Wednesdays for Mrs Taylor are sacrosanct. On Wednesdays, she escapes from unbearable reality into a fantasy world, a world to which she feels she rightly belongs. But to get to this place she has to travel by train.

In The Undivided, Peggy Slater?s husband earns a great deal of money; this fact seems to affect the couple who live in the next street.

Hannah, the Maiden tells the story of a happy shepherd on New Year?s Eve whilst he anxiously awaits the presence of a stranger who will change his life forever.

The protagonist in The Beginning of Eternity considers himself finished. A timid man by nature, he distrusts uncontrolled emotions - but does he cope when he goes down to the cellar?

These four fictional short stories are written and read by Betty Smith, who is a keen amateur criminologist.