The Wind Singer

By WILLIAM NICHOLSON, Illustrator MARK EDWARDS

Before leaving, their leader took out a small silver object, and climbed the tower, and inserted it into a slot in the structure's neck. It was a tranquil summer dawn, the day the travellers departed, and the air was still. The metal pipes and horns were silent as they strode away across the desert plain.

The Manth people were left as baffled as when they had arrived, staring at the overgrown scarecrow they had left behind.

That night, as they slept, the wind began to blow and a new sound entered their lives. They heard it in their sleep, and woke smiling, without knowing why. They gathered in the warm night air, and listened in joy and wonder.

The wind singer was singing.

Publisher: Mammoth, $14.95 Age group: 12-14 years