Daisy and Tabitha's Tim and Tobias Website

Welcome to our website created for our daughters Daisy and Tabitha, we could not find any web sites about the Tim books so decided to make our own (Sept 2003).

The Tim books are about a boy called Tim who lives in a house in The Yard. The books begin with Tim finding a key which enables him to see the Hidden People, and so he befriends Tobias the black cat and has many adventures.

The books were written by Sheila K McCullagh and illustrated by Pat Cook and Ray Mutimer. They were originally published in 1974 by E J Arnold & Son Ltd, Leeds, England.

CHARACTERS

THE ORDINARY FOLK

Tim

Aunt May

Miss Miff

Mr Berryman

Mr Bunce

Mr Penny

Arun

Jim

Kevin

Miss Baker

Sita

THE HIDDEN PEOPLE

Tobias

Captain Jory

Jack

Melinda

The stump people

The wild witches

Nicola

Jeremy

Duncan Strome

The wind witches

Mandrake

the Nightmares

Cadan

The Highwayman

Gareth

Fiona

Stareth

the stonemen

Digory

Diaman

Bec

Rarn

Morag

Grandmother Roon

Knocker

THE STRANGE ONES

(One parent is a Hidden Person

E.g Tobias is Sebastian's Father)

Sebastian

Simon

Pen

Alan Tremaine

BOOK OUTLINES

A SERIES

A1. Tim finds an old key shaped like a cat in his Aunt May's attic. The key enables Tim to see the Hidden People, one of whom he meets; Tobias a black cat. Tobias takes Tim for a ride above the town on his broomstick. The next morning Tim thinks it has all been a dream, until Mr Bunce trips over the broomstick.

A2. Tim finds himself unable to go to the fair, as Mr Bunce has not paid his rent. Tobias makes them both invisible and they go to the fair on the broomstick.

A3. Tim rescues Sebastian, the grey kitten from Miss Miff and finds him a home with Mr Berryman. He meets Captain Jory who invites him to run a cargo with him.

A4. Tim joins Captain Jory and the other smugglers as they run a cargo down to Hollow Hill, he hides in Mr Penny's lorry in order to arrive home safely.

A5.Tim and Tobias visit Melinda the safe witch who heals Tim's ankle. Tim encounters the wild witches on his journey home.

A6. Tim travels alone to Hollow Hill in daylight. He sees the Highwayman. He meets Arun in the woods and together they hide from the Highwayman.

A7. Miss Miff has tea with Aunt May. Tobias decides to have a little revenge upon her for her earlier treatment of Sebastian. He makes magic cakes which cause them both to float into the air. He finally relents at Tim's request.

A8. The Hidden People are forced to leave Hollow Hill, they move into the big empty house in The Yard. Tim learns that they intend to drive away the new occupants (including Tim's friend Arun). Tim takes drastic action and throws the key into the canal in the hope that the Hidden People will disappear.

B SERIES

B1. Captain Jory returns the key to Tim. Tim agrees to help the Hidden People regain Hollow Hill from the Highwayman and Wild Witches in return for their departure from Arun's house.

B2. Captain Jory helps Miss Baker to keep her house by pretending to be a ghost and driving buyers away. He warns Tim about the stump people who have joined the Highwayman at Hollow Hill.

B2. Tim encounters the stump people who then attempt to attack him at the cottage in the woods. They are driven away by what Tim thinks is a tiger. Tim discovers that Sebastian can fly a broomstick.

B4. Tim begins to notice Hidden People watching him in The Yard. Tim and Arun devise a code using their coloured torches for when danger is imminent.

B5. Tim sees more shadows in the yard . Tim and Arun become increasingly uneasy and signal red for danger. Tim sees the wild witches riding over The Yard, they bolt the door and wait with Sebastian until morning.

B6. Tim goes to Melinda's cottage. Melinda tells Tim how the Hidden People may be helped; she gives Tim a carved wooden box and a ball of silver string to aid him. Melinda also gives Tim three silver coins to protect him.

