Carrie Cole lived in London in Victorian times. When her father died, she was left to look after her brother Joe and sisters Beth and Violet. To keep her family out of the workhouse, Carrie, decided to make a living driving her father’s horse and cab, to the annoyance of some of the other drivers. Life was a struggle, but Carrie was determined to make a go of things.
When orphan Dixie Marston inherited a manor in England in Victorian times, she found life very different from the ranch in America where she had been brought up. Dixie’s Uncle Cecil, Aunt Rachel and cousin Lydia deeply resented her coming to take up her inheritance, which they believed should have been theirs. They were determined to get rid of Dixie as soon as possible.
During the French Revolution in 1792 many French aristocrats owed their lives to the daring rescues carried out by Sir Roger Blackie, known as the Purple Pimpernel, aided by his young niece, Polly Perkin.
Other Appearances
Life had been very pleasant for Gwen Parsons. Employed as a young scullery maid in the grand household of Greystone Grange, she had been almost like a member of the family, and was even allowed to play with Master Timmy, the baby son of her employers, Lord and Lady Felton. One night there was a terrible fire and Gwen found herself fleeing from unknown enemies with the baby.
Orphaned Linda Dean was delighted to be fostered by kindly, well off Mr and Mrs Mount, and looked forward to a bright future as their adopted daughter. However, her happiness was overshadowed by the presence in the house of Nanny, an old lady who had looked after the Mounts’ daughter, Rachel, who had died three years earlier. Nanny made it clear to Linda that she would never allow her to take Rachel’s place. Meanwhile Linda had found out a few things about Rachel and had begun to discover why Rachel had been so unpopular at school.
A series of short stories, each had an individual title. It would start each story asking the question “Ever suffered from a broken heart? It can happen in a lot of ways.” Some of the stories included: a girl’s jealousy of her sister causes an accident, a girl gets the part in a play stolen from her, a girl’s dog dies after she has to move away and a girl is tricked into thinking a boy she likes wants to go on a date with her.
Other Appearances:
A band of aliens, the Jinjees, take up residence in the kitchen of the Hugget family while their spaceship recharges. It is plugged into the kitchen light flex for the very purpose. The Jinjees threaten to “supercallifrate” the Huggets if they tell anyone, but also make themselves helpful to the Huggets. They cook them meals, make them cups of tea, fetch their slippers, etc.
Britain is invaded by the Starpeople and their giant pink butterflies, dubbed “Pinkies”. They change the winter season to a tropical climate, which causes the flora and fauna to grow at astonishing speed. The Pinkies emit a spray that renders people unconscious. Mandy Muir, her cousin Joan, Professor Trymer and writer Andrew Wilson become immune to the spray after one exposure. While Mandy is separated from the others, the Starpeople try to assure her they mean no harm, but she does not believe them.
(The Pink Peril – Diana 1965)
A remake of this story was published in Debbie with art by Norman Lee and some character name changes. Britain is invaded by the Starpeople and their giant pink butterflies, dubbed “Pinkies”, who change Britain’s autumn season to a tropical climate. Mandy Traynor and her family are the only ones who seem to be immune to the effects of the Pinkies, which emit a sleep-inducing spray. Then the Traynors meet soldiers, who mean to destroy the Starpeople and their Pinkies.
(The Pink Peril – Debbie 1978. Art: Norman Lee)
Rozelle, a gipsy orphan, is sold by her parents to the Baroness Kessler, who uses hypnotism to turn Rozelle into a show-jumping success with the Baroness’s horse Midnight. The Baroness cares far more about her horse than she does about Rozelle. A reporter, Jill Wilson, finds out about the hypnotism and is trying to help Rozelle. Then another gipsy, Zara, steals Midnight after a quarrel with the Baroness. Matters come to a head when the Baroness confronts Zara and a fire breaks out.
In 1840, Hatty Clifton is abducted by a pair of swindlers, the Rackhams, while visiting London with her parents. After the parents are fooled into thinking Hatty has died in a drowning accident, the Rackhams force her into helping with their fraudulent sideshows and games of chance at fairgrounds. Hatty’s attempts to escape are proving unsuccessful, and when she gets badly injured on the high wire the Rackhams refuse to get medical attention for her. However, Hatty manages to get the doctor in, who begins to suspect what’s going on. He starts making enquiries with the police and Hatty’s parents.
