The Witch Trade

The town of Speller has lost many of its inhabitants. All of its children were spirited away by the evil Night Witches, apart from Abby Clover, and following this, Abby's explorer parents sailed away and never returned. All this vanishing hinges around the search for Ice Dust, the supply of which was controlled by Sea Witches until the marauding Night Witches prevented the supply of the magic dust from reaching the Light Witches. Abby and her mysterious friend Spike are drawn into a series of adventures with the discovery of a new supply of dust at a land beneath Antarctica. An albatross called Benbow, Captain Adam Stralight (alias the Ancient Mariner) and Sir Chadwick Street, master of the Light Witches, accompany the children on a voyage to prevent the Night Witches from getting hold of Ice Dust and establishing a New World Order. The Witch Trade is one of those fantasy novels in which it seems an awful lot can happen, and it does, leaving the reader feeling rather breathless. It also leaves something of a feeling of deja vu.