Photo Source: Unsplash The parking lot was empty. Curwen had not expected that, and felt a momentary twinge of concern. He was heading into deep forest and, much as he preferred to be alone on these obsessive little adventures, he still liked the idea that help was nearby if he took a tumble. A cloud sailed in front of the sun and the area suddenly darkened and cooled down. Rain began to patter on his peaked hood. He looked down to the main road, but there wasn’t the sound of a vehicle,...

Photo Source: Unsplash ‘The Church on the Hill’ had indeed once been a church on a hill. Now it was an OK pub whose good customer service and comfortable seating couldn’t quite compensate for the ridiculously large floor space, and the unusual layout. It was also not one of the many local pubs I regularly went to, so that afternoon’s visit was unusual to begin with. One advantage of the size of the place was that conversation was easier than in the smaller hostelries around the base of...