Barney: Part 1

By ANTHONY HOLCROFT

Pete heard about Barney almost as soon as he arrived on the Tozer's farm.

Old Barney had lived all his life in a small hut hidden away in the forest - and he lived there still.

As Pete listened, he could see the hut in his imagination: the floor was carpeted with leaves and vines clung to the crumbling walls.

The wind and the rain blew in through empty windowframes."It's a wonder that the old man doesn't freeze out there," said Pete's uncle, Alan Tozer, who with his wife owned the land where Barney had his hut.

"He should be in a home, where he'd have proper care."

But it seemed that Barney needed little more than the land itself could provide.

Pete's Uncle Alice said that he knew the secret tracks of hare and rabbit like the lines on his hand, and he could point out plants that would cure you of a cold or the stomach-ache.

"Who would have thought the old rascal would live as long as he has?" said Alan Tozer. "You could have fooled me.

Publisher: Shortland Publications

Price: $7.85

Age group: 9 years plus

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