Introduction

We moved to rural Spain over twenty years ago. We did not want to live in a Brit community so we chase the ancient city of Elche as our location. This meant that we had to learn Spanish and spent two evenings a week at night school for the first two years we were here. We had bought a four bed roomed villa on three thousand square metres of ground and spent the first five years turning it into a garden. Once that was done I looked for something else to do and turned to woodwork and writing. These four short stories were published in various Spanish produced local English Language newspapers, so if you were in Spain when any one of them was published you may just have read it before. Please enjoy them.

Don Phillips

The Butcher’s Wife’s Tale

Whatever else anyone in Crannington ever said about George Pockington, and there were much said about him once he was put safely under the soil, they all agree that he had ran a damn fine butcher’s. He had always provided the best meat in the county and, even if you did have to make sure the weight you got was the weight you had paid for, there was never any argument about the quality. It was always the best. Some said it were the best butcher’s in the North of England, but that were said mainly by folks as had never been out of Yorkshire and knew no different. However, the consensus opinion, and that’s what really counts in these matters when all’s said and done, was that he at least the was the best butcher in the South Riding, bar none. And could give a lot outside it a run for their money. But that was all the good that was said about him, for apart from that redeeming feature he had always been a mean and tight fisted little m.