Hate's Revenge
by
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Chapter 1
Laura Seaborn struggled to open her eyes when the alarm went off. She had spent an almost sleepless night worrying about the job she would be starting today. She put on the coffeemaker, hoping a cup of coffee would give her a lift. But, the first swallow made her realize how queasy her stomach felt.
I'd better forget about having breakfast, she thought. I'll never keep it down. I expected to be nervous, not sick.
She hurriedly dressed in the two piece dark blue suit and matching low-heeled sandals she had bought for the occasion, combed her long dark hair, touched rouge to her cheeks, and drove off in her Toyota Corolla.
The sky was gray, and a misty rain began falling during her five minute drive to the school. The road had a desolate look at that hour of the morning. It looks the way I feel, she thought.
Her mind flashed back to her job interview. Raymond Avery, the principal, had questioned her in an insulting manner.
'What makes you think you can handle a class of twenty children?' he had asked. 'I'm not convinced you have the ability.'
For a moment Laura had been speechless with surprise at the hostile tone in his voice. She didn't know how to answer, or whether to say anything.
Barbara Kane and Thelma Rosen, two members of the school board who interviewed applicants together with the principal, looked at Avery in puzzlement, as he sat in his chair staring straight ahead, looking grim. Barbara and Thelma liked Laura's personality, and thought her ideal for working with elementary school children. She was soft-spoken and had the experience they thought necessary. She had worked with children at her church and in summer camp. They were pleased with her educational qualifications. She had graduated at the top of her class, and had letters of recommendation from her college professors. Being in the majority, they voted to hire her.
Avery quickly headed for his office when the interview was over. Barbara and Thelma escorted Laura down the hall and bumped into Helen Bowman, a reading teacher who would share an office with Laura and two other teachers. Barbara started to introduce Laura, but without a word, Helen turned and walked away. The three watched her going down the hall, and wondered how anyone could be so rude.
As she walked toward her office, Laura heard the loud voices of two people having a heated argument. She stopped before reaching the partially open door, and pressed herself against the corridor wall so she wouldn't be seen.
She heard a woman shouting, 'Why didn't you stop her? I don't want Laura Seaborn in this school. She may know too much already. Get rid of her, Raymond!'
The man answered, 'I couldn't, Helen. The school board needed a teacher, and they couldn't find anyone as qualified. I gave her a hard time in my questioning, but I couldn't trip her up. I thought she'd get so angry, she'd walk out. You know the board has the final say. Besides, it doesn't make sense that she would know anything about us. She was too young when it happened.'
She recognized the man's voice as that of Raymond Avery, and the only Helen she knew was Helen Bowman, the teacher who refused to speak to her. She quietly turned and quickly headed in the opposite direction toward the auditorium, her puzzlement turning to trickles of fear.
She thought about what she had heard. Why would they want to get rid of me? How can I be a threat to them? I don't even know them.
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About the Book
Moving to a new place among strangers, and completely on your own can be a stressful situation. But suppose when you get there, you find someone's hate threatening your life. What do you do? HATE'S REVENGE is a novel about a woman who attempts revenge on the daughter of the woman she thinks ruined her life. Helen Bowman, a teacher, believes Sabrina Ellis, world-renowned ballerina, stole Jeremy Seaborn from her twenty-five years ago, and harbors a deep hatred, vowing revenge. When Laura Seaborn, daughter of Sabrina and Jeremy comes back to Redmond to place her ill grandmother in a home, and obtains a teaching position at the same school as Helen Bowman, Helen seeks revenge on Sabrina by threatening Laura's life. Then, Helen Bowman is found dead from what is at first thought to be natural causes, but further investigation indicates it is murder. With Helen dead, Laura should feel safe, but incidents occur that make her feel even more threatened. Someone else is even more vicious than Helen.
About the Author
Alice Bender is a native of New York City. She moved to Long Island and then to the Mid-Hudson Valley where she lived for many years with her husband and five children and taught Remedial Reading and Writing. She has been writing essays, articles and short stories since high school days, many of which have been published in newspapers and magazines, and was a reporter for her college newspaper. Recently, her work was included in an anthology, PAPER SAILORS, published by the Mount Dora Writers' Guild. HATE'S REVENGE is her first novel and was inspired by the people she worked with and the situations she encountered. She is presently living in Florida with her husband and daughters and has begun another novel.