Skiddlethorpe and other stories

A dozen mostly light-hearted 2000-word stories on varied themes – humour, whimsy, calamity, sentiment, skulduggery, retribution, reparation, shadows of the past – with some narrative threads between them and an occasional touch of the shaggy dog.A long-severed connection is happily renewed in old age; called to meet a demanding associate, a traveller finds someone quite different; after an elaborate dream regressing to childhood memories, a letter in real life brings an alarming suggestion of premonition; an enterprising off-comer has a remarkable effect on an isolated rustic community; duped into an unwarranted assassination, a conscientious vigilante resolves on reparation for the death; chance encounters bring the fulfilment of a dying child’s dearest wish; past activities lead to involvement with the affairs of a Russian oligarch; the security check on a guest to the re-marriage of the Russian’s widowed daughter leads to the discharge of an onerous obligation; a persistent romantic’s disastrous history comes to a strange conclusion; the inspiration of a fantasy film-maker proves to have a surprising source; remnants from long-past conflict bring a tragic end to attempts at entertaining passengers from a stranded cruise liner; discovery of ancient cave-art in a northern valley arouses great expectations.