When Luke went home from school one summer's day, he did not expect to see an unexploded bomb in the roof of his house. This is the story of two families escaping from war to Dragonfly House: how they survived with a little magic. Ina Paterson Sillars was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire Scotland. Her father was a locomotive engineer who was promoted to be North of England representative of his firm. He, his wife Jessie and four daughters moved to Ansdell, Lancashire in England in 1942. In 1958 Ina married David Aspinall. As the wife of an academic Computer Scientist she has lived in Manchester...

Luke knows his country is at war when the sirens sound during school. Moments after Luke heads for a shelter along with his teachers and friends, his home and school are destroyed. His parents take him to what they think will be the safety of their summer home, Dragonfly House.

Lukes friend, Jack, and his family join them at the house, and they fish and play with a tame bear. But they soon realize danger has followed them and must turn to the magic of the dragonfly queen and a big fish to stay safe.

Five years later, severe drought, caused by a vanishing river, ravages the land. After...