Sarah Barnard's Blog, page 20

Cheesy fish bake, with garlic bread.

This week's extract is from my forthcoming book, Child of the Portal, the final book in the Portal series.

[image error]He patted her hand and moved to begin dicing fish and vegetables for dinner. "Have we got any garlic bread?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so but we have some part-baked rolls in the freezer so I could make some?" Kate sipped at her tea, putting it down to go to the freezer in the corner to pull out the rolls and paused at the fridge for butter, garlic and then wandered into the garden to pick fresh herbs.

"Well, the vultures like it and I'm sure garlic is good for them. Is that still last summer's that we grew?" He watched Kate bash the pink skinned garlic with the blade of a knife and peel the skin off.

"It is, we have a bulb left and this year's is almost dry enough to be stored." Kate chopped the garlic and herbs and mixed them into the softening butter to spread into the rolls once they'd defrosted just enough to slice, even if it meant slicing through ice. The pungent aroma of garlic and herbs filled the kitchen and Kate breathed in deeply, savouring the scent as she pushed the mixture into the cold, still solid bread before placing the rolls onto a baking sheet and handing it to Jack, who was standing in front of the Aga. "That needs a clean," she commented, dragging a finger through accumulated sticky grime on the top of the oven door and then wiping it on her jeans. "I'll do it later, or tomorrow." She sighed, dreading the job but knowing she'd feel better once it was clean.

"I'm home tomorrow I'll do it for you if you like?" Jack offered with a slightly concerned frown. "You look tired." His tone held so many questions that Kate just looked at him. There was so much he didn't know and couldn't know and he knew there were secrets between them.

Kate laughed, a short hollow sound, "I'm always tired Jack, but you can still clean the oven." She wrapped her arms round him and held him close trying to push into him the promise that none of the secrets would hurt him, and she hoped it was true.

Recipe – quantities not given as it's adaptable for any number!

Ingredients

Selection of fish (I use haddock, smoked haddock, salmon – but any mix of firm fish including a smoked one will work.)
Prawns – if you want them, I love them.
Pasta – Any shape you like, we love the shells or bows.
Milk
Plain flour
Seasoning – to taste.
Cheese
Butter

Method

Poach the fish in milk until just cooked. Drain (keep the milk), skin and flake the fish into a large, ovenproof bowl.
Cook the pasta until "al dente" – still firm but just cooked.

Melt the butter in a pan and add the plain flour, stirring until it forms a paste.
Slowly add the saved fishy milk, stirring to make a white sauce – not too thick, you want it nice and runny. You can add more milk to thin it if needed.
Add grated cheese (enough to taste but not overpowering).

Add the pasta to the fish and stir in the sauce.
Grate cheese over the top and put the bowl in the oven and cook until the cheese on the top is nicely crisp and golden.
Remove and eat! Lovely served with garlic bread and salad.

Child of the Portal is scheduled for release on June 21st 2011.

The Portal series so far.

And at Smashwords.

Search Twitter for #samplesundaycookoff for more recipes with story samples, #samplesunday for more extracts from new writers, and #recipe for cooking inspiration.

[image error]

Child of the Portal – Cover.

It's time to make a final decision on the cover for the ebook edition of Child of the Portal, the final book in the Portal series.

[image error]I found a simply stunning image on facebook, amongst the pages of people I'm connected with there. This original image was a photograph taken by Helen Noble, at Monk Haven, St Ishmaels, Pembrokeshire. Helen has managed to capture something magical, it caught my eye and I fell in love….

Thankfully Helen has kindly allowed me to use the photo for the cover.

So, to design…… I've spent a while tinkering and rearranging colours, cropping, adding text, changing fonts and spacing and I have 2 versions.

This is number 1 – with plain white text.

[image error]

This is number 2 – with a coloured and graduated text, which matches the other 2 Portal series books.

[image error]

There's not much difference between them but I have a dilemma. Do I make Child of the Portal match the other 2, or do I change the other 2 to match Child of the Portal, or do I just leave this one as being a little bit different?

Answers in the comments please.

[image error]

A Copper Oak leaf.

I write for many reasons. Sometimes I write because I can, sometimes there are characters demanding that their stories be told and sometimes those same characters walk away and there's no more story that they want to be told. All those are for me, just me and if no-one ever read what I wrote I'd still write for those reasons.

