The Lightning Key (Wednesday Tales (Quality))

by Jon Berkeley

  The Fir Bolg are believed to live in a place called Hell’s Teeth, yet the captain warned me to have nothing to do with them. His own grandfather had been cursed by them after a bargain went sour. His teeth at once fell out and ever after he smelled of strong cheese.

  April 1922

  After many months of searching and countless cold nights waiting and watching among the eerie standing stones of Hell’s Teeth, I have finally met the Fir Bolg.

  They are everything I had been warned about, and more. They fight continually, they steal even from their own brothers and uncles. (They would not dare steal from their aunts or sisters, who are like hairy sand vipers). They smell like damp washcloths and scream with fear at the sight of a comb, yet they are quick-witted and loyal in a fight, and when their bellies are full they sing like a deep echo of the days before time began. They write in simple pictures on their cave walls. Here are some words I have learned:

  October 1922

  An AGREEMENT made this month of the first frost between the Shriveled Fella, son of Etar of the Fir Bolg, and Celeste, daughter of Asiya of the big people, sworn on heart and bone and binding on the blood and kin of both parties for twenty-one winters, or else good luck desert them and ill fortune take its seat.

  CELESTE, daughter of Asiya, does agree to return to the skin of the earth and hunt down with all her wits and wiles the solution to the burden of the excellent people of the Fir Bolg, namely that they must pass their days in condition of damp and hunger in the guts of the earth in fear of the bright day and the breeze of noon where once their fathers’ fathers walked without blindness nor bewilderment if there’s any truth in their stories.

  THE FIR BOLG do agree to lend to CELESTE for twenty-one winters the Tiger’s Egg, which gives to its master a powerful blast of good luck, a long life and the loyalty of the tiger whose soul sleeps inside it, unless it’s on falsehood we were nurtured. The Egg will be kept secret and especially hidden from people of a smoky appearance or excessive curiosity.

  September 1930

  The insufferable Mr. Dank has forgotten to feed the horses again. I found him trying to wrap one of my scarves into some kind of turban. He’s a fool, but I feel sorry for him. I do not have the time or energy to train him properly. The birth of our son approaches, yet when I should be happiest I dream of dark clouds, and I see a boy facing the world alone and forgotten.

  The Tiger’s Egg

  Varippuli

  I hope that for once my dreams are false. I have made a key for the Tiger’s Egg, and I think it is a good one. Still the power of the Egg alarms me, and I would not dare to put the key in writing. If anything should happen to me I will take it to my grave. Varippuli has been restless of late and Barty is busier than ever. The performers mistrust Cortado and bring their troubles to Barty, and he can turn nobody away.

  Celeste Mahnoosh Elham

  What time has stolen

  Let it be

  Power grows

  From two to three

  Embrace the fear

  And set soul free

  To drink the sun

  In place of me

  About the Author

  JON BERKELEY was born in Dublin at a time when suits were collarless and there were no bootprints on the moon. He has worked as a freelance illustrator for over twenty years and has turned more recently to writing. He is the author and illustrator of CHOPSTICKS, a story about the friendship between a mouse and a dragon, and has illustrated several books by other authors.

  Jon has lived and worked in Sydney, Hong Kong, London, and Dublin and now lives in a small town in Catalonia with his wife, Orna, and their five children, along with five cats, one dog, and a small colony of stick insects. THE LIGHTNING KEY is his third novel for young readers. You can visit him online at www.jonberkeley.com.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

  Books by Jon Berkeley

  The Palace of Laughter

  The Tiger’s Egg

  Credits

  Cover art © 2009 by Brandon Dorman

  Cover design by Chris Stengel and Alison Klapthor

  Copyright

  THE LIGHTNING KEY. Text copyright © 2009 by Jon Berkeley. Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Brandon Dorman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Berkeley, Jon.

  The lightning key / Jon Berkeley; illustrated by Brandon Dorman.—1st ed.

  p. cm.—(The Julie Andrews collection) (The Wednesday tales; no. 3)

  Summary: Orphaned twelve-year-old Miles Wednesday discovers some surprising things about his past when he sets out with his angel companion Little and the blind explorer Baltinglass on a quest to recover the powerful tiger’s egg stolen by the evil Cortado.

  ISBN 978-0-06-075515-7

  [1. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 2. Orphans—Fiction. 3. Angels—Fiction. 4. Explorers—Fiction.] I. Dorman, Brandon, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.B45255Lig 2009 2007038755

  [Fic]—dc22 CIP

  AC

  EPub Edition © January 2010 ISBN: 9780062005687

  10 11 12 13 14 LP/CW 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  First Edition

  First Harper edition, 2009

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