And the seagull sadly mewled its mournful cry.In the final part of the Wath Mills allotments trilogy we meet old and new friends including Nora Noodle whose life is a cheerful struggle against poverty and adversity. She finds a first, tender and gentle love with a quiet Polish boy.Newhill school's residential trip to Yorkshire is an impossible dream for Nora but a broken leg and code 604 intervene. Nora's teacher, Daisy Morgan, is enduring a cold marriage and takes refuge with Phil her mentor, a black American with Sioux ancestry, and a mysterious shadow wife.Clovermount is a dramatic setting for criminal gangs, ghosts, allegations of child abuse, kidnapping, and an escaped prisoner intent on revenge.It is a time of joy, of young love, humour, divorce, and new beginnings. It is a time of hope, a time of death and deep sadness.