The Seven-Year-Old Wonder Book by Isabel Wyatt

Author:Isabel Wyatt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Floris Books
Published: 2020-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Story of Bella, Sophia and Little Bonita

One December, long, long ago, St Nicholas and his page boy, Rupert, were travelling around the world, St Nicholas with his golden crook and his golden book, and Rupert with his big stick, and his birch twig broom, and his bulging sack over his shoulder, and a twinkle in both eyes. And on a starlit night when snow was on the ground, they came to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon.

When Rupert heard the dragon breathing in his sleep, his eyes stopped twinkling, and he stopped playing around, and he said fearfully to St Nicholas:

“Good master, must we go through this valley? What if we wake up the dragon?”

St Nicholas reassured him:

“We must go through this valley, Rupert; for it leads to the Plain of the Black Morass, where there are children who would be sad if we did not visit them. But have no fear; this dragon eats only golden boys, and nothing wakes him except a golden boy being born.”

So Rupert went up on his tiptoes, held on to his big stick very tightly in case the dragon awoke by mistake and kept very close to St Nicholas as they walked. After a while they passed safely through the Valley of the Sleeping Dragon and arrived at the Plain of the Black Morass. And right in front of them they could see the lights of a village shining; and outside the village was a half-ruined stable. As they came closer to the stable, they could smell peat smoke and see firelight flickering through the holes in its tumble-down walls.

Rupert’s eyes twinkled in amazement, and he asked:

“Surely, no one lives in this tumble-down stable, good master?”

And St Nicholas replied:

“Yes, an old sick father, who is very poor, lives there with three young daughters, Bella the beautiful, Sophia the wise, and Bonita, who is little and good.”

Then Rupert asked:

“What do you need from my sack, good master, to help Bella, Sophia and little Bonita to overcome their faults?”

Standing in the snow and the starlight, St Nicholas opened his big golden book, and turned over its black pages; but he could not see the names of Bella, Sophia and little Bonita light up anywhere. Then he turned to the golden pages, and their names lit up, and he read out to Rupert:

“Bella had an enchanted cow, her most treasured possession; and she sold it to buy bread for her sick father. Sophia had a spinning wheel, her most treasured possession; and she sold it to buy bread for her sick father. Little Bonita had a sturdy donkey, her most treasured possession; and she sold it to buy bread for her sick father.”

Then Rupert gave a hop, a skip and a jump, and asked:

“What gifts do you need from my sack, to reward Bella, Sophia and little Bonita, good master?”

And St Nicholas replied:

“Lets find out what they would like best.”

So St Nicholas and Rupert stood quietly in the snow and the starlight outside the stable, and looked in through a hole in the wall.

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