Encounters

Encounters
Barbara Erskine

A captivating volume of over forty short stories full of love, hope, and fear, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Lady of Hay.Barbara Erskine is a born storyteller. The tales in 'Encounters' illustrate her extraordinary talent for capturing the spirit of a place and drawing us into the hearts and minds of her characters. Some are humorous, some thrilling, while others are unashamedly sentimental. Old-fashioned love stories such as 'A Face in the Crowd' follow ingenious ghost stories, and in 'A Step Out of Time' the past and present come together, drawing back the curtain that separates us from our ancestors.No one who has enjoyed Barbara Erskine’s best-selling novels – Lady of Hay, Kingdom of Shadows, Child of the Phoenix and Midnight is a Lonely Place – will be able to resist this gripping collection.

Copyright (#uf3fe027c-6611-5753-baa3-d7c832dcc5de)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Michael Joseph Ltd 1990

This edition published by Harper 2017

This collection © Barbara Erskine 1990 and as follows:

‘Cabbage a la Carte’ (Woman’s Weekly) 1976; ‘Feline Express’ (New Love as ‘Cupid Was A Kitten’) 1978; The Consolation Prize’ (Women’s World as ‘A Loving Invitation’) 1984; ‘There was a time when I was almost happy …” (Woman’s World) 1979; ‘Summer Treachery’ (Rio) 1981; Trade Reunions’ (Best) 1988; ‘The Bath: A Summer Ghost Story’ (Living) 1987; ‘The Green Leaves of Summer’ (Woman’s Own Summer Stories) 1979; ‘Encounters’ (Woman’s World) 1977; The Touch of Gold’ (The Writer) 1976; The Helpless Heart’ (Woman’s World as ‘Give Me Back My Dreams’) 1978; The Indian Summer of Mary McQueen’ (Secrets) 1980; ‘The Magic of Make Believe’ (Woman’s World) 1984; ‘A Summer Full of Poppies’ (Secret Story, Robinson) 1989; ‘A Face in the Crowd’ (Woman’s World as ‘Forsaking All Others’) 1983; ‘Flowers Shouldn’t Make You Cry’ (Woman’s World) 1979; ‘Someone to Dream About’ (Woman’s World) 1986; ‘Milestones’ (New Idea) 1980; ‘Marcus Nicholls’ (Red Star Weekly as ‘Windows on the Past’) 1980; ‘A Quest For Identity’ (Woman’s World) 1977; The Heart Will Understand’ (Woman’s World) 1980; ‘A Stranger With No Name’ (Woman’s World) 1980; ‘Just An Old-Fashioned Girl’ (Woman’s World as ‘Love Never Changes’) 1981; ‘All This Childish Nonsense’ (Woman’s World as ‘A Promise is Forever’) 1977; ‘A Love Story’ (My Story) 1976; ‘A Promise of Love’ (Woman’s World as ‘Don’t Tread On My Dreams’) 1978.

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Barbara Erskine asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008180904

Ebook Edition © January 2017 ISBN: 9780007466351

Version: 2017-09-07

Table of Contents

Cover (#ua3d11015-0c53-5d78-8a86-322cd02e9e62)

Title Page (#u4eed2d40-fbce-5fbf-8669-1f3ee4f65d07)

Copyright (#u69f2c09d-a3bb-5871-9747-42f0bac0091f)

Preface (#u4d493484-fe5d-5c9e-a0d6-2d214b60b7ab)

A Step Out of Time (#ube082fda-ebfb-57b6-bac7-c8cfeca255fe)

Visitors (#u6e07fcab-bf94-58e9-ad50-04940828569a)

Cabbage à la Carte (#ud028dddc-084a-5624-bea8-f2acba51c3fb)

Metamorphosis (#uebfbc41c-9fbe-55cc-a44d-d6b47ba7d6ca)

Feline Express (#u24f82028-03b0-50a1-a858-5c92e59881ee)

The Consolation Prize (#u8f2f6631-4833-566c-94d5-af30f6bffa6f)

The Valentine’s Day Plot (#ufeb01410-8370-5b62-b555-73c550866939)

‘There Was a Time When I Was Almost Happy …’ (#uc6a8a933-f005-592b-93e0-0abf4a80b56e)

Summer Treachery (#u1aada504-a819-58b9-943d-8414895667b7)

Trade Reunions (#litres_trial_promo)

All You Need to Do Is Smile (#litres_trial_promo)

The Bath – a Summer Ghost Story (#litres_trial_promo)

A Private Ceremony (#litres_trial_promo)

The Green Leaves of Summer (#litres_trial_promo)

Encounters (#litres_trial_promo)

The Touch of Gold (#litres_trial_promo)

The Helpless Heart (#litres_trial_promo)

The Indian Summer of Mary McQueen (#litres_trial_promo)

The Magic of Make Believe (#litres_trial_promo)

Destiny (#litres_trial_promo)

A Summer Full of Poppies (#litres_trial_promo)

A Face in the Crowd (#litres_trial_promo)

A Woman’s Choice (#litres_trial_promo)

Flowers Shouldn’t Make You Cry (#litres_trial_promo)

Footsteps in the Attic (#litres_trial_promo)