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An excerpt from Danny's Dragon: A Story of Wartime Loss, a novel for young readers written by award-winning author Janet Muirhead Hill.
As they rounded up the cows, Danny watched the calves buck and chase each other across the meadow. The cows mooed and dodged back past him when they were separated from their babies. He only had to hold on, and Dragon darted after them.
By five o’clock the herd was fanning out into the west pasture, and Mindee was closing the gate. Danny gave Dragon a rewarding pat on the neck.
“If we hurry we can help Mom finish the chores. She’ll probably have the milking done.”
But as they rode into the barnyard, they saw the two milk cows standing at the barn door. The bottle-fed calves bawled in their pen.
“Did Mom go somewhere?” Mindee asked. Danny groaned. The chores hadn’t even been started.
When he saw a fancy car in the driveway, his frown deepened. Mom had company, and she’d left all the chores for Mindee and him. It wasn’t fair.
“Look. Mom’s taking that woman into the shop,” Mindee said. “Who the heck is she, and why would they go in there?”
Danny knew Mindee felt like he did about the shop. It was full of Dad. Every tool and fixture in it were stamped with his memory. Dad’s workshop was a sacred shrine to him. The thought of a stranger …
“Look at the car, Danny,” Mindee said, her voice husky with emotion.
Close enough now to read the sign on the car door, Danny gasped, “Homestead Real Estate.”
The early June morning felt more like winter, and Danny began to wish he’d stayed in bed. A nightmare had jolted him awake just before dawn. With Buddy by his side, he’d crept from the house, and saddled Dragon.
Before he reached the fishing hole, the morning mist turned to rain, spattering his glasses until he could hardly see. Wind rose from the north. He stopped beneath a cottonwood and dismounted. For a long time, he leaned on Dragon’s chest for warmth. Buddy pressed against Danny’s legs.
I should have known, Danny told himself. He was stunned by the news that Mom was putting the ranch up for sale. Sure, Mom had talked about money being tight, but he hadn’t believed they would have to move to Denver, at least not so soon.
“Oh Dragon,” Danny said leaning into the gelding’s shoulder for warmth. “If I hadn’t begged Dad to buy you for me, none of this would’ve happened. I didn’t know I was trading my dad for you. I love you, but I’d rather have Dad. Now I’m losing you, too.” He thought he’d cried all the tears he had, but they streamed down his face, mixing with the rain.
Danny's Dragon: A Story Of Wartime Loss, written by Janet Muirhead Hill;
Raven Publishing, Inc., PO Box 2866, Norris, MT 59745
1-866-685-3545 www.ravenpublishing.net
Danny is a ten-year-old boy whose father was sent off to war in Iraq as part of his Air National Guard unit and who was killed in action. Danny struggles with the various stages of grief as he remembers good times with his father, uses his vivid imagination, and the horse named Dragon that his father had given him. In addition to the pain of losing his father, Danny's family is also plunged into financial problems because of his father's death, and along with his mother and sister, Danny is forced to leave their Montana ranch. Danny must learn about himself, his family, the world, the "fellowship of suffering, and the emotions he feels when attending a Denver public school he discovers has as a classmate the "enemy" -- a boy from Iraq. A skillfully written novel for young readers ages 8 to 14, enhanced with twenty black/white illustrations by Pat Lehmkul, Danny's Dragon is a critically important book that needs to be a part of every school and community library collection in the country as thousands of children find themselves in a similar position to Danny with their fathers (and sometimes their mothers) going off to war, being wounded, and even killed, their lives and families savaged by war and the death of a parent.
~Midwest Book Reviews, July 2006
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