devil's island

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At dawn’s first light, Golden and Button made their way across to Devil’s Island on Naed’s makeshift raft. A few feet from shore, Golden grabbed the rope, jumped into the knee deep water, and found a large rock to tie the boat to, using the special knot Button had taught her. She pulled it snug, then looked at Button, waiting on the raft. He gave her a confident nod. Then she waded to the jutting shoreline, found a sandy spot to climb up the steep embankment, and stood up and looked around.

Balsam fir, common juniper, creeping juniper, tamarack, jack pine, white spruce, and black spruce densely wooded Devil’s Island. Beautiful yellow buttercups dotted the landscape.
Golden did not know what to do or where to look. All she knew was that the Dagger of Urachadh was supposed to be somewhere on Devil’s Island. She turned around and waved to Button, then headed into the forest.

So far, so good. No danger yet. Golden let out the breath she’d been holding, took a new, deep one, and kept walking through the bush.

- Excerpt from Dagger of Urachadh: Attack from the Underworld, p. 153.

When I first started writing my book I did a lot of research on the web. I wanted to capitalize on places with unusual names in Saskatchewan for my book. I was surprised to find out from my searching that Saskatchewan has its own Devil’s Island. King Island, which is a small island on the western side of Waskesiu Lake in Prince Albert National Park, used to be called Devil’s Island. Later it was renamed to King Island to honor former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King who established the park. It was said that the “Cree had a legend that this island was inhabited by supernatural creatures of a mischievous or demonic nature [1].” The moment that I read this statement, I was intrigued. I knew I would have to feature Devil’s Island in my book!  

Karen E. Mosier

References
1. Wikipedia. King Island (Saskatchewan).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Island_(Saskatchewan)