THE MAN IN THE PAINTING
by
Andrew Hawcroft
Outline
When twenty-eight year-old Harriet Painter,
and her eight year-old son George, settle in a quiet English country cottage,
she hopes they are at the beginning of a fresh chapter in their lives, finally
able to put the fear and pain of recent years behind them.
A lawyer returning to work at the esteemed legal
company of Carter and Black, she has at last seen the courts impose a restraining
order on her former husband, Scott, after years of increasing incidents of
physical and mental abuse.
Succumbing to a long-held desire, she has
finally bought the old stone cottage she discovered on her way to work over a
year ago. It is a warm, friendly place of
great character, deep in the English countryside. It is a home to enjoy new
beginnings.
One day, while cleaning her new pantry,
Harriet falls through the rotten floorboards to find herself in an ancient
cellar, long hidden from
human eyes. The dark and dust-caked room contains only one item, a leather-shrouded,
five-foot painting depicting a medieval knight in armour, standing before a dark
forest. There is no title and no
artist’s signature.
Harriet is strangely taken by the painting
and decides to bring it into the house, placing it above the fireplace in her
living room. It almost immediately
begins to have a positive effect on the lives of her and her son.
But when Scott, reaching the end of his own
psychological tether, discovers where she lives, despite the restraining order,
he embarks on a series of intimidation tactics.
Added to this, her company have demanded
that she represent a member of the notorious Janey family, importers known for their
criminal and violent business dealings, in a case of illegal importing. A case nobody would take on unless they were
given no choice.
One night, unable to sleep, fragile from
the fears of her life, Harriet enters the living room where the painting hangs
above the fireplace.
Quickly though, she realises that the
landscape of the painting is empty, and that a huge armoured figure sits before
the dying fire…
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