When Fiona Frazer was quite young she could fly. At first she thought it was wonderful and took to the air whenever she could, but somehow, as the years went by, she began to fly less and less. She always knew she could if she wanted to, but gradually she lost the desire to actually do it. By the time she had been at school a few years it seems more natural to walk or run. What she never loses is the sense of being special. As if she is a part of something else. What this 'something else' is she doesn't rightly know. It's just a feeling that there's more around than she can see or touch. It comes mostly when she is outside in the gardens and disappears completely whenever there is anyone about. Like the cousins. Tom and Andy laugh at everything Fiona loves about the rambling old Mill House. They sneer at the huge, fancy rooms that are too dilapidated to use. They despise the deserted family rooms and the un-used servant's quarters and the dusty attics and the dark and dank basement. They're even rude about her peace-loving father and her bossy mother! 'But of course you're only a girl' is their favourite remark! Fiona hates them! But they're older, and bigger, and very difficult to impress ... Until she boasts about the flying. And when Fiona wakes up after 'the accident', she finds that her whole world has changed. At first, she believes that even the start of WWII is her fault. And she hates the Polish Officers who have taken over her house - and having to go to the Braeside school and mix with the local children ... But then she makes a friend! Gala is a tinker and recognized Fiona as someone else who 'doesn't belong'. It's not an easy friendship, but, with Billy, it is a powerful one! Together they find the Secret People - and the gates of Cauldhame - and the Three Bright Walkers ... And best of all, Fiona finds out that that being 'different' doesn't mean that you are better or worse than other people and that if you hold to your dreams and believe in yourself, then you can find your own place in the scheme of things. And become a dancer. The Secret People is the second of the Braeside Book. Both about girls who don't quite 'fit in'. Sandy, in Servant of the Horse, because she's a London girl evacuated to Scotland at the start of WWII. In The Secret People, Fiona, because she's the Mill Owner's Daughter ...
About the Author: Nell Coleman grew up in a village, not unlike Braeside and returning there after a long absence has brought back memories that she has woven into the Braeside Books. She was never evacuated, like Sandy in Servant of the Horse, but she was a daughter of the Mill - and she did go on to become a dancer. Since then she has written plays for CBC as well as the theatre, newspaper articles, and the four books in the soon to be available Osmid Files. Currently, she is working as a puppet maker and has her own medieval puppet company, Saints and Sinners. She lives in Toronto and has five sons, thirteen grandchildren and (so far) twelve great, grandchildren!