Fireside Books: Fireside Books in Parksville and BookWyrm in Port Alberni offer used books at just $5 or less. Both locations make growing your personal library easier than ever. New and used books, and so much more. Order online at firesidebooks.ca and pick up at either location. Details available online. Ask about returning books for a book credit. Two locations, one amazing adventure in browsing.
The Ballad of Peter & Gracie: Peter and his dog Gracie ran through fields so wide, with dreams in their pockets and stars as their guide. Every day's an adventure under the open sky, in their world of stories, time just flies by.
Peter McCully: Peter woke up before his alarm even rang. He sat straight up in bed and looked out the window. The sky was a soft, misty grey, and the leaves on the big maple tree in the yard had turned the colour of pumpkins and marmalade. "Today's the day," Peter said. Thump, thump, thump, thump. Something fluffy and white came bounding down the hallway and skidded straight into Peter's door.
It was Gracie, Peter's American Eskimo Dog, and she looked just as excited as he felt. Gracie had soft white fur like a cloud, pointy little ears, a black button nose, and a tail that curled up over her back like a fancy question mark. When she was happy, that tail wagged so fast it looked like a puffy white flag waving in the wind.
"You know, don't you, Gracie?" Peter laughed, scratching behind her ears. "We're going to the corn maze today." Gracie let out a happy woof and spun around in a circle, which was Gracie's very favourite way of saying yes. Downstairs, Peter's mom was already packing a bag with apple slices, a thermos of hot chocolate, and a leash for Gracie.
"The pumpkin patch opens at ten," she said, "and I heard this year's corn maze is the biggest one yet: acres of corn cut into paths and turns." "Acres?" Peter's eyes went wide. "That's like ten backyards!" "Something like that," Mom said, smiling. "Better bring your thinking cap, and Gracie's nose. I have a feeling we might need both of them." They drove along the winding island road, past farms and fields, and glimpses of the blue ocean between the trees, until they turned down a gravel lane with a big wooden sign that read Silver Meadows Farm.
Peter pressed his face to the window. There were mountains of orange pumpkins piled up like giant marbles, bales of golden hay stacked into towers, and a scarecrow in overalls that seemed to wink at them as they passed by. The whole farm smelled like kettle corn and cinnamon and crisp autumn air. A rooster crowed somewhere behind the barn, and two goats trotted along their fence line to see who had arrived and bleated a friendly hello.
Gracie's black nose twitched the second the car door opened. Sniff, sniff, sniff. There was cinnamon in the air, and hay, and something warm and buttery that made Peter's tummy rumble. Gracie hopped down and marched forward on her leash like she already knew exactly where she was going, tail waving high. At the entrance to the maze stood a friendly man in a red plaid jacket and rubber boots.
"Well, hello there," he said. "I'm Farmer Sam. And who do we have here?" "I'm Peter, and this is Gracie," said Peter proudly. "She's an American Eskimo Dog. She's really smart, and she has the best nose in the whole neighbourhood." "Is that so?" Farmer Sam grinned and crouched down to give Gracie a gentle pat. Gracie's tail thumped happily against the ground.
"Well, you two are going to like this maze because it's not just about finding your way through. Hidden somewhere along the paths are five wooden animal markers, a raccoon, an owl, a deer, a salmon, and an eagle. Find all five, ring the bell at the middle of the maze, and you'll win a Corn Maze Champion Badge."
"We can do that," Peter said, standing up tall. "I bet you can," said Farmer Sam, handing Peter a paper map with a pencil tied to it on a piece of string. "Off you go, champ, and good luck to you, too, Gracie." Just as they stepped between the first tall walls of corn, a girl about Peter's age came racing up, her braids bouncing.
"Wait for me," she called. "I'm Mia. Can I look for the animals with you? My dad's still tying his shoe." "Sure," said Peter. "I'm Peter, and this is Gracie." Mia crouched down to say hello, and Gracie gave her hand one polite sniff before licking it, which made Mia giggle. "She's so soft, like a snowball that can walk."
The cornstalks rose up on either side of the path, taller than Peter, taller than Mom, taller than Farmer Sam, rustling and whispering in the breeze. Peter, Gracie, and Mia followed the winding trail, turning left, then right, then left again, laughing every time they hit a dead end and had to turn around. "There's one," Mia shouted, pointing to a wooden cutout nailed to a post.
It was a painted raccoon with a striped tail peeking out from behind two cornstalks. "Raccoon found," Peter said, marking it on his map with the pencil. One down, four to go. They rounded a bend and found the owl next, its big painted eyes staring down at them from a fence post. And then the deer, its wooden antlers poking up above the corn like real branches.
Peter checked them off, feeling like a true explorer. Mia's dad caught up to them, and for a while, the group of five, two kids, two grown-ups, and one very happy dog, moved through the maze together, laughing at every twist and turn. "Why did the corn stalk get a medal?" Mia asked, grinning. "I don't know. Why?" said Peter.
"Because it was outstanding in its field." Mia burst into giggles, and Peter groaned and laughed at the same time, which is the only proper way to respond to a corn joke. Even Gracie let out a little woof as if she agreed it was pretty funny too. But mazes have a way of splitting people up. Dad turned right to follow a shortcut sign, while Peter and Mom and Gracie decided to try the left path instead.
Sure, they'd all meet up again in the middle. They didn't. Peter and Mom walked and walked. They turned left, then right, then left again, and then somehow ended up back at a dead end they were sure they'd already seen. A tall stalk of corn with a crooked leaf that looked exactly like a waving hand stood nearby. "Didn't we already pass this one?"
