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Robert Hugill

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  1. Robert Hugill
    'Cooee' is correct. Yes Gus is in his mid-40s, perhaps slightly younger.
  2. Robert Hugill
    Do you know the piano’s on my foot? “‘Do you know the piano’s on my foot, Dad?’ ‘You hum it, son, and I’ll play it.’” Gus was a joker. Any awkward situation, any silence, and he filled it. He didn’t even seem to worry whether his audience found his stories funny. We’d already had the-actress-and-the-bishop (more than once) with plenty of funny voices, and a shaggy-dog story that began, “Did I ever tell you about the time…?” To which the answer was “No”, because we’d not spent that
  3. Robert Hugill
    Charlie & his present It was meant to be funny, to make him laugh and cheer him up. But when you came down to it, we were back to celebrating that ‘Ding-Dong, the Witch is Dead’ but the witch had been someone’s aunt. I had taken the climactic scene from Lewis & Charles and rather tweaked it. Lewis and Charles were still watching the death of the witch, her familiar just a wisp. But now there was Sarge, the dog, dashing on with Gloria following him. All the characters were t
  4. Robert Hugill
    Introducing Lewis & Charles “And how’s the shitting commune?” Eileen was making us tea. We’d had a successful meeting about Chrys & Ralphie 4, most of which was now out of my hands, barring any last-minute changes. There had been a lot of back and forth about the title, as Chrys & Ralphie in the Country (which had been my working title) hardly cut it—at least, according to Eileen. But we had these discussions all the time, and it’s what kept things lively. So Chrys &am
  5. Robert Hugill
    Probably an attempt at a Cornish accent!
  6. Robert Hugill
    What about this 'nightmare' version:
  7. Robert Hugill
    I should have made more of it but Louis makes a comment about my grandfather's axe: "I’d never thought about canal art before, or whatever it was called: the rather lurid folk-art style that traditionally decorated the canal boats. All of this stuff was modern, of course, as boats needed constant maintenance. We were looking at the visual equivalent of a modern-day folk singer performing a traditional song, something old and something new at the same time. Or perhaps my grandfather’s axe. "
  8. Robert Hugill
    Canal boat diaries The day was one of constant drizzle. It wasn’t so bad in the car to Northampton. However, after we parked, we got properly damp as we transferred to a bus. And from the bus windows, the weather made the nether regions of Northampton look even less desirable than usual. We were having an outing planned by Tom. Ian was working, so it was just the three of us. The day was to be a surprise. All I knew was that it involved a walk along a canal, ending with something
  9. Robert Hugill
    I've never really thought of this story as a 'romance' as such, so was rather tickled to find it at number 7 in Top 10 Most Read Romance in the last month
  10. Robert Hugill
    Graham is arrested “Fuck, they’ve arrested Graham.” “Your Aunt Daphne’s Graham? What for? As if I couldn’t guess.” The local papers only came out weekly, but their websites were usually worth glancing at. We had got into the habit since our own brush with notoriety, in case anything else came up. Charlie peered intently at the article on his phone. “Doesn’t say much.” He frowned. “A list of things: money laundering, corporate espionage. No real detail.” “Nothing c
  11. Robert Hugill
    The Martinson/Masterson thing was an entire accident not intentional. On the revision list!
  12. Robert Hugill
    Culprits “Well done, all of you. Though it did take rather a long time.” The DI eyed them all with a steady glare. DI Indira Vai was tall, slim and whip-cord fit. She looked to be in her late 40s, her thick black hair kept up in a tight chignon. Her skin reflected her Indian heritage: though if asked, she would always say with laugh that she was a bit of a mongrel. Habitually dressed in practical blouse and trousers, she was brisk and focused, fair but feared. Once, two of her te
  13. Robert Hugill
    And no. 9 in Top 10 Most Read General Fiction in the last month. Thanks to everyone for continuing the journey. More thrills and spills to come.
