Hexwood. Diana Wynne Jones

       Diana Wynne Jones

       HEXWOOD

       ILLUSTRATED BY TIM STEVENS

       Copyright

      First published by Methuen Children’s Books Ltd 1993

      First published in paperback by Collins 2000 Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Text copyright © Diana Wynne Jones 1993

      Illustration by Tim Stevens 2000

      The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

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      Source ISBN: 9780006755265

      Ebook Edition © NOVEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780007440184 Version: 2018-06-21

       Dedication

       For Neil Gaiman

       Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

       PART ONE

       1

       2

       3

       4

       5

       PART TWO

       1

       2

       3

       4

       5

       PART THREE

       1

       2

       3

       4

       5

       PART FOUR

       1

       2

       3

       4

       5

       PART FIVE

       1

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       3

       4

       5

       PART SIX

       1

       2

       3

       4

       5

       PART SEVEN

       1

       2

       3

       4

       5

       PART EIGHT

       1

       2

       3

       4

       5

       6

       7

       PART NINE

       1

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       3

       4

       5

       6

       7

       8

       Other Works

       About the Publisher

      

      The letter was in Earth script, unhandily scrawled in blobby blue ballpoint. It said:

       Hexwood Farm

       Wednesday 3 March 1993

      Dear Sector Controller,

      We though we better send to you in Regional straight off. We got a right problem here. This fool clerk, calls hisself Harrison Scudmore, he went and started one of these old machines running, the one with all the Reigner seals on it, says he overrode the computers to do it. When we say a few words about that, he turns round and says he was bored, he only wanted to make the best all-time football team, you know King Arthur in goal, Julius Ceasar for striker, Napoleon midfield, only this team is for real, he found out this machine can do that, which it do. Trouble is we don’t have the tools nor the training to get the thing turned off, nor we can’t see where the power’s coming from, the thing’s got afield like you wouldn’t believe and it won’t let us out of the place. Much obliged if you could send a trained operative at your earliest convenience.