The Lion, The Witch & The Rucksack
by Lynn Kilcline

Dedicated to;
Bet. ''Will you stop worrying now?''
and to
Dee. "For keeping me sane enough to get there!"

'The Lion, The Witch & The Rucksack'
Chapter 1	Chapter 2
Chapter 3	Chapter 4
Chapter 5	Chapter 6
Chapter 7	Chapter 8
Chapter 9	Chapter 10
Chapter 11	Chapter 12
Chapter 13	Chapter 14
Chapter 15	Chapter 16
Chapter 17	Chapter 18
Chapter 19	Chapter 20
Chapter 21	Epilogue

INTRODUCTION

Brian (Kilcline - Lynn's husband) had played professional football from the age of 16.
By the age of 32 and still being fortunate enough to be involved at that level, we felt it was time to take stock of our lives and plan for the future.

Brian had no burning desire to remain in football either as manager or coach, and during our 15-year relationship I had managed to convince him that there was a life beyond football.

I had always worked, my employers had been many and varied, and I had been lucky enough to travel a great deal with some of them.

We decided that although we had both been very fortunate and had seen life in other countries, it had been only as tourists.
We both felt that when Brian retired we would like to see more of the real world, not the place of package holidays and organised trips.
To that end we needed to ensure an income to cover our expenses.

Brian had been born ten years too soon and had missed out on the phenomenal wages of today's players. His first professional wage packet had been £200.
But he had been sensible and had a pension and we had saved hard. We weren't great socialites and we did not drive flashy cars unless the football clubs provided them.

Nevertheless we would not be able to survive on his pension alone and we therefore needed to find another source of income that could be maintained in our absence.

Brian thought that he might like to try his hand at building and renovation and so we bought a tiny cottage in the village in which we lived.
The house was so small that we called it 'The Shoe Box ' and between playing football and travelling each day to the clubs he was playing for, Brian spent 18 months renovating it.

He had a natural ability to plaster, which surprised a number of the local builders we had come to know, and before long they were treating his crazy efforts with growing respect.

The little house was such a success that we sold our own home and moved in ourselves.
We sold most of our furniture and excess belongings, and the items from which we couldn't bear to be parted went into storage.
We had room for only a small wardrobe, bed, table, two chairs, T.V. and a small sofa.

We used our capital to buy more derelict properties, the first of which we moved into ourselves so that we could rent out 'The Shoe Box'.

We continued renovating and restoring until the day before our departure.

Brian has built kitchens, tiled bathrooms and floors.
And he has the added advantage of being big enough to knock down walls with ease.

It took five years to prepare for a trip we had intended to last a year, but at the last moment we were too concerned to leave the properties for so long.
We decided to take a trip for three months, which ended up as four, and see how things fared in our absence.

We had planned for India to be the first stop on a world tour, but when we changed our plans we thought, hell, India is big enough, let's have one big trip there.

And that is what we did.

'The Lion, The Witch & The Rucksack'
Chapter 1	Chapter 2
Chapter 3	Chapter 4
Chapter 5	Chapter 6
Chapter 7	Chapter 8
Chapter 9	Chapter 10
Chapter 11	Chapter 12
Chapter 13	Chapter 14
Chapter 15	Chapter 16
Chapter 17	Chapter 18
Chapter 19	Chapter 20
Chapter 21	Epilogue