Parched

In this haunting, lyrical novel told from three perspectives, Sarel has just witnessed the violent murder of her parents.

But she is not completely alone on the drought-ridden land. Nandi is the leader of a pack of dogs who looks out for her pups and for skinny Sarel-girl. Nandi knows they are all in trouble, and she knows, too, that a boy is coming—an escaped prisoner with the water song inside him.

Sheltered in a hidden stone grotto, Sarel tends her father’s wounded ridgebacks with bitter aloe. She guards the cool sanctuary, yet she watches the stone basin dwindle—precious drops fading under the relentless sun.

Miles away, Musa flees across the cracked clay with raw wrists and forked dowsing sticks. Driven by a quiet hum in the earth, he stumbles toward the homestead—hidden water pulsing beneath the desert while his captors give chase.

When the last pool runs dry, distrust gives way to a desperate search across the baking riverbed. Guided by the dogs, two children must locate the source before their enemies strike again. A hard-hitting but ultimately hopeful survival story.

• Animal Stories: Prized as lion hunters, Nandi and her pack of loyal Rhodesian ridgebacks curl together in the wire kennel by night and shield Sarel across the unforgiving scrubland.
• Unlikely Hero: Marked by scars from his captivity, young Musa relies on forked sweet thorn sticks and the buzzing hum at the base of his skull to track water deep below the earth.
• Quest Adventure: Facing starvation and blistering heat, Sarel scours the dry riverbeds for bitter aloe, sweet thorn gum, and wild horned cucumbers to keep her pack alive.
• Found Family: Beneath a burned homestead, two grieving children and a devoted pack find refuge in an underground cavern lined with stones and mirrored glass.