Micky Drummond didn"t know it, but those would be the last words he, or any of her workmates at the Traveller"s rest would ever speak to Stella Cox.
* * *
Stella was almost home. Turning off the main footpath onto the narrow unpaved track that led to her parent"s cottage, she sensed, rather than heard, the soft footfalls approaching from the darkness behind her. A tiny frisson of fear ran the length of her spine, but, seeing the lights of the cottage ahead, she tried to dispel any thoughts of impending trouble. After all, she"d be home in a minute. The sound of someone breathing close by eventually forced her to quicken her pace a little, not easy in her three-inch heels on the unpaved, rough surface of the track to the cottage. Stella whirled round, ready to confront the apparition in t
