March 28, 2018
New Story Release!
Yippee! My illustrator team (Christina and Rebeccah) did some awesome cover art again! This time for the fourth story in The Devonians series! It’s currently available in ebook and paperback format.
The Devonians are space castaways who have developed a colony on a strange new planet (they name it Devonia).
This newest story, Alena’s Baby, begins a few days after the end of A Foundling Furball.
It seems that Joseph Taylor has been leaving his work because he knows his younger brother, Charley, will do it. Charley thinks he’s tricking Joseph into having to take him fishing in the afternoon since he does Joseph’s chore. Both boys think they are tricking the other; they are manipulating, and that isn’t right.
Alena and her sister, Janine, and brother, Michael, are taking care of Tawny, Alena’s baby dengee. The children had rescued her from Ice Cube Creek (this story is in A Foundling Furball!) a few days ago and want to ask the council for permission to raise her.
In the afternoon, while Janine is catching a fish that almost takes her into the creek, the Taylor children’s father comes and gets to meet Tawny.
For a peek into Devonia, read this excerpt from “Alena’s Baby!”
“I’m always funny,” Janine giggled, made a funny face that only little sisters can make, and skipped back toward the house.
Sandy smiled. “Michael,” he grabbed the attention of both boys and Alena, “Tawny is a growing infant. Think about how most babies grow. They grow far more quickly in their first few weeks with the growth rate slowing down as the baby ages.”
Sandy balled his fist, “see, if you could draw a circle around the first joint in her paw like a fist, that’s approximately the size of her stomach.”
“Wow,” Joseph gasped.
“Don’t baby animals digest milk quickly so sometimes they eat more than their stomachs can hold?” Alena asked. She remembered something about that from raising the rejected lambs.
“Very good,” Sandy nodded, “yes, they do. Milk is usually a perfect food for the baby. Since this is Brown-Sheep milk and Tawny is a dengee, she may not digest it as easily as she would her mother’s milk, but she’s appearing to do rather well.”
“So, we should feed her until she doesn’t want any more?” Michael asked.
“Yes sir,” Sandy nodded, drawing out the word “sir” into two syllables, “she won’t take any more than she needs. You have to care for her completely until she can eat herself,” Sandy reminded as he stroked the tiny blind creature. Tawny mewed gently, pawed Sandy’s hand, and attempted sucking on his knuckle. Sandy chuckled, “once she opens her eyes, she’ll start to get some independence.”
“Daddy,” Alena sighed, “she can’t even crawl well yet, she scoots like she’s swimming.”
“And lambs are not born blind.” Michael added.
“They are up walking just after they are born,” Joseph remembered.
“Yes,” Sandy was walking about, checking the lambing boxes to see if any ewes had birthed, the children trailing behind him. “In the wild, Brown-Sheep are born in the meadow or forest without any protection so they have to be able to follow the herd. Dengees stay in one area and mark a section for their den where the pups are born and cared for until they can leave to join the pack.”
“So how long do you think Tawny will be an infant?” Alena asked. Michael had refilled the bottle with a little milk and returned it to Alena. She was now feeding her gurgling dengee pup.
“A few days at least,” Sandy replied, “maybe a few weeks; we’ve never been able to study a dengee pup.”
“So you’ll be my baby for a long time,” Alena whispered to the brown-tan blob of soft fur.
… (continue reading Alena’s Baby here! Or browse all titles and formats here!)
Thanks for reading!
Type at you next time…
~Nancy Tart