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Veronica and the Cave of the Wind

by J Hamilton

299 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0237; ISBN 1-55395-875-6; US$23.99, C$31.00, EUR20.15, £13.96

Magic is almost dead on Earth. Veronica Wilde and Billy Swift Fox face terrible trials in the Cave of the Wind and who knows if they will ever leave?

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpts or Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book Veronica grew up accustomed to being stared at. If her steel gray eyes and shocking mane of red hair were not enough, her ability to read the thoughts of people she came in contact with unnerved strangers and acquaintances alike. When the country's social welfare department got involved, the eleven-year-old girl tested out beyond genius level and nearly put the test administrator into a mental hospital. Her life-long friend, Billy Swift Fox, was equally astonishing- materializing our of thin air and departing by the same method. Veronica's mother, herself adept at magic, was not perturbed by the children, but her father, who didn't even beleive in magic found them difficult to deal with. But Barbara Wilde, her mother, carried a depressing secret within her, not knowing how to explain to her husband, the only man she ever loved, what was likely to happen to the daughter he adored. Only Barbara knew that Veronica, by a force much greater than family love and attachment, would be compelled to enter the Cave of the Wind. Furthermore, Barbara had the premonition that Veronica's trials in the Cave would far surpass anything she had faced when she entered the cave as a young girl. Grandfather White Feather had brought Billy up to expect to enter the cave after his twelth birthday, but the old man had no idea that he would never see his adored grandson outside the cave again. Once outside the Cave of the Wind, Veronica and Billy experienced fantastic struggles with evil forces opposing them- forces that conspired to separate them in efforts to defeat the two staunch children. Inside the cave, time took on an entirely new dimension. Age twelve when they entered, by the time they were ready to leave they were in their teens. Yet the whole adventure seemed only like days to them. Theirs was to be the last trial within the cave. The "very ancient ones" who had watched over the cave for thousands of years were planning at last to leave, destroying the cave in the process. Veronica and Billy had to pass their trials and make a momentous decision before the cave collapsed on itself, forever removing its magic from a disbelieving world. To contact the author or provide feedback to him, please visit his webpage at click here

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About the Author J. Hamilton has been a teacher of English as a Foreign Language for the past sixteen years, having worked in Texas, Saudi Arabia and Thailand during that time. In the 1970's, he wrote a weekly humor column for a small newspaper in central Texas where he grew up. He has written plays for, and directed and acted in community theaters for many years and insists that drama experiences has been as useful to his teaching EFL as his degree in English and Speech from Pan American University. He currently is writing the sequel to Veronica and the Cave of the Wind tentatively titled Veronica and Billy in the New World.

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Sample Excerpts

Finally, Miss Baker asked, "Veronica, where does Billy Swift Fox live?"

"Up the mountain near the Cave of the Wind," Veronica replied.

"Could you...take me there...sometime?"

"Oh, no, Miss. Billy lives with his Grandfather White Feather and he doesn't like many people coming around. Only my Ma and Pa and I ever go up there. Ma takes vegetables and herbs out of her garden to Grandfather White Feather and Pa takes venison and wild turkey he's hunted in the forest.

"They don't talk much when they go there. Billy and I talk all the time, though. He's like me."

Miss Baker wondered what Veronica meant by that last statement but decided not to ask. She wanted to gain the girl's confidence before she started asking the questions that social workers were known to ask. But not only that, Miss Baker felt a certain intimidation around this strange child. Perhaps, she thought, I'm only reflecting Mr. Markum's weird reaction to Veronica. She certainly doesn't seem to be anything but a perfectly normal child. Yet...

"What is the Cave of the Wind?" Miss Baker asked, changing the direction of their conversation.

"It's a very special place in the mountain. Not even Grandfather White Feather goes inside any more. Magical things happen there. Billy and I want to go in, but Grandfather White Feather tells us it is not time yet. We have to wait."

Very active imagination, Miss Baker thought, and impressionable. I need to know more about Billy Swift Fox and his grandfather.

As though reading her thoughts, Veronica asked, "Would you like to meet Billy? I can call him."

"Well, I don't have much time today, Veronica. The others are all anxious to return to the city. Why don't I come back tomorrow and..." Miss Baker stopped in mid-sentence as a young Indian boy stepped out of the shadows of the forest and came toward them.

The boy, dressed only in a deerskin loin cloth and a pair of moccasins sat down cross legged in front of Veronica. The two children stared for a moment into each other's eyes as though some sort of communication were passing between them. Then he reached over and picked up one of the two chipmunks from Veronica's lap and set the furry animal up on his bare shoulder.

Miss Baker was stunned. Here were two pre-teenaged children who appeared on the surface to be perfectly normal kids, but there was something eerie about the both of them. The boy was beautiful - that was the only word Miss Baker could think of to describe him - with long black hair that fell below his shoulders and black eyes that were as mysterious as Veronica's. Strange...or unusual? Miss Baker thought as she sat there speechless.

"Miss Baker, this is Billy Swift Fox. Billy, this is Miss Baker, a social worker from the city," Veronica made the introductions.

Billy stuck out his hand for Miss Baker to shake. When she did, she thought she felt a kind of shockwave pass up her arm. But then she told herself that it was only her imagination from this certainly exceptional day. Billy didn't speak, however, unless directly spoken to.

"Veronica was just telling me about your grandfather," Miss Baker offered.

"I know," Billy said.

There it was again. Miss Baker was taken aback at how these children communicated wordlessly.

"I'm sorry I can't take you to meet Grandfather," Billy continued, once again almost reading Miss Baker's mind, "but he doesn't like strangers coming around."

The social worker decided not to press the issue. "Do you go to school, Billy?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am. I come here to learn from Erik and Barbara. Grandfather has always taken care of my Indian education."

"Native American," Veronica corrected her friend, "Indians are in Asia."

Billy smiled, flashing the whitest teeth Miss Baker believed she had ever seen. "I know that, Ron. But she's..." He indicated Miss Baker.

Veronica smiled. "Yes, of course," she said.

Miss Baker noted that when Veronica smiled, she changed somehow. A beauty radiated out of her that was compelling. She ceased to be that strange child with the shocking red hair and metal eyes and became a glowing young lady.

"Does everyone call you Ron," she asked the girl.

"Only my folks and Billy. Grandfather White Feather calls me Red Flower."

That seemed appropriate to Miss Baker who was suddenly feeling very tired and out maneuvered by these mysterious children. She wanted to ask Billy Swift Fox if he would be willing to take the tests Veronica had taken that morning, but she was too weary to pursue such a conversation. Carefully, so as not to startle the animals that still romped around and over the children, Miss Baker rose to leave.

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Catalogue Information

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