Henry and the Guardians of the Lost. Jenny Nimmo

      

      First published in paperback in Great Britain 2016

      by Egmont UK Limited

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

      Text copyright © 2016 Jenny Nimmo

      Cover illustration by George Ermos

      The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted

      First e-book edition 2016

      ISBN 978 1 4052 8087 7

       Ebook ISBN 978 1 7803 1740 3

       www.egmont.co.uk

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

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties. Please be aware that online content can be subject to change and websites can contain content that is unsuitable for children. We advise that all children are supervised when using the internet.

       For Max, with love.

      

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

The Yellow Letter

Timeless

Henchmen

The House in the Forest

       Into the Tower

       The Mayor and His Monster

       Hiding in the Attic

       A Cry in the Night

       Ankaret and the Bomb

       The Guardians

       The Shaidi Workroom

       Talk of Goblins

       The Night Forest

       The Goydrok

       Miss Notamoth’s Surprise

       The Day of the Pan Shining

       Lucy’s Whisperers

       Trapped

       The Tempest

       The Wizard

       Back series promotional page

      The yellow letter arrived on a Saturday, otherwise Henry would have been at school. The envelope was such a bright, sunny colour, no one would have believed that it contained a bombshell

      There had been a storm in the night and the postman was late. Henry went out to see if the wild ocean had flooded the road. He knew he shouldn’t stand so close to the edge of the cliff, but he had survived so many dark and dangerous events, he had decided that nothing could finish him off. That was before he knew the contents of the yellow envelope.

      Henry lived with his aunt, Pearl, and a black and white cat called Enkidu. Pearl wasn’t his real aunt, she was more of a minder, but she was distantly related to Henry, and also his cousin, Charlie. Henry’s parents had died long ago, nearly a hundred years in his father’s case. How could that be, you might ask, if Henry was only twelve?

      That was his secret.

      Henry’s life had changed in an instant, almost a century ago. He had been alone in the great hall of his uncle’s gloomy house when a large and beautiful marble had come rolling towards him. Unaware of the danger, Henry had picked it up and looked into it. He had been thrust into the future, and had lived in the present for almost two years, but in all that time he hadn’t grown. Not one inch.

      Henry’s home was a small white-washed house perched halfway up a rugged cliff. For obvious reasons the house was called Ocean View. It was a place of safety for a boy whose past was almost too incredible to be believed.

      Frank, the postman, arrived at last. He was a wiry, cheerful person with a wide smile and large, pink ears. He never complained about the steep lane that led up to the house nor the road below that was frequently puddled with sea water.

      Henry met Frank at the front door. ‘Hullo, Frank. Have you had a bad time?’ Henry looked up at the rain-filled clouds.

      ‘Not so bad.’ Frank placed a bundle of mail in Henry’s hands.

      The yellow letter was on top.

      ‘Interesting!’ Frank tapped the stamp in the corner. ‘Diplodocus, is it?’

      ‘Iguanodon,’ said Henry.

      ‘I’ll learn them one day.’ Frank grinned and got back into his van. ‘Give my regards to Auntie Pearl!’ he called as he sped off.

      Henry