Children's Author
Helen Laycock
So, where did this idea come from? I happened to catch sight of a painted wooden sign on an old gate as I drove past. I didn’t really get a good look, but I thought it said ‘Pooks Wood’. By the time I had finished my journey, I had the entire plot mapped out in my head and couldn’t wait to begin.
Here's a trailer for you to enjoy...
'Really captivating story that moved intriguingly from the present to various times in the past with Great Hawkesden Manor and a snow globe linking the times.'
Here's an extract...
They had emerged into a kind of small clearing that was surrounded on all sides by bushes, and overhead was a canopy of trees. It was still cold and quite dark, but cosy in a strange kind of way. They felt protected and hidden, as if they had found a secret hideout.
‘This is better than the attic rooms,’ said Bayonie, leaping over a fallen branch in the little arena.
‘Colder,’ added Stella, hugging herself in the pink dress.
‘This,’ said Bayonie, with her arms outstretched, ‘is Castell Gwyrdd.’
‘Clu thu thu what?’ Squirt mimicked.
‘It means Green Castle. Our teacher last year was from Wales and she taught us some Welsh. I remembered it.’
‘Look! That bush has a space under it. It’s like a little hut,’ said Stella, pointing. ‘It looks quite big. Let’s climb in.’
For once, Stella took the lead. She ducked down and went head first into the darkened space beneath the bush.
‘It’s really cosy,’ she called out. ‘Someone’s been here before us… Here’s a little stool and a blanket… Aaaargh!’
Stella stumbled out of the hole, throwing herself forward onto the ground.
‘Stell? What is it?’ asked Squirt. ‘What was it? Spiders?’
Stella was gulping and choking as she tried to form the words. Bayonie put her arm round her and looked at her intently.
‘There’s a body in there. A dead body.’
'Kids absolutely loved it!'
The 'surprise' that started it all off...
‘Bayonie… You’re up to something. I know that look,’ said Stella. ‘What are you planning?’
‘Wait. And. See,’ she teased, jumping down from the gate and running away from the house across the field. ‘Come on!’ she called over her shoulder and the other two obediently followed.
The children were out of breath by the time they had stopped running. Bayonie had led the others to Tom Varley’s cottage, a distance from the main house. It was a pretty stone cottage with a thatched roof. It had thick, thick walls and tiny windows with window boxes underneath. Arranged along the shady outside wall on the far side were pitchforks, spades, hoes and rakes in all shapes and sizes. There was a wheelbarrow full of chopped logs and a pile of sawdust under a trestle stand where a saw leant. On the sunny side facing the manor house there were piles of sacks and bags, flower pots, a coiled hose and a watering can next to a water butt. If you hadn’t have known what Tom did, it was very easy to work out.
Bayonie beckoned Stella and Squirt and pointed. ‘You two sit here in the sunshine while I go round the other side and get the surprise ready.’
‘Surprise?’ said Squirt. ‘What are you up to?’
Bayonie clutched her hands together behind her back, raised her eyebrows and closed her eyes. ‘Nothing,’ she said, shaking her head and swivelling from left to right. ‘Now go on, do as you’re told.’ She sped off round the back.
'I can't think that any 8+ child, girl or boy, could help but be gripped by this magical story'