But external validation is wonderful too. Now and then I get a bit of feedback from readers, from friends and from people I sort of know online through various social networks. Often those distinctions are very very blurred, but the feedback, the comments are always good to see. Sometimes it's an email, often it's a post on facebook or twitter.

But this morning was different. The post arrived.

There was a bill, nice… There was the replacement for my broken sat nav charger, excellent – just the car charger socket to get fixed then…

And there was a little padded envelope….

[image error]In The Portal Between, Lily uses a copper coin as a talisman to contact her friend, the Naiad. That token turns up again on Kate's birthday,  in the final volume, Child of the Portal (due for release in June this year).

Kate pulled out the fabric bag next and untied the thread holding it closed, teasing the fabric apart to see inside. "Ohhh." She breathed as she pulled out a delicate silver chain with a pendant hanging from it. The copper oak leaf swung gently from her hand and shone warmly as she gazed at it.

"I took the coin that was the Naiad's token and I had that made for you. There's no magic in it, but I hope it can remind you of the happy days we had with Sam." Lily spoke softly and Kate felt her throat start to close and she blinked back tears.

[image error]Ages ago, I was chatting to a friend on facebook about jewellery, about working with metals and I sent her that passage. When that parcel arrived from Gem Heaven this morning, I welled up. Not quite proper crying but definitely emotional. That little copper oak leaf…. It's Lily's gift to Kate. It's perfect, stunning.

It's a beautiful piece, inspired in part by my words. My creation sparked more creation… I'm in awe.

"Thank you." The Naiad said and she began to sink back into the water but one hand came up to reach for Kate.

"Here," She said, touching a single finger to the copper oak leaf that Kate still wore. It warmed and although she couldn't see it, Kate thought it probably glowed. "Just enough of a link for you to call me if you ever need me." Then her hand withdrew.

Jo, you may have some idea of what this means to me, but thank you, it's stunning, I'm welling up again. Off to rewrite the Child of the Portal dedication..

And you other readers? Go and take a peek at Gem Heaven, Jo's work is amazing. Well worth a look and if you choose to buy something you won't be disappointed. The pictures don't do this leaf any justice at all, they don't show the curve and sheen of the copper. They don't show how warm it feels, how smooth the back is, or how it catches the light…. Jo is one very talented woman.

The Portal Series – Sarah Barnard

[image error]

Candles, cake and a Beltane Birthday

From the forthcoming Child of the Portal – chapter 12: Kate's Birthday. The cake recipe is very similar this one – but start with three eggs, and the cooking time is slightly different. I'll pop the revised version under the extract for you.

Lily drizzled icing over the top of the cake sitting on the kitchen table and stood back to look at the results, smiling her approval.

"What's that Mum?" Andrew asked as he wandered in with a trainer in one hand and a sock in the other.

Lily looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "One trainer? And one sock?" He hopped and lifted a foot that was already wearing the matching trainer but a mismatched sock. Lily shrugged. "It's Kate's birthday cake and we will be taking it over for her in about half an hour so don't get filthy." He sat at the table to pull on sock and trainer and reached out a hand to poke the still wet icing and Lily batted his hand away. "No finger marks on it please!" she scolded and he laughed.

"Don't forget the candles!" he called as he ran out of the kitchen door and into the garden.

"As if I would," Lily muttered to herself. "For someone with no affinity for the magic she has such a connection with the turning of the year. A Beltane birthday and a son born at Winter Solstice, destined to be part of this I think, destined to ground and nurture us all. This cake needs candles, flames for the Beltane birth."  Lily rummaged in a drawer and produced a handful of assorted small candles with a random assortment of plastic holders to stick them in. She threw then onto the edges of the plate and left it all there while the icing set and decided she had just enough time for a cuppa before they were due to leave but was distracted by the washing up on the way to the kettle so she did that instead, while watching Andrew digging in his patch of the garden where he was growing potatoes, peas, onions and carrots. He was making the patch bigger and earthing up the potatoes while he worked with chickens around his feet and Jasper the old black dog with the white spot on his nose sprawled on the grass nearby.

Lily smiled as she dried her hands. "What part of don't get filthy meant digging in the veg garden?" She knocked her knuckles on the window to get his attention and snorted as he wiped a soil black hand across his face, leaving a dark smear on his forehead. She waved him inside and handed him a cloth as he came in the door. "Go and wash." She waved him to the sink. "Hands and face please." Andrew looked at his hands and grinned as he plunged them into warm soapy water.

