Karmartha: The Last Garden

By Rodney Strong

Nine-year-old Katerina doesn't feel like she fits into the world. Until the day she and her older brother Joshua are transported to a magical garden. It doesn't take them long to realize this isn't like their mother's garden. For a start Mom's garden doesn't have a panther or gorilla wandering through the carrots.

Suddenly Katerina will find out just how special she really is, as she fights to save her new friends from hunters, zoologists, and singing rats.

Because in the end, they are the last best hope for the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LoreQuinn Publishing
• Release date: Feb 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9780473447618

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© Copyright 2018 Rodney Strong

Rodney Strong asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the copyright holder.

Published by LoreQuinn Publishing

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the production of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.  However, all animals depicted in this book do or did exist in the world at one time. 

The important people:

Cover design by:  Debbie Weaver (she has a dog and a cat)

Illustrations by:  Lani Kriel Scott (she also has a dog)

Interior design and printing by:  Your Books (they probably have animals)

ISBN: 978-0-473-44759-5

5% of the book’s profits will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund to help them preserve our planet’s heritage. 

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand.

For my cats Kaos and Madness

CHAPTER ONE

MEET STANLEY

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Stanley was in trouble.  That was nothing new.  Trouble was his middle name (actually he didn’t have a middle name, or a last name, but if he did it would be Trouble).  Here’s the thing about trouble though – there are different types.  For example, there’s little trouble, like stealing someone’s food, or licking them on the face when they quite clearly say Stanley, don’t lick me on the face.  Then there’s big trouble, like four guys with guns hunting you.

He could hear them trying to creep quietly through the trees, except to Stanley they sounded like elephants wearing roller blades.[1]

A picture containing text Description generated with high confidence Stanley had seen them before.  He’d heard them plot to kill him.  The scariest one – the one that really made his fur itch – he called Hunter with a capital H.  That’s how scary he was.   

The men were excited.  Stanley could smell it on the air. 

He could smell fear as well, which might have been coming from him.

And as of a few seconds ago there was a strong smell of poo, which definitely came from him.

Far beneath them someone or something hurried through a tunnel.  He muttered Stanley’s name a lot. 

Above ground Stanley pressed his head down onto his paws and listened to the men.  One pointed out that darkness wasn’t the best time to be hunting some unknown vicious beast (they had no idea that this particular unknown vicious beast was more terrified than they were), and that the sun was about to go behind the hill. 

‘Right, guys, here’s the plan.  Terry, you nip around the back of the bushes and scare him out while we wait here and blast him.’

‘Soooo, your plan is for me to go out there alone where some unknown large, ferocious –’

‘Don’t forget bloodthirsty,’ another voice said helpfully.

‘Thanks, I was trying to.’ Terry didn’t sound happy.  ‘You want me to go out there and scare him?’

‘Exactly,’ replied the one he called Hunter

Deep under the ground the figure reached a ladder in the side of the tunnel and began to climb.  

‘So I’m supposed to scare a large, ferocious, bloodthirsty beast out of hiding?’ Terry repeated.

‘You could show him a picture of your dog – he’s pretty ugly,’ someone suggested. 

‘Ssshh!’ growled Hunter.

‘Or you could sing,’ the other one added.  ‘You’ve got a terrible voice, Terry.’

‘Quiet,’ Hunter snapped.

‘I’m sorry, but he has.  Remember when he tried to sing karaoke that time?’

‘QUIET!’

There was a deafening roar followed by a smacking sound. 

‘FIRE!’ Hunter yelled.

All four men shot their guns at the bushes.  Leaves and branches went flying everywhere.  Slowly the shooting stopped, replaced by smoke filled silence. 

Hunter moved forward closely followed by the others.  He reached out and whipped the bush aside to reveal...nothing.  If something had been there, it was gone.

Below them, two figures walked through the dark tunnel.  One of them had four legs.

