Isaac and Amiculus

By Amanda Lewer

Follow Isaac on a magical adventure as he connects with dogs, birds, cats and some surprise mythical animals. As his friendships grow with animal friends, his human friendships also bloom assisting him to tackle family relationships.  Being the single child of a divorced family, Isaac's biggest support is his grandmother.  Some unique adventures provide him with choices that will either lead Isaac to a path of success or to a path of failure.   

  Isaac’s family is falling apart and the school bully is making his life hell.  The loneliness he suffers is alleviated when he moves in with his grandmother and a mischievous old soul in the form of a ginger cat.  The gift of a cheeky Siberian Husky puppy for his 12th birthday allows magic and friendship to arrive just in time to conquer some extraordinary challenges.  Fighting to maintain a connection to his parents, rescue his mother from a mysterious evil and save the Animal Kingdom from destruction is a tough burden for any tween to carry alone.  Luckily his eclectic group of unusual friends help lighten the load through an unimaginably colourful journey!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amanda Lewer
• Release date: Jan 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9780995400108

Book preview

Chapter One

On the day that Isaac turned twelve, Gram gave him the best present ever. When he looked into the washing basket, he saw something he had never in his wildest dreams imagined he would receive – a puppy. Isaac looked down in disbelief at the chubby grey and white bundle of mischief and curiosity.

Hey little fella, he whispered. The Siberian Husky looked up at Isaac and stayed still long enough for him to notice the pup’s unique eyes and markings. One eye was light blue and the other was dark brown. His neck and the bottom half of his face being pure white, made the dark grey markings across his eyes, look like a bandit’s mask. His eyes were rimmed with jet-black as though someone had painted them with eyeliner, and his eyelashes, much longer than most puppies’, were pure white. Isaac had never seen anything so adorable. He bent down and gently picked the puppy up, holding him close to his chest. The puppy squirmed impatiently, wanting to be put down to romp around and explore his new home. Isaac laughed and wrestled with his new best friend, trying to get another look at his amazing eyes.

Although Isaac had inherited his father’s love of animals, he had never been allowed to have a pet of his own. The family

had owned a couple of budgies but never a dog. His parents said that caring for a dog required a lot of work and it was cruel to leave it at home on its own all day while everyone was at work or school. I’ll babysit him while you’re at school, Gram said.

Isaac spent most days after school at Gram’s house, an old limestone cottage set on two acres of rambling cottage garden and shaded by old elm trees so tall Isaac would get a sore neck tilting his head back to see where they touched the sky. Gram’s house had polished Blackwood floors, high ceilings, and French doors opening onto a veranda. Lavender and roses grew wildly around the house, creating a distinctive sweet smell. Mixed with the aroma of Gram’s cooking, the combination could make Isaac’s worries disappear in one whiff!

Gram had told Isaac that his grandfather, Salvatore, had won the plot of land from a wealthy Englishman on a dare. Salvatore and Gram were high rope trapeze artists with a travelling circus. The Englishman had dared Salvatore to attempt his act without the safety net, thinking the suave young Italian would not be brave enough. He had executed the dare with such flair and confidence that the Englishman was overwhelmed with Salvatore’s bravery and gladly handed over the title for the two-acre block.

Out of exhaustion or frustration, the pup finally sat still in Isaac’s arms and looked straight up into his eyes with a defiant and questioning expression on his face. Isaac smiled. Look Gram, he’s checking me out. I believe he will be happy with his new friend, Gram said, smiling with satisfaction.  The puppy held Isaac’s gaze for what seemed like an eternity. Isaac knew then that he had found a best friend, and it seemed that the puppy felt the same way.

Gram asked happily, What are you going to name him? Isaac replied, I think I’ll call him Amiculus. It’s Latin for ‘dear friend’. Gram smiled and chuckled cheekily, Perfect! I’m glad those Latin classes at school are being useful for something! Maybe your new dear friend will bring a little bit of magic to your life too! Isaac looked at Gram curiously, but she just turned around and set about cooking dinner, a mysterious smile playing across her face.

Isaac could not possibly have known that Amiculus was from a long line of magical dogs. Even more curiously, Gram had been chosen to select this particular puppy, which would unite her grandson with another world.

Amelia, Isaac’s mum, was a senior barrister specialising in criminal law. Her long dark hair was always pulled tightly back into a smooth bun. With her olive skin, perfectly straight nose, and killer smile, Amelia looked like a super-model. Isaac would smile quietly when others would remark how lucky he was to have such a beautiful and successful mother.  Silently he would wish she were home more.

