The wagon pulled up in front of what used to be an impressive set of stairs, sweeping down to the carriage turn from an imposingly arched front door. Now, it looked sad, and a little apologetic, as it did its best to hold onto the crumbling stone with overgrowing tendrils of ivy and to fill …
The car drew up with a crunch of gravel, slotting neatly beside a red Ferrari Chris identified as belonging to one of his competitors. "Too flashy, the Italians are far too flamboyant for an English manor." Cesca was nothing if not biased. The house was a stark tribute to modernism - all white, glass and …
Ally waved to Cesca from across the station car park and she bounded over to Chris' car, quickly settling herself in the back seat. "Well this is a bit of a different ride to your usual set of wheels." Chris nodded, "Horses for courses, this is my 'I'm a professional, take me seriously car'. Sometimes …
It was a chilled out Saturday afternoon and Ally and Cesca were enjoying the back garden. Tea and reading, life in the slow lane at its best. Ally had already been fully grilled on the latest Chris developments, with Cesca suitably impressed and amused by a description of his home and the revelation of his …
Following the directions, Ally found herself driving along a quiet back road, winding up the largest hill in the area. She found the turnoff and followed the curve of the hill around to a white and slate tile farmhouse that, while clearly improved and extended, kept its original charm and she found it hard to …
Okay, this puts us back on track chronologically with The Wooden Chest, which is where this story started, but then decided it needed prologue. Pushing on the trick panel, Ally pushed up the lid to show Chris the inside of the chest he'd never been able to open. Looking in, she stared, confused, the packages …
It was Friday afternoon and this time it was Ally in the station car park. Cesca was coming to inspect the bolthole and fill her in on happenings since she left. She waved as she saw her best friend exit the station and a short time later they were on the road. Ally had bought …
Waving Mrs Rightmore off, more convinced than ever she'd made a great decision in moving to this village, she turned to her front door and turned the key in the lock. Even though she'd been in and out of it numerous times over the past few weeks, visiting it, negotiating the contract and finally moving …
She'd made the train with minutes to spare, thankfully it wasn't full. She was easily able to find room for her suitcase and a window seat for herself. The advantage of moving to more internationally-focused hours for work, she was able to do things, like the big final move to her new home, during quiet …
One of the exercises at the CityLit course I did a few weeks ago was to write a piece about only having half an hour to pack, that focused on the senses. It was my first inkling that Ally and Chris had plans to take over large portions of my brain at unexpected times. Ally …
The DNA of Stories 