She sat on the edge of her bed, shivering slightly in the chill air before dawn. It was still pitch dark. A tiny yellow flame wobbled above the oil lamp on the table. She wasn’t at all sure that she wanted to go now. She’d wanted Gabbin to see her off, but Senior Mother said no, no one must know ...
They had discarded their cloaks; M. Brouchard had said that their uniforms alone would act as a deterrent. As far as the troop was concerned they were on active service so strict discipline was imposed. Marcel and Pierre rode within the troop where Gaston could keep an eye on them. Ever since Pie...
Then they turned left towards the Doelen, the town shooting range, and passed the gunpowder store. It was a peaceful part of town, overhung by massive trees. Orchards and allotments stretched out to the curve of the town walls and the Schiekanaal. It was here that Louise’s father had bought one o...
He was always hungry, and he had been drawing food. That amoeboid blob in his drawing book was a huge Wiener schnitzel, and those things like marbles were potatoes, drawn small so he could have lots of them. His tummy gurgled; perhaps drawing food had not been a good idea. He listened. For some t...
She stopped, and looked upwards, panting. The quarry sheds loomed above her. To her right the black slice of the cut breached the grey tumbled wastes of slate. A freshly built wall closed off the entrance. Father had daubed large letters in red on the new-laid stone: Danger – Keep Out. Two trickl...
Kathleen, Mother’s maid, reached down and stripped the blanket off him. He grabbed at it, but it was gone. Then she stood over him, hands on hips, stirring him with her foot. ‘Everyone’s gone ’cept you, an’ I’ve got the room to fix.’ James sat up, combing through his hair with his fingers. He loo...