  14. Robert Hugill
    Occasionally. But with strict boundaries Sunday morning, Charlie was on a job and Ian was at work. The sun was shining, so I took my coffee into the front garden to admire Ian’s handiwork. He had certainly put in a lot of work. And whilst things would take time to settle and bloom, it was already looking more like a well-tended garden than somewhere forlorn and forgotten. Tom appeared, also coffee in hand. “Ian’s made a nice job of it, hasn’t he?” Tom raised an eyebrow. “Yo
  15. Robert Hugill
    Family Matters “How did you get on?” “Oof.” Charlie sat down heavily on the sofa. “Strong drink needed.” He grinned. “You weren’t that long.” He rolled his eyes. “Felt long enough.” “What happened?” “You were right. Took all of two minutes to hand those over.” He nodded towards the two envelopes he had deposited on the coffee table. “What else did Graham want?” “Only grill me about Aunt Daphne’s case.” “You’re bloody joking! After last time?”
  16. Robert Hugill
    Yes sponge but not the fat-less ones (which are harder). Teenage me learned to be able to knock up a Victoria Sandwich (egg, flour, sugar, butter), though sometimes more exotic things!
  17. Robert Hugill
    Correct. Neither Daphne nor Graham is a blood relative. Charlie had one blood uncle, Carl. And I definitely love cake. Eating it and baking cakes was a big feature of growing up.
  18. Robert Hugill
    Return to Boughton Which is how we came to return to Boughton with Ian. On Saturday evening we had been chatting to him about grand gardens, and talking of Wrest Park (which provided the inspiration for Ian’s ideas for our garden) led to Charlie commenting that there was more to explore at Boughton. It turned out Ian hadn’t been there and was tempted when we talked about how the walled garden was now full of flowers. Tom said he was busy; there was work to do on the large studio. I
  19. Robert Hugill
    Thomas Englert redux “You’ve got a fucking nerve showing your face here.” Charlie’s voice was loud and clear, coming from somewhere outside his studio I thought. I wondered who he was shouting at; Charlie raising his voice like that was relatively unusual. The person’s response must have been quiet: I couldn’t hear it. I had been putting my rubbish out, of all things. The waste bins were at the front of the property, convenient for the bin men and inconvenient for the rest of us.
  20. Robert Hugill
    More brunch, really.
  21. Robert Hugill
    Beer - as long as it's decent Rugby League - see discussion of shorts in various of my stories, but don't ask me to explain the rules! Meat pies - depends who's made them!
  22. Robert Hugill
    Daphne's death emerges sooner rather than later. Half the challenge of the story was to keep the other plates spinning until the artefact could be revealed!
  23. Robert Hugill
    Pericles & PJ PJ put on another batch of coffee and set about making breakfast. He cocked half an ear for Joss in the next room. The house was tiny, a ‘two up, two down’ Victorian workers’ cottage that Joss had worked on for the last ten years. The interior would perhaps have surprised many who knew Joss from work. There were now just two main rooms downstairs, the rear rooms knocked into the old kitchen to create a large, friendly well laid out kitchen. This was PJ’s domain. The
  24. Robert Hugill
    New collaboration Much against Gavin’s better judgement but with Jason urging that it would be OK, Slav and Rory were going to the nude beach with Victor. The man had popped up when they were heading out for the morning. He had suggested a trip as the weather looked set to be fine. Jason commented afterwards that he suspected the offer was aimed at Gavin and him. But the two wanted some time alone whilst Rory had accepted with alacrity with Slav seemingly perfectly happy. Truthfully, S
  25. Robert Hugill
    “Any word from Graham?” “Not a dickie bird.” “Thank goodness. By the way. Did your aunt have any of your family things?” “What do you mean?” “Well, after your uncle died, she’d have inherited his things, I’d imagine, and might still have them. You know: old photos, great-uncle Nigel’s cigarette case, the snuffbox presented by Queen Victoria.” Charlie laughed at this recitation. “Photos, maybe. A lot of family ones came from Mum and Dad. Besides, if anything it woul
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