Category: Sam Youd

jungfrau climb conquer virgin

I’d like to climb it one day

The moon was high in the southern sky. It lit the ground beneath their window and the crowding distant peaks of the Oberland. Hibson pointed. ‘That’s the Jungfrau, isn’t it?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘I’d like to climb...

As though they were blessing them

In the troubled water above the sluice-gates, half a dozen swans were waltzing with slow grandeur, swinging round with the current, backing and then, effortlessly, gliding into position again. Above them, perhaps twice as many...

Tonight’s not the night

Over by the bar a couple of tables were occupied by women. Two of them came over. The leader, a brunette in a tight, black dress, introduced herself and her companion. ‘I am Jeanette and...

A night to suit the mood

‘You know what?’ Hibson freed himself. ‘What?’ ‘We need another drink.’ They strayed from bar to bar, taking a couple of drinks in each. About midnight they came out into the Grande Rue, not far...

Another life

Leverett pointed up at the building in front of them. There were lights at a number of windows, but the two top floors, with a single exception, were dark. There, in the corner, there was...

He needed a drink

In England, in this mood, he would probably have telephoned Angela. There would have been an inconsequential, affectionate conversation, interrupted continually by the demands made on her by the children, and in the evening he...

Under a morbid sky

He made his way towards the lake and walked through the Jardin Anglais. The General Dufour was there, its gang-plank down, taking on last-minute passengers for Thonon, Evian and Lausanne. He thought of joining them,...

Tete-a-tete

They had lunch in a little café in the Place Trois Perdrix. It was dark outside, with low grey clouds coming in from the Rhône valley, and the lights were on. All round them on...

Childhood memories

He put his hand towards her face. She stood quite still. He saw now that there was an old scar on her forehead, just above her left eyebrow. ‘Lugeing down from Sonloup,’ he said. ‘A...