Eliza Vandas Button Box chapter sampler

Even Sultan, Mrs Meaney’s black Persian cat, was out of the picture. He’d eaten all the treats his doting owner had left him to ward off starvation while she was away, and had sulked himself to sleep. The rain was still spattering down in spiteful little bursts when Milly came out of her room. She dumped her soggy clothes in the laundry tub and picked her way through a mess of planks and sawdust to the kitchen at the front of the house. The kitchen window was clouded with mist mixed with plaster dust. As Milly stood at the sink, drinking a glass of water, she idly rubbed a peephole in the mist and looked out. To her great surprise, she saw a strange woman standing on the road with a bulging green bag in each hand. The woman was small, brown and sturdy. A brightly patterned scarf was wound round her head. A long green cloak, buttoned up to her chin, hung to the toes of her tidy black boots. Her bags were soft and squashy. They

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