by H. Y. Hanna
Honey held her breath as she watched Ruffster slowly gain until he reached the back of the yellow car. But the turn onto the main road was coming up and the yellow car was revving its engines again. Would he make it? Ruffster put on an extra burst of speed and bounded up alongside it.
Colette saw him through the window and her eyes lit up. She began jumping up and down, barking and wagging her pom-pom tail. The car swerved and wobbled, nearly smacking into Ruffster, then it slowed down jerkily and finally stopped.
The front passenger door swung open and Colette jumped out. Honey couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she saw Ruffster’s tail begin to wag. Then the French Poodle reached over and touched her nose to his. Ruffster’s tail wagged even harder. Honey smiled to herself.
Finally, reluctantly, Colette got back into the little yellow car and the passenger door slammed shut again. Ruffster began walking slowly back to the arena. Halfway along, he stopped and looked back at the yellow car. It was revving its engines again and beginning to pull away. Colette jumped up and stuck her head out the window.
“À bientôt, cherie!” she barked.
“A bean toe sherry!” called Ruffster happily.
Biscuit popped his head up near Honey. “Beans? Did somebody say beans? Where? I love beans!” He sighed as Honey shook her head. “I’m going to starve to death. Can you believe it—my Missus says I have to continue this diet, even after we go home!” He looked hopefully back towards the field. “Do you think there’s enough time for me to get some cow poo before we leave?”
THE END
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** a Glossary of British terms used in the story is available after “Books in this Series” and the excerpt
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BOOKS IN THIS SERIES:
Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards 2014 ~ Gold Medal Winner
"Five Stars. There is a magic to speaking to children and H.Y. Hanna has completely captured it."~ Readers' Favorite International Book Awards 2014 Silver Medal Winner
"...a delightful cast of characters, each with their own endearing personalities. With playful puns and creative twists on age-old clichés Hanna artfully addresses such moral topics as prejudice and stereotypes, gossip and rumors all rolled up into an page-turning mystery." ~ Children’s Literary Classics Book Awards Gold Medal Winner
"Dog lovers young and old will love this rip-roaring, bark-serious adventure... highly recommended" ~ Midwest Book Review
“If you want to get your middle grade reader interested in picking up books, then this is a great place to start.” ~ Net Galley
CURSE OF THE SCARAB
(Big Honey Dog Mysteries #1 – full novel)
Missing puppies.
Deadly secrets.
Serious slobber.
All Honey the Great Dane ever wanted was a peaceful life – walking her human, checking Peemail at the park - but when neighbourhood puppies start disappearing, life takes a sinister turn. Why are dead scarab beetles found after each disappearance? Do the strange markings on a gravestone really spell out an ancient Egyptian curse? And what about Max, the Pit Bull with a murky past, who seems to be hiding secrets of his own...can Honey risk everything and trust him or will it cost her the chance to save the puppies?
Click here for purchase links:
www.bighoneydogmysteries.com
A SECRET IN TIME
(Big Honey Dog Mysteries #2 – full novel)
Haunted dog show.
Jealous rivals.
Serious slobber.
When Honey the Great Dane arrives at a dog show, the last thing she expects to meet is her doggie doppelgänger! But things get even stranger when her famous ‘twin’ is poisoned and Honey is asked to take her place in the show ring... She soon finds that the glamorous world of champions hides some ugly secrets. Are the Showgrounds really haunted by a Phantom Hound? What really happened ten years ago when a mysterious fire claimed two lives? And just how far will someone go to win the title of ‘Best in Show’?
Click here for purchase links:
www.bighoneydogmysteries.com
BIG HONEY DOG MYSTERIES
HOLIDAY COLLECTION
Anthology of 3 holiday mysteries!
Celebrate your favourite holidays with this collection of exciting short mysteries featuring Honey the Great Dane sleuth and her canine friends. In Night of Flying Shadows, a creepy visitor on Halloween night sends the dogs on a dangerous mission through a haunted forest. Then Honey and her friends find themselves deciphering a mysterious note during a snowy Christmas in Message in a Bauble. And in Treasure from the Past, the dog detectives race to uncover a long-lost secret over an Easter weekend. The perfect read for kids and dog lovers of all ages!
Click here for purchase links:
www.bighoneydogmysteries.com
Read an excerpt from:
Big Honey Dog Mysteries
HOLIDAY COLLECTION
(from Treasure from the Past ~ one of the 3 holiday mysteries)
“Oh, be careful! Don’t go any closer!”
Honey the Great Dane paused and turned in surprise at the frightened voice. The speaker was one of several dogs who were standing behind her, their eyes wide and anxious. But they weren’t looking at her—they were looking at something beyond her, farther down the riverbank.
