The Cradle of All Worlds. Jeremy Lachlan

      

      First published in Great Britain 2018

      by Egmont UK Limited

      The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

      Published by arrangement with Hardie Grant Egmont, Victoria, Australia

      Text copyright © 2018 Jeremy Lachlan

      The moral rights of the author have been asserted

      First e-book edition 2018

      ISBN 978 1 4052 9133 0

      Ebook ISBN 978 1 4052 9263 4

       www.egmont.co.uk

      A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

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      For Mum and Dad

      ‘One cannot map these hallowed grounds. This is a place between places, and a deadly one at that. Adventures beware: only the worthy may pass between worlds.’

       Arundhati Riggs and the Colossal Door

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

       Epigraph

This is not the beginning

THE HIDDEN SYMBOL

PART ONE

TWELVE YEARS LATER

OUTSET SQUARE

CATCH OF THE DAY

VOICES IN THE DARK

THE CAGE AND THE CURATOR

WORST-CASE SCENARIOS

THE MANUVIAN KNIFE

THE MANOR LAMENT

DUSK

ROCK AND RUIN

THE DEPARTURE

THE MUSEUM OF OTHERWORLDLY ANTIQUITIES

       THE NIGHT OF ALL CATASTROPHES

       HIDDEN THINGS AND PUPPET STRINGS

       THE CATACOMBS

       FIRST INTERLUDE

       THE WORK OF WINIFRED ROBIN

       PART TWO

       THE WONDER BEYOND THE WALL

       THE SKELETON KEY

       THE NIGHTMARE

       THE MAN WITH THE BLACK BAG

       TIN-SKIN TROUBLE

       THE WAY THINGS ARE

       HICKORY’S HIDEOUT

       A DIFFERENT WINDOW

       HUNTED

       THE GRIP

       LEECHWOOD HALLS

       THE FLOWER IN THE DELL

       THE BOUNTY HUNTERS

       THE HALL OF A THOUSAND FACES

       THE PRISON CAMP

       INTO THE GIANT’S MOUTH

       THE GUARDIANS

       THE TRUTH ABOUT JOHN AND ELSA

       THE GATEKEEPER, THE BUILDER AND THE SCRIBE

       THE MAN WITH THE PORCELAIN FACE

       ESCAPE

       A CHANGE OF PLAN

       THE SPIRAL ROAD

       SECOND INTERLUDE

       NOT THE GIRL SHE REMEMBERS

       PART THREE

       WAKING

       THE FATE OF BLUEHAVEN

       BEST-LAID PLANS

       THE GREAT ADVENTURER

       THE CRYSTAL CAVERNS

       A TIGHT SQUEEZE

       UNDERSTANDING WINIFRED

       THE RIVER

       DRIFTING

       OPEN NIGHT AT THE CASKET BUFFET

       THE NEST

       THE SPECTRE