To the rest of the stellar team at Macmillan who have manned the signal box, oiled the points, filled the tender and done everything in their power to help our series build up a head of steam. Sam, Jo, Sarah, Alyx, Charlie and everyone else I haven’t met who do so much for us without complaint: you are heroes, all.
To my agent, Kirsty McLachlan, who is as steady as the Brocken peak, and no less scary. I’m always glad you’re on my team.
To my miraculous friends for supporting me through difficult times: you are too numerous to name, but you know who you are. But especially to Zoe Roberts, Kim Pearce and Roisin Symes, who have been particularly accommodating of an author in need.
To my nephew Monty, our biggest fan, who grows more like Hal every day.
To Sam Sparling, King of Calendars and Lord of Lunch.
To every bookseller, teacher and librarian who has pressed our stories into the hands of a young reader or enthusiastic grown-up – thank you from the bottom of my heart. My greatest regret of the past year is not being able to do more to visit schools and shops, to introduce myself and see your marvellous work up close. Soon, I hope, I will make amends.
And to you, dear reader, for picking up this book and coming on an adventure with us. I hope you’ll stay on board for our next stop.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORS
Dear Reader,
This book is inspired by real locations, railway journeys and German folklore. We would like to share some intelligence with you about the trains and the places you have encountered, and acknowledge where we have strayed from the tracks of truth.
The Night Train to Berlin
Anyone can take Hal and Uncle Nat’s journey from Crewe to Wernigerode. We did most of this journey ourselves, although we started at St Pancras and took the TGV and the Nightjet sleeper, rather than the direct Trans-European Express to Berlin. Sam planned the route (with help from seat61.com), taking Maya on her first ever sleeper train, and sharing a compartment with a snoring Frenchwoman. There are a great many sleeper trains criss-crossing Europe, linking its beautiful cities without the need to fly. Recently there has been a resurgence in the popularity of sleeper trains – with new routes opening to cities like Barcelona, Venice and Amsterdam.
The Brockenbahn
The Brockenbahn is a real railway linking Wernigerode to the Brocken peak. It is part of a narrow-gauge network crisscrossing the Harz mountains – one of the last timetabled steam railways in Europe. Our trip to the top, pulled by a Class 99 steam loco through the atmospheric pine forests and ancient rock formations, inspired this whole book.
Dead Man’s Pass and the Kratzensteins
Dead Man’s Pass is not real – and neither is Schloss Kratzenstein. The unusual family home is heavily inspired by Castle Wernigerode and the historic architecture of Wernigerode itself, which we recommend visiting if you get the chance.
The Kratzenstein family are named after Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein, one of the scientists thought to have inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Witches and Devils
Witches feature heavily in the folklore of the Harz mountains. Every year, on May eve, there is a festival called Walpurgisnacht. In legend, and in Geothe’s play, Faust, Part I, witches fly to the peak of the Brocken to dance with the devil on Walpurgisnacht. Nowadays, in the villages and towns in the foothills of the Harz mountains, people dress up as witches and devils, making bonfires and partying until dawn.
When researching for this book, we came across the story of an innocent girl who was executed at the Würzburg witch trials in Germany from 1626–1631 called Gobel Babelin. We named our character after her, because our Gobel Babelin wasn’t a witch either.
Goethe
Goethe, the writer of Faust, is as significant in Germany as Shakespeare is in the United Kingdom.
The Cold War
There were spies in East Germany during the Cold War – and the CIA really did hide secret messages in dead rats for their agents to recover. Everything Oliver Essenbach tells Hal about the Brocken is true: it was fenced off by the Soviets and used as a listening post. When the Berlin Wall fell, and the country’s two halves were reunited, the reopening of the Brocken came to be seen as a symbol of national unity.
Exploding Locomotives
Older steam engines really can explode if they run out of water – though it is rare, and other things must go wrong in order for this to be possible. The steam locomotives you see on railways today must follow strict modern safety rules to make sure this doesn’t happen. No steam locomotive has exploded in the UK since 1962.
A Miniature Railway Masterpiece
Sam’s Uncle David has an extensive model railway layout at his home in Somerset, which was the catalyst for creating Arnold’s masterpiece at Schloss Kratzenstein. When we visited Wernigerode, we discovered a bar that delivers drinks to your table using a model train, and they tasted all the more delicious for it.
Find out more . . .
If you’d like to know more about Europe’s railways, we recommend visiting one of its many railway museums – Sam visited the German Museum of Technology as research for this book and discovered that Germans invented the electric train.
