Chapter 1

The lean and tall seventeen year old sat on the ship’s handrail whilst the midsummer’s day blew her long midnight black hair. This young girl was not a normal girl; she had an unforgivable past.

The wind softly spoke her name “Maloona …Maloona” The girl quickly swivelled around to see the caller… Nobody was there. Her blue eyes darted from side to side looking to find the mystery voice. If only this boat trip was a pleasure cruise. It wasn’t! She had been cooped up in the small ship’s cabin for months on end. Maloona was illegally immigrating into Australia to forget her past and start a better future.

As she sat with the wind whipping her face and the sunlight on her body, a massive hand slapped her on the shoulder. Maloona swivelled around to face the owner of the massive hand. A giant of a man stood behind her and pulled her face close to his. He spoke some words in Arabic to her and instantly she started raiding her pockets for gold, jewellery anything precious that she could find. She found a small gold coin and handed it over. She had saved herself from being thrown overboard.

The next day whilst sitting on the railing again she spotted land! After waiting for months for a spot of green land it was finally happening. Land! As each hour passed the spot of land became bigger and bigger.

At one am the next morning, she was so close that she could see every rugged terrain to every tree. The dreaded hand slapped her on the back again. The fished around in her pockets for any last scrap of gold. Seeing she had none, the two muscular hands picked her up and shook her until she looked red in the face. As nothing came out of her pockets, she was thrown overboard.

She was cold, wet and stranded on the Australian shores

Chapter 2

Maloona pushed through the thickly prickled bush, dying of thirst. The boat she had escaped from Saudi Arabia on had left her stranded in an Australian coastal bay two weeks ago. She had trekked for miles, and now the bush was so thick her Abaaya, the special garment Saudi Arabian women wear, had been reduced to shreds.

Just as she was finally losing hope of survival, she saw a dim flickering light a few hundred metres away. With renewed energy she scrambled towards the tiny flame as if she were a firefly. The bush thinned, until finally she was standing in front of a little fence. The small gate at the front of the little house was old and creaky, the white paint peeling from years of use.

Maloona undid the latch, walking slowly down the pathway, looking warily at the sickly green mushrooms growing in abundance in the garden. Timidly, she knocked three times on the door.

Suddenly the door fell away from her hand, and an old face peered at her, lips breaking into a toothy smile.

“Come in, my dear.” Said the witch. “Come in. My name is Mun Daring.”

Maloona did not understand what the witch was saying, but as the witch held the door open for her to step inside, Maloona stepped onto the grimy floor. Little did she know what the witch was planning.

Maloona sat down on an under stuffed chair, feeling uneasy in the witches smiling gaze. She noticed the small clear glass bowl holding shattered remnants of a once beautiful crystal on the mantelpiece. The smells of drying herbs filled her nose until she thought she could not breathe. Maloona also noticed the long, sharp knife tucked under the witch’s clothes.

But the witch was thinking of the time when she murdered Sarami Clomdo. Her mother had named her Mun Daring when she was born, after the town Mundaring where they lived.

‘Mun’ was the word the townspeople used to describe someone full of laughter, or particularly happy. But that was completely untrue of Mun Daring. Mun Daring committed the murder because she wished to possess the rare crystals of balance between good and evil. They had the power to make the owner as powerful as they wished in either good or evil. Mun Daring was interested in them for only one purpose - to become the most evil witch on earth.

That night, she had sneaked over to the Clomdo’s cottage, and lured Sarami outside by pretending to be a robber and banging around, making a lot of noise. Sarami had walked outside, the crystals of balance in his hand, light streaming from the depths of the clear, perfectly formed stone.

Mun Daring took a deep breath, and told herself that those crystals would soon be hers. She raised her weapon and brought in crashing down on Sarami’s neck so as to knock him unconscious.

Smiling to herself, she broke open a sickly green mushroom, holding it above Sarami’s tongue, watching eagerly as the oozing poison dripped onto his tongue, for Mun Daring knew that he would never wake up. But in the midst of the clearing, the crystals lay shattered on the pathway. Sarami had used his final moments to make sure that Mun Daring never got hold of the crystals of balance.

Yes, Mun Daring thought. This girl would be the perfect way to drop the suspicion from her face. Most of the town believed her to be guilty of murdering Sarami Clomdo, but no one had managed to prove it so far. If she managed to convince the police that this Maloona girl had murdered him, she could be sure that no one would ever find her guilty.

It was the perfect plan. All she needed was to keep her in her home long enough to go to the police and say that she had found the murderer.

The Mun Daring the witch almost cackled with glee when she realised that Maloona would be unable to defend herself, since she spoke only Arabic, not English. A perfect plan, Mun Daring decided. Just perfect.

“Now all I need to do is wheel down to the Mundaring police station.” She muttered “Curse my blasted wheelchair.”

“Maloona, stay here. I’m just going a little way into the bush. There’s nothing to worry about!” Mun Daring gave Maloona a wide, reassuring smile.

As Mun Daring disappeared into the bush, Maloona felt scared. Maloona could not remember feeling as scared as she was now in here entire life. But why? The lady was only a little weird, she could hardly do any harm to her.

So Maloona stayed in the cottage, waiting for Mun Daring to return. But as she waited patiently for her to return, Mun Daring was wheeling into the police station.

Chapter 3

The Witch cackled to herself as she wheeled herself in her wheelchair down the hill, heading for the Police station.

“The Police will be so easy to convince because I look so like a normal elderly lady.”

Finally she turned the corner and wheeled herself into the Police Station.

“Gentlemen, do you remember the murder ten years ago?” the witch asked in the low, cracked voice of an old lady. “Well I remember what happened, and I remember the murderer.”

“Why didn’t you speak to us ten years ago?” Asked the head inspector, wary of the old witch.

“I’m afraid that I forget easily” The witch said innocently “I only just remembered this morning after I had a true dream about the murder.”

“Then tell us where the murderer is and what their name is,” The policemen said in a chorus of voices.

“A seventeen year old refugee girl.” The witch said slowly. “She is in my cottage at this very moment and her name is Maloona.”

Maloona, back in the cottage, picked up a book full of strange writing for she was interested in the foreign language it contained. She quickly dropped it as ten armed policemen kicked the door open and marched towards her, the witch slowly wheeling herself along behind them.

“There she is gentlemen, that girl there is the murderer” the witch exclaimed loudly, pointing at Maloona. “Come on men, put some hand cuffs on her.” Yelled the inspector. “We’ll put her in a cell until she is judged.”

“Are you sure, sir? She is kinda young to go to prison,” a younger officer said. “Mun Daring, are you sure that she is the murderer?”

“Of course I am right. When I remember some thing, I remember it!” the witch half screamed.

“Stop worrying the old lady, she’ll have a heart attack!” the inspector said sternly. Maloona was brought to the police station and locked in a cell, with no idea what was happening.

The cell was cold, dark and gloomy and there was fungus and moss growing all over the walls.

“We want her to be alive for her trial tomorrow, give her a drink of water and three slices of fresh bread.” The inspector said to a junior officer. The officer ran to do his bidding.

A few minutes later, the officer who had gone to give Maloona the glass of water came back soaking wet. “Sir, the Arabian girl took the cup but threw it back at me!”

“Try milk,” said the inspector “She probably doesn’t like water.”

“Okay” said the man “But if I come back soaked with milk then you’ll have to pay the bill to clean the clothes

“Okay” said the inspector trying not to laugh. “If you get covered in milk I will pay.”

“Time to get the Arabian girl ready for the trial,” said the inspector to an officer. “Soon she’ll be gone and we’ll never have to worry about her again - or about any clothes cleaning problems for that matter.”

“The milk never came out of my shirt sir,” said the man who had tried to give a drink to Maloona. “But I’m never going to try and find out what she wants to drink again!”

Chapter 4

Maloona had a restless sleep. She did not understand what had happened. She had done nothing wrong-why was she in this horrible place? She realised that it was the Mun Daring the witch’s fault that she was in this place. I should have left!

“I should never have stayed while she went out. That was my mistake. But why am I here?” She thought. “What did Mun Daring say I did?” she cried aloud in her own language. “Why am I here? I don’t understand, I’m so scared! What are they going to do to me? Somebody help me!”

Maloona leaned against the wall and cried to it “You understand me better than anyone else, don’t you! And you’re just a wall! I didn’t mean to throw the water on that policeman, but he frightened me, I didn’t know what else to do!”