B7. Melinda arranges for Tim to hide until the night of the full moon when his task may be completed. Hidden People are still watching the yard and Melinda decides that the safest place for him to hide would be a hospital.

B8. Tim goes out alone on the night of the full moon. He captures the stump people, the Highwayman, and the wild witches with the aid of the coins and the silver string. They are all forced into the whirlpool and turn into whispering trees by the poolside. The Hidden People return to Hollow Hill.

SERIES C

C1. Kevin pushes Tim into the the pool by the whispering trees. He is rescued by Nicola and Jeremy. In return Tim agrees to let Nicola and Jeremy stay with him until Melinda finds someone to take them to their grandfather.

C2. Nicola and Jeremy play tricks on Miss Miff. Tim is blamed and Miss Miff threatens to leave. Tim decides to take the children himself so that his Aunt May will not lose Miss Miff as a lodger.

C3. Tim travels North whilst avoiding the wind witches, who are pursuing them. They hide overnight in a barn.

C4. Tim, Nicola and Jeremy receive help from Simon. They stowaway on a lorry travelling further North only to be taken directly to Mandrake's Castle.

C5. They find themselves Mandrake's prisoners and await the arrival of the wind witches. Nicola takes off the silver brooch , and they are rescued by Sebastian.

C6. Alan Tremaine gives them shelter and helps them to escape by stealing the night-horses from the witches. They ride the flying horses to the Dark Tower.

C7. Tim lights three fires on the Dark Tower. Stump people attack, Tim uses his silver coin to defeat them. Grandfather Strome arrives and takes the children to the island in his boat.

C8. Tim rides on the ghost bus; he loses his invisibility too soon, the bus vanishes and Tim awakens in hospital. He is reconciled with his Aunt May and Miss Miff is asked to leave.

SERIES D

D1. Melinda asks for Tims help in rescuing Gareth and Fiona (Jeremy and Nicola's parents) from the Stone Prisons.

D2. Tim and Arun travel North, they set up camp in a wood where Stareth finds them. Stareth takes them to the night-mares which they ride upon to meet Alan Tremaine.

D3. Tim and Arun arrive at Alan Tremaine's cottage. They meet Grandmother Roon who gives Tim the shield stone, a silver flask and the verses to aid him in rescuing Gareth and Fiona. Tim, Arun and Alan ride the night-mares to the cove.

D4. They sail toward Diaman's Island, but are caught in a storm raised by the wind witches. Tim lands on Diaman's Island alone.

D5. Alan is captured by the wind witches during the storm. Arun rescues him upon finding the witch's ivory dragon. They both seek shelter at Pen's cottage.

D6. Tim reaches Diaman's Cave, where he breaks the silver web and collects the silver water from the pool. Diaman lets Tim go freely as Tim did not hurt the spider. Grandfather Strome arrives on the island and takes Tim to Alan and Arun.

D7. The witches call up a snowstorm, which leaves them unable to travel. Morag (one of the Moor People) offers to help Tim rescue Gareth and Fiona in such a way to avoid any of his friends being placed in danger from the stone men. Tim, Morag and Sebastian travel by broomstick to the stone prisons without the knowledge of his friends.

D8. Morag leaves Tim at the Stone Prisons. Tim uses the silver water and the verses to set Gareth and Fiona free. The wind witches and the stone men attack. Grandfather Strome arrives and drives the witches away with his magic. Everyone is reunited.

Tim and Arun ride away on the night-mares to begin their camping holiday.

THE PAPERBACKS (written for older readers)

BURGLARS IN THE YARD

Jim and Kevin return to The Yard and burgle Mr Berryman's house. Tim is suspected of being involved. With the help of his friends Tim plots to return Mr Berryman's possessions to him and lead the police to Jim and Kevin.

MAGIC IN THE NORTH

Tim and his friends travel North with the Talisman. The Talisman is taken to Alan Tremaine and Grandmother Roon's cottage where it is placed beneath the stone tablet in the circle of trees for safe-keeping from the witches.