Billy Stuart in the Minotaur's Lair Page 4

  I read out loud:

  “If you have this message in hand, it’s because you’re following my footsteps. Bravo, Billy Stuart! The Minotaur was a good introduction to your voyage, don’t you think? For what’s next, you need to go beyond the sea, and confront A THOUSAND DANGERS, before you can find the way home. It will be a big change from mowing the LAWN or walking the dog, won’t it?”

  I shoot a grumpy look at the poodle, who is sitting beside me, wagging his tail.

  “Who knows,” teases Shifty. “One day someone will write your story and call it The Adventures of Billy Stuart and FrouFrou!”

  The Zintrepids burst out laughing, and the dog resumes dancing in place.

  With this poodle dancing around my feet, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m going to be doing a lot of homework while on this adventure.

  “What does your grandfather mean?” asks Timoree. “What voyage is he speaking of? And what does ‘mow the lawn’ mean? Is it one of your expressions?”

  I sigh and hang my head. “That too is a long story.”

  “We’re all ears,” says Loslobos.

  He and his sister will never believe this. Oh well!

  Pointing to my troops, I say:

  “You may have noticed that this is not our home. Truthfully, we come from the future—”

  I’m cut short by a sailor entering the cabin.

  A prolific author, Alain M. Bergeron has written over 250 children’s books. He devotes himself exclusively to writing and leading school workshops. His inexhaustible imagination has made him a fixture in children’s literature, and he has received many awards and accolades. Alain lives in Victoriaville, Quebec.

  Multitalented, self-taught illustrator and cartoonist Samuel Parent, better known by the pen name Sampar, possesses a lively imagination that draws viewers into worlds that are moving, wacky and sometimes even mythical. He lives in Victoriaville, Quebec.