I watched as the car set off, with Alex’s camera and tripod in the back, and I suddenly felt so alone. Jonas had warned me that he would be going away from time to time, as it was his job as a freelance journalist to write the stories while Alex captured the scenes on his camera. Ping Li had gone...
It was also clear to the rest of the family that his bronchitis, which was a yearly winter affliction for him, was getting worse. But he wouldn’t listen to anyone when we told him to stop smoking his pipe with its dark, foul-smelling slivers of Bogey Roll tobacco stuffed into its bowl. ‘I’ve been...
Danny and Maddie were meeting me later that evening and we planned to see the New Year in together at the city square. One spot of worry was Dad. I could never find him at home on any of my many visits to the Hilltown and now, on this last day of the year, he suddenly appeared at the Overgate aro...
I didn’t think I had ever seen her so angry or distressed before. She burst into Granny’s kitchen on a hot August evening. Her face was bright beetroot red and I saw the beads of sweat on her brow and upper lip. Her hair, untidy at the best of times, was now in total disarray. Most of it had esca...