Isaac’s dad, Liam Armstrong, was a zoologist at Melbourne Zoo. He was tall and fair-skinned with piercing green eyes and sandy blonde hair. Liam’s bushy blonde eyebrows seemed to take on a personality of their own. The animation those crazy eyebrows brought to Liam’s face would draw his audience in. 

Isaac was a gangly kid with a baby face. He had his mother’s complexion and dark hair but his father’s striking green eyes and thick eyebrows, although not quite as unruly as Liam’s. Until Isaac was six, his little family had been very happy, but then Amelia and Liam had slowly grown apart.  Amelia worked increasingly long hours.  Liam was constantly called out at odd hours of the night to care for sick animals.  They forgot to make time for each other but made work and their colleagues a priority instead.

Isaac intuitively sensed that his mother and father were unhappy in their marriage. He was able to see through the adult games and lies his parents fed each other. Isaac’s only truly reliable family member was his grandmother, Sophie otherwise known as Gram.

Gram’s small frame had grown plump over the years as her sensational cooking caught up! Her chocolate coloured, almond-shaped eyes sparkled from her weathered olive-skinned face. Gram could look into the eyes of another and see right into their soul. No one could hide their true identity from Gram. She could tell if someone was good or evil just by saying hello.  When she was younger, Gram had been a free spirit who tested the boundaries, always wanting to do more, to know more, and to be more. Salvatore, tall, muscular and refined, had encouraged Gram’s free spirit, daring her to break boundaries. Salvatore had called Gram his ‘wild horse’. She had been elegant, beautiful, and brave but not one to be tamed, for to tame her would have been to break her spirit.

A wild horse will grace you with its presence if it thinks you are worthy, Salvatore had always said to Gram. Gram told Isaac that Salvatore had felt honoured to be worthy of her company for forty-six years. Then, a year after their retirement, Salvatore had died suddenly from a heart attack. Gone in body but not in soul, Gram would say quietly. Isaac often heard Gram talking to Salvatore as if he were standing right next to her. Gram discussed the marital problems Isaac’s parents were having and told Salvatore how Isaac was getting on at school and in life.

Most kids in a similar situation would think their grandmother was going bonkers, but Isaac could feel Pa’s presence so he did not question Gram’s sanity. Isaac perceived something mystical or magical about Gram, something intriguing. He felt a sense of belonging around her and she gave him a certain strength he didn’t always feel.  Gram often told Isaac stories of when she and Salvatore were trapeze artists in a circus. They had met all kinds of people from all different backgrounds. These conversations usually occurred over dinner and Isaac always finished his meal first because Gram talked so much. Isaac loved Gram’s stories. They allowed him to escape to a different world of love, beauty, colour, bravery, and freedom. A world that was so different from the one he actually lived in.

Salvatore and Sophie had had four children, three sons and Amelia being their youngest and only daughter. Their three sons had continued the circus life in Russia.  Gram had retired from the circus life at the grand age of sixty-five, to help Amelia raise Isaac. Gram didn’t really approve of Amelia’s career choice but she would never have told her daughter what to do with her life. She only wished her to be passionate about what she did and to let her heart guide her as to what was right and what was wrong.

Liam’s family had all been killed in a tragic bus accident when Liam was a child. Various foster parents had raised him and he rarely cared to talk about this part of his life. He had chosen veterinary science as his career, for he believed animals were far better friends than any human ever could be.

The time Isaac spent at Gram’s house after school was his only source of solace. Her house, her cooking, and her wonderfully dreamy stories were Isaac’s escape from what he thought of as his daily torture. Reality for Isaac was like living within the walls of an invisible prison. Going to school every day, trying to behave and learn in class, avoiding the bullies who cornered him at every opportunity. Then at home in the evening, pretending he couldn’t hear the bitter arguments between his parents. Amelia would become angry with Gram for filling Isaac’s head with the past. My son will get a real job. The circus life? Over my dead body! Amelia loved her mother but seemed to resent her childhood, forced to move from town to town. She had not been able to go to school and had to complete her schoolwork by correspondence. The worst part was she never had friends her age for any longer than the circus was in town. Amelia’s brothers relished the circus life and the freedom it gave them, but Amelia just wanted to be normal. She wasn’t particularly artistic or creative and always felt out of place, so she had buried herself in her studies so she could go to university and abandon the circus life as soon as possible.  Amelia, there is nothing wrong with your son dreaming a little, Sophie would scold. Just because you can’t dream shouldn’t mean that your son has to suffer your weaknesses too! Her scolding always enraged Amelia but it also silenced her and she would not object to her mother’s storytelling again for a few months.

