Hildegarde

Jeremy, Christopher and Isabel live on a farm. Their father has recently died and their mother has to work a lot harder, and longer hours than she ever did before. The children go fishing and swimming in the river and Hildegarde, the duck their father brought home as a baby duckling, goes with them. Hildegarde has a special box to sleep in near Jeremy’s bedroom window. The three children discover that Hildegarde has laid eggs and they are very excited at the thought of lots of baby Hildegarde’s! Wolf and Tony are bird poachers … they sell the birds to the people who smuggle them out of the country. Wolf is going to buy a pub and settle down when he has enough money, and that time is not too far off. When Hildegarde makes a racket because they are near her nest, they grab her and take off. When the children discover the deserted eggs, they make a warming box for them and take off to find Hildegarde. After many adventures and near-escapes, and the involvement of the police, the children rescue Hildegarde and save her eggs.