by Robin Jarvis
“Wait,” Brayden broke in. “You saying you made these yourself, Miss Blessing?”
“Yes. I used to make dolls out of scraps for the others, when we were in that mountain. They seemed to help then, and these can help now.”
“Amazing.”
“These are so much better than what we came up with,” Constance agreed. “I love Mawny Sal. I had a sister…”
“Is there a faint musty smell?” Olivia interjected.
“They’ve been stored in my basement and I had a boiler leak. I was thinking about impregnating the cloth with some kind of scent anyway, vanilla, chocolate or gingerbread – something cosy to snuggle up to.”
“Great idea!”
“Hey, did you make the eyes too? Wow. You got real talent. It’s like they’re looking right at me.”
Elliot found himself drawn to Patch Doosome. Something about that face…
“This could be big,” he said, pulling himself together. “I mean real big. Everybody is gonna want one of these guys. I love this fella already.”
“They’re for everyone who ever lost somebody close or dear,” Miss Blessing told him. “They’re not just for children.”
“You don’t say. Well, our distribution is second to none and our product lines speak for themselves. You got that information already, right? We get all our plush made out in Asia. I want to see how well they can copy these.”
“Oh, they’re all unique. No two characters are the same.”
“That simply isn’t viable.”
“I believe I’ve found a way. Tell me more about your Asian operation.”
Elliot wasn’t sure there could be a way, but that was something they could tackle later. He wanted to get these into production right away. They’d revitalise the fortunes of the entire company.
“We only use plush factories with good safety records, where they do needle tracking – the whole bit,” he said. “Our products totally meet the code. Course, it hikes up the unit price. Can’t get around that one…”
“These are not ‘units’.”
“Oh, no offence intended,” he said, and for some reason found himself addressing that apology to Patch Doosome instead of her.
“And what about child labour?”
Elliot shifted uncomfortably.
“Well, that’s a real big issue and one that our culture doesn’t properly understand. We have to wink at some of the practices out there, same as everyone else who does business with them, specially nowadays. Hey, it’s the only way those people can get by. Otherwise what else are those kids gonna do? Get sent out begging on the streets by gang lords who’ll chop some limbs off them so they can earn a few extra rupees? Believe me, child labour is a good alternative. We’re saving lives there.”
He couldn’t tell if the look she gave him was condemning or approving.
“Can I really take Orphan Mewly home with me?” Madison asked.
“Once you’ve signed the contract of care,” Miss Blessing told her. “Of course.”
“The what?”
“I must ensure that every refugee goes to a responsible carer. Each one comes with a contract that must be signed.”
“Hey, sort of adoption papers?” asked Brayden.
“No, not a bit like that. This is far more… binding.”
“Cool.”
“Well, Miss Blessing,” Elliot declared, “it’s going to be swell doing business with you. Is there a unifying name we can put these critters out under?”
“Huggumee Kids?” Olivia proposed.
“Lost Tribes?” Brayden added.
“Wait,” Constance said enthusiastically. “How about… ‘Little Blessings’?”
“I like that!” Elliot congratulated her. “This is why I pay you, Connie.”
“They already have a name,” Miss Blessing said. “It’s non-negotiable, I’m afraid.”
“What is it?” Elliot asked.
“Good Intentions.”
There was a silence. They didn’t like it. Then Madison suggested thoughtfully, “We could change the dots above the ‘i’s into little pink hearts…”
Visit the chilling, fantastical world of the WYRD MUSEUM in this spell-binding trilogy.
Click on the covers to read more:
Copyright
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2014
HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
www.harpercollins.co.uk
Copyright © Robin Jarvis 2014
Cover illustration © Robin Jarvis
Illustrations © Robin Jarvis
Robin Jarvis asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy for this book is available from the British Library
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.
Source ISBN: 9780007451302
Ebook Edition © 2014 ISBN: 9780007453450
Version: 2014-05-21
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East – 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com