by Gill Vickery
‘What’ve you been doing with yourself this past week?’ Mum asked me.
‘Not much, chilling out, mostly.’
‘Not reading? You’re always reading.’
I’d been finishing off the other stories in The Seven Mysteries of Golden Bay and I’d brought the book with me. I took it out of my bag and opened it at Chapter Two.
‘This tells you all about the Franklin brothers who inherited the Emporium from their father, Eli,’ I told Mum. ‘Arthur and Walter had a massive quarrel and a fight and disappeared in mysterious circumstances.’
‘Did they?’
Mum took the book and flipped through it. ‘No pictures,’ she said disapprovingly. ‘I’m like Alice – I don’t think a book’s much use without pictures.’
I wouldn’t go that far. I liked my books big and fat with a lot of words going into complicated detail on the entire fantasy world I was reading about. But I did agree on one thing.
‘A picture of Arthur and Walter would be helpful,’ I said.
Mum gave me the book back. ‘There might be one over there.’ She pointed to the far end of the entrance hall. ‘There’s a whole collection of old photographs on that wall.’
‘Really?’ I crossed the lobby and scanned the black and white photographs. I’d never taken any notice of them before; I’d thought they were part of the décor, not a record of Franklin’s history.
Mum was right. In the middle of the display was a portrait of Eli and his family. I recognized him easily from his picture in the pamphlets. Next to him was his tired-looking wife, and in front, three small girls, posing stiffly in frilly dresses. At the back, one on either side of Eli and his wife, stood two tall, thin, dapper young men. Arthur and Walter.
I got up close and scrutinised the brothers. You couldn’t tell from the faces which one dabbled in dark magic and which in light. They were very alike: angular and dark. Both men had thick, black hair. One of them had a pencil moustache. I studied it. Villains in old films usually had twirly moustaches. This one was too small to be twirled but it was definitely villainous-looking. It still didn’t tell me if its owner was Arthur or Walter.
Without meaning to, I glanced over my shoulder at the lift as if the doors were going to open and reveal the answer. They were already open and the liftman was looking straight at me with sharp, inscrutable eyes.
I shivered and the doors slowly closed.
Walter, I thought.
Or maybe, Arthur?
I couldn’t tell.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With thanks to Anthony Bradley for allowing me to describe his wonderful steampunk story as one of Alex’s books.
BONUS BITS!
Who’s who in
FRANKLIN’S EMPORIUM?
Each of the quotes below comes from one of the characters in the story. Match the character to what they say. Turn to the back of this section for the answers (no peeking!).
1.The old liftman
2.The librarian
3.Charles from Terrace Restaurant
4.Bartholomew Magus, the pet shop owner
5.Sam
6.Alex
7.Dad
A.‘Ah ha! Don’t give up so easily.’
B.‘The Perception of Imperceptible Things’
C.‘I think we’ve got a poltergeist’
D.‘That’s strong magic indeed.’
E.‘To the kitchen with these.’
F.‘Can you reverse the spell that did this?’
G.‘Messing about in my shop. Get out.’
INTERESTING VOCABULARY TO CRACK!
When reading, do you sometimes find a word grabs your attention because it is powerful or interesting? You can be on the lookout for these extraordinary words, and use them in your own writing! Here are a few interesting words used in this book.
gaunt – thin, lean and desolate in appearance
‘He stood, tall and gaunt, in his corner.’
nymphs – in mythology, beautiful goddesses who lived in woods and near rivers.
‘I came out in the grand, marbled lobby supported by pillars sculpted with nymphs and fauns.’
tyrant – a cruel and oppressive ruler
‘Cesare was a complete tyrant: he tore the curtains, scratched the furniture, weed on the carpets and even chewed up my school project.’
monotonously – something lacking in variety and interest
‘In the shadowy, aquarium, fish sailed monotonously back and forth in illuminated tanks.’
alabaster – a white stone usually carved into ornaments
‘I still loved Franklin’s, inside and out, for looking like something out of a fantasy novel – all that marble, alabaster and gilt.’
nanosecond – one thousand-millionth of a second
‘I shuddered and thought for a nanosecond about telling my family.’
insubstantial – flimsy, not very solid or strong
‘Some of the visible animals were a bit faded, not exactly transparent but sort of. . . weirdly insubstantial.’
sauntered – walked in a slow, relaxed way
‘At that moment Cesare sauntered in and leapt lithely onto the bench.’
surreptitiously – in secret and so as not to be discovered
‘I surreptitiously glanced round the kitchen.’
eloquently – spoken in an articulate and clear way
‘Mr Walter Franklin had eloquently persuaded the other board members to vote in accordance with his wish to sell the Emporium.’
pugilism – the profession or hobby of boxing
‘So fierce had the pugilism become that another board member summoned the police.’
imploded – collapsed inwardly
‘Mum seized the other one and they propelled me away as the whole installation imploded.’
décor – furnishings and decoration
‘I’d never taken any notice of them before; I’d thought they were part of the décor.’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: GILL VICKERY
•The Ivy Crown was her first novel. It won an award: The Fidler First Novel Award.
•Gill has had many different jobs including teacher, nurse and packer in a chocolate factory.
•She has written six DragonChild books.
•Gill has loved writing and painting since she was small.
•Gill has also been a children’s librarian. She says that it is the best job in the world as you get paid to read children’s books!
WHAT NEXT?
If you enjoyed reading this story and haven’t already read the first one – Franklin’s Emporium: The White Lace Gloves – find it, snuggle up somewhere and READ IT!
Why not try writing your own story about invisibility or about a mysterious magician? Let your imagination run wild, but if you’re a bit stuck, here are some starting points:
•An invisible animal causing trouble in a different place – maybe a school, or on holiday, or any situation you can dream up!
•Another story involving the liftman – what adventures does he have when he’s not operating the Franklin’s Emporium lift?
ANSWERS TO QUIZ
1d, 2a, 3e, 4g, 5b, 6f, 7c
First published in 2016 by Bloomsbury Education, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP
www.bloomsbury.com
Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © 2016 Bloomsbury Education
Text copyright © 2016 Gill Vickery
Illustrations © 2016 Aleksei Bitskoff
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers
A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library
eISBN: 9781472918079
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