I pick it up and hold it against my face. A tabby kitten is sleeping on the quilt in a small patch of sun; its delicately patterned sides rise and fall minutely. Through the window there are two dug vegetable patches and brown hens are pecking the ground in a chicken-wire enclosure. As I look, t...
Peo’s friends have gone back to the village and the house is quiet. I fall asleep on the sofa but am woken by dragging footsteps outside, fumbling at the handle. My mouth dries. There will be weapons I can use in the kitchen: a knife on the draining-board, a bottle in the fridge. Before I can edg...