Lunchtime read: The Best Short Stories

This collection of stories is almost completed and again there is a tale that has a hint of the dark night of the soul about it as an obsession leads to death

Mrs Bathurst
Some old sailors and a railway man are talking over drinks about different places they have travelled when one of them starts to talk about a woman, Mrs Bathurst, who ran a bar and was a remarkable woman who was never forgotten by anyone who met her. One of the party recalls how he was dragged by another sailor to the films night after night because there was some footage of Mrs Bathurst coming out of a train in Paddington and he says that she was looking for him. He then deserts and disappears.

But at this point the man from the railway talks about a recent trip he had to make to help with a derailed train and how two tramps had been seen near the line. It appears to be the man and Mrs Bathurst both dead and resembling charcoal.

Another tale that leaves you with a haunting twist. Last story tomorrow…