Dido thinks there's more to it than the queen is letting on, and she's right again. Once they get to Bath, the royal city, Queen Ginevra, a strange, pale and bloated woman, reveals that she has summoned them to retrieve her lake, stolen by the clever neighboring king of Lyonesse. Holystone, who falls inexplicably ill along the way. He and Dido set out, accompanied by some of the crew and Mr. That her instincts prove to be right is cold comfort, especially since Captain Hughes will not be dissuaded. Third, she thinks there's something wrong about the place from the minute she sets foot on shore, not the least of which is the notable absence of girl children.

Second, she doesn't care for Captain Hughes' plan to rig her out in female frills and frippery. First of all, she wants to go home to England. In his orders, Captain Hughes is instructed to bring Dido to the court with him, since the queen has evinced a fondness for girls of about Dido's age.ĭido is not happy at all. They are summoned to the aid of Queen Ginevra, ruler of New Cumbria. The ship is diverted to New Cumbria in Roman America (South America) where, in this alternate history, the British who fled the Saxon invasion settled and flourished. She does her best to stay out of his way, preferring instead the company of the captain's steward, the thoughtful and eclectically educated Mr. In The Stolen Lake, a prequel to The Cuckoo Tree, Joan Aiken recounts one of Dido Twite's adventures before her return to England.ĭido is more than a little intimidated by Captain Owen Hughes, newly assigned to the Thrush, the British man-o-war taking her home.

The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken