Author(s): Valerie Wilding

Children & Young Adult

After I had pulled Mother Moody free and helped her downstairs, she said, "John Bunn, I shall bring you home a piece of gingerbread. You are a good lad, though you stink." I laughed. "I cannot help that," I replied. "It's my work." She snorted. "You should not be shovelling animal muck and spreading it on rich people's gardens, even if it is from the King's own beasts. You should be in charge of the animals. You have a gift, John Bunn. Animals trust you." John Bunn works at the Tower of London menagerie, looking after King Henry VIII's animals. He loves animals but his boss, Master Scrope, is cruel and stupid. Perhaps when the King visits, John will have a chance to prove he can do better than be a muckspreader. But will Master Scrope ruin his chances?