Boriscat and the Quest for the Golden Carp
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"The school of young Koi Carp swam together under the watchful eye of the huge orange and silver Guardian. Her enormous, sad looking mouth, slowly opening and closing, but ready to shout at her tiny young charges for any wrong doing.
The young fish obeyed her every command, except when she wasn’t looking, or at least when they thought she wasn’t. Then one or several of them would dash away from the school and head for the surface of the moat where they lived. The shadow of the old human castle loomed over them, but in the summer months there was welcome shade from the burning sun and predatory eyes.
Today was such a day, bright sunlight speckled the water above them and one young bold Koi Carp was not interested in being told what to do. He wanted to reach for the sky and see for himself all the dreadful, terrifying wonders that lay beyond his watery world. He had discovered that there were magical secrets that the Ancient Koi kept to themselves in the darkest depths of the moat. Secrets of mystical symbols and equations of power that were handed down to those trusted and respected Koi that lived for many long years. Such secrets he wanted, as well as the secrets of the world above.
He chose his moment when the Guardian was chasing some other errant members of the school. Some reeds and pond plants gave him cover and hid amongst the leaves until the school had moved on. Once they were out of sight he swam towards the enticing light of the surface. The golden sun, reflected off his scales, making him seem to sparkle like a golden arrow as he got closer and closer to his multi-coloured goal.
He rushed up to it and in a splash and flurry of bubbles he broke through. He was blinded as the sunlight hit his eyes. But he was exhilarated by the sudden freedom as he seemed to be suspended above the water. His eyes adjusted as he started to fall back and he made out shapes and forms and creatures that were walking about on the land. He was excited. He wanted to walk on the land too. He wanted to able to break free of the water and explore.
Crack, splash, hurt. He hit the water and his tiny body went rigid as his whole being was wracked with pain from tail to tip of tallest fin. Re-entry into the world of fish and pond life was a shock to his system and he sank towards the bottom of the moat."
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About the Book
This is the story of a young tabby kitten called Boris, and a rather manic Dalmatian puppy called Oliver (or “Ollydog” as Boris likes to call him) and how they are brought into a human home and become friends and get lured into an adventure fighting a Koi carp which seems to have magical, evil powers. Boris tells Oliver that the mischievous fish is trying to enslave animals by stealing their mystical numbers.
Boris can be a bit superior in his attitude but soon realises that his dog friend is more clever than he lets on. This is the first in a series of Boriscat books. The next book is entitled “Ollydog and the Battle for Oakdown Forest”.
About the Author
Steven Spedding has always enjoyed writing and has had an ambition to become an author since his early teens. Steven recently took voluntary redundancy to pursue his life-long ambition. Other authors who have inspired him to write include A. A. Milne and J. R. R. Tolkien. In fact when writing these books, the Hundred Acre Wood (Ashdown Forest) in A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories is where he imagines Boris and Oliver’s battles and adventures taking place. Steven used to walk the dogs there on a regular basis and the cat breeder where most of the cats came from lived there as well.