by S L Ager
The Cadwaladr Quests
Book 1: Tangled Time
S. L. Ager
Contents
Preface
How to Use This Book
How to Navigate this eBook
Top Tips
Key to Abbreviations of Word Type
Claire
THURSDAY
1. A Normal Day
FRIDAY
2. The Note
3. An Old Betrayal
4. Hidden in Plain Sight
5. Worse than Cross-Country
6. Above and Below the City
7. The Race for the Cutter
8. A Knight’s Tale
9. Hearing Things
10. The First Cut
11. Teamwork
12. Trust
13. Exhibition Case 111
14. Luxury in Defeat
15. Sticking to the Story
16. Finding Gladys
17. How Evans Tangled Time Alone
SATURDAY
18. A Silent Witness
19. The Flying Sponge
20. An Unexpected Change of Plan
21. Another Unexpected Change of Plan
Errata & Information
Notes
Preface
I wrote this book whilst helping my children pass the eleven-plus exam. My aim was to try to make learning difficult vocabulary easier by including and defining it on the pages of an original and exciting book of fiction.
My daughter was an avid reader, so vocabulary came more naturally to her. My son was the opposite, a reluctant reader. For him, learning vocabulary was dull (especially if it was set within classical texts).
Many of the words included and defined in this book come from the practice materials we covered and amassed during the time working towards the eleven-plus exams and SATs in primary school, as well as Key Stage 3. We worked with both GL and CEM materials.
Of course, no published aids can guarantee that their material will appear on any exam paper, and neither can I. However, considering The Cadwaladr Quests: Tangled Time contains almost three thousand word definitions and hundreds of corresponding synonyms and antonyms (in a fun story for girls and boys), what does any parent or young reader have to lose?
My children have been my beta readers and a constant encouragement to finish the book. Without their approval, I wouldn’t have published it.
A final note of endorsement for the concept also came from my son’s friend on the way home from sitting a mock exam. He didn’t know I was writing this book and said to his mum, ‘Mum, why isn’t there a book that I can read that includes lots of these words, rather than learning them from lists and exercises. It’s so boring.’
My son, who knew I was writing the book, smiled at me but said nothing.
His friend’s mum replied, ‘Well, I can’t write a book overnight, so we’ll just have to continue as is.’
That conversation gave me the final push to finish this book.
As a child, I had the privilege of living on the beautiful Isle of Anglesey, the setting for part of this book. The legend of Beddgelert, which also features, is a story I told my little brother when he could not sleep at night.
I hope you enjoy Claire and Ben’s gripping journey in the first book of The Cadwaladr Quests, but moreover, I hope it helps you and your children with any challenging vocabulary exams they are facing.
How to Use This Book
This story has been specially written to help young readers prepare for their eleven-plus, SATs and entrance exams, as well as Key Stage 3. It includes difficult vocabulary embedded in a fun narrative that provides context for the new words and makes them easier to learn and understand.
On every page, key words are in bold, and each has a correlating footnote with a concise definition. The words are defined using the context in which they appear in the text, and definitions are as child-friendly as possible. Chosen key words are defined only once, when they first appear in the story.
Synonyms and antonyms are also provided, and these can be directly swapped into the text to further build vocabulary, although some words do not have antonyms if they do not exist. The vocabulary becomes more complex as the story progresses.
This book does not aim to replace a dictionary or purport to be one, but dictionaries have been used to check the credibility of each definition.
How to Navigate this eBook
On every page, key words are in bold, and each has a correlating footnote with a concise definition.
To access the footnote, tap the small number that follows the key word, and a window containing the word’s definition will appear at the bottom of the screen.
To close the pop-up, either tap the number again, or tap the ‘X’ symbol in the top right corner of the pop-up window.
