WOULD you look at the man!” Maggie said. She wasn’t much to look at herself, being as black as sin from the coal dust. She’d just finished a shift at the colliery screens, picking lumps of coal out of

WHAT was the man thinking of when he did his shopping? Jessie thought. Two huge, brown paper parcels spilled food on to the kitchen table. Enough to feed a family for a fortnight at least. Slices of t

PIPPA woke early and went down to the shop as soon as she was dressed. She had big plans for today. Along with her usual duties, she was going to make a start on clearing the back room, and she wanted

ONCE the decision was made, Caleb browsed the internet for days, reading reviews and comparing prices. There was so much choice. He was financing the purchase himself, reasoning it wasn’t fair to burd

WASN’T it you who used to work behind the bar at the Frog and Lettuce?” Susan Tallboys looked up. She’d been fastening the buttons of her overcoat, suppressing her dislike of its worn fabric and its m

DO you think Ellen would enjoy living here?” Scott asked his wife dubiously. “I don’t know. But we have to make the offer,” Hannah replied. Ellen, Scott’s older sister, was a sharp-tongued woman, quic