In 'Allie/Alma', Alma is a very good girl who volunteers with the elderly in her free time. Allie is her wicked alter ego. While Alma courteously tends to her companions' needs, Allie is scheming to steal their precious heirlooms and artefacts. So it happens one day that Allie is so overcome by greed for a particular carved egg that she forgets to listen to its tragic history, unaware that she will be the next chapter in it.

In 'Bridgey', our eponymous heroine is trapped as her uncle's slave, doing household chores from dawn until dusk with only a duck named Rafferty and a mysterious water monster called the Grimblett as her friends. One day, when Bridgey accidentally drops her uncle's treasured honey pot in the lake he flies into a rage and it is left to Rafferty and Grimblett to exact a harsh final punishment on him.

Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collectionSeven Strange and Ghostly Tales.

Brian Jacques was born and bred in Liverpool, where he lives today. At the age of fifteen he went to sea and travelled the world. He has worked as a stand-up comedian and playwright and now hosts his own programme,Jakestown, on Radio Merseyside. His bestsellingRedwallbooks have captured readers all over the world and won universal praise.