‘What have I told you about playing outside?  You’re two years old now – it’s time to stop acting like a kitten and grow up!’

In the darkness something hissed.

‘Don’t take that tone with me, Stanley.’ 

‘Sorry,’ came the sulky reply.

CHAPTER TWO

MEET THE RANSOMS

––––––––

‘I’m telling Mum.  You said a bad word.’

‘Did not!’

‘Did too.  I’m telling.’

‘You’re such a baby,’ Joshua told his sister.

‘I’m only a year younger than you!’ Kat argued. 

Joshua Ransom was a tall ten-year-old with short, spiky brown hair.  He didn’t really like his sister.  If forced to upon pain of death, or going to bed early, he would admit he loved her, but that didn’t mean he had to like her.  She was stubborn, annoying, and a real pain in the neck. 

The worst thing was that she never listened to him. 

A picture containing clothing, hairpiece Description generated with high confidence They had a lot of fights about it.  The last one was two weeks ago and ended with Kat pushing him into their mother’s carefully stacked pile of books.  It had been a lucky shot.  After all she couldn’t see where she was pushing him.  She couldn’t see at all.  Kat was blind. 

Small for her age, Kat had black hair that hung halfway down her back.  Even though her eyes didn’t work her other senses made up for it.  Her hearing was particularly good – not superpower good, but better than every other nine-

year-old. 

This morning Joshua was late as usual for breakfast. Kat was already halfway down the stairs when he arrived at the top.  He spied a pair of shoes lying on the bottom step.  His shoes.  Realising he would never reach them before Kat tripped, he jumped onto the stair rail and slid feet first past his sister, picking up speed as he went.  Unfortunately, like a lot of his ideas, this one hadn’t been thought through.  The problem with stair slides is there are no brakes. 

He reached the bottom, whizzed past the shoes, stumbled forward off balance, and came to a sudden stop face first against the front door. 

Meanwhile Kat reached the bottom, completely missing the shoes and carried on into the kitchen. 

Mrs Ransom smiled. ‘Morning, honey.  Where’s your brother?’

‘Haven’t seen him.’

‘Very funny.  Joshua, hurry up!’

Joshua staggered into the kitchen and slumped heavily into a chair, a small lump already forming in the middle of his forehead. 

‘Was that someone at the door?’ his mother asked.

‘Ah, no.  Don’t think so.’

‘OK. Well, eat your breakfast.  The mother taxi is leaving in ten minutes and this taxi service...’

‘...always runs on time and gives no refunds,’ Joshua and Kat chorused in unison with her. 

Mrs Ransom laughed along with her children, then left to get her own shoes on.[2]  That’s when the latest fight started.[3]

CHAPTER THREE

NOBODY APPRECIATES ME

––––––––

At lunchtime Kat sat in a corner of the school field with her two best friends, Ashley and Becca. 

‘So your brother is being a pain again?’ Ashley asked.  ‘I think it’s pretty cool having a brother who looks out for you.’

‘Of course you do.  You don’t have a brother!’ Kat replied.

‘Yeah,’ Becca chimed in.  ‘My brothers just want to use me as a goalpost.’

‘Um, what?’ Ashley asked.

‘Two of them pick me up and then Dominic tries to kick the ball over me.’

They thought about this for a moment.

‘Does it hurt?’ Kat asked curiously.

‘Only when he gets one over.  Then they get so excited they drop me.’

‘Your brothers suck,’ Kat said.

‘Yeah.  Wanna swap?’

‘Maybe Joshua isn’t that bad after all.’ 

Across the field Joshua kicked the ball hard at his friend Hemi who ducked to avoid catching it with his face.

‘Hey!  Don’t take it out on me.  I’m not your sister,’ Hemi called out.

‘Sorry.  It’s just that she makes me so mad.  She’s only a kid, and even if she wasn’t blind I’d still have to watch out for her.’ Joshua stomped after the ball. 

‘They just don’t get it man.  They don’t understand