Shapeshifter 1: Finding the Fox by Ali Sparkes

Author:Ali Sparkes [Sparkes, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780192757265
Publisher: Oxford University Press Children's Books
Published: 2011-05-04T14:00:00+00:00

Dax hooted with laughter. The Beast of Bark’s End! Gideon looked up from unwrapping the parcel of chocolate his dad had sent him. Dax handed him the cutting and Gideon gaped and grinned as he read through it.

‘The Beast of Bark’s End,’ he said, admiringly. ‘That’s brilliant! I’m sharing a dorm with a legend!’

Dax took the cutting to Owen Hind, knocking on the door of one of the little round cob cottages that Gideon had pointed out to him. A ribbon of smoke was curling out of the stubby chimney up on the conical roof, and it smelt of wood and berries. Owen opened the door and Dax stood awkwardly on the step for a moment, before handing him the cutting and Clive’s letter. His concern for Clive hadn’t quite gone.

Owen glanced quickly at the cutting, caught the headline, and then pulled Dax into the cottage and shut the door behind him. His reaction was less buoyant than Gideon’s. He read the report quickly, without a word, and then sighed heavily, rubbing his chin and furrowing his brow. ‘Sit down,’ he said to Dax, sinking into a worn leather chair by the small brick fireplace, and turning his attention to Clive’s letter.

Dax sat in a wooden rocking chair on the other side of the fire and looked around him. The room had a low ceiling with dark beams and the floor was tiled with stone, covered near the glowing fireplace with a large, dark red rug. Above the crackling log fire, on a narrow brick mantel, was a bronze Tilley storm-lantern, although the room, in the early winter twilight, was lit by an electric lamp on a stand behind Owen’s chair. Piles of books and more wooden boxes and baskets lay around the curved edges of the uneven room and a rough brick arch led further back into what Dax presumed was Owen’s kitchen and bathroom and sleeping quarters, deep inside the cliff.

‘Who have you told about this?’ said Owen, folding Clive’s letter and sliding it back into the envelope with the cutting.

‘Only Gideon,’ said Dax. ‘He loves being in a dorm with the Beast of Bark’s End.’

Owen rolled his eyes as he handed the envelope back to Dax. ‘Only Gideon. Oh dear.’

‘She won’t be able to find me here, will she?’ asked Dax.

‘It’s unlikely, but I don’t like the feel of this,’ said Owen, thoughtfully. ‘She’s playing it by the book at the moment, being quite discreet—probably had a reporting restriction bounced on her because you’re under sixteen. But when the press think up daft names, like the Loch Ness Monster or the Beast of Bodmin … or Bark’s End, they tend to want to keep it all rolling for a while, to wring as much out of the story as they can. I think she’ll be doing some digging. But no—I don’t think she’ll work out where you are. In the meantime, though, write back to your friend and ask him to send anything else that crops up in the paper—and keep me informed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.