The Pitanga Tree is one of 22 short stories from my book, "The Skipping Verger and Other Tales".

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…was never permitted to set foot in the attic. It was the boys’ room and her brothers defended it like possessive knights in a medieval castle.

The attic at Brambles, the family home in Surrey, was where they played with their trains and soldiers and, as they grew, where plots unfolded out of reach of little sister. It was also the natural store room for school trunks and forgotten things. To be fair, Alice never ever wanted to interfere with the boy’s…

By John Reid Young