Who was Tom Hardy?
Tom Hardy is one of the evil ghosts from Through theNethergate. He was a highwayman and is believed to have used the Bungay Inn as
his headquarters when he was perpetrating crimes in Suffolk.
It is believed that he many have been an accomplice to, or
an associate of, Britain’s most notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin.
Like Dick Turpin, Tom Hardy was eventually caught,
convicted, and hanged for his crimes.
As a regular customer of the Bungay Inn, he returned to
haunt this site and has been seen by a number of visitors in his
eighteenth-century clothing and tricorn hat.
Here is an extract from Through theNethergate:
Margaret attempted to nod beneath the weight of his hand over her mouth. He withdrew his hand slowly and reached downwards. When his hands came back into her sight, they each held a pistol.
His figures were bruised and bleeding and the nails were half torn off.
“I’ll shoot them with these babies if you
scream.” He stroked the pair lovingly.
They can’t hurt you, Margaret thought. Grandfather said they can’t hurt you. They are like pictures. She couldn’t help feeling scared. What if this one can hurt me? What if this one is real?
“Ah, Margaret,” the roguish figure croaked. “You have been causing turmoil in my Master’s Inn, my old headquarters, the place where I plotted my crimes. A bad idea, Margaret, a very bad idea to cross Tom Hardy and Dick Turpin.”
Margaret continued to stare at him, transfixed, her hands laying limply on the top of the bedcovers.
“My Master is unhappy, Margaret,” said Tom. “Your powers are unsettling his servants, making them go against his wishes.”
“What have I done? I haven’t seen any servants. I don’t have any powers.”
“Ah, but you do. Your psychic abilities are attracting his servants to the Inn. They are gathering and making plans to use you to escape their fate of eternal servitude. I know they have made contact with you. I have seen them speaking to you.”
Tom gave her a vicious smile that froze her blood.
He must mean the ghosts. Who is his Master? Hugh Bigod? How are the ghosts his servants?
“I am here to take care of you. I will make sure that those who turned away from the White Light and chose to follow him honour their agreements.”
Margaret lunged off the bed and tried to dive past the hostile figure.
Tom grabbed her around her neck, sinking his massive fingers into her tender flesh. As he squeezed he lifted her and slammed her entire body into the floor … Thump … Thump … Thump.”
BOOK BLURB:
Margaret, a girl born with second sight, has the unique ability to bring ghosts trapped between Heaven and Hell back to life. When her parents die suddenly, she goes to live with her beloved grandfather, but the cellar of her grandfather’s ancient inn is haunted by an evil spirit of its own. In the town of Bungay, a black dog wanders the streets, enslaving the ghosts of those who have died unnatural deaths. When Margaret arrives, these phantoms congregate at the inn, hoping she can free them from the clutches of Hugh Bigod, the 12th century ghost who has drawn them away from Heaven’s White Light in his canine guise. With the help of her grandfather and the spirits she has befriended, Margaret sets out to defeat Hugh Bigod, only to discover he wants to use her for his own ends – to take over Hell itself.
AUTHOR BIO:
Hello, my name is Robbie, short for Roberta. I am
an author with seven published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate
books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with my son,
Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and
one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about my mother’s
life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War
II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with my mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton).
All of my children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by
TSL Publications.
I have recently branched into adult and young adult horror and supernatural
writing and, in order to clearly differential my children’s books from my adult
writing, I plan to publish these books under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. My first
supernatural book published in that name, Through the Nethergate, is now
available.
I have participated in a number of anthologies:
Two short stories in #1 Amazon bestselling anthology, Dark Visions, a
collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre;
Three short stories in Death Among Us, an anthology of murder mystery stories,
edited by Stephen Bentley;
Three short stories in #1 Amazon bestselling anthology, Nightmareland, a
collection of horror stories edited by Dan Alatorre;
Two short stories in Whispers of the Past, an anthology of paranormal stories,
edited by Kaye Lynne Booth; and
Two short stories in Spellbound, an anthology of horror stories edited by Dan
Alatorre.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Robbie Cheadle
Website
https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/
Blog
https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15584446.Robbie_Cheadle
Twitter
https://twitter.com/bakeandwrite
Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Website
https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/
Blog
https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19631306.Roberta_Eaton_Cheadle
Twitter
https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites/?modal=admin_todo_tour
AMAZON OR OTHER PURCHASE LINKS:
TSL Publications:
https://tslbooks.uk/product/through-the-nethergate-roberta-eaton-cheadle/
Lulu.com:
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/roberta-eaton-cheadle/through-the-nethergate/ebook/product-1qkz92jq.html
Amazon:
Thump...thump..thump goes my heart!!!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, Wendy, Tom Hardy is related to some of my family who still live in Bungay. I thought that was pretty amazing and I only found out after I wrote this book.
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Wendy! And Robbie, that's a crazy fun fact. Wow! :-)
DeleteThat's spooky-cool!
DeleteHi Yvette, thank you for hosting me today, I appreciate your support.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! I'm enjoying every stop of this tour. This book sounds great. :-)
DeleteThanks you.
DeleteI enjoyed your book, Robbie. That was a scary part in the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting, Yvette:)
I'm happy you stopped by Denise. :-)
DeleteThank you for visiting and for saying you enjoyed the book here too, Denise.
DeleteWow! I love this sample. You are quite good. Thank you Yvette for hosting this.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting. I agree. That excerpt was fantastic! :-)
DeleteThank you.
DeleteHi, Yvette! It's lovely to see Robbie here. That excerpt was gripping and gave me chills. Congrats to Robbie! Thanks for hosting. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Vashti! :-)
DeleteHi Vashti, thank you for visiting me here. I'm glad you enjoyed this excerpt.
DeleteThanks for hosting Robbie today, Yvette. Congratulations, Robbie.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. I appreciate you showing her your support. :-)
DeleteHi John, thanks for visiting and commenting. It is appreciated.
DeleteHi Yvette! That excerpt from Robbie's book gave me chills. Thanks for hosting Robbie!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, Patty. :-)
DeleteHi Patty, thank you for popping in and commenting. I'm glad you enjoyed the excerpt.
DeleteScary excerpt. Robbie. Thank you for hosting Robbie's book tour, Yvette.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you stopping by, Miriam. :-)
DeleteHi Miriam, thanks for visiting. It's lovely to see you here.
DeleteI wish you alll the best with your wonderful new release, Robbie!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mark! I'm happy you stopped by to show Robbie your support. :-)
DeleteHi Mark, thank you for visiting and commenting.
DeleteHi, Robbie. I just read your reply to Wendy's comment. Wow! How coincidental to discover that Tom Hardy is related to some of your family. That gives me goosebumps, as did the excerpt! I've been gone for a few days, so playing catch up on this tour!
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never, Jan. ;-) I'm happy you passed by to show your support. :-)
DeleteHi Jan, I found that out quite by accident and thought it was quite amazing. My mother's family lived in Bungay for generations and two of her brothers and one sister still live there.
Delete