Peter asked, and for the first time that morning, his voice wobbled just a little. Mom looked at the paper map, turning it this way and that. "Hmm, I think we might have gone in a circle," she said. The corn stalks swayed and rustled all around them, and the sky, which had been bright blue a while ago, was now dotted with a few grey clouds drifting in from the ocean.
Peter's stomach did a small flip-flop. He wasn't scared exactly, but the corn was tall, and the path ahead looked the same as the path behind, and Mia and her dad were nowhere to be seen. He thought about calling out, but his voice felt small compared to all that tall whispering corn. And then he felt something warm and soft lean against his leg.
It was Gracie, looking up at him with her dark, gentle eyes, tail wagging steady as ever. "Gracie," Peter said slowly. An idea popped into his head like a light bulb. "Farmer Sam said you have a good nose. Can you smell the way to the middle?" Gracie's ears perked straight up, as if she understood every word. She lifted her black nose into the air and took three big sniffs.
Sniff, sniff, sniff. Her whole body went very still and focused, the way it did whenever Peter dropped a cracker on the kitchen floor. And then Gracie gave a happy bark and started walking, tail held high like a proud white flag, tugging gently at her leash. "She smells the kettle corn stand," Peter said. "It's right by the middle of the maze.
Farmer Sam told us that when we came in." "Well then," Mom said, squeezing Peter's hand, "I think we'd better follow the nose." Gracie led them confidently down the path, past a fence post with the wooden salmon marker leaping out of painted blue waves. "Found it!" Peter cheered, marking his map without even slowing down, and around a bend where the smell of warm buttery popcorn grew stronger and stronger.
Sure enough, a few twists later, they stepped out into a small clearing in the very middle of the maze. A tall wooden tower stood there with a big brass bell on top, and standing right beside it, waving, were Mia and her dad. "You made it," Mia called. "We were starting to wonder." "Gracie found the way," Peter said.
"She smelled the kettle corn stand and led us right here." "Wow," said Mia, kneeling down to give Gracie a scratch under the chin. "You really do have a super sniffer!" There, hanging from a low branch near the tower, was the last marker they needed. A wooden eagle with its wings spread wide. "Eagle found! That's all five," Peter shouted, and together he and Mia grabbed the rope and rang the big brass bell.
Dong, dong, dong. The sound rolled out over the corn maze, and somewhere far off, they heard other maze visitors cheering. Farmer Sam appeared a few minutes later, walking the long way around on a path just for farm helpers, with a big smile on his face. "I heard that bell. Sounds like we've got some corn maze champions."
He pinned two little badges onto Peter's and Mia's jackets, shaped like tiny corncobs with smiling faces, and then he crouched down and gave Gracie an extra pat. "And I think this one deserves a special badge too, for best nose in the maze," he added. Gracie licked his hand and wagged her tail so hard, her whole back end wiggled along with it.
They all walked out of the maze together, following the path that led back to the farmyard, where the smell of kettle corn grew warm and sweet and impossible to ignore. Farmer Sam's wife was running the cider stand, and soon everyone had a warm apple cider donut in one hand and a cup of hot cider in the other. Peter shared a tiny piece of his donut with Gracie, who gobbled it up in one happy gulp and looked up for more.
"Just one piece," Peter told her, though he slipped her a second one anyway when Mom wasn't looking. Nearby, a wooden wagon stacked with pumpkins waited to take visitors on a slow ride around the field, and a little stand sold jars of blackberry jam and warm cinnamon caramel corn in paper bags. Mia and Peter sat together on a hay bale, comparing their badges and telling Mia's dad and Peter's mom every twist and turn of the maze, talking over each other in their excitement.
"And then we thought we were lost," Peter said, "but Gracie knew just where to go." "Dogs are like that," Farmer Sam said, sitting down nearby with a cup of cider. "Their noses are thousands of times better than ours. Out here on the farm, my old dog Buddy can smell a rainstorm coming before I even see a cloud."
Peter looked down at Gracie, who was curled up in a warm white ball at his feet, eyes half-closed, tail still giving one lazy thump every now and then. "You're the best dog in the whole world," he whispered to her. Before they left, Peter and Mia promised to come back next weekend to try the maze again and maybe even race each other to find all five animals the fastest.
They waved goodbye at the gravel lane, and Peter climbed into the car with a badge on his jacket, a full tummy, and a very tired, very happy dog curled up beside him on the backseat. As they drove home along the winding island road, the sky turned pink and gold with the setting sun. Peter looked out the window at the passing fields.
"Mom," he said, "I think Gracie's the real Corn Maze champion." Mom glanced in the mirror at Gracie, already snoring softly with her paws twitching like she was still trotting through the corn in her dreams. "I think you might be right," she said. Peter smiled and rested his head against the window, one hand resting gently on Gracie's warm, fluffy back.
Outside, the cornfields rolled by, gold and rustling in the evening light. And somewhere out there, tucked between the tall green stalks of corn, five little wooden animals stood watch until the next brave explorer, and the next good nose, came along to find them.
The Ballad of Peter & Gracie: Peter and Gracie, the finest of friends, with tales of wonder that never end. In the pages of books or stars up above, they find their magic in laughter and love..
FiresideBooks: Fireside Books in Parksville and BookWyrm in Port Alberni offer used books at just five dollars or less. Both locations make growing your personal library easier than ever. New and used books, and so much more. Order online at firesidebooks.ca and pick up at either location. Details available online. Ask about returning books for a book credit. Two locations, one amazing adventure in browsing.
