The Dagger and the Bird: A Story of Suspense

When Bridget sees her younger brother, Simon, standing at the window under a full moon, begging unseen musicians to allow him to come back, then hears a careless remark made by an angry old woman, she begins to suspect that he is a changeling, a fairy child sent to replace her real brother, abducted in infancy. This would explain his volatile personality---sweet and coaxing one minute, angry and vicious the next---and his refusal to go near her blacksmith father's forge. Fairy folk cannot abide the touch of cold iron, but they need a smith to forge their metal objects, hence, their theft of a smith's son. Bridget's father is a fine smith, but a recent illness has left him weak, and he is killing himself through overwork to complete an important commission before its deadline. Bridget's brother, Luke, is a good hearted and intelligent lad better suited to scholarly pursuits than the smith's craft. Bridget and Luke help their father as much as they can, but the current crisis will not pass unless they can travel to the world of the fairies and locate their real brother, who, though still a child, has grown to be a skilled smith. Can Bridget and Luke find their way to this mysterious realm, exchange a false brother for a true one, and return in time for him to help complete their father's work? The Dagger and the Bird: A Story of Suspense is an exciting and fast-paced book, but author Margaret Greaves takes the time to develop her characters and describe their world. Simon, in particular, could have been portrayed as an unpredictable brat, but Greaves succinctly explains how angry, sad and confused he feels. His people abandoned him in a strange world where he must live next to a loathsome forge. He can never be normal, and he longs to return to his home and his mother. Now that Bridget and Luke need his help, will he assist or betray them? With eight beautifully detailed pencil illustrations by Laszlo Kubinyi, 131 pages.