Honey turned back in the direction she had been heading and tried to see what they were looking at. The flat, grassy bank of the river ended a few metres ahead, rising sharply in a steep slope. Honey followed the line of the slope upwards, squinting in the sun. At the very top of the slope, overlooking the river, stood an old house. But it was nothing like other houses she had ever seen. Strange, onion-shaped domes rose from its roof and long, narrow windows pierced its high walls, which curved and overlapped one another like an antique puzzle. It looked like something from a fairy tale. Honey shivered. A creepy fairy tale.
“They say a witch lives up there.”
Honey turned back again to see her friend, Suka the Siberian Husky, weaving through the group of dogs and coming up to her. Suka’s blue eyes weren’t scared, though—they were sparkling with excitement—and she looked up at the old house with relish. Honey wondered what neighbourhood gossip Suka had collected about this place. If there was one thing Suka loved doing, it was telling stories—the wilder, the better.
The Husky flicked her fluffy tail and added eagerly, “I heard that she has claws for hands and eats children for breakfast!”
“For kibble’s sake, not another of yer stupid stories, is it?” growled Tyson the Jack Russell Terrier as he came up to join them. Honey smiled to herself. As the most down-to-earth of her friends—in this case literally, with his short, stubby legs and compact body—Tyson could always be relied on to call a bone a bone.
“It’s true!” Suka insisted. “The local dogs were telling me about it—some of them live nearby and walk their humans here regularly. They’ve seen an old woman come out of the house; she always wears black and she has these creepy claw hands. They even say—” Suka lowered her voice dramatically, “—that the house is guarded by a huge, black bear who obeys her commands.”
The dogs behind them nodded, wide-eyed, hanging onto Suka’s every word. All except one scruffy mongrel who pushed his way out from the back of the group and trotted up to them with a cheerful chuckle.
“Mate, that’s the dumbest story I’ve ever heard,” said Ruffster the mongrel mutt. He scratched his one upright ear. “There ain’t no such thing as ghosts and witches.”
“Fine, if you’re so brave, you go up there and check it out then,” challenged Suka. Her blue eyes lit up. “In fact, let’s all go! C’mon, it was supposed to be a big adventure visiting these gardens for the first time, but so far, we’ve just been hanging
around the humans, doing nothing... It’s getting a bit boring.”
Honey looked up at the old house, then turned and looked the other way, back along the riverbank to where the flat, grassy area widened out again. That was the main part of Riverside Gardens and it looked like lots of people had decided to take advantage of the lovely spring weather this Easter weekend—the space beside the river was dotted with couples and families stretched out on cushions and blankets. A group of children holding baskets were walking around the flower beds in an Easter egg hunt. Every so often, one of them would cry out with glee and pounce on something, then stand up holding a colourful egg to be added to the basket.
Honey’s gaze drifted over the scene until she found one group of humans she recognised: they were sitting on a blanket by the water’s edge, talking and laughing as they handed things out from a picnic basket. “What about our humans?” she asked.
“Oh, they can still see us,” said Suka carelessly, already starting forwards. “Anyway, we’re just going to the top of the slope—we’ll be back down in a moment.”
“Wait, let’s get Biscuit to come too,” said Ruffster. He turned towards their humans and barked, “Biscuit! BISCUIT!”
A black and tan shape emerged from behind the picnic basket and hesitated, then moved reluctantly towards them. Biscuit the Beagle gave them a reproachful look as he arrived, his nose covered with icing sugar. “I was just finally about to grab a doughnut, you know. It took me ages to get near the picnic basket without my Missus noticing.”
“Mate, you’ve already sneaked two sausage rolls, a piece o’ pie, and three cookies.” Ruffster eyed the Beagle’s podgy belly. “If you keep eatin’, you’re goin’ to burst like a balloon.”
Biscuit sniffed indignantly. “I’m not—”
“Do you think you can help us, Biscuit?” Honey interrupted hastily. “We’re going to check something out and we need your super nose.”
Biscuit turned to her, his chest swelling with importance. “Of course! What do you need me to track?”
“A witch!” Suka called from the foot of the slope, grinning back at them.
“A... a witch?” Biscuit looked uneasy.
“That’s just Suka’s wishful thinking.” Honey chuckled. “I’m sure there’s really nothing up there.”
As they reached the top of the slope, however, Honey began to change her mind. Up close, the house looked even more strange and fantastical. Its high walls were a deep salmon pink, trimmed with white cornices and rising in staggered layers so that the whole house looked like a multi-tiered cake with white frosting.
“This house looks like some kind o’ weird birthday cake with bobbles on top!” laughed Ruffster, gazing up at the onion domes rising from the roof. “No way a witch would be livin’ in somethin’ like this.”
