The crown jewels

MISS MYRTLE FFORBES took off her knitted bathing suit and eased herself into the scented bathwater. She sighed with bliss. What a fabulous day they’d had at the beach. They’d all swum, even Ena. Granv

AND now, let’s drink a toast to Mum and Dad,” said Evelyn and Duncan’s eldest son, Arlo. He grinned and then added, “Better known to some of you as Gran and Gramps.” “Happy anniversary!” everyone chor

I WAS only five when Elaine first came into my life. She was tall and dark skinned, with a perfume that smelled of roses and big necklaces in bright colours that bounced as she laughed. Whenever my da

PAM glanced up at the clock on the far wall of the classroom. Just half an hour to go until the summer holidays began. Six blissful pupil-free weeks, to be spent mostly gardening and binge watching pe

FREE! I’m free at last!” “Oh, Lionel, anyone would think you’d just been released from prison,” Jeanette, his wife, replied. “Well, I have. Since I decided to retire, working my notice has seemed like

LESLEY patted her tearful granddaughter’s hand sympathetically and tried desperately to think of something to cheer her up. What could she say to a fourteen-year-old who thought her life was over beca