Lawrence said: ‘We aren’t up to Indian Scout standards, I’m afraid, for courage and enterprise. We couldn’t even catch the bullock.’ ‘The bullock?’ ‘Something else that came through. It grazes in some fields about a...

The start they made, however, was not a particularly early one. The sun was well up when Matthew woke and, looking along the line of huddled figures, he saw only one place where the blankets...

She bent lower, cupping water in her hands and splashing it over herself. Then she looked up, still kneeling. He knew that she could see him, that it was over. The present was real, and...

They found the bullock in the fourth field. It was grazing near a corner that was enclosed on either side by metal fencing with a wood beyond; as good a position, Matthew thought, as one...

The bullock had gone through into the next field, and by the time they reached the gap there was no sign of it. But the trail was not difficult to follow – great splashes of...

‘So what does one do?’ Lawrence asked. He looked at April in helpless appeal. ‘What do you think?’ She did not answer him but went over to Charley. She put her hand out, and he...

He told her briefly about the break-up of his marriage and how he had left London for the island. She listened, and said: ‘You’re very lucky, aren’t you?’ ‘Lucky?’ ‘You were already in retreat from...

‘No one is coming to save us. That’s something that has to be understood. No aeroplanes dropping out of the sky with cargo. No great ships steaming in with meat and grain and bananas and...

I had the insane idea that there might still be strength and goodness – in a man, between man and woman. It was my illusion, and not your fault.’ ‘I don’t think it is an...

It was wiser, Matthew decided, not to risk the Southampton gangs. He thought of going north at first, until the better idea occurred to him of heading south-east, towards the coast. By following the line...