A series of rattles and bangs tugged her from her thoughts. The door was being opened! She scrambled to her feet, watching the door, hoping that she would be let out. A stern-faced policeman stepped into the cell and placed handcuffs over her shaking wrists.

“Your trial’s about to start.” He told her. “Get up!” Maloona did not understand what she was being told, but the policeman pulled at her handcuff’s chain and she was forced, stumbling, out of her cell. She was then pushed into a wood panelled courtroom and told to sit inside a box with spikes on the railing.

Shivering with fear, Maloona watched as the judge talked to Mun Daring. They calmly said her name between a string of incomprehensible language, as if they didn’t care at all. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks, as she sat on the hard bench in utter despair.

The judge then proclaimed to the large audience, “This girl, by the name of Maloona, has been found guilty of murdering Sarami Clomdo, 10 years ago. Our witness, Mun Daring, has given proof that she saw the murder happen, and due to her bad memory, had forgotten about it until a few days ago. I therefore suggest that this girl be killed at dawn tomorrow, by hanging if possible-”

“Wait!” yelled a young man, his name being Harold Clomdo. “The murder of my brother was committed ten years ago, this girl couldn’t be more than seventeen! That means she was seven when she apparently murdered Sarami! This is outrageous! And I have never heard the name of this girl. She looks to be a refugee! Surely she would be better off if she had been living here for over ten-”

The judge banged his hammer on his table, turning purple with anger. “I have made my decision! You shall not speak against it! This filthy bit of humanity, Maloona, is guilty of murdering your son! She will die-.”

Chapter 5

The courtroom fell unusually silent; there was a soft tapping sound coming from the courtroom entrance. The guard stepped forward to open the heavy wooden door. Suddenly the courtroom filled with light and a tall figure appeared at the doorstep. A thirty-year-old man walked quickly towards the judge and stepped into the witness box.

The crowd fussed loudly about the newcomer as he began to sing. His voice was high pitched and sweet, he sang loudly but clearly. He sang a prayer of hope to the refugee. He then took her hand and pleaded for her innocence.

The judge was not pleased with the man’s act of heroism.

“Step down from the box, you are not part of the jury,” ordered the judge.

“Your honour, I have no intention of belonging to the jury. I demand this refugee’s freedom in the name of God. She has not and will never commit a murder of such depth. Both her parents have been killed and this is the reason she has travelled to Australia.”

“A decision will be made to the sentence of this girl immediately with full support from the jury” said the judge, (who was still furious with the saint.) This situation was looking hopeful and the arrival of the man had interrupted his speech to the audience that had greatly captured their attention.

With that the judge ordered the guards to take the man away. What they did not realize was they were messing with the leader of the angels who had lead the Heavens to eternal peace and justice. They also did not realize that if they didn’t find her innocent they would be swamped in the darkest night ever.

As Maloona waited, the angel looked deeply into the judge’s eyes. Slowly, the judge began wavering on the spot. Rocking back and forth as if he was in a trance and then a smile crept across his face.

“So that is a yes then?” asked the angel in a proud voice.

“Maybe I was wrong,” said the judge “ But this still remains an open case.”

“I suppose you want proof then,” said the man.

The judge nodded his head in reply.

“Well I have proof,” the angel cried with happiness. “Do you remember the victim, that person? Well that person is me!”

The judge looked at the man with a peculiar look. “I need proof for your proof,” commented the judge.

The angel took out a map of the witch’s garden he said, “Travel to this place. There lies the secret to my hidden past. The girl cannot speak a word of English, but she does speak fluent Arabic. Just as I do.” At this the man spoke a phrase in Arabic and the girl answered him. “Follow us, your honour,” said the saint.

The garden was full of moss-covered flowerbeds, and the towering pine trees were acting as a replacement for the fence, and the fishpond was an unhealthy shade of green. The grass was growing freely into a thick carpet that covered the floor of the garden. Over in the corner lay a very deep hole in the soil.

“In that hole lies the proof that this girl is innocent, and that the witch is guilty.”

The judge and jury walked over to the pit. In there they found a shocking sight. There was a huge bag full to the brim of moon rock crystals.

“What has this got to do with anything like proof?” asked one of the jury members.

