Shetland Pony

The Shetland Pony

by Joan Goddard Maloney

Lucie, a gifted 11-year-old violinist, very reluctantly comes to stay at Port Belle, a small village on a Great Lake, while her famous opera-singer parents tour the world. She is determined not to like staying at Port Belle, but after meeting 13-year-old Tim, who has a small sanctuary for old and abandoned dogs, and helping him care for Daisy, a Shetland pony, Lucie begins to soften.

When Daisy's tight-fisted owner plans to send her to the slaughterhouse, Lucie and Tim rescue her and keep her hidden in the forest. Because of this, the owner threatens to call in the police if Lucie and Tim do not pay him a large sum of money for Daisy. The community, hearing this, joins to support Tim and Lucie by organizing a fund-raising concert in which Lucie, overcoming for Daisy's sake her fears of performing, plays to great acclaim. Daisy is paid for and saved, and as everyone rejoices, Lucie's parents join them in a surprise visit.

A moving story of how Lucie and Tim, who come from very different backgrounds, learn to understand each other and grow in trust and friendship through their mutual love for Daisy.

Joan Goddard Maloney studied voice and piano in England, at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and on a scholarship at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. She has appeared on stage, radio and television singing the classical repertoire, as well as performing her own songs, chants, and sound poetry.





11/2/11