Cake.

First get yourself 3 eggs, a bag of self raising flour, some butter and some sugar. Grab some cocoa powder if you want to make chocolate ones, vanilla if you want that.

Weigh your eggs, in the shells.

Then weigh out the same amount of sugar, butter and flour.

Cream the butter and sugar together.

Beat in one egg at a time until smooth.

Sift in the flour and fold in gently. Here's where you add in the cocoa powder if you're making chocolate cake.

Spoon the mixture evenly into 2 8in/20cm cake tins – I use silicone ones, easy to use and easy to clean.

Bake for approx 20-25 mins at 180 deg C.

Cool, ice, decorate, share with friends, with a large pot of tea.

Child of the Portal is scheduled for release during June 2011 and is the last in the Portal series.

The Portal series so far.

And at Smashwords.

Search Twitter for #samplesundaycookoff for more recipes with story samples, #samplesunday for more extracts from new writers, and #recipe for cooking inspiration.

[image error]

Scrambled eggs.

Rhys Newton is 10 years old and he lives with his Mum after his Dad walked out.

But Rhys is different, although he doesn't know it, he is sensitive to the magic that runs in Lily's family. He can't use it, but he can feel it, hear it, see it.

When the Darkling appears on his bed one day, Rhys has to decide whether he can help or not.

[image error]Rhys slouched into the kitchen. "I'm thirsty Mum."

Lou wrapped an arm around his shoulder and she caught an approving smile from Lily. "Well, I'm sure if you ask nicely you can have a glass of water."

"And they haven't got any chickens." He was disappointed. "Tom's always talking about the chickens, I wanted to see them."

"Hah!" Lily laughed. "I'm sure we can find a drink for you and the hens are mine. Kate doesn't have any here but she and the children help look after them and we share the eggs. Actually, I have some in the car that I forgot to bring in when I arrived, would you help me fetch them?"

"Can I Mum?" Rhys asked, his eyes shining and Lou nodded so he raced off in front of Lily.

He came back in carrying three boxes of six eggs which he put on the table and he opened the top one. "Why are they funny colours?" He frowned as he saw the eggs in various shades from white through to a rich dark brown.

"Funny?" Lily looked at him curiously.

"Yes, eggs are that colour." He pointed at one that was a pale brown. "That's the colour of all the eggs in the shops. Why are yours all different?"

"They're not funny colours, they're egg colours." Lily understood him now. "The big supermarkets like their eggs to be all the same and they choose chickens for their farms that lay eggs that colour. The other colours are from different breeds of chicken. I've even got one that lays blue shelled eggs. There's one in one of the boxes somewhere, might even be two."

Rhys opened the other two boxes and found more of the dark chocolate brown eggs and three pale blue eggs.

"Eggs? Haven't they stopped laying for the winter yet?" Kate came back into the room. "I have loads left from last time because we didn't do any baking. Why doesn't Rhys take a box home with him, you can let Cam have the box back in school when you've finished them."

"Can I choose which ones?" Rhys was fascinated by the dark brown, white and blue eggs so Lily helped him sort out a box with two white, two blue and two dark brown eggs in.

When they got home with the eggs, Lou made scrambled eggs – a delicious and nutritious meal with hot buttered toast and beans.

My posh scrambled eggs ….

Take 1 or 2 eggs per person.

Find a pack of cheap smoked salmon – the trimmings are fine, doesn't need to be the best slices!

You'll also need a fork, bread and butter (or margarine if you prefer) for toasting, a tin of beans if you want them, a bit more butter and a dash of milk. Oh and a microwave and microwave proof bowl at least 3 times larger than the volume of the egg mix – they really do fluff up!

Crack the eggs into the bowl.

Sgred the salmon into the eggs.

Add a dash of milk and a decent size chunk of butter.

Whisk it up with a fork until it looks frothy.

Start the toast cooking, and the beans. You need to have those just about ready before you start the eggs as the eggs take only a couple of minutes.

Zap in the microwave for about a minute, then break it up and whisk with the fork again. Repeat until the consistency is reached.

Serve and eat while hot.

[image error]

The Map and The Stone – Paperback

The Map and The Stone – Kindle

The Map and The Stone – Other eBook formats.