If you would like to browse the key words associated with a chapter, click on the ‘Go to Footnotes’ link at the bottom of any pop-up window: this will take you to the relevant part of the ‘Notes’ section, located towards the end of the book. To return to your original location in the story, tap the same footnote number in the ‘Notes’ section. To simply read all the collected footnotes from the book, please visit the ‘Notes’ section from the Contents page.
Top Tips
It is best to read this book for the first time with an adult.
The definitions are included for convenience and to guide the learning, not as a definitive ‘must learn’ list.
Chosen key words are defined only once, when they first appear in the story.
To make learning difficult words easier, try to associate the words with the relevant scene in the book and to picture their meanings.
Chapter lengths vary, so do not necessarily aim to finish a chapter in each sitting.
Some pages have more definitions than others to fit in with the storytelling.
The definitions decrease in the final chapters, enabling the reader to enjoy the ending with minimal interruption to the story.
Read the book as often as is needed, and continue to use its vast resource of definitions, synonyms and antonyms to reinforce learning.
The best way to learn new words is to read as widely and with as much variety as possible. Every book is a world of adventure waiting for you to turn to the first page. I hope my book helps in this journey of discovery and learning.
Key to Abbreviations of Word Type
(v) verb
(n) noun
(adj) adjective
(adv) adverb
(prep) preposition
(con) conjunction
(int) interjection
(ant) antonym
Claire
Today, Claire Cadwallader suspects1 her surname2 is the only memorable3 thing about her. She thinks she’s an ordinary girl whose life is normal. Tonight, she won’t do her homework or enjoy her ritual4 read. Her sneaked snack will go uneaten. She’ll fall asleep early, her book flopped on her chest, her lamp glowing. She’s neither tired nor ill. Today is an ordinary day. From tomorrow, Claire will never be the same again.
THURSDAY
1. A Normal Day
‘Oh no, not you!’ Claire stiffened, staring at the carpet.
‘Wallace! No! No! No!’ She thudded down onto bare1 knees. ‘Wallace, what is it? What have I done to you?’ she cried as the unfortunate scene unfurled2.
She shuffled3 along on all fours, creeping closer, afraid of what lay on the floor. Dithering4 and uncertain, she gingerly5 lifted him to avoid more damage. As she realised it was worse than she’d thought, she almost dropped him. Cradling6 him, she tried and tried, but it was too late. Her old friend was beyond repair.
As Claire gazed down at his broken body, her earnest7 face wore a mixture of love and sorrow8. Tear
s glazed her eyes as fond9 childhood memories unfolded before her. Was this repairable? How could she fix this accident? She held him in her hand.
‘I wonder if I could glue you,’ she said, holding Gromit in the other hand. ‘I’m such a clumsy klutz10!’
A regretful smile separated the three friends. She tried to push him back together, but on closer inspection11, she feared poor Wallace may well have been silenced forever.
Claire Cadwallader lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England. She enjoyed simple things, like her now-decapitated Wallace and Gromit alarm clock.
She considered12 books to be friends, living in her bedroom on dusty shelves. Not a massive fan of pop stars and fashion, she found even school appealed13.
‘I will try to mend you. Don’t you worry, Wallace,’ Claire said, forcing a cheery tone.
As if handling the crown jewels, she gathered up the broken pieces. Her dad had gifted the talking clock to her brother, Peter, on his fourth birthday. It belonged to her now, and she cherished14 it like a family heirloom15.
Then, bang on time, as if an alarm had sounded, the shrieking commenced16. Once Dee surfaced, so did the commotion17. They lived in a shouty house.
‘Here we go again.’ Claire rolled her eyes and snatched at a pile of creased clothes.
‘Peter, you’re getting the wet flannel treatment! Come on now! Right this minute, I mean it! I’m not kidding this morning!’
On weekdays, chaos18 ruled. ‘The wet flannel treatment’ was the threat Dee, Claire’s mum, gave Pete, Claire’s older brother, every single school day yet never carried out.
‘If you don’t get up right now, I’m going to wet this flannel with freezing water, and it will head straight for you,’ Dee threatened19 again.
‘Yeah, right, Mum, course you are,’ grumbled Claire, barging20 past Rebecca, her sister.
With a swift move to the right, a couple of smart steps to the left, she ducked through the bathroom door and locked it. ‘First in this morning, ha!’ she gloated21 out loud.
‘Hurry up, Choccy Eclair22,’ Pete whinged23, hammering on the door.
Most of her family called her ‘Eclair’. She pretended it didn’t bother her, but it did. She tended24 to be weak around chocolate.
To irritate25 her brother, Claire took ages cleaning her teeth. Struggling to see her blurred reflection through the streaks26 of splattered toothpaste, she grimaced27 and pulled funny faces at the grimy28 mirror. She sucked in her chubby cheeks for the mirror, posing. She lowered her eyelids and pouted29, flicking her wavy hair with a flamboyant30 flourish31. Claire would never be a model. Still, acting like one was fun. Crossing her eyes and poking out her tongue, she thought of her dad and Jayne coming to visit at the weekend.
Her parents had recently separated. She missed her dad every day but hid her guilty relief. They had argued badly towards the end, and home had improved without it. Yet things weren’t so bad. Claire liked her dad’s new girlfriend, Jayne, although her mum and sister despised32 her. Dee insisted that Jayne had been the reason her dad had left, yet Jayne’s kindness hadn’t wavered33 since she had met her, so Claire judged as she found.
‘Will you hurry up?’ Pete yelled, banging on the door again.
‘I’m coming now,’ she fibbed, thinking of the weekend.
Rebecca no longer spoke to her dad, and Pete didn’t care either way, so Jayne had reserved34 theatre35 tickets in town, just for the three of them. Claire hadn’t seen a live performance before, and she was so excited she’d spent the week reverting36 to toddler behaviour, counting the sleeps. They’d booked an expensive37 restaurant too; she might even be reduced to scrounging38 clothes from Rebecca. Claire’s wardrobe consisted of jeans, hoodies and trainers.
‘Can’t work out what Princess Jayne sees in your dad,’ her mum would snipe39. ‘She’s too grand40 for him. She’s snared41 him, and why? What’s he got to offer her? Doesn’t add up.’
Claire put the former42 down to her dad’s charming43 good looks, and the latter44 – her mum’s peevishness45 – to jealousy. And why shouldn’t her mum be jealous? She’d lost her husband to a sophisticated46 beauty with a high-powered job, no nuisance kids and a gorgeous home. No wonder Dee loathed47 her.
Claire loved her mum, though she didn’t always like her. Same with her sister. Both were so different from her. Peas in a pod. Hair, make-up, fashion. Often, in Claire’s humble48 opinion, not the most tasteful. Recently her mum reminded her of an over-iced cupcake.
Her brother’s persistent49 hammering and football-style chants50 of ‘Come on, Eclair! Come on, Eclair!’ jolted51 Claire back to her toothbrush. Slimy, foamed toothpaste dribbled down her hand and onto the sleeve of her navy school jumper, leaving a white trail in its wake52.
‘Doh!’ she muttered, rubbing at the stain, smearing it into a smudgy blob. Giving up, she turned to the racket53 coming from the door. It bulged in rhythm54 as Pete barged and banged. Smirking55, she sneaked closer and squared56 her shoulder against it. Patiently she listened, waiting for Pete’s impatience57 to reach its crescendo58, then climb to its peak, then WHOOSH! With impeccable59 timing, she yanked60 at the door. Pete, mid-shove and unwitting61, sailed in through the air, landing with the grace62 of a hippopotamus, face down, feet up in the bath. Triumphant63, Claire fled down the stairs, squealing with delight.
‘Ha ha, my big brother, thou art vanquished64,’ she shouted, remembering a quote65 she’d read somewhere. Despite66 his dumb actions, Claire adored her brother, and it was mutual67. They had an understanding, a pact68: so long as Claire didn’t make Pete look uncool in front of his mates, then that was cool with him.
