“Tomorrow. I have to say, it’s very inconvenient. You’ve got your GCSEs to consider and we’re going to have to recast the Christmas play. But he was insistent. He said he’d talk to you tonight.”
Scarlett had spoken to her father when she got home but he hadn’t added much more to what the headmistress had already said. He needed her to come out for a week or two. He would explain why when she got there. The housekeeper – a dark and rather sour-looking Scottish woman – was already packing. It seemed that there was nothing to discuss. Scarlett had spent the rest of the evening emailing and texting her friends and went to bed in a bad mood.
And she wasn’t feeling much better now, waiting for her flight to be called. She looked around her. There was the usual collection of business people, some of them hitting the free alcohol, others catching up with the day’s news. A plasma TV stood in one corner of the lounge and she glanced at the screen.
“Today, the new president-elect of the United States issued a statement…”
They were going on about the election again. For the past week, the news had been full of little else. Scarlett watched as Charles Baker appeared behind the rostrum, facing the press corps.
“The defeat of Senator John Trelawny sent shockwaves among his friends and supporters,” the report continued. “The final vote, with Baker taking just over fifty-two per cent of the nationwide ballot and the electoral college, took everyone by surprise and has led to increasingly bitter accusations of electoral fraud.”
Now Baker was speaking. He was smartly dressed and looked relaxed. He would have been handsome except that there was something wrong with his eyes. It was as if they weren’t quite able to focus.
“I hate to accuse Senator Trelawny of sour grapes,” he said. “But these accusations are completely ridiculous and I see no reason for an official enquiry.”
The image changed. There were shots of people protesting outside the White House. They were carrying banners, walking in angry silence.
“At issue are the computer systems used to count the votes,” the report went on. “Almost seventy per cent of votes in a US election are counted by machines and critics point out that no fewer than three of the main vote-counting companies have strong links with the Nightrise Corporation – which backed Charles Baker throughout the campaign.”
Scarlett had been about to stop watching. She had no interest in politics. But one word had caught her attention.
Nightrise.
How strange.
That was the company her father worked for in Hong Kong, and that was exactly where she was heading now. Could they really have been involved in some sort of fraud? It seemed very unlikely. Her father was a lawyer and she couldn’t imagine him ever doing anything wrong.
A young woman in a British Airways uniform had come into the lounge. She walked over to Scarlett. “Are you ready?” she asked. “We need to go back through departures. They’ve begun boarding.”
Scarlett gathered her things and stood up. The report on the television had finished. She smiled and the two of them left together, on their way to the waiting plane.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
There are some books I just couldn’t write without help – and this was one of them. So let me start with Crystal Main, Social Services Chief in Carson City, Nevada, who opened so many doors for me. She arranged for me to visit the Jan Evans Juvenile Hall in Reno and the Summit View Youth Correctional Centre outside Las Vegas. I have borrowed elements from both in writing this, but Silent Creek is entirely my own invention. I’d also like to thank Audrey Fetters, the superintendent at Summit View … particularly for providing me with some ingenious escape plans! I was very fortunate to meet Lynda Shoshone and Keith Daniel Wyatt, both elders of the Washoe Indian tribe; they told me much about their culture and history. I also owe a debt of thanks to Robert Wilkins, who first suggested Auburn to me as a location. The town – right down to the statue of Claude Chana – is exactly as I describe it in the book. My assistant, Cat Taylor, arranged the research trip for me and my editor, Chris Kloet, has helped knock the book into shape. Finally, my son Cassian read the manuscript and gave me some great ideas.
ACCLAIM FOR RAVEN’S GATE AND EVIL STAR
“A belting supernatural horror story. Not a read for the squeamish!”
The Funday Times
“Gripping, full of suspense and as twisty as an Alpine pass. Matt Freeman’s adventures eclipse even those of the formidable Alex Rider.”
The Scotsman
“Horowitz is an absolute master of narrative suspense.”
The Times
“A fantastically fluent, fast-moving, intelligent, action-packed read.”
Ian Hislop, The Daily Telegraph
“Horowitz ratchets things up a notch… A master of edge-of-your-seat writing.”
American Library Association, Booklist
“Think Buffy crossed with The Da Vinci Code.”
TES
“A supernatural adventure of the most chilling kind… The tension explodes into the sort of chase scenes that makes this author a favourite.”
The Times
“Go. Visit. Have an exhilarating read.”
Kirkus Reviews
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Scorpia may be defeated, but the Old Ones are definitely back!
THE POWER OF FIVE
Book Four
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ALSO AVAILABLE AS GRAPHIC NOVELS…
Titles by Anthony Horowitz
The Alex Rider series:
Stormbreaker
Point Blanc
Skeleton Key
Eagle Strike
Scorpia
Ark Angel
Snakehead
Crocodile Tears
The Power of Five (Book One): Raven’s Gate
The Power of Five (Book Two): Evil Star
The Power of Five (Book Three): Nightrise
The Power of Five (Book Four): Necropolis
The Devil and His Boy
Granny
Groosham Grange
Return to Groosham Grange
The Switch
More Bloody Horowitz (coming soon)
The Diamond Brothers books:
The Falcon’s Malteser
Public Enemy Number Two
South By South East
The French Confection
I Know What You Did Last Wednesday
The Blurred Man
The Greek Who Stole Christmas
ANTHONY HOROWITZ is one of the most popular children’s writers working today. Both The Power of Five and Alex Rider are No.1 bestselling series and have been enjoyed by millions of readers worldwide. Anthony is particularly excited by Necropolis, which he sees as a major step in a new direction. For a start, it’s his first book with a full-blooded female at the heart of the action. It also develops the themes that began with Raven’s Gate and sets up the epic finale which he plans to begin soon. Anthony was married in Hong Kong and went back there to research the book. Everything you read is inspired by what he saw.
The hugely successful Alex Rider series, which has spurred a trend of junior spy books, has achieved great critical acclaim and Anthony has won numerous awards including the Booksellers Association/Nielsen Author of the Year Award 2007, the Children’s Book of the Year Award at the 2006 British Book Awards, and the Red House Children’s Book Award. The first adventure, Stormbreaker, wa
s made into a blockbuster movie, starring Alex Pettyfer, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy and Robbie Coltrane.
Anthony’s other titles for Walker Books include the Diamond Brothers mysteries; Groosham Grange and its sequel, Return to Groosham Grange; The Devil and His Boy; Granny and The Switch. Anthony also writes extensively for TV, with programmes including Midsomer Murders, Poirot and the drama series Foyle’s War, which won the Lew Grade Audience Award 2003. He is married to television producer Jill Green and lives, reluctantly, in London with his two part-time sons, Nicholas and Cassian and their dog, Dreary.
You can find out more about Anthony and his books at:
www.anthonyhorowitz.com
www.powerof5.co.uk
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any other kind contained herein are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
Based on an idea first published in 1986 as The Silver Citadel
First published 2007 by Walker Books Ltd 87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
Text © 1986, 2007 Anthony Horowitz
Cover illustration and design © 2007 Walker Books Ltd
Power of 5 logo™ © 2007 Walker Books Ltd
The right of Anthony Horowitz to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4063-3237-7 (ePub)
ISBN 978-1-4063-3238-4 (e-PDF)
www.walker.co.uk
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