Ruthie and Bunt find themselves taking care of their niece Iva. At the time there have been several mysterious fires startingin and around the town they live in. Ruthie thinks back to the time they ended up taking care of her, when Bunt’s sister had lost her husband to aposse who were after another man. With no-one else to turn to, Bunt’s sister ask them to look after Iva, so she undertake a longer journey to findmore of her family. But the local gossip in the town begins to turn nasty and the tension takes its toll on the couple, coming to an explosiveending.

This is an interesting little short story, which doesn’t give away if there is any supernatural involved or not. What it is, is a very finedescriptive piece about families living in unhappy times and doing the best they can to survive. Though brief, the characters are come across stronglyand you can easily understand their point of view and their actions. The descriptions conjure up the times gone passed, although it could have beenset in a wide range of times, some things just have not changed that much over the last couple of hundred years. The plot is simple although as ashort story, it’s difficult to fit too much in, but it sticks to the story well.

This would be an ideal short story for a coffee break, quick enough to read in one go, but thought provoking at the same time.