“Well if you read the reports more closely I was murdered by having a person beat me across the head with a stick and poison dripped on my tongue. In this very garden you will find the baton that hit me and the mushrooms that poisoned me,” Said the angel.

“Very well, we shall review the case tomorrow,” said judge Harland.

In the meantime, Maloona had busied herself by plucking grass weeds and plaiting them into intricate threads and ropes. She then tied them all into a long rope and tied one end to a mushroom stem and the other to a tree. She then took a large stone and threw it at the suspended rope. On impact, the rope snapped and the mushroom spurted green liquid from inside it. The crowd cheered, for they knew at that moment that Maloona was innocent.

Chapter 6

“No!” screamed the witch “I’m innocent, I promise!”

“All the evidence is against you, I’m afraid,” the judge proclaimed “So I hereby sentence you to a lifetimes imprisonment or death at dawn. You may choose either, it is up to you.”

“It would kill me to stay in prison for ever so I choose death,” said the witch, a hard look in her eyes. “First let me say goodbye to Maloona, for though I betrayed her I liked her attitude to handle problems,” said the Witch, suddenly smiling again.

“Tell Maloona what the witch wants and then let her decide what she wants to do.” The judge said to the interpreter.

“Your honour, Maloona says that the Witch has a long knife tucked into her clothes and if she goes near the Witch she will be killed for sure. She asks you to check Mun Daring for these weapons.” The interpreter translated, slowly but clearly.

“Is this true?” asked the Judge, directing his question to Mun Daring. “Do you really have a knife hidden on you?”

“Yes” said the Witch, a grimace stretching her face, making it look like a white mask, “I did kill Sarami Clomdo. I confess I did! I wanted to be more powerful, to be able to control the world with the crystals’ power! I was going to use them for evil, not good as Sarami had done. So I knew he would never give up the crystals willingly. So I crept over to his house and lured him outside.

He came outside with the crystals so he could see the ground in front of him, for he had asked the crystals to bring him light. I came up to him from behind and hit him with the baton and poisoned him with my mushrooms. But the crystals got smashed that night anyway.” Mun Daring took a deep breath and went on, drawing a moonstone from her pocket.

“I tell you this because now I am going to make my escape. This moonstone will transport me outside of this building. Goodbye!” And with that she vanished.

“Police, after her!” roared the judge “Do not let her escape!” The police ran from the courtroom, shouting orders at each other as they ran after Mun Daring.

The Judge then turned to Maloona. “Maloona, it is your choice where you go. Who do you wish to live with?” Maloona listened as the interpreter translated, then gave her answer in Arabic.

“Your honour, Maloona would like to go and live in the hills with Harold Clomdo, the victim’s father, for he defended her when everyone believed that she was the murderer,” the interpreter told the judge.

“Then if that is her wish she will be free to fulfil it,” said the judge grandly. “But tell Harold Clomdo that he must protect Maloona against Mun Daring if she is not caught by the police.”

Suddenly the courtroom door burst open and two police came in holding the struggling Mun Daring.

“Mun Daring, you are charged with murdering Sarami Clomdo and attempting to murder Maloona Clomdo.” The judge said sternly “You are sentenced to a life times imprisonment.”

And the cheers of the crowd could be heard for miles around.

Chapter 7

Maloona moved into Harold Clomdo’s house and later on in the year they became engaged. They had a child who they named Sarami after Harold’s brother. Maloona, who could now speak English fluently, taught Sarami how to speak English.

Maloona went and visited Mun Daring in her prison cell but a sharp shock met her there. For there in the same cell Maloona had been in before the trial was Mun Daring.

But Mun Daring was dead. She had committed suicide. Maloona went away and lived happily with her new husband and son, now an Australian citizen.

Character Portfolio

Samari Clomdo

Maloona

Mun Daring

A young refugee has been charged with a crime that she didn’t commit. Does this young girl get out of trouble? Will the real culprit be found and does the villain go to jail? Who will save the day?

This is an excellent book with touching and thrilling parts. All ages will enjoy this super book.

Perth College Newsletter says - This book is a classic murder story and leaves you thinking all night.

The Perth Hallow says- This book is for all the family to enjoy.

The Sunday West says- The illustrations are excellent!

This is recommended for ages 9+ and up