Vardo Witch (Kurra's Story)

Chidiebere, apprentice engineer and part time plumber-sorcerer, and Kurra, her opinionated hearth-hob, embark on an adventure that crosses realms, after Kurra overhears the mysterious Cardinal talking with their factory boss.

With the assistance of a pair of Roma hedge-witches, the four friends attempt to unpick the dark events in the factory, before fleeing to sanctuary in a magical realm.

Will Chi ever be the same again after witnessing the magical realm? Will Kurra break free from her domestic servitude? Can they stop the might of the Church from destroying the real home Kurra so desperately seeks?

Set ten years before Vardo Path, this novella introduces the Vardo world. Free e-book when you sign up to the newsletter.

Vardo Path

Maisie has had a crisis of faith. So she thought running away with the horse-drawn folk would be a good idea. Certainly, the food was better than at the Augustinian monastery where she had been on retreat.

"Oh, come on. It's not like the countryside is actively dangerous." As she said this, she realised her statement might not, in the strictest sense, be true.

Now she's fallen through a gateway into an enchanted realm, following a traveller and his horse into a maelstrom of danger. Navigating a world of elves, neraides, tree spirits and hedge-witches, she is asked to fulfil her destiny, as foretold by the Fates.

"The Fates foretold it…" began Pheoreth.
"Not those… bloody Fates again. If I ever meet them, I'm going to have words, I can tell you."

Something is sapping the essence from the realm, and only Maisie and her irregular fellowship of travellers, dark elves, a horse and a hedge-witch can prevent it.

Vardo Moon

The realm is reeling from recent events. The Fellowship has evicted the Gratadei from their brutal occupation, but at a terrible cost. Bodies lie scattered throughout the Citadel like seeds blown before the wind. Pheoreth is mortally wounded, a knife embedded in her chest.

Maisie is torn between her love for Pheoreth, her affection for Steig, and her duty to the realm as Finder of Keys.

Steig and Beckett the horse travel to Tithorea’s wood in search of the vardo wagon but face fresh perils in the darkness.

Book 2 of the Vardo series plunges the trio into new adventures as they race to battle the forces ranged against the realm; as they barter with the Gods for their lives; as they face new dangers and trials; as they try to come to terms with their feelings for each other.

1943: The Allies are pushing Rommel’s Desert Rats out of North Africa. SS-Oberführer Rauff and his gang of SS thugs have extorted millions of dollars-worth of gold and silver from the Algerian and Tunisian Jews, and via various means have hidden it in 6 brandy barrels in a monastery in Corsica. Where it is promptly stolen by the Corsican Mafia. A motley crew of maverick flyers in the US Army Air Force, in their dilapidated B25 Mitchell bomber, conspire to steal the gold from the mafia, and hide it until it can be safely returned to the Jews of Djerba and elsewhere.

2001: Lorenzo, keen metal detectorist and boatyard owner, finds an old tobacco tin buried on the edge of the Madna airfield in Eastern Italy. Inside is a small bar of Nazi gold, with some numbers hastily stamped on the back. The ensuing treasure hunt across continents, being pursued by the Mafia and The Mossad, leads eventually to the uncovering of what befell the original B25 crew.