Visit adventuresontrains.com to learn more about Hal’s adventures and for videos, activities and classroom resources.
TRANSCRIPT OF TRIPLE ZERO* CALL
Date of Call 11H32 29 July 202—Duration 120 seconds
Place of Call Received Alice Springs District Police Communications Centre, Australia
ESO**: Emergency, police, fire, ambulance?
Caller: Police! No. Fire! I mean ambulance. Mate, I don’t know! All three. I need all three. There’s been a crash! A truck is on fire!
ESO: What’s your location, sir?
Caller: I’m on the A87, Stuart Highway, north of Alice Springs.
ESO: You say there’s been a crash?
Caller: There was a train . . . It went through the truck like a torpedo (background noise, yelling)
ESO: Is anyone injured?
Caller: Look, I don’t know. I can’t see. There was a truck across the rail tracks. The train didn’t slow down. It smashed right through.
ESO: Is the train derailed?
Caller: No. It’s still going. Heading north, towards Katherine. I saw kids onboard.
ESO: Do you mean passengers on the train?
Caller: They were up front. It looked like they’re driving the train. But that can’t be right, can it? Kids wouldn’t be—
(sound of an explosion)
ESO: Hello . . .? Sir . . .? Are you all right, sir? Hello . . .?
Caller: Did you hear that? The truck exploded! (sound of people shouting)
ESO: Yes. Please listen. I’d like you to move a safe distance from the fire and wait for the emergency services. Will you do that for me?
Caller: Sure, but hurry up!
******** CALL TERMINATED ********
* 000 is the equivalent of UK 999 or USA 911
** ESO = Emergency Services Operator
Join Hal and Uncle Nat right from the start of their
ADVENTURES ON TRAINS
‘A thrilling and entertaining adventure story’
David Walliams on The Highland Falcon Thief
‘A first-class choo-choo dunnit!’
David Solomons on Kidnap on the California Comet
‘A high-speed train journey worth catching . . . The best yet’
The Times on Murder on the Safari Star
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
M. G. Leonard has made up stories since she was a girl, but back then adults called them lies or tall tales and she didn’t write them down. As a grown up, her favourite things to create stories about are beetles, birds and trains. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and won many awards. She is the vice president of the insect charity Buglife, and a founding author of Authors4Oceans. She lives in Brighton with her husband, two sons, a fat cat called Kasper, a dog called Nell, and a variet
y of exotic beetles.
Sam Sedgman is a bestselling novelist, playwright and award-winning digital producer. His work has been performed internationally and shortlisted for the Courtyard Theatre Award. Written with his friend, M. G. Leonard, The Highland Falcon Thief was Sam’s first book for children. A lifelong mystery enthusiast, he grew up with a railway at the bottom of his garden and has been mad about trains ever since. He lives in London.
Elisa Paganelli was born in Italy and since childhood hasn’t been able to resist the smell of paper and pencils. She graduated from the European Institute of Design in Turin and worked in advertising, as well as running an award-winning design shop and studio. She now collaborates as a freelance designer with publishers and advertising agencies all over the world, including designing and illustrating The House With Chicken Legs (Usborne) and the Travels of Ermine series (Usborne).
Coming soon
Praise for Adventures on Trains
‘A thrilling and highly entertaining adventure story’ David Walliams
‘Wildly funny, with hairpin plot bends and inventive characters, this series is firmly on track to become a bestseller’ Daily Mail
‘Like Murder on the Orient Express but better. A terrific read!’ Frank Cottrell-Boyce
‘I have a station announcement: [M. G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman’s] collaboration is a chuffing triumph!’ The Times Children’s Book of the Week
‘Mysteries on trains . . . what’s not to love? Perfect for the railhead in your life’ Ross Montgomery, author of The Midnight Guardians
‘A pacey and intensely satisfying mystery, boasting a sparkling golden age crime fiction sensibility despite its contemporary setting’ Guardian
‘A super-fun middle-grade mystery’ Peter Bunzl, author of Cogheart
‘Ideal for independent readers who enjoy a good old-fashioned mystery’ BookTrust
First published 2021 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2021 by Macmillan Children’s Books
a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR
EU representative: Macmillan Publishers Ireland Ltd, 1st Floor,
The Liffey Trust Centre, 117–126 Sheriff Street Upper
Dublin 1, D01 YC43
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5290-1313-9
Text copyright © M. G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman 2021
Illustrations copyright © Elisa Paganelli 2021
The right of M. G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman and Elisa Paganelli to be identified as the authors and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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