Magic comes to the Irish donkey, Barley Mars, through the English girl, Lynda. But when the donkey herd disown him and Lynda rejects him, Barley finds another, more sinister magical power. One which throws the quiet seaside village of Dundreeda into uproar.
Breadeye, streetwise full, leader of the Dundreeda seabirds, seizes his golden opportunity to treble the trouble. No-one escapes Breadeye's tyranny...not Paddy, the guillible sheepdog, the seabirds, the donkey herd nor, of course, Barley himself.
Unwittingly, Breadeye helps Barley towards the secret he needs to save Lynda's life. But this strange gift has a downside. To his horror, Barley finds the dolphins expect far more of him than is possible even for a magic animal.
Carnival time in Dundreeda is disrupted by a near environmental disaster, in which Breadeye, too, comes out a loser. Temporarily. This gull's resorcefulness knows no limits.
Together, Lynda and Barley reveal the mystery behind the Sea Monster and the stolen gun. But Breadeye leaves Lynda with one mystery she never quite manages to solve.
Breadeye, streetwise full, leader of the Dundreeda seabirds, seizes his golden opportunity to treble the trouble. No-one escapes Breadeye's tyranny...not Paddy, the guillible sheepdog, the seabirds, the donkey herd nor, of course, Barley himself.
Unwittingly, Breadeye helps Barley towards the secret he needs to save Lynda's life. But this strange gift has a downside. To his horror, Barley finds the dolphins expect far more of him than is possible even for a magic animal.
Carnival time in Dundreeda is disrupted by a near environmental disaster, in which Breadeye, too, comes out a loser. Temporarily. This gull's resorcefulness knows no limits.
Together, Lynda and Barley reveal the mystery behind the Sea Monster and the stolen gun. But Breadeye leaves Lynda with one mystery she never quite manages to solve.
Lynda has her way. She and her father live in Dundreeda. But the reason to stay, the shape-shifting Irish donkey, Barley Mars, has gone.
Dundreeda's magic donkey-dolphin is in deep trouble. In the ocean, imprisoned in a tank, in his own field, even.
When Barley finally returns, LYnda doesn't recognise him until it's too late. Too late to stop Barley being blamed by his enemies for Dundreeda becoming a Plague Village.
Now Breadeye makes up for lost time whilst flightless. Once more King of the Irish sky, this herring gull's reputation for skulduggery goes up anothe notch.
Through the eyes of Lynda, the super-streetwise gull Breadeye, and Barley Mars, the reader is kept one jump ahead of the multi-mysteries that terrify people and disrupt life in the seaside resort of Dundreeda. Both humour and horror flavour the developing intrigue.
All characters in the story have part access to the truth. Some animal characters communciate with each other better than some humans do. But in the end it is Barley, despite all his shape shifting magic, who is kept most in the dark.
Dundreeda's magic donkey-dolphin is in deep trouble. In the ocean, imprisoned in a tank, in his own field, even.
When Barley finally returns, LYnda doesn't recognise him until it's too late. Too late to stop Barley being blamed by his enemies for Dundreeda becoming a Plague Village.
Now Breadeye makes up for lost time whilst flightless. Once more King of the Irish sky, this herring gull's reputation for skulduggery goes up anothe notch.
Through the eyes of Lynda, the super-streetwise gull Breadeye, and Barley Mars, the reader is kept one jump ahead of the multi-mysteries that terrify people and disrupt life in the seaside resort of Dundreeda. Both humour and horror flavour the developing intrigue.
All characters in the story have part access to the truth. Some animal characters communciate with each other better than some humans do. But in the end it is Barley, despite all his shape shifting magic, who is kept most in the dark.
This third story about the Irish shape changing Irish donkey, Barley Mars, explores the megamagic released when Rhapsody, the donkey herd's leader, dies.
What the donkeys don't realise is how the growing magic wil laffect everyone, including themselves...
A dolphinarium is built in Dundreeda. Barley is to change into a dolphin, circus-trick style, to bring in the crowds and the money. Barley, naturally, has other ideas, but what happens surprises even him...
Barley is up for sale. Will his loyal friend, Lynda, who is discovering a different sort of magic, find a way to save him?
Ousted by the tyrannical gull, Breadeye, from their cliff home on Rossnagar Head, the puffins at last tell Barely their deepest secret. But have they left it too late?
Barley and Breadeye fight over feathers. Or are the feathers a symbol of something fantastic that's out at sea, where the puffins go? Where the magic of the whole world is created?
What the donkeys don't realise is how the growing magic wil laffect everyone, including themselves...
A dolphinarium is built in Dundreeda. Barley is to change into a dolphin, circus-trick style, to bring in the crowds and the money. Barley, naturally, has other ideas, but what happens surprises even him...
Barley is up for sale. Will his loyal friend, Lynda, who is discovering a different sort of magic, find a way to save him?
Ousted by the tyrannical gull, Breadeye, from their cliff home on Rossnagar Head, the puffins at last tell Barely their deepest secret. But have they left it too late?
Barley and Breadeye fight over feathers. Or are the feathers a symbol of something fantastic that's out at sea, where the puffins go? Where the magic of the whole world is created?
