Meet the leader of the Suffragettes, Emmeline Pankhurst, and a particularly plucky pup, during a momentous time in history!
Alfie can’t believe his luck when he is allowed to keep a tiny puppy he finds abandoned on the street. Rascal is cute as a button and has lots of attitude, and Emmeline Pankhurst is thrilled that her ward Alfie has a new friend. Alfie and Rascal deliver messages between the Suffragettes as they organise their ‘Votes for Women’ campaign. But it’s sometimes dangerous work, and it’s not long before Alfie and Rascal find out the true cost of the fight.
Full of adventure, fascinating history and lovely animals, this is the perfect read for young fans of Dick King-Smith and Michael Morpurgo.
The research for this book has involved meeting and getting to know many wonderful, amazing and helpful people and animals. When Emmeline and the Plucky Pup was first commissioned I was in Manchester and able to visit the museum of Mrs Pankhurst’s home, now situated within the grounds of Manchester Royal Infirmary. The staff and volunteers there were both very welcoming and informative and I knew I wanted to start my story there.
I’ve been interested in martial arts since I was a child and trained briefly both in the UK and abroad (not that that means I’m particularly adept!). I found Sensei and suffragette Edith Garrud and her training of Mrs Pankhurst’s bodyguards, known as ‘the Amazons’, in jiu-jitsu fascinating. My local jiu-jitsu club was extremely helpful when I went along as part of my research and I’d especially like to thank Sensei Keith Cooper, who not only showed me how to get out of a stranglehold but also how the suffragettes would have been taught to fight using sticks. At an afternoon event I learnt about how the police use martial arts now (and over the course of the last century) from DC Tredwell, watching in awe as Rosi Sexton demonstrated that physical size holds no limitations for a talented Brazilian jiu-jitsuist.
When it came to writing this book it was my pleasure to work once again with editor Carmen McCullough, who commissioned it, with wonderful Mainga Bhima for the drafts that followed through to completion and Emma Jones for the very last part. Copy-editors Daphne Tagg and Frances Evans did their jobs brilliantly, and proofreaders Sarah Hall and Susi Elmer were supremely meticulous – which I’m very grateful for. The cover for the book is just stunning, especially dear little Rascal, and I’d like to thank illustrator Angelo Rinaldi and designer Jan Bielecki. On the PR and Marketing side of things I feel very lucky to have been able to work with Jasmine Joynson and Lucie Sharpe who’ve also been part of the book tours and are loved by my dogs, Bella and Freya. Sales experts Tineke Mollemans and Kirsty Bradbury have been with me throughout the writing of all my Megan Rix books and a huge support. Not forgetting my long-time agent and friend Clare Pearson of Eddison Pearson. Thank you.
Having the support of my family makes such a difference and as always I’d like to thank my husband, Eric, who ends up knowing almost more about whatever topic I’m writing on than I do! Sharing an office with him has increased my productivity no end. He also kindly visited the fascinating Workhouse Museum – and took some stunning photographs – when I was unable to go plus he found the vintage photographs of pet dogs living in workhouses, which led to Sniffer’s inclusion in the story. As well as solving the query over the colour of Flora Drummond’s military coat using black-and-white to colour photography software. ☺
Finally, my own dogs, golden retrievers Traffy, Bella and Freya, have been and are a continual source of inspiration and fun. They put up with shorter walks while I was in the midst of writing this book and enjoyed much longer ones when I wasn’t. Bella and Freya have been attending dog training classes at ‘Happy Dogs’ since they were tiny pups and during the writing of this book their trainer, Laura Foster, brought a lively, noisy, funny and utterly adorable Parson Jack Russell terrier puppy called Colin to the classes. Colin helped inspire the character of Rascal when she was a tiny pup, as did the other dogs and puppies that my own dogs have met over the years. When Traffy was still very young her best friend was a little Staffie puppy called Jelly, who used to have the most adorable sulks where he would curl up and not look at his ‘mum’ when he was asked to do something he didn’t want to. Recently, Bella’s been helping to teach a two-year-old Staffie called Daisy to grow more confident in the river. Daisy loves playing with her ball in the water but was nervous of bringing it back when she got out of her depth. Bella would swim out and fetch the ball for her and drop it next to Daisy, who’d then run up the riverbank with it ready for the ball to be thrown again. The river itself and the woods around it are forever changing on our walks throughout the year when we’ll see foxes, deer, badgers, cormorants, herons, kingfishers and even otters at different times. I find it an unending source of writing inspiration as well as the perfect place to reflect and plan future books. ☺
THE GREAT ESCAPE
THE BOMBER DOG
THE HERO PUP
THE RUNAWAYS
A SOLDIER’S FRIEND
THE VICTORY DOGS
THE GREAT FIRE DOGS
WINSTON AND THE MARMALADE CAT
www.meganrix.com
The small kitten raced across the icy wasteland after his prey, but the yellow autumn leaf was held by the wind and flew just ahead of him, out of reach of the kitten’s paws.
Determined not to lose it, the kitten ran on, leaving the den where his mother and his brothers and sisters still slept far behind.
When the wind finally released the leaf and it dropped to the ground, the kitten pounced on it with a crunch and stared down at his prey, triumphant. Then he spotted another leaf dancing in the wind, another leaf that needed to be caught before it could escape. He released the first one to dash after the second, but then another leaf fell to the side of him and he darted after that instead.
Sometimes he jumped up to catch the fleeing leaves mid-air. Sometimes he pounced on them when they hit the ground, but there were too many crisp late November leaves for one small kitten to be able to catch them all.
The kitten looked back again at the hawthorn bush that his family was hidden in and gave a miaow, but none of them came to help.
He watched as a sparrow flew above him, then spied a worm that disappeared back below the ground before the hungry kitten could reach it.
In front of him, the kitten spied a long, thin metal tunnel lying on the ground. When he poked his head inside it he saw a mouse on the grass at the other end. The kitten’s heart beat fast with excitement and he crouched low as he squeezed into the tunnel and headed towards it.
A moment later the kitten gave a cry as the tunnel lifted off the ground. He slid forward and was covered with thick, black wet mud that stung his eyes. He tried to cry out again but the mud went into his mouth and made him cough.
Worst of all came a great clang followed by a terrifying roar.
The kitten trembled as the roar turned into a juddering hum, and he curled up into a muddy ball in the darkness.
Alone and very afraid.
