The Adventures of Charlie Smithers by C.W.Lovatt Spotlight!

About the Book

The time is the nineteenth century. The place, the Serengeti Plain, where one Charlie Smithers – faithful manservant to the arrogant bone-head, Lord Brampton (with five lines in Debrett, and a hopeless shot to boot) – becomes separated from his master during an unfortunate episode with an angry rhinoceros, thereby launching Charlie on an odyssey into Deepest Darkest Africa, and subsequently into the arms of the beautiful Loiyan…and that’s where the trouble really begins.

Maasai warriors, xenophobic locals, or evil Arab slavers, the two forbidden lovers encounter everything that the unforgiving jungle can throw at them. 

Amazon link: http://mybook.to/tacs

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

“Gun, Smithers!”

Lord Brampton held his hand out expectantly; arm rigid,

fingertips twiddling with impatience; all the while never taking his

eyes off the fearsome black rhino grazing placidly in the distance.

I carefully handed him the heavy elephant gun, making

sure the muzzle was pointing well away from either his lordship

or myself. Two great bullets were loaded in those chambers. The

hammers were at half-cock, but I’d learned the hard way it was

always best to be safe…insofar as that was possible. I regret to

say, however, that when in the company of my master, when he

was in the company of his guns, that possibility didn’t always

exist.

But, so far so good; Lord Brampton’s fingers curled

around the polished walnut of the stock. There was a momentary

unease when one digit slid unerringly past the trigger guard, but

then it was out again without any harm being done.

That part of my duty successfully completed, I pulled the

small brass telescope from my belt and leveled it at the beast. A

moment later the head of the bull wobbled into view. He was big

to the naked eye at a hundred yards, but massive in the lens, his

great horns jutting up and down while he grazed. We were

downwind of him and, so far, unsighted.

Lord Brampton leveled the great rifle at the brute and

sited down the shiny blue steel of the twin barrels.

“Head will look good in the gunroom, what?” His

lordship rumbled confidently in a voice too loud to be a whisper.

The rhino’s ears twitched, and I felt my grip on the telescope

tighten, but he was only flicking away some flies.

My own voice was a hoarse whistle as I cautioned His

Grace to silence.

“Nonsense,” he scoffed, “Trouble with you, Smithers,

you worry too much.”

I knew better, of course, but I also knew better than to

remonstrate further. My master was in one of his more

quarrelsome moods. It was always this way when his old wound

was bothering him.

To accent the point, an angry growl erupted from his

abdomen – the medical legacy of having so much of his

intestines removed at Balaclava.

The rhino’s ears twitched again, then centered; his great

head rising while he peered short-sightedly in our direction. I

found myself softly keening, willing Lord Brampton to pull the

trigger.

At last there was a deafening report as the gun

discharged. A few yards beyond and to the left of the beast a

large spurt of dust heralded the usual complete miss. With a

sinking heart, I focused back on him. When I did so, I saw that

he, in turn, was now focusing on me, his eyes wide with surprise.

Then angrily, they narrowed.

Oh dear.

Biography

Award winning author, C. W. Lovatt, is the creator of the critically acclaimed Josiah Stubb, along with the best selling Charlie Smithers collection. Adventures Downunder is the third book in this series.