A Ghost and His Gold (+ Giveaway)

Today’s I’m delighted to be participating in author Robbie Eaton Cheadle’s Great Escape Virtual Book Tour for her latest release, A GHOST AND HIS GOLD.

A Ghost and His Gold

By Robbie Eaton Cheadle
Supernatural Historical
Stand-Alone Novel
Publisher: TSL Publications (1/27/2021)
Number of Pages: 264 pages
ISBN 9781914245039

After Tom and Michelle Cleveland move into their recently built, modern townhouse, their housewarming party is disrupted when a drunken game with an Ouija board goes wrong and summonses a sinister poltergeist, Estelle, who died in 1904.

Estelle makes her presence known in a series of terrifying events, culminating in her attacking Tom in his sleep with a knife. But, Estelle isn’t alone. Who are the shadows lurking in the background – one in an old-fashioned slouch hat and the other, a soldier, carrying a rifle?

After discovering their house has been built on the site of one of the original farms in Irene, Michelle becomes convinced that the answer to her horrifying visions lie in the past. She must unravel the stories of the three phantoms’ lives, and the circumstances surrounding their untimely deaths during the Second Anglo Boer War, in order to understand how they are tied together and why they are trapped in the world of ghosts between life and death. As the reasons behind Estelle’s malevolent behaviour towards Tom unfold, Michelle’s marriage comes under severe pressure and both their lives are threatened.

A GHOST AND HIS GOLD is available at the following links: Paperback: https://tslbooks.uk/product/a-ghost-and-his-gold-roberta-eaton-cheadle/ - https://amzn.to/3sqtkBH

Ebook: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/robert-eaton-cheadle/a-ghost-and-his-gold/ebook/product-d858km.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Now here’s a recipe from the book for your enjoyment, along with an excerpt for your reading pleasure.

Recipe for South African melktert

History

Melktert is popular in South Africa and you will find it for sale at every church bazaar, bake sale, home industry, supermarket, or bakery in this country. A version will feature on every South African food blogger’s blog.

Melktert stems for the Dutch settlers in the Cape in the 1600s. The original recipe is believed to have been derived from a recipe for Mattentaart which was included in Thomas van der Noot’s book “Een notable boexcken van cokeryen” (A notable Book of Cookery).

Recipe for melktert (serves 8)

Ingredients – pastry

500 ml plain flour

1 egg

125 ml castor sugar

10 ml baking powder

125 grams butter (softened)

Pinch of salt

Method – pastry

Cream butter and sugar together. Add the beaten egg and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients mixing until a stiff dough forms.

Press into two small or one large pie dish, taking the dough up the edges.

Blind bake in the oven (pre-heated to 180 degrees Celsius) for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients – filling

1 litre plus 125 ml of milk

2 ½ tablespoons of cornflour

2 ½ tablespoons of plain flour

250 ml castor sugar

3 eggs

Pinch of salt

5 ml vanilla essence

30 grams butter

Method – filling

Beat eggs and add sugar, flour, cornflour and salt and beat well.

Bring the milk to the boil. Remove from heat.

Add the egg mixture to the boiling milk and whisk to remove lumps.

Return to the stove and whisk gently until the mixture thickens.

Add the butter and vanilla essence.

Pour into cooked shell and allow to cook.

Refrigerate until required. Decorate with cinnamon.

Extract from A Ghost and His Gold

“Look, Papa, look,” Estelle whispers, pointing towards a patch of veld grass near their camp.

Two green lights shine in the dark, close to the ground. The hairs on his arms stand on end. It must be an animal of some sort.

Grabbing his Mauser, Pieter aims it at the eyes, ready to fire. The eyes stop moving forward. They stay still in the dark, looking at them.

Is it a hyena?

Nothing moves in the vast stillness of the African night. The animals are nonchalant and continue to graze peacefully.

Pieter picks up a stone and throws it in the direction of the eyes. The eyes do not move. No wild cackling of a hyena feeling distressed, or snarls of a lioness felling threatened, fill the air.

“It can’t be a wild animal,” he says quietly.

The tension in Estelle’s shoulders relaxes slightly.

Mosiko stands up and moves towards the eyes which slowly draw towards him and, into the firelight, comes the blocky head and welldeveloped body of a Boerboel dog.

The dog is clearly used to people and seems pleased to see them. Pieter sees the wide smiles of his daughters. They love dogs and have missed having one around the house. Even Marta looks pleased as the dog stands there with his tongue hanging out. He looks like he is grinning.

Pieter gives the dog some of the leftover meat and he wolfs it down hungrily. He then lies down near to the fire and sighs a long sigh.

“He reminds me of Hansie, he has the same trusting eyes. I miss that dog,” Pieter sighs deeply. “Shooting that dog was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but what other option did I have? He’d gone blind from the snake venom and a blind dog cannot survive in the veld.”

Estelle visibly shudders. Since Hansie was hit in the eyes by the venom of a Mozambique spitting cobra, she has developed a horror of snakes and won’t go anywhere near them.

Pieter had desperately tried to save the dog’s eyesight by washing his eyes out using water and milk, but he had gone blind anyway. Marta has mentioned several times that she missed knowing Hansie was there to protect them while Pieter was away. His loud and frantic barking acted as an excellent warning system if any humans or wild animals approached the farm.

“We could use a good dog. He must have come from one of the farms around here. If he’s still here in the morning, he can come with us. Now it’s time for bed, girls.”

Pieter swings Suné into his arms and carries her towards the wagon and her bed.

The dog is still there the following day and takes his place under the wagon when it moves off on its way towards Oom Willem’s farm. Everyone is pleased that the dog, who they name Karel, has stayed with them.

Meet the Author: Robbie Eaton Cheadle

Robbie Cheadle has published nine books for children and one poetry book. She has branched into writing for adults and young adults and, in order to clearly separate her children's books from her adult books, is writing for older readers under the name Roberta Eaton Cheadle.

Robbie Cheadle's Sir Chocolate children's picture books are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions that children can make under adult supervision. Her books for older children also incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.

Roberta Eaton Cheadle's supernatural stories combine fabulous paranormal elements with fascinating historical facts.

Children's picture books - available as a square book and an A5 book (co-authored with Michael Cheadle):
Sir Chocolate and the strawberry cream story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the baby cookie monster story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the sugar dough bees story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the Condensed Milk River story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the Sugar Crystal Caves story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the Fondant Five story and cookbook
Sir Chocolate and the Ice Cream Rainbow Fairies story and cookbook

Middle school books:
Silly Willy Goes to Cape Town (includes five fun party cake ideas)
While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with Elsie Hancy Eaton)

Poetry book:
Open a new door (co-authored with Kim Blades)

Supernatural fantasy YA novel:
Through the Nethergate

Supernatural historical adult novel:

A Ghost and His Gold

Horror Anthologies (edited by Dan Alatorre):
Spellbound
Nightmareland
Dark Visions
Wings & Fire

Paranormal Anthologies (edited by Kaye Lynne Booth):
Spirits of the West
Whispers of the Past

Murder mystery Anthology (edited by Stephen Bentley)
Death Among Us

For more on the author and her writing, you can connect with her on the following links:

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 https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

Thanks so much for stopping by today. You can follow the tour by visiting the blogs listed below. Be sure to enter the giveaway. If the Rafflecopter widget doesn’t appear, you can still enter by clicking HERE.

Doesn’t the recipe sound interesting? Do you collect recipes that you find in books you read?

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