliding through their own whimsical tale.
Unseen, or so she thought, Annabel removed one of her gloves and crouched down to touch the tiny purple blooms on the floor, smiling still wider at the velvety feel of the petals against her fingers. The musky smell of fresh earth and fallen leaves, so far from the usual, artificial smell of her manor, was oddly reassuring from down there. She straightened slowly, with a slight creak of her corset, to look up at the fluffy clouds through the trees and feel the rare caress of the sun’s warm rays on her face. She untied her hat so she could feel the heat of the warm weather. Her hair glowed a celestial gold from the carefully erected structure atop her head.
A twig snapped.
Annabel whirled around, accidentally dropping her lace glove to the floor. She scanned the line of closely packed trees, laughing quietly to herself when she noticed no-one was there. Fixing her gaze back to the bluebells beneath her feet, she bent to retrieve her glove, with the intention of getting back to the carriage as quickly as possible.
Maybe there was a reason she was told to wait inside. She still had a big day ahead of her, she needed to return home.
She would have ridden one of the horses herself if she knew how to get it free of the carriage, but she did not wish to be seen riding alone through the town. That would simply not do.
She wondered how much time had passed since he had gone to seek help.
Just as she located her expensive lace glove in the grass, her gaze admiring the effect for a few seconds, there was another noise to her right. She whirled around again, her ears prickling on high alert.
“Driver?” she called, although, she knew it couldn’t be him. It was far too soon.
Her legs were rooted to the floor as if they had been there as long as the trees themselves. A sheen of sweat beaded on her upper lip.
Another noise from a different direction.
“Who’s there?” Annabel called in her most authoritative manner. “I can hear you, you cannot hide from me. My father—”
She was cut short in the middle of her threat by the sound of footfalls coming towards her. She scanned the trees frantically.
Annabel’s corset creaked as her breathing turned heavier, the constraints of her clothing unused to such deep breaths. She wasn’t even sure why she was so frightened, she had been chased by the likes of journalists before. Perhaps it was the possibility of her being caught alone in an unsuitable area that scared her. The story, if it got out, would cast a shadow across her impending announcement.
She listened to the yawning silence, counting each excruciating second. When she heard nothing for a few minutes, she sighed, relaxing slightly. Turning to leave, she replaced the glove on her slender hand.
That’s when she heard the heavy footfalls start back up again. They staggered directly behind her. Before she could move so much as an inch, a coarse hand clasped itself tightly over her mouth.
Too late, she tried to scream.
See you on the other side!
Chevoque
