Author:
Alex McGilvery has been reading since before he can remember, and writing almost that long. He has published 18 books and is author and editor at his imprint Celticfrog Publishing. He lives in Kamloops with his dog and the stories clawing their way out of his head.

Ten year old Justine has lived with the loss of her mother for two years. Even while she misses her Mom, she is discovering the gifts they share. When bullying at school makes Justine’s life miserable, she befriends a tree she calls Drasil. It isn’t fair that life causes so much pain for Justine, so her father is happy when she makes a friend, even when that friend is a tree.

She tells stories of visiting a land where peace is valued above all else and hospitality is the primary virtue. Her father listens to her stories and marvels at how she changes, even as he wonders if her stories are true, or the fantasy of a lonely young girl. When the stories get darker and more dangerous, he worries that she is being hurt, even in this land of peace.

He has no idea how much they will both be changed as they get caught up in the struggle between a people who believe in peace, and those who trust in war.

Playing on Yggdrasil

Patrick stirred the spaghetti sauce and watched for his daughter to come home. It was almost dark and Justine had been coming in later and later. Worse, she hadn't mentioned the Pax at all since Christmas even though she had been spending almost as much time with the Pax as with Kelly. It worried him more than when she did talk about them. Oddly, he also worried for her friends. She had talked about them so much he almost felt he knew them. Regardless of what Justine needed, he needed help.


As much as he was learning to appreciate Pastor Daniel, what Patrick wanted was Lee's down to earth advice. He also missed her. He hadn't got to speak more than a couple of words to her since she had run out of his house in tears. He missed their conversations not just because she helped him with understanding Justine. There was something about being with her that made him feel good. He didn't think her having given up her son for adoption made her bad, but obviously she did.


Chapter 37