by Jake Halpern
Third-Floor Lady suddenly began to yell in her loudest, most piercing voice.
"What now?" groaned Clink. The day had begun so beautifully and now there was excitement going on everywhere. Even though he was a pickpocket, he was not fond of excitement.
Clink and Misty rushed upstairs to find Third-Floor Lady in the alcove study, just off the staircase. She was looking through the tower's large spyglass, which could easily spot even tiny objects dozens of miles away.
"Whaddya see?" asked Misty.
"I am just walking by and then I decide to look for one minute only," explained Third-Floor Lady. "Then I point the spot-glass to the islands, the Ferramentum islands, and I see boat. Little boat made strangely."
"My catamaran!" yelled Clink excitedly. "I knew they'd come back! Let me see!"
He ran to the spyglass and peered out, barely daring to breathe. He adjusted the magnification and an object snapped into focus. It was a boat. Unfortunately, it was not the catamaran. The Dormian pickpocket groaned.
"What is it?" Misty demanded. "Is it them?"
"No," replied Clink in a most uncharacteristically sober voice. He stood up and let Misty look. Misty peered into the spyglass and gasped. It was a rowboat on the horizon, heading away from the lighthouse. Bilblox was at the oars, propelling the boat forward in a muscular, steady fashion. Sitting opposite him was Kiril, who was staring at the sun-flecked water and looking quite content.
THE END
Marta's Song: There's More to Me
Music and Lyrics by Celia Rose
Verse 2
Every year since I was born
I've heard the story of a labyrinth of thorns
They say it protects us from strangers and thieves
But they've caged us in where no one enters and no one leaves
They've caged us in; where no one believes
To listen to the music recording, go to www.celiarosemusic.com.
These Great Sleepers Passed Through the Alexandria Crypt
As translated from the original Aramaic,
Russian, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek
BY FRANK KUJAWINSKI
Matthew Canna—southwest Mesopotamia
Isabel Chobor—Zululand
Ryan Kish—greater Hibernia
George Rusu—Byzantine Empire
Adara Bochanis—Romanian Village (Northeastern section)
Logan Miller—Polynesian Protectorate
Lauren Carroll—Gaul
Fiorabella—Roman Empire (North African section)
Alisala—Aztec Empire
Nikolas Gupta—Thebes
Brelan Zittelll—Longest Island (Greenland)
Leif Perplexon—United States of America
Acknowledgments
We owe enormous debts of gratitude to so many. Let's start with our families...
Peter: I'd like to thank Nancy Celia Rose, Jo Kujawinski, Arlene Weinsier, Adele Prince, David, Charla, Lauren, and Brock Weinsier, Steven, Lauren, Ryan, and Gil Weinsier, Dan Kujawinski, Elizabeth Kujawinski-Behn, Mark Behn, and Alex Behn. And to Frank Kujawinski, Roland Francis Kujawinski, Tiana Kujawinski, and Clementine Kujawinski, in the soft breeze of summer, in the bite of winter, in the rain and snow and sleet and in the creak of a sleepless night, you are always with me.
Jake: First, to my two little sons, Sebastian and Lucian Halpern, as my own father once wrote: You are the lights of my life. You remind me of all that is good and wondrous in this world. To my wife, Kasia Lipska, I love you and admire the good work that you are doing as a doctor. To Greg Halpern and Witold Lipski, you are the best of brothers. Stephen Halpern, the archetype of a good father, thanks for always, always being there. To my mother, of course, this book is for you. And to Barbara Lipska, your indomitable spirit personified courage in the face of adversity. And, finally, thank you to Elizabeth Stanton, Mirek Gorski, and Paul Zuydhoek for your steadfast love and companionship.
Peter and Jake: The Dormia series owes no greater debt than to Svetlana Katz, our agent and greatest ally, as well as to Tina Bennett and Sally Willcox. Enormous thanks to our editor, Julia Richardson, to Jenn Taber, our publicist, and to Karen Walsh, Linda Magram, and Lisa DiSarro. For their work on the Dormia national anthem, "Marta's Song," and all other Dormian music, special thanks to the following exceptional musicians: Celia Rose, Chris Camilleri, Jessie Reagen Mann, and Jan Farrar-Royce.
Finally, we want to thank a number of people who have contributed to the success of the Dormia series. Thanks to our extraordinary intern Drew Shikoh. Also, over the past two years, we have visited more than two hundred schools and met tens of thousands of students.
Whatever success this book and series has, we truly owe it you:
Tynley Baker, Chris Barlow, Heidi Bayreuther, Mary Benoit, Melissa Biehl, Jim Bowman, Cathy Buck, Teresa Carney, John Carrigan, Carol Chittenden, Kelly Conway, Christine Coombs, Linda Cordes, Beth Coyne, Susan Curