The Elephant Thief

by Jane Kerr

  “Yes,” he said. And then louder, so no one could be in any doubt. “YES!”

  Thanks to Maharajah, he had everything he’d ever wanted. Friends, a family. Even his voice. Briefly, Danny relaxed the fingers of his left fist, revealing a flash of luminous red. It was still there. He smiled with the side of his mouth that didn’t hurt.

  In the end, it had been easy to steal back the ruby from Scatcherd’s jacket during that last tussle. After all, hadn’t Mr. Jameson said he was a prince among thieves?

  And tomorrow, when he felt better, Danny would tell the Jamesons about Wormwell’s legacy. And what it would mean for Belle Vue. And for their plans for the future. He closed his eyes, letting his mind dream of all the possibilities.

  I first saw Maharajah in the Manchester Museum ten years ago. His skeleton was on display alongside a brief history. I never forgot the story—or him.

  Maharajah had been part of a traveling circus, Wombwell’s Royal Number One Menagerie, until April 1872, when he was sold at auction in Edinburgh. He was bought for £680 (about £30,000 today) by James Jennison, owner of the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester.

  But moments after boarding the train to his new home, Maharajah destroyed his railway carriage. Instead, his keeper, Lorenzo Lawrence, decided they would walk from Edinburgh to Manchester. It took them ten days.

  In reality, the walk was fairly uneventful. In my book, it isn’t. But the common theme is the affection that Maharajah inspired during the journey—and for a long time afterwards. In fact, such was his popularity that the Victorian artist Heywood Hardy is thought to have used him as inspiration for his painting The Disputed Toll.

  I borrowed many of these true events and real people to help create The Elephant Thief, but one confession: the real Maharajah was an Asian elephant, not African. He died in 1882 from pneumonia, after ten years at Belle Vue. His skeleton was put on display, and when Belle Vue eventually closed, he moved to the Manchester Museum, where visitors can still marvel at him today.

  As I have realized, writing a book takes more than just one person and I want to thank all those who helped me. To my mum—the first person to read the story, and the first person to believe it was any good. To Dad, Brenda, and Mark, whose enthusiasm and interest drove me on.

  Thanks also to the author Brian Keaney, whose guidance steered me off the wrong path and onto the right one. And to my agent, David Smith, who understood the story straightaway. To family, friends, and all at BBC Radio Manchester for their support.

  My gratitude to David Barnaby, author of The Elephant Who Walked to Manchester. His account was invaluable. And also to the Manchester Museum, where I first learnt about Maharajah. As well as to Philip Kerr, and Amanda and Cecilia Taylor for their knowledge of Edinburgh—any mistakes are my own, or creative liberties.

  A special thank-you to all those at Chicken House—Barry Cunningham, Rachel Leyshon, Rachel Hickman, Jazz Bartlett, Laura Myers, Kesia Lupo, Esther Waller, Elinor Bagenal, and Sarah Wilson—for their patience and encouragement, and to Claire McKenna.

  And most of all, thank you to my husband, AJ, and children, Alexandra and Ben, who have put up with my constant disappearances (both physical and mental) over the last few years—and have supported me anyway. Now you can finally read it. It’s for you.

  JANE KERR is a debut author and grew up in North Wales, United Kingdom. She wrote her first book at the age of seven, and while The Jones Family Have a Picnic was not a big seller, it sparked a lifelong love of writing and storytelling.

  After a brief detour working as a speech therapist, she trained as a journalist and has since written for newspapers, online, radio, and television. The storytelling never stopped. She is married, with two children and a puppy named Scout.

  Copyright © 2017 by Jane Kerr

  All rights reserved. Published by Chicken House, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, CHICKEN HOUSE, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Chicken House, 2 Palmer Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1DS.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

  ISBN 978-1-338-18843-1

  First edition, April 2018

  Jacket illustration © 2018 by Ji-Hyuk Kim

  Jacket design by Mary Claire Cruz

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-18848-6

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.