January 31st 1953
Dusk was falling, but it was the strangest dusk I had ever seen. The sky had a distinct yellow tinge, and the wind, coming across the Wash straight from Russia, rocked my car as I left the pine plantations of the Royal estate and entered an area of heathland and fen. Rain had slicked the metaled surface of the road, and the next gust pushed me into the other lane. My hands tightened on the wheel, bringing the car back into its proper place, glad of no oncoming traffic. No one else, I told myself, was foolish enough to be out in the increasingly bad weather, this last day of January.
Earlier, I’d been buying pints, first at a pub not too far from the coast, being regaled with stories of the sort I’d come to find. Stories of a fiddler who guided people to a smuggler’s cave before disappearing, and of the sounds of battle sometimes heard at Warham Camp on a night when the moon was full. I’d recognized both – once I’d learned to decipher the Norfolk accent – as versions of tales I’d heard up and down the land. At the next place I’d stopped, I’d been told of a golden cradle buried somewhere nearby. Whose cradle, and buried when or by whom, no one could say. At least the story was new. Maybe I could do something with it, spin it out somehow. (read more)
FATE offers tales of history, mystery, and magic—sometimes all three. From Anglo-Saxon conquest to the pursuit of alchemy, from ghostly warnings to hidden identities, these short stories explore the threads of destiny that bind us all. You’ll meet mothers, invaders and long-lost lovers, time travellers and vengeful spirits, each navigating a world where fate plays its hand. Whether you crave historical depth, puzzling mystery, or fantastical wonder, there’s a story here for you.
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