All the people of Glastonbury village raised ponies for King Caradoc and everyone hoped to win the bag of gold he offered for the finest animal.

When ten-year-old Lynn Morgan set out to take the family ponies to the pasture for the summer, his father laid down strict rules. Guard our ponies. Lever leave them. Talk to no one. Above all, he was to avoid Owen Kern, who would be tending ponies nearby. The Morgans and Kerns had not spoken for generations and their mutual hatred had split the village into bitter factions.

But the nights in the woods were scary. Wolves howled in the darkness. Eyes glared at him from beyond the corral gate. Thunder and lightning split the sky. Faced with the terrors of the night, Lynn finds it difficult to hate.

Lynn faces a hard decision when Owen, hurt in a storm, needs help badly. Dare he disobey his father, leave the ponies, and go to the village for aid? To do so would risk the loss of the animals, the king's prize, his own chance to go to school. What he does has far-reaching effects in the whole village.

The setting of this story is the Druid village of Glastonbury at the beginning of the Christian era in Britain. This village really existed. It was located near the present town of Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Recent excavations in the area have uncovered some of the ancient houses and artifacts.

Mrs. Walters, through careful research at the British Museum Library, has recreated an authentic background for an unusual story of courage.

"This delightful story I found so vivid that I feel I know the exact route taken by Lynn to the foot of the Tor. How refreshing it is to read a children's story that is 'different'."

Edith O. Rice

Mayor of Glastonbury,

1957-58

From the dust jacket