Wings Over Witchend - by Malcolm Saville

Winter at Witchend, the week before Christmas. A solitary glider hangs above the snow-laden forest, and the Lone Piners are spending a wonderful Christmas holiday in their favourite part of the country, a Christmas holiday that turns out to be as exciting and adventurous as any of their summer holidays there. Valuable Christmas trees are being stolen from the State Forest in large numbers every night, and the foresters are at their wits's end. No one can see how the trees are got away - all the exit roads from the Forest are watched and every forester is keeping a sharp lookout. But the foresters' numbers begin to get depleted. The gang of tree-robbers kidnap some of them, so all available outside help is called in to catch the thieves - including the Lone Piners, of course. Tom and Jenny even volunteer to climb the 60-foot fire tower (despite Tom's hatred of heights) to keep a watch from there for the tree-thieves. "The wind howled menacingly and mournfully, there was only a fitful moon, and the rushing clouds were low and heavy. Tom and Jenny scanned the forest lying dark and restless beneath them, and noting dark patches of trees interspersed with the white strips of the snow-covered rides. Suddenly Jenny screamed, grabbed Tom's arm and swung him round, and they both stared as if they couldn't believe their eyes."The forest was on fire . . .is the ninth exciting story in the Lone Pine Adventure series and like all the others it is a complete story in itself.

ISBN: 0 86391 037 8
238pp Hardback