Heart of the Hill (22 page)

I am blessed with understanding friends, Cherie and Kevin, Sharon and Gary, Sheryl, Georgi and Lawrence. They kept the faith even when I was too preoccupied to phone or visit.

As always my husband, Dave, and our three daughters, Jane, Penny and Lucy, gave unstinting love and provided a foundation of approval and encouragement, and even occasional bullying, that helped me continue working on the days I nearly gave up.

Thanks everyone — we did it!

photo: David Spalding

Award-winning author,
Andrea Spalding
, has written many popular books for children, but the first three volumes of the Summer of Magic Quartet are among her most exciting.
The White Horse Talisman
(Book One) was nominated for the Silver Birch, Hackmatack and Manitoba Readers' Choice Awards.
Dance of the
Stones
(Book Two) was also a Silver Birch nominee. In
Heart of the Hill
, Andrea raises the adventure to another level altogether in preparation for the final volume of the quartet,
Behind the Sorcerer's Cloak
, to follow next year. Andrea lives with her husband on Pender Island, British Columbia.

B
OOK
O
NE
T
HE
S
UMMER OF
M
AGIC
Q
UARTET

T
HE
W
HITE
H
ORSE
T
ALISMAN

The battle between good and evil plays itself out through
four children, a mythical horse and an imprisoned dragon.

“It was seven minutes after midnight on the seventh
day.
Whoooooooosh!
A flash of light streaked the
sky. A shooting star touched a strange carving on the
hillside and a magical horse shook itself free of the
chalk and rose to its feet. It was seven minutes after
midnight on the seventh day of the seventh month.
The only person watching was Chantel. No matter. It
was enough. The summer of magic could begin.”

Chantel, Adam, Holly and Owen must help Equus, the great white horse, find his mate and foal and regain his magical talisman. But as the horse rises, so does the dragon. The age-old battle between good and evil threatens the bond between Chantel and Adam and endangers the quest. This is fantasy at its best, a story that raises hairs on the back of the neck and sends satisfying chills up and down the spine, a story that, while clearly drawn from the rich world of make believe, feels truer than true.

B
OOK
T
WO
T
HE
S
UMMER OF
M
AGIC
Q
UARTET

D
ANCE OF THE
S
TONES

The four children from
The White Horse Talisman
seek Ava's
circlet, buried within the ancient stone circle of Avebury.

“The third sunbeam shot its magical light into a valley.

There towered a stone circle, great gray stones veiled
in morning mist. The golden beam lit the dew-cov
ered grass. The tide of light flooded and washed each
sarcenstone. The Stones were ready. As gray became
gold, the largest stone spun on its axis, then stood sen
tinel as before. The dawn magic happened quickly,
without witness. That was to change. Four ordinary
children were about to be called to The Circle.”

Chantel, Adam, Holly and Owen are eager to begin the next stage of their adventure. “The Stones have stirred,” Ava, Hawkwoman and Wise One, tells Owen, “The time is near for the Circle Dance.” The stones are the ancient stone circle of Avebury in England. But the Dark Being approaches, and her servant, a wraith, blocks the children's progress. When Ava is hurt, the children are thrown back on their own resources. They must discover the ritual that will release the circlet. Each child has a part to play in finding the circlet and holding back the Dark Being.