[image error]

Cakes Afterwards. #samplesunday

Child of the Portal.

From chapter 2 – The Funeral.

"Go ahead." Lily gently pushed Kate towards the door with one hand as she reached for the kettle with the other. A glimmer of a smile twitched Kate's mouth and she walked unsteadily to the doorway into the living room. Lily filled the kettle and switched it on. She watched Kate lean on the door frame and watch Jack and the boys playing together. She saw the edge of a smile creep onto Kate's face and turned away as Jack came to embrace his grieving wife. Andrew could clearly be heard in the living room so rather than disturb him, Lily carried on making the tea she knew Kate needed. As she popped the lid onto the steaming tea pot she turned to see Kate leaning her head on Jack's shoulder. Her eyes were closed tight against the reality that was so incredibly painful today. Kate's eyes slowly opened and she smiled at Lily, a sad, bleak smile that said she'd be fine. Eventually. Kate pulled away from Jack and came to accept the proffered mug of hot, sweet tea. Placing the mug on the table she opened a cupboard to dig out some home-made cakes.

"You don't bake?" Lily said, incredulous "Who made those? They look and smell delicious."

"I thought it was time I learned." Kate blushed. "I've been practising." She put the tin of cakes on the table and sat next to Jack. Lily extended her senses a little and felt the confusion and relief mixed in with the grief coming from Kate. Eventually that would turn to a need to find answers. But just now the pain and grief flowing from her was being carefully held in check by the wave of numbness that swept over them all. Lily knew her own reaction would come later, when she was alone.

Easy cakes.

So easy that even Kate can make them, and she doesn't usually bake that well. Soups and main meals she's good at, cakes and biscuits haven't been her strongest point.

First get yourself 2 eggs, a bag of self raising flour, some butter and some sugar. Grab some cocoa powder if you want to make chocolate ones, vanilla if you want that.

Weigh your eggs, in the shells.

Then weigh out the same amount of sugar, butter and flour.

Cream the butter and sugar together.

Beat in one egg at a time until smooth.

Sift in the flour and fold in gently. Here's where you add in the cocoa powder if you're making chocolate cakes.

Spoon the mixture evenly into 12 cup cake/bun cases.

Bake for approx 15 mins at 180 deg C.

Cool, ice, share with a friend, over a large pot of tea.

Child of the Portal is scheduled for release during June 2011 and is the last in the Portal series.

The Portal series so far.

And at Smashwords.

Search Twitter for #samplesundaycookoff for more recipes with story samples, #samplesunday for more extracts from new writers, and #recipe for cooking inspiration.

 

[image error]

Blog Streak… Thea Atkinson.

For the month of April, fellow author, Thea Atkinson is streaking through 30 blogs and flashing us a piece of fiction. I generously offered her a space today so she could expose a piece. My blog will be back to normal tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy and follow the links at the end to see who she flashed yesterday and who she will flash tomorrow. Feel free to leave a comment to let me know if you enjoyed the streak, and you are welcome to tweet it or share it on Facebook. You can also follow the chain through twitter with the hashtag #blogstreak



Changeling

By Thea Atkinson

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/

I dream deep, sounds coming to me like echoes through water. There's no one but Poseidon to know if my visions are from his cousin Hypnos or if the bubbles frothing from my mouth are my dying gasps. I want to believe the first, but I'm terrified, now, it's the latter.

I drag in the taste of salt. It burbles up my nose, burns my sinuses. My chest hurts. Darkness claws at me with a claustrophobic grip. "Breathe, it says. "Breathe."

The flicker of a tail, a fin, the softness of silk against my face. So it's not darkness that whispers to me, after all. Death has the strangely soft voice of a woman.

"Breathe," she says again.

Fingers press against my mouth. Self-preservation makes me fight against them. My instinctual struggles remind me that it is not Hypnos who has me because I hadn't chosen medication as my catalyst for change. Sleeping pills would have been so much easier. I'd be unconscious now, awaiting the slip over into the next realm. Peaceful. Maybe a soft white light to greet me.

My daughter's voice presses in then, a sonar blip matching the beat of my dying heart, a residue of time and space and a world apart from this one: "Daddy, where did Momma go?"

