JL Merrow

Stranded in a remote country village in 1920s England when his car breaks down, shy young Arthur finds himself drawn to the rough mechanic who comes to his aid, Bob Goodman. Forced to stay until the May Day holiday is over, Arthur makes the best of it, enjoying the village procession and fete.<br><br>But the villagers seem to know more about him than they should, and there’s a second, darker, May celebration that starts when the sun’s gone down. In the drunken revelry that follows, Arthur is whisked off in a wild dance by Goodman, who plays the part of Jack in the Green, the spirit of the greenwood.<br><br>Dancing turns to loving, but is everything what it seems? And is one night all Arthur can have?

Jack in the Green

“He’ll be playing Jack in the Green,” Mrs Ives explained. “As he always does. Oh, it’s a sight to see, that is! Ten foot if he’s an inch. A man needs broad shoulders to carry a costume like that, sir. Did you notice what broad shoulders Bob Goodman has, sir?”


Arthur muttered something non-committal and raised a hand to ward off the dish of buttered cabbage she proffered as she spoke.


“Oh, you should take a look next time you’re round the workshop,” she continued. “Beautiful broad, they are.”


Mr Ives, apparently unperturbed by his wife’s admiration of another man, merely nodded.


“Is, ah, is he married?” Arthur asked, desperately trying to turn the conversation away from the mechanic’s physical attributes and only realising after he’d spoken that it might not be construed as a change of subject at all.


Chapter 3