| Author/Contributor(s): | Aiken, Joan |
| Publisher: | Clarion Books |
| Date: | 5/1/2007 |
| Binding: | Paperback |
| Condition: | NEW |
Now eighteen, Felix sets out across the mountains of Spain to rescue three children kidnapped by their father.
Summoned from his university lodgings in Salamanca, he journeys north beside his steadfast companion, Pedro. Across the high plains of Leon, he rides on urgent word from his grandfather, who fears political persecution under a tyrannical king.
A wealthy Bilbao mining family provides a lumbering carriage and armed escorts, yet the rugged trails soon force the party onto mule-back. Facing the snowy crags of Aragon, he must seek a desperate father in an isolated stronghold, where wild boars and mountain wolves roam the ravines.
Along the way, he hopes to see his true love, Juana, who has entered a convent. But his rescue party is being followed, and Felix fears he and the children are being led into a trap.
- Action and Adventure: Scaling sheer mountain precipices and crossing a frayed rope bridge suspended over the roaring Aragon river gorge, Felix must outwit armed pursuers at every turn.
- European History: Set across the strife-torn landscapes of 1820s Spain, the journey plunges through an era of secret political societies, royalist crackdowns, and dangerous mountain passes.
- Survival: Reaching the remote Castillo de Acher requires braving dense forests prowled by wild boars and scaling a two-hundred-foot crag to reach a fortified aerie cut off from the world.
- Also by This Author: Arabel’s Raven and Go Saddle the Sea.