Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor

Summary

Four original folktale-style stories based on the old English counting rhyme. The tinker is drawn to a mysterious pool. He half-remembers he once loved a princess. When she appears by the water, he learns they have 14 days to lift a curse or lose each other forever. The tailor has a 21st-century mindset and a 14th-century problem. Goblins have stolen his baby daughter and left a changeling. The goblin king sets three tasks to be completed by the next full moon. There’s a win-win solution if the tailor can find it. Two Vikings fleeing relentless pursuers, enter the strange garden of Mistress Gefn. They are set the task of rebuilding a wall. They wonder if they can leave. There are two exits. The sailor’s wife died in childbirth, and he is unable to love his daughter. The moor-folk steal uncared-for children. When his daughter disappears, he tracks her down to the Isle of the Sea Queen where he is presented with a life-or-death choice.

©2020 Charles Palmer (P)2020 Charles Palmer