During the war Rita Cooper and her brother Rolly were among the school children evacuated from London. They were sent to Great Tor a forbidding old mansion in Cornwall. While staying there the youngsters discovered that the domestic staff had a hoard of stolen treasure hidden in a cave under the house.
Series of short stories involving gems. Including:
Grandmother’s Sapphire
When Pam’s Grandmother’s sapphire ring is stolen, she tells Pam the story of how her grandfather proposed, giving her the sapphire ring and the happy life they had, even when they lost things in depression and World War. They loved each other very much. In the end the police finds the young thief and return the ring, which is actually a fake! Gran always knew it wasn’t real but it was valuable to her because it showed how romantic her husband was and seizing his chances.
Pearls Beyond Price
In the past, in Arabia, a poor young girl Jasmin was crying by a tree because her mother was ill. She wished her tears were pearls, so she could sell them and save her mother. A kind genie overheard her and made her wish come true. Unfortunately the king’s guards find her and think she is a thief they bring her to him, and when he sees what she can do, he won’t let her leave, so he can have all the pearls himself. At first he brings her mother but she is so happy that her mother is cured and they have food that she doesn’t cry anymore. So then he imprisons her in the dungeon. Then the King falls ill, his heart turning to stone and only real tears of compassion can cure him, none of his subjects cry for him. Jasmin does feel compassion for him saying he could have been a good man, if his parents hadn’t been killed. But the pearl tears cannot help himm. They go back to the tree and Jasmin asks for her gift to be taken away, she is then able to save the King and he becomes a kinder leader.
The Gems of Mercy
Late Eighteenth century: The story resolves around Catrina MacDonald, Scottish daughter of the daughter of the Earl of Marais in France. She visits her grandfather upon her mother’s death and is given a set of precious family amethysts by him. Angered by her new family’s cruelty to the commoners, she gives the jewels away to Marc, a young man training to become a lawyer. He uses the money to buy food and medicines for the poor. When the French Revolution comes around, Marc is able to save Catrina and sees her off on a boat back to Britain.
Caramia is a pony at the circus, she loves Lucy the circus owner daughter who looks after her. But then the circus has to be sold and Caramia to be auctioned off. Caramia does not want to go to a new home she wants to stay with Lucy.
In Victorian times, Cissie and her brother Jamie, were on the run from a chimney sweep, Old Tovey.
Brenda and her young sister, Dulcie, were evacuated from London and sent to live with Mrs Outing in a small village in the country during the war. Brenda and, Dulcie made friends with a local boy named Jem and together the three spied on Mrs Outing who acted very strangely and mysteriously at nights. Brenda overheard, Mrs Outing in her room speaking in a foreign language which she thought to be German.
Two sisters, Leonie and Clare, hoped to win the junior and senior titles at the Young Counties Gymnastics Championships. But then Clare mysteriously disappeared. Leonie believed Clare’s closest rival, Rachel Mulliner was responsible. Leonie hoped to find Clare with the help of her moodstone ring which changed colour whenever she was near her sister.
When Polly Thompson’s dog, Honey, had 7 puppies, Polly found homes for every one but that wasn’t the end of it as Polly liked to know how the dogs were getting on and checked in on them in their new homes.
Katy Summers is a foster child of the Boswell family, who falsely blame her for their daughter’s accident. Katy’s ambition is to become a ballerina but her attempts to have lessons are constantly stopped by the Boswells.
Lodging at Hillend Farm with Betty Gray and her mother was accident prone Biff Barker who was keen to train for a boxing career and Betty was equally determined to make his training succeed.
Patsy Kerr’s boutique was a fun sort of shop, it always had lots of customers which was why Patsy was always looking for new things to sell. She also ends up helping her customers in other ways too. Such as when she was out looking for driftwood for a natural sculpture and comes across a girl new to town and a dog she found. It turns out the dog was lost by one of her customers, Patsy helps reunite them and the two girls become friends and buy disco clothes in her shop.