THE MAGIC PARCEL

Jimmy Scoggins is nine, and like most nine year olds, he is lively, inquisitive and sometimes a bit of a handful. Since his father had died Jimmy lacks that regular male influence a growing boy needs. His Uncle Reuben is a welcome help to Jimmy s at times exasperated mother. But uncle Reuben is much more than he appears and Jimmy has no idea the trouble, adventure and danger he is about to face when he volunteers to deliver the important Parcel to the local Post Office for his favourite uncle. Tommy, Jimmy s thirteen year old brother, knows. He knows just what the Parcel is, and as he races after his brother, he wonders if Jimmy will be able to handle the excitement and adventure. And if he can t, will Tommy find Jimmy in time to help?... Almost imperceptibly, the confines of the room gave way to a hilltop covered in grassy heath tussocks, the chair became a fallen tree stump, and the chill had grown steadily to become a knee-deep, icy mist. It was as if Reuben had become part of the tapestry. Was it by his design? Or had he been summoned? The clouds above him gathered ominously, not for the weather they might bring, but for another different onslaught they might unleash - - Autumnal leaves stopped mid-fall. Everything became still, except for Reuben s breeze-disturbed hair. The gloom closed in until only his slightly glowing face could be seen. _,