Tom Cooper had two strange events during his younger days which it seems might be interconnected. One of them, in Bonn in the mid-seventies, involved his temporary custody of a briefcase containing a shoelace, a paper clip and a pencil. The other was in Belfast in the mid-eighties. Tom begins to believe there might be something hidden in the briefcase: a coded message, maybe for the IRA, especially with Tom being the virtual double of an IRA operative.
Tom and his wife Liz start trying to piece together the links, at first focusing on the contents of the briefcase.
What unfolds is a chain of events which threaten Tom’s and Liz’s lives. Tom twice nearly loses his life and on one occasion his wife Liz does too. All, it seems, because someone, or some people, do not want them to discover the code and try everything to ensure they don’t. From being hunters, Tom and Liz are now the hunted.
Those implicated in the secrets held by the briefcase continue to want Tom and his wife silenced. Meanwhile, Tom has decided “enough is enough” and hatches a plan to reckon with those wanting Liz and him dead. The problem for those around him – including not only Liz, but also the police who have a keen interest in the case – is only Tom knows what the plan is.
Tom Cooper, a university senior academic, is on holiday in the south of France with his wife, Liz. Whilst having early evening drinks with the owners of the beautiful eighteenth-century small chateau where they are staying, he relates two strange incidents in which he was involved earlier in his life – one in Bonn in the mid-70s and the other in Belfast in the mid-80s. Having always thought these incidents were completely unrelated, comments by Dann – one of the owners and a former international journalist – lead him to consider that they may be, after all, connected in some way, especially given that Tom was the virtual double of a known provisional IRA activist. Tom and Liz start a new journey in their life, trying to piece together the links, at first focusing on the contents of the briefcase left with Tom in Bonn. What unfolds is a chain of events which eventually threaten Tom's life as well as Liz's. Newly-made friends are not who they seem to be and they encounter more strange and dangerous, episodes as they pursue the truth about those events. Someone, or some people do not want them to discover that truth and try everything to ensure they don't. From being hunters, Tom and Liz are now the hunted. They wonder if this nightmare will ever come to an end.
Do you have a light in your back garden or on your flat balcony? You know, the type which hangs from a bracket on the wall or from a post holding birdfeeders, perhaps. Have you ever looked closely at it when the light is shining? Well, Molly did just that and saw strange creatures moving about inside it.
It turned out they were faeries, from The Land of Faerie: a fantastical world where pixies, faeries, unicorns, and other magical creatures live. We can briefly experience what it is like through our dreams – providing we have enough imagination. But Molly discovered it is possible to see and talk to some of these magical creatures not just in her dreams but also when she was awake: through what the faeries called “gateways” between our world and theirs. Yes, you guessed it, the gateways are usually garden lights.
However, as you will know I am sure, such lights sometimes don’t work – most often because their batteries are run-down. When her light stopped working, Molly discovered that there was more to it than just some run-down batteries.
Desperate to be able to talk again with her friends – Maple Leaf, Iris Flower, and Mayfly – she found herself on a journey of discovery which involved learning more about global warming and global dimming. It also involved the whole of The Land of Faerie trying to solve the problems which such conditions were creating for their gateways to our world.
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