3 Chapter 3

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THE FUNERAL WAS QUIET, solemn, nothing untoward. The rector spoke steady, kind words. Arthur was laid beside his parents in the small village churchyard, surrounded by countless generations of the same families who turned out to pay their respects. A pair of buzzards mewled close by on the thermals and Matty could hear a lark high above in the distance. The sun was warm on his shoulders as the open grave exuded the cold of the dark earth on his face. He scattered the first handful of damp soil on to the coffin and the hollow echo rang in his ears as he stood and watched the others who followed his example.