BC 002 You must see this!

From: Jones Ashport ashyjones@gorble.47923

To: Ffearnie Tankenroll ffearne.tankenroll@gov.england

2197.04.11 — 11:42

You must see this!

Ffernie!

I knew that old newspaper scan would get your attention. You’ll never guess where I got it, so I’m going to tell you. You know how we had the best larder in the history of student housing because of my gran showing up at our house with jars of marmalade and chilli pickle and gherkins and lemons and anything else you could put in a jar?

Turns out, she wasn’t just into preserving food.

My mum gave me a box of Gran’s papers. (Some of them are literal paper. That stuff is heavy!) She thinks it would be good for me to organise them because apparently disgraced solicitor hiding in the guest house forever isn’t a proper job.

The papers are a mess. Five readers, a couple dozen waffls that hold at least a TB each, some genuinely ancient USBs and the stack of dead tree pulp.

When Mum handed over the box I thought I was about to become a pickling expert. But, Ffernie, I am not. So far it’s historical stuff – lots of documents from around here or not too far away. No recipes.

It’s not all old though. I found text files with dialogue and descriptions. There’s a timeline, unconverted handwritten notes with ideas and little snippets. Ffernacious Ffern, I think my grandmother who, as far as I knew, only made pickles was writing a historical novel (!!!) set a few years after the d-plague.

So what I am wondering, dear Ff, is do you want a look? Come out and spend a weekend swimming in this archive. My parents’s house is huge and gorgeous. Also, it would be fantastic to see a real friend. No one in law world has spoken to me since I blew up my career and most of England’s third-largest law firm.

Please say yes!

Jones