SPUD
BLURB
Spud the pet.
Spud the companion.
Spud the work dog.
Spud the wild dog.
Spud the mother.
Spud the hunted.
This dramatic and compelling tale of a blue heeler will touch the hearts of all readers. John Heffernan's vivid portrayal of life in the bush is written from first-hand experience. Spud was the author's own loyal companion on his property in northern New South Wales and was the inspiration for the story.
Spud is the first book in the popular series by award-winning author John Heffernan. Look out for the other best-selling titles, Pup and Chips.
SAMPLE
Prologue
She'll come out. Don't you worry.'
A smile scratched itself across the man's unshaven face, a thin bitter smile that hung on the hate in his voice. He stood in front of a stringy-bark, a gun in his right hand, his left rubbing absent-mindedly at a deep scar on the side of his neck as he addressed a group of about twenty other farmers. They listened and variously nodded. But the tremble in the man's voice, the slight shake in his hand as it worried the scar, and the strange stare in his eyes sent a shuffle of uneasiness through the group. Some scribbled their boots in the dirt, some squatted to roll fags. A few even moved away as though their physical act somehow distanced them morally from the madman.
'I know that mongrel. She'll come out for this.'
The smile tightened as the man delved into a hessian bag and pulled out a tiny creature. The animal, a sandy-grey pup only a few weeks old, screamed as the man dangled it by a hind leg before the other men.
'Put the poor thing out of its misery, Jim.' someone yelled.
'I will, mate.' the scratch replied. 'When we've got her. Then I'll put both of them out of their misery ... with this.'
The man called Jim brandished his shotgun in the air and then stooped, pointing it into a narrow hole at the base of the stringy.
'We're waiting, ya mongrel!' he screamed and fired both barrels into the hole.
AWARDS
Children's Book Council of Australia 1998 Notable Book: Older Readers
Shortlisted for the YABBA Award