The Competition

By Marg Watt

'The Competition' sees Percival Downtwistle, the wise barn owl, helping the royal red deer family of Quarendale hill resolve dire problems of state.

The two eldest sons of the Herd Master, and King of the Hill, create serious unrest within their kingdom, as they continually battle with each other for the right to be proclaimed the next King after their aging father retirtes.

Percival devises a plan to settle the question of which one of them is the most suitable to reign after their aging father retires.

Much to the relief of all concerned, he teaches the vold king the true meaning of respect and wisdom, which is as equally important to any ruler as physical strength.

As Percival helps solve the problem, he shows all the creatures in the area that there is always more than the one way to resolve differences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Moorna Publications
• Release date: Jan 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9780987106971

Book preview

Tales from Hallowed Hollow

The Competition

Written by

Marg Watt

Published by Moorna Publications at Smashwords

Moorna Publications

Text copyright © Marg Watt 2010

Illustrations copyright © Jenny Finn 2010

ISBN: 978-0-9871069-5-7

The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any means or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying (except under statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Moorna Publications.

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The Competition

Driving winds had pushed the falling snow along so that it banked up into deep drifts in some places, while leaving other areas of ground pretty thinly covered. Even so, almost the entire surface of the meadowland of Hallowed Hollow had a covering of crisp, new whiteness.

The only exception to speak of was beneath the huge, stately, evergreen oak tree that stood sedately and almost in the centre of the hollow.

Within the upper reaches of the evergreen oak tree, Percival Downtwistle, the old and very wise barn owl, had long ago made his home.

Many, many long years before a fairly large hole had been created when a branch had snapped off close to the main trunk of the tree. It was during the time when the now mighty oak tree had been little more than a sapling.

Time, plus the elements of nature had worn away little pieces of bark and dead wood and formed a hole deep into the middle of the tree trunk. This was now Percival’s home.

During the warmer months of the year it was not unusual for him to be seen roosting on a nearby branch, dozing the daylight hours away in the warm sunshine. Whenever the weather was far less pleasant, as it was right now, he would be snuggled deep into his warm and comfortable nesting hole sound asleep, well away from the driving winds and snow.

At ground level, the dense covering of the mighty evergreen oak tree provided shelter and shade for many other assorted creatures. It was a very cool and inviting place to share during the warmer times of the day in