The evening proved surprisingly merry. Astrid and Will carried news from across Clearfall, they’d travelled widely in the preceding months, yet managed to draw stories of Woodbine and its inhabitants from all three of them. Eleanor had never seen Martha so animated and eloquent. She told her tales well, with sharp observations of her neighbours’ …
“You are the seventh son of a seventh son. You are the chosen paladin of the Green Goddess!” The woman finished her oration, which had involved far too much questionable history for Gabe’s patience and looked at him triumphantly. Gabe sighed and rubbed his brow. “Does this one at least pay?” “What?” “We’re pretty low …
Lillabelle looked around with much the same expression as she’d had when Evander had dragged them to a slum area of Starsong’s capital city as part of some scheme of his mother’s to improve the place. She placed a fine, lace edged handkerchief on the seat of one of the chairs and perched on it, …
It was fine, really, Miranda was perfectly happy to stay at home, perfectly happy to keep the plants watered and the cat company while Mum and Dad went snorkelling in the Maldives, and Patrick posted photos on social of him in the arms of a bronzed Aussie surf god in Sydney. She liked being at …
1/5 Stars Call that a cave? I’ve seen larger rabbit holes I have to admit, I visited this cave with very low expectations, and yet it managed to underwhelm in every regard. First, a cave should be large enough to fit into, and by ‘fit’ I mean be capable of accommodating a decent-sized dragon, with …
“It’s not healthy to skip meals.” “I’m not skipping, Grams, I’m meeting my friends for lunch.” Alison paused with her hand on the door handle but didn’t turn around. She’d been so, so close to getting out without being noticed. She saw Tim standing half behind Grams in the reflection of the window by the …
She looked at Evan. “Go ahead, my husband will meet you at the junction. Your girls are safe enough with me.” Evan looked to Martha, and back to the woman, then nodded. “I’ll go, but we’ll need to be on our way soon to make the farm before dark.” The woman looked amused. “You aren’t …
“How could the sole heiress to the SpinLink Corporation just disappear without a trace?” Jaxon hoped Mr Windman’s question was rhetorical, because he didn’t have an answer. The older man glared around the room, full of silent, stressed, subordinates, all wondering the same thing. The only thing that could be said for sure what that …
Sarah’s arm came around her in a hug that managed to combine affection and exasperation. “He adores you. You both just need a little bit of time to settle and let reason back into your heads. Now come and have dinner, you’ve a long day tomorrow.” Matthew nodded as he joined them at the table. …
It was a large settlement, more than a village but too much of it was temporary for it to be considered a town. Maybe it would, one day, if brick and stone replaced enough of the canvas and wooden planking. In the meantime, it felt like a cross between a market square and a campsite. …
