Pauline Philbey was fed up: to the back teeth and beyond. She looked across at Harry Riddles, snoring behind his newspaper.  Being in the safe house was boring; stultifying; depressing; mind-numbingly dull. Ditch water was more interesting.

The snoring was getting louder. Poor Hal! The stress of Templeton Towers was taking its toll on him. Sad thing that he was, with his sleep apnea! The noise was appalling. The old duffer was no spring chicken. Mind you, neither was she. It was no fun getting old.

Hartley Grammar School, 1957. He had been in the sixth form; she was in the fourth. Her first date with a boy. They had agreed to meet on the six o’clock bus from Holme Hill to Hartley. But it had to be a secret; nobody could know that the head boy was going out with such a young g...

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