Byron’s new cat crouched in the corner of their inn room and growled. It had been fine until the inn’s serving girl had waltzed in with (barely) warm washing water and a request to. “See the sweet little kitty.” Byron had nodded to his bed, where the cat, named Misty for reasons beyond Reba’s understanding, …
Piety placed her cup and saucer on the table in front of her and leaned across to hiss. “They said she had to go for treatment.” Anya lowered her own tea cup. “Treatment? What sort of treatment does one go to Penzance for? It’s at the end of the earth.” “Quite! It does give the …
Someone knocked at the door. Matthew raised his brows but went to open it. Eleanor couldn’t see the person past the forester’s broad frame, but she sounded young and enthusiastic. “Ma said I was to drop by and say hello here, after I visited the others, to make sure Cadan’s wife had another familiar face …
“It’s a clue!” Emma withered Stephanie with a look. “It’s an Easter egg hunt, it doesn’t have clues, it has chocolate.” Stephanie remained annoyingly unwithered. “Maybe for you, my Mum likes to put a twist on things.” Of course she did, Stephanie’s mum was one of those parents who did ‘enriching activities’ after school and …
A quiet day today, my only excitement was a lively debate with Sir Scutterscarry, a mouse with delusions of chivalry who lives in the potting shed. He is something of a cheesie, which is a foodie, but – well – you can guess which particular type of food he focuses on. It seems this week’s …
They were camping that night, set up in a roadside clearing used by trade caravans who’s plodding horses and bulky wagons couldn’t make the full run through the forest between dawn and dusk. It was a large clearing with a well-worn path to a wide, clear stream nearby. Tonight, the clearing was empty of everyone …
Sarah handed her a little pot. “Have Cadan help you put this on before bed. It’s an easing salve for sore muscles. It'll leave your smock a little green, but we've got the big wash due for our household tomorrow. All the sheets and cloths, so it won't be a big addition and you're going …
I was in my office (upstairs, computer, back door) when Sarah, the twelve-year-old from the Holmeshallow Farm family came pelting up the driveway. Unusual. She used to be running and skidding everywhere but got in with a new crowd at school, I’m told, and now it’s all about ‘the look’ and never being enthusiastic. I …
Anya’s mother poked her in the back. “Go and greet your favourite cousin.” “How can she be my favourite cousin when she’s barely one at all? She’s some sort of fifth cousin, twice removed; and claiming we’re related will make me look like the worst sort of encroaching mushroom.” Lady Charlotte Fontenbras, granddaughter of the …
Punching bread dough proved a very good way of working through the details of the previous two days and relating them to a sympathetic Sarah. At the end of Eleanor’s story, the older woman shook her head. “Well, all I can say is I’m glad it was our Cadan who walked through your door at …
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