Life doesn't seem very fair. Sarah wants to excel at Scottish country dancing like her Dad and Gran, but she’s clumsy. And when Mum gets appendicitis, she ends up at Gran’s home for the summer, away from everything she wants to do.
When Sarah encounters a strange girl, Minna, under the willow tree at the end of the Gran's garden, things start to become more interesting.
But who is Minna? Is she really a ghost? And can Sarah follow her back in time to solve the mystery of Nye farm?
A brief gust swayed the willow tree. Sarah remembered last summer when the family visited Gran: the willow had been a quiet place to read. Today she was sure the tree was calling to her. She stood up and crossed the gravel path, scuffing the stones as she went. The robin flew up into an apple tree. Sarah stumbled, tripping on the raised edge of the lawn. The sparrows rose to the roof of the house. A car went along the road.
She wished she was coordinated, that she didn’t fall over things, over her own feet as she did in her Scottish country dance lessons. She wished she were like Dad who’d won cups and prizes for Highland dancing. Or like Gran who had taught Scottish country dancing until her arthritis got too painful.
Sarah’s lessons were a joy and a frustration. She loved the music but her feet never did what she wanted. She wanted to excel at Scottish country dancing so badly—it was her one ambition—but she knew her clumsiness disappointed Dad. If only she could make Dad, Mum and Gran truly proud.
Suddenly, the wind lifted Sarah’s short hair. She ran across the grass, arms out. Flying. The small rose bed in the center of the lawn caught her attention and she stopped quickly, almost overbalancing. Fragrant pink and yellow roses blazed in the sunshine. She reached out and touched one, wondering if Gran would take her and Toby to the Butchart Gardens. Sarah loved going there, seeing the flowers and the fountains floodlit in the evening.
She turned briefly to look back at Mill House. Gran had always lived there. It was more than a hundred years old. A square, two-storey white house with freshly painted green window trim and a black front door.
Rhododendrons and heather grew under the front windows. Apple trees rose beside the fence—trees Sarah and Toby had often climbed.
Sarah went around the rose bed and stopped before the curtain of long pointy leaves. They rustled and whispered.
She hummed Road to the Isles, one of Dad’s favorite Highland dance tunes, as she leaned forward, trying to peek between the branches. They were surprisingly yellow, thin and numerous. Sarah reached out, pulled the branches aside and peered in. It was cool, shadowy and dim. Full of a shushing sound that seemed to say “Come in, come in, Sarah.”
Still clinging to the branches, Sarah swung into the willow-cave. Sunlight, filtered through the arch made by the trunk and the lift and fall of branches, moved about her. She closed her eyes to listen better. She heard the breeze in the willow leaves. It sounded like someone was calling her name...
Sarah opened her eyes.
A girl about her age sat on the thin grass, leaning against the willow trunk. “Hello,” she said.
Sarah stared, astonished by the girl and her strange clothes. The girl stared back from wide, dark eyes.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Minna.” The girl played with one of the long braids that hung over the high ruffled collar of her olive-green dress. “You are Sarah.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
Synopsis
Life doesn't seem very fair. Sarah wants to excel at Scottish country dancing like her Dad and Gran, but she’s clumsy. And when Mum gets appendicitis, she ends up at Gran’s home for the summer, away from everything she wants to do.
When Sarah encounters a strange girl, Minna, under the willow tree at the end of the Gran's garden, things start to become more interesting.
But who is Minna? Is she really a ghost? And can Sarah follow her back in time to solve the mystery of Nye farm?
About the Author
Joanna M. Weston was born in England but is a dedicated Canadian. She lived in Ontario briefly, B.C. for 35 years, then moved to Saskatchewan in 1997.
She is married to an accountant, Robert and has 3 sons--Andrew, Jon (married to Monica), and Mark. She has 2 cats, Kelly and Chaucer (he has a very long tail).
Joanna has a M.A. from the University of British Columbia and has had poetry published in numerous anthologies and journals internationally. She also reviews poetry.
