Kids Into Books: A Whistle from the Blunder

Author: Diana Noonan

Age: 10+ years

Illustrator: Jenny Cooper

Publisher: Longacre Press, $14.95


Cadence's eyes flicked back and forth across the paddocks. They raked the length of the gravel road that cut a straight line between the house and the mail box.

"Nothing," she mumbled to the light drizzle that had begun to fall. "Not a thing that could have made a noise like that."

It was only when, in frustration, she peered at the tumble-down implement sheds on the other side of the drive that a movement caught her eye - and even then it was nothing that could explain the noise. One of the farm dogs was padding nervously back and forth on a long chain attached to the tractor. As she watched, he stopped, cocked his black and ginger head to one side as if listening to something far away, then resumed his frantic pacing. He repeated the performance two or three times then sat in the middle of the drive, looked into the distance, and gave a long exasperated whine.

"I know exactly how you feel," said Cadence lightly. "We can hear it but we can't see it." She let the curtain fall and went to collect the clothes lying on the floor beside her bed. "And I've had enough of being woken up so early." She yawned and tugged on her jeans. It was time to talk to someone about it and she supposed it would have to be Uncle Ralph.