Looking defeated69, Pete followed her downstairs, swaggering70 his best nonchalant71 northern walk. Outmanoeuvred72 this time, he gave her a magnanimous73 nod, pursed his lips and muttered, ‘Nice one, our kid.’
With a fleeting74 grin, he joined her to find some breakfast, and in their kitchen, find meant literally75 that. More akin76 to a ship’s tight galley77, it resembled78 a corridor littered with a disarray79 of miscellaneous80 clutter and mess. An abundance81 of crusty dishes, lipstick-stained mugs, make-up and hairbrushes lay strewn82 across the worktops. Without her dad around to keep them in check, tidiness had slipped, and she had to admit she was as guilty as the rest of them.
Her mum perched in her usual pampering83 place, surrounded by cosmetic debris84. Nobody risked sitting there in the mornings; they’d named her stool at the breakfast bar ‘The Throne’. Habitually85 the kids didn’t dare murmur a word to their mother until she’d downed a minimum86 of three cups of coffee. Coffee so strong it rivalled steaming treacle87.
Dee had never been an earth mother. She didn’t cook, not in the true sense. She defrosted frozen pizza in the microwave, blasted it on full power and served it with chips done the same way. Her food warranted88 a government89 health warning. If she worked late, she’d leave a scrawled90 note saying, ‘Kids, your tea’s on the side.’ ‘Tea’ being three Pot Noodles left next to the empty kettle. Their dad had been the cook of the family.
Claire’s stomach groaned.
‘Morning, Mum’ was all Claire dared to say.
Dee didn’t look up. ‘Morning,’ she eventually replied when she took the mascara wand away from her eye.
Barely91 able to clear a path through the discarded92 shoes covering the kitchen floor, Claire took an almighty93 swing with her left foot. Pete’s trainers skated blithely94 across the room, smacking into the wall opposite. No one noticed. She enjoyed kicking a football around with the boys at school.
Navigating95 the untidiness, she walked over to the cereal96 cupboard and rattled a suspiciously97 light box. The only other gaped98 open, its inner translucent99 plastic revealing limp100 shapes and dust.
‘There’s no cereal, Mum,’ Claire sighed. ‘None that’s edible101, anyway.’
‘What?’ mumbled Dee, glancing between her mirror and her phone whilst she hummed along to Take That on the radio.
Pushing a stack of dog-ear
ed magazines to one side, Claire tried the bread bin. One shrivelled102 doughnut sat amongst stale103 crumbs, morphing104 into a sugary rock. With an indignant105 bang, she slammed the metal lid closed.
‘God! What’s that awful racket?’ complained her sister, Rebecca, tottering106 into the kitchen, balancing on heels way too high for school. She was glued to her phone, and her long, varnished nails tapped an incessant107 and irritating rap on the screen.
Wide-eyed, Claire stared at her sister’s false eyelashes. She giggled. They waved like two leggy spiders stuck to her eyelids. Spiders wearing way too much mascara, she thought, stifling108 a full-on laugh but wondering why Rebecca was so overdone. Becca was so naturally pretty she didn’t need it, and school would have something to say for sure.
‘What you gawping at, Choccy Eclair?’ sniggered109 Rebecca, her spiders fluttering110.
Claire toyed111 with flinging the fossilised112 doughnut at her, but knowing her mother would probably side with Becca, she pulled herself up short. She’d learned from bitter113 experience not to fuss, particularly in the mornings, when Dee was at her absolute114 worst. Besides, a quick reckoning115 flagged116 she was only on coffee number one.
‘Do you good not to have breakfast, anyway, Pie Face,’ sniped Rebecca, craftily117 out of her mother’s earshot118. Claire called on every ounce119 of self-restraint120 to clamp121 her mouth shut, shooting her sister a death glare122 instead.