Momma's gone to heaven, I should have said. But then I would have had to explain heaven. I'd have had to explain death and nothingness. The hopelessness of the grave: too much for a three-year-old.

"Momma's gone back to the sea, Babe. Gone back to the sea."

"The sea?"

"Yes. You know the seals we see sunning on the big rock at the beach?"

A nod. A reflective smile.

"Momma's one of them. She gave up the sea to have you and be with me. But we only got to keep her for a short time. She needs the water to live."

Needs the water to live like I needed her to live, I wanted to say, but I didn't. Instead, after months of trying to go through the motions of living, I chose transformation. Left my baby with her mortal grandmother and filled my pockets with rocks and waded out into the surf.

"Breathe," The voice comes again. The fingers are insistent now; they pull at my lips trying to peel them away from my clenched teeth and let the air inside escape. I feel the jutting hardness of rock against my thighs. The claustrophobia tries to force me, panicked, to the surface.

"Breathe, damn you."

Hynos. What if it's just Hypnos, and I'm dreaming, and I take a breath and I wake on my bed—our bed–and I have to suffer another day without her? Another day. Without her.

I strain to open my eyes. The murk of old ocean bed disturbed creates blobs in my vision. Bladderwrack dances in front of me. What if she's not here? What if it's death who claims me? Will it be enough for my soul to find peace without her?

I scan the ocean debris for familiar limbs, the slanted eyes, the soft touch. Fingers reach through the murk at me, black webbed fingers and slanted eyes come into focus, peer into mine from a face with whiskers and pointed nose. It doesn't matter that the face is not the same. It's still her. I know it is.

And that's all that matters.

I stretch open my lungs, gasping, to fill them with water.

And I breathe.

april 2 Linda Prather

http://www.jacodypress.blogspot.com/

april 3 Sarah Barnard (fantasy)

http://www.sarahbarnard.co.uk/blog/

april 4: Val Maarten

http://vmaarten.blogspot.com/

[image error]

Meme time

It's memetastic time!

The way indie authors and bloggers reward each other!

I'm now, allegedly, the proud recipient of the Memetastic award, thanks to Libby Fischer Hellman (via facebook – but do go and check out her page there.)

[image error]Here is the list of my new responsibilities:

1. I must proudly display the absolutely wonderful, although rather strange, graphic in a post. <<

2. I must list 5 things about myself, and 4 of them must be bold-faced lies. My readers are to guess which one is the truth by posting a comment on My blog post, here.

Yep, I can do that..

3. I must pass on this awesomely, prestigious award to 5 deserving bloggers.

There'll be a list at the bottom, linked if I can find links to you.

So, here are the five things about myself, one of which is actually true:

I was once published under Mills and Boon (but we had creative differences…)
I once wrote off a car by reversing into a French lamp post.
I was there when Charles and Di got married.
I can't roll my tongue.
I was born with a badly dislocated hip.

So who are the lucky recipients that I pass on the award to?

Here are the lucky winners:

Don't forget to grab the award pic….

Val Maarten.
Catrina Taylor.
Pad A.
Mel Comley.
Kristina Jackson.

Click on their names to find their blogs and see what they said, and while there, check out their books too – every single one is a fabulous writer and well worth a look.

[image error]

Soup for a #SampleSundayCookoff

A slight change of plan this week… Instead of just offering an extract from one of my books I'm playing a little game too. The dare this week is to find an extract that involves food and then present the recipe for you to try.

[image error]"Lily, can you and Andrew stop for supper? It's soup but there's plenty." Kate asked.  Lily looked up and grinned.

"Now that would be why I brought you a loaf of fresh bread then wouldn't it?" Lily pulled a tea towel wrapped bundle from her bag and put it on the table.

"Lily!" Kate exclaimed. "Sometimes I think you are bloody psychic." Lily raised an eyebrow but didn't deny it. Kate unwrapped the bread carefully. The crust was liberally spotted with different grains and was deep rich brown. The sides of the loaf yielded beautifully to the slightest pressure and hinted at the promise of wonderful fluffy soft bread inside. The warm yeasty smell of fresh baked bread filled the kitchen and Kate had to grab the loaf from the table to save it from eager children who were reaching out to steal a piece.