“Witches can live in all sorts of places,” said Suka darkly. “My Boy has a book called Hansel and Gretel and the witch in that story lives in a beautiful gingerbread house.”
“Ooh, do you think we can eat this house too?” asked Biscuit eagerly.
“Can ya never stop thinking about yer stomach?” growled Tyson.
“Well, I—”
Suka suddenly stiffened. “Shhh! Look! What’s that?”
They all froze. From the shadows at the side of the house, a dark figure suddenly appeared and lurched towards them. Black rags seemed to float around the body and a pair of angular arms stretched out menacingly, reaching forwards with claw-like hands. In spite of herself, Honey felt her heartbeat quicken and her breath come faster. Was Suka right? Is this the witch?
READ THE REST OF THE STORY:
Click here for purchase links:
www.bighoneydogmysteries.com
Glossary of British terms used in the story
* Dog breed groups and prize ribbon colours follow the conventions of dog shows in the UK.
Boot – the enclosed space at the back of a car for carrying luggage or other goods (American: trunk)
Bum – a person’s (or dog’s) buttocks or behind (American: butt)
Candyfloss – a mass of fluffy spun sugar wrapped round a stick (American: cotton candy)
Caravan – a vehicle equipped for living in, typically towed by a car and used for holidays (American: motorhome)
Cowpat – a flat round deposit of cow dung
Daft – silly; foolish
Grub – food
Nick (something) – to steal
Podgy – rather fat; chubby (American: pudgy)
Trousers – a garment covering the body from the waist to the ankles, with a separate part for each leg (American: pants)
Windscreen - a glass screen at the front of a motor vehicle (American: windshield)
* British English conventions of spelling, grammar and usage are followed in the story. For example:
British / American
colour / color
centre / center
practice / practise
tyre / tire
realise / realize
catalogue / catalog
skilful / skillful
doughnut / donut
cheque / check
forwards / forward
programme / program
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For other books by H.Y. Hanna (including her adult books) – check out: www.hyhanna.com
H.Y. Hanna was born in Taiwan and has been a globe-trotter most of her life, from growing up in the United Arab Emirates to attending school in New Jersey, from working in the glamorous world of London advertising to emigrating Down Under. Along the way, she somehow managed to pick up a wonderful husband, a huge, slobbery dog, two rescue cats, an assortment of cardboard boxes and a slightly dodgy "trans-atlantic" accent.
After graduating from Oxford University, she tried her hand at a variety of jobs before returning to her first love: writing. She is the author of the award-winning children's mystery series, BIG HONEY DOG MYSTERIES, and also writes mysteries, romantic suspense and sweet romances for adults. Always fascinated by dogs, she specialised as a pet writer for magazines in the UK, Australia and NZ, and has been heavily involved in training, behaviour, dog sports and photography.
You can find out more about H.Y. Hanna and the “real Honey” who inspired these stories at: www.bighoneydogmysteries.com or on her own website: www.hyhanna.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As always, I am hugely indebted to Melanie G. Howe for her insightful critiques of every draft along the way and her patient participation in endless discussions of character, plot, themes, the importance of cow poo in the story ... somehow she always knew exactly what to provide, whether it was a word of reassurance or a much-needed dose of common sense!
Thank you to my wonderful team of beta readers: Anastasia Tureson, Emily Sharapan, Kaitlyn Egan, Leni Schrader, Mackenzie Peña-Martinez, Margeaux Denning-Duke, Mark & Marjie McDonald, Catherine McArdle, Kate Ice, Robin Trott and the students at Glacial Hills Elementary School, Starbuck, MN, USA—their feedback and insights played a big role in helping me refine the book. Merci beaucoup to Anaïs Gotkovsky for her help in checking the French phrases throughout the book.
A very special thanks goes to my friends and the followers of my blog & Facebook page who have provided so much enthusiasm, support and help in spreading the word about my books since I started this adventure as a new author. I feel very lucky to have you as friends.
Many thanks also to Jovanny Lemonad and Roman Yershov for the use of their Molot font in the images of the “paper scraps”, under the 1001Fonts Free For Commercial Use License (FFC).
And finally, to my amazing husband, Paul, for his belief in me and his unwavering support and encouragement – thank you for doing so much to help me follow my dreams. And, of course, to Honey—though she is no longer with us—she continues to inspire me from over the Rainbow Bridge. It is wonderful to think of her living on in these stories and as the silhouette model on the book covers.
Copyright © 2014 by H.Y. Hanna
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All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9923153-3-7
www.hyhanna.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, business establishments, persons or animals, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the author. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
