Shortlisted for the Bisto Irish Children's Book Award. With the thundering of hooves never far away, Kate Thompson weaves an attractive yarn as told by a cheeky but brave street boy whose fortunes change after he’s left holding the horse of the legendary Dick Turpin, the greatest highwayman of them all. The glamour and danger of a highwayman’s life are both laid bare in this brief and entertaining story.
'Hold the mare for me, lad. And when I come back I'll give you a golden guinea.' But who is the rider, and why is there so much interest in his big black horse? And will the boy ever see the money he has been promised? There's highway robbery in the air, but it isn't always entirely clear just who is trying to rob who.
Kate Thompson is one of the most exciting authors writing for young people today for she is a born storyteller, is highly original and thought-provoking in her ideas. She has travelled widely in the USA and India and studied law in London. After living in County Clare, she moved to Kinvara in County Galway and there, three years ago, she discovered her passion for playing the fiddle. She is now an accomplished player and also has a great interest in restoring instruments. Kate Thompson has won the Children’s Books Ireland Bisto Book of the Year award three times – in 2002 for The Beguilers, in 2003 for The Alchemist’s Apprentice and in 2004 for Annan Water. The New Policeman won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize and the Whitbread Book Award Children’s category in 2005.