Isaac loved all of Gram’s stories but his favourite ones were about the performing animals in the travelling circus. African lions, Bengal tigers, Thai elephants, the tiny and insanely cheeky Amazon monkeys, the majestic Andalusian horses, and the wise, watchful Siberian wolves. Gram told Isaac that the animals were not forced to perform if they did not want to, that they could escape their human captors but that they had chosen to stay, watching over the circus folk the same as a mother watches over her children. Gram said that most circus folk in that era knew this and treated their animals like the kings and queens of the universe they were.  However, circus’s in the current day no longer used animals and they are much happier left in their natural environment. Gram smiled at Isaac proudly with this last statement.  Although Gram had been an amazing trapeze artist, she had taken it upon herself to check on each animal before she went to bed each night. She made sure they had enough food and water and they were comfortable, safe and uninjured.

Late one night when Gram was walking back to her caravan, a large smelly white man tried to drag her off to his car. Although Gram was young and strong, the drifter was easily overpowering her. Just when he was about to force the twenty-six-year-old Sophie (Gram) into his car, a large grey trunk silently wrapped itself around the man’s chest, squeezing the air out of him and forcing him to release his grip.  Sophie ran to the shelter of the giant elephant’s front legs and peering around his knee, she saw the elephant holding the horrid man upside down by his ankle, swinging him from side to side with his trunk. Sophie giggled and told her rescuer to put the man down. Tago the elephant roared in protest, giving the would-be kidnapper one last vigorous shake before dropping him on his side and rolling him like a sausage towards his car.  The man got up as fast as he could, falling over his feet while he scrambled into his dark sedan and sped away. Sophie hugged her giant friend’s trunk, kissing him between his eyes and thanking him for saving her life. The elephant picked Gram up and playfully tossed her onto his shoulders before transporting her safely back to her caravan. Two wolves were waiting by her door when she returned. They slept by her bedside for the next fifteen years, keeping Gram and Salvatore and their family safe from anyone who might try to harm them.

At the end of this story, Gram would tell Isaac cheerfully, Animals may not be able to use language like we can but they definitely communicate with each other and with us. You have to give them your full attention, really listen to them and watch how they move. In time, you will learn what they are saying. Animals were on this earth long before humans and our so-called superior species could learn a lot from them if only we stopped long enough to pay attention and really listen.

Sophie would lecture Isaac in a loving manner, looking deep into his eyes, holding his every thought in hers, making him believe every word she said. Little did Isaac know that dear old Gram was not just teaching him how to listen to his friends of the animal world. She was also preparing him for a life he could never have imagined, a journey he was destined to travel should he choose to. To take that journey would be to live a life of excitement and adventure, but also of danger, certainly not the life of an ordinary person.

Amelia knew her son would be faced with this choice at the age of thirteen as she too had been faced with it. Amelia had chosen a more stable life where each day was relatively predictable. No one knew that she actually regretted her choice but feared for her son’s future knowing what dangers might lay ahead for him should he choose the destiny his Gram was quietly preparing him for.

Chapter Two

Amiculus was a stubborn, wilful puppy, forever wanting his own way. Any bug or insect could set him off leaping and snapping at the air. For Amiculus, a good chase was always the best game, even though nothing was ever caught. Isaac called Amiculus over and over when he was engaged in such games, but he would only obey when he felt like it. Isaac knew his Amiculus could hear him calling, as he would usually turn one ear in Isaac’s direction or stop for a moment and look straight at him before scampering off after his prey.

Isaac always thought Amiculus was giving him a look as if to say, Are you serious? This is the best game in town! Little did Isaac know that Amiculus’ chasing games and play fighting with inanimate objects was nature’s way of preparing the playful pup to grow into Isaac’s fearsome protector and a warrior who would always stand by his side.

Isaac and Gram spent many hours after school, at weekends, and on school holidays training Amiculus. Isaac tried very hard to follow Gram’s instructions.  He would watch his pup interact with the other animals, and learn the different expressions on his face, how he reacted to the varying tones of Isaac’s voice, and how he showed his emotions.  A year went by and Isaac’s dedication to Amiculus paid off. Isaac barely had to utter a word to get his very handsome dog to do as he was asked. The two souls had bonded and were now inseparable. The only time they spent apart was when Isaac was at school. Even then, his best friend’s spirit was with him.

Amiculus had a huge effect on Isaac’s behaviour too. No longer was he the quiet kid at the back of the class trying to go unnoticed. Nor was he the kid the majority of the bullies chose to pick on. Something about the friendship with his dog gave him confidence and made him proud to be noticed. He