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Dust by Arthur Slade

Plot Summary
In the opening of the novel, we are introduced to a seven-year-old boy named Matthew Steelgate who is walking to town on his own to buy himself some gum. Matthew is asked by a strange man driving a truck if he would like a ride in to town. Matthew sees no harm in this and agrees to catch a lift from this man, who we later find out goes by the name of Abram Harsich. Matthew never makes it into town but instead vanishes without a clue as to what happened to him or where he could be. Robert Steelgate, Matthew's older brother, feels as though he is to blame for his brother's disappearance because he did not accompany his brother on his walk in to town. He feels a need and a certain level of responsibility to find out what happened to his brother. After Matthew's disappearance, strange things started happening around Robert, like the hens laying blood eggs and seeming frightened or when he picked up an old clay jar and heard the echo of a girl's voice. All Robert knew was that he had to get to the bottom of his brother's disappearance. When Abram Harsich makes his first appearance in town, he decides to set up a show for the townspeople where he shows them "The Mirror of All Things" which he claims will show them anything they want to see. Robert has a particularly unique experience in that he saw his Uncle Edmond who had died long before he could meet him. His Uncle Edmond had appeared for a particular reason and that was to deliver a message to Robert. He made a gesture, pointing towards Abram and when he did he said that he was evil. As if taken off guard, Abram suddenly stopped the dazzling show of the mirror, likely to prevent any other messages from getting to Robert. After this show. Robert became more and more suspicious of Abram and decided to get to the bottom of things, especially after Abram's claims of being able to bring rain to this drought-wridden town. Robert quickly starts putting the pieces together when Abram is invited into his school room to do a presentation about these butterflies. His dreams provided him with visions that helped him to put these pieces together. It seemed as though his parents had forgotten about Matthew, almost too happy and he started noticing that there was a drowsy nature amongst the towns people. On the day of the first run of the rain mill, Robert was sneaking around Abram's property and discovered that he had a whole room full of greenery and butterflies. He leaves knowing he must come back and find out the truth of what is happening and where the missing children including Matthew have been taken. He comes to the realization that Abram is harvesting the souls of these children for their youth. He knows he must stop Abram from doing this before his transaction is made and it is too late to save the children and, most importantly, his brother.

Setting
This book is set during the Depression-era in Horshoe, Saskatchewan, Canada.