Description
Thunder rumbled and rolled above the roof of the house. Lightning flickered and flashed light around the darkened bedroom. A downpour of rain pelted on the roof and against the window pane. Then all died down and became calm.
In the dead of this, now silent, dark, winter’s night Ronan heard knocking on his window. His mouth became dry and he began to sweat. He was terrified and unable to move in his bed. He was paralysed with fear. That was the start of a week of terror.
This book tells of a new breed of scald crow that was created by Gusteen Gorwell, a bird breeder, when he mated Falcons and Grey Crows. Chicks from the new breed escaped into Duignan’s wood and grew into large, vicious, dangerous birds. Ronan had an awful experience when he went prowling into the scald-crows’ territory in Duignan’s wood. Scald crows viciously attacked him and would have killed him were it not for the brave, fighting skills of his dog Bonso.
Later, Bonso was close to death after mauling the poisoned birds, but, was saved by a caring, experienced vet, Mr. Vike. Fear, joy, tragedy and history are inter-twined here.
This book gives a tiny window glimpse into some aspects of Irish rural life around the middle of the twentieth century. It also mentions some interesting places close to the district in which the book is set: New Grange, Fore, Virginia, Tara and Trim Castle – places worth visiting.