She and Lily ladled hot steaming soup from the large stock pot into an assortment of bowls and carved up the bread into thick chunks which were heaped onto a plate. The inside of the loaf was as fluffy as it had promised to be, light and airy but packed with assorted grains. The children and Kate preferred their soup smooth so this was a thick creamy, but textured bowlful that was presented to each of them. The light open texture of the bread soaked up soup like a sponge and the taste was delicious.

Kate's "What's left in the fridge Soup".

You will need: An onion, a carrot or two, a red pepper (or most of one), some stock – I prefer chicken but almost anything will do, some assorted veg from the fridge – soft and wrinkled is fine, a clove or two of garlic, a bit of oil, about 50g of plain flour, a nice big saucepan or a slow cooker/crockpot.

Almost all of the ingredients are flexible – apart from the onion, and even that can be switched for a leek, or left out if you really want to. Quantities are very forgiving too. The whole point is to use up the left over stuff lurking in the back of the fridge, the wrinkled carrots and the slightly soft veg.

Chop the onion/leek and garlic and soften in a dash of oil or a bit of butter – whichever you have.
Fill the kettle and set it to boil.
Grab a large mug and pop a tea bag in.
Make a mug of tea and chop all remaining veg into small pieces while drinking the tea.
Once the onion is nice and soft, add a spoon or so of plain flour and stir round to soak up the oil – it gets a bit sticky but don't worry.
Pour on some of the hot water from the kettle – you did leave some in after you made that tea didn't you?
Add in the chopped veg.
Crumble in a stock cube and stir until all dissolved.
Have you finished that tea? Want another one? Is there any hot water left? Go on, grab a refill….
Leave soup to simmer on a low heat until all the veg is soft. Then either blitz it with one of those stick blenders to make a thick, smooth soup; or serve it as it is. It goes really well with warm crusty bread that steams fragrantly as you break the crust…

Kate has been known to throw in some shredded left over chicken if she's served a roast dinner the day before. Or she sometimes adds tomatoes and leaves out most of the veg – only carrots in that one. It's really very very flexible and freezes well if you make too much.

The Portal Between -Kindle edition at Amazon UK

The Portal Between – Paperback

The Portal Between – Other eBook Formats

[image error]

Dancing in the rain. #samplesunday

A gentle interlude from The Portal Sundered – book 2 in The Portal Series.

[image error]The sky was darkening but the air was hot and sticky. Neither Sam nor the Naiad moved even when the first drops turned into a downpour. The rain beat down on Sam's back as she lay on the grass. She felt rivulets of water run under her and she turned over to feel the rain on her face. She sat up and ran her hands through her hair, wiping the worst of the wet out of her face only to be swamped by more.

You will catch cold." The Naiad observed quietly, her voice almost lost in the sharp crack of thunder and almost simultaneous jagged flash of lightening.

I don't care!" yelled back Sam, raising her voice to be heard over the din and suddenly grinning, her dark mood washed away by the rain. "Come out of there and dance with me. This is glorious!" Sam stood, tipped her head back to allow the fresh sweet water to fill her mouth and she drank in the rain before it had chance to hit the earth. She looked down to the Naiad still in the stream and held out a hand. "Come on." She grinned and the Naiad grinned back feeling the rain pelting her head.

After all, water is my element. Why not go dancing in the rain." The Naiad rose elegantly from the water and joined Sam on the grass. They danced round each other while the storm thundered overhead. Lightening crackled across the sky. A stark flash of brightness between the deep gloom of the thunderclouds. The clouds themselves so deep and glowering they looked close enough to touch. The thunder rumbling so deep it shook the ground. The grass was fast becoming slippery. Sam and the Naiad carried on dancing, laughing as they slipped about and clung to each other.

This is mad!" Sam shouted "Completely mad but I love it." She caught hold of the Naiad as she danced past. The Naiad stumbled on the wet grass and clutched at Sam. They tumbled to the soaked earth in a breathless grinning heap. They sat there, limbs tangled together in the mud, and let the torrential rain wash them clean. The storm showed no sign of abating and eventually Sam gently pulled her hand free and rose to her feet.

I have to go and dry off," she apologised "Water isn't my element and I will definitely get sick if I get too chilled." She bent to kiss the Naiad as water ran over them both and then pulled away to walk back to the cottage but the Naiad pulled her back towards the stream and towards her own home.

Sarah Barnard's Amazon Author page – paperback and kindle editions.

Smashwords – Nook, Sony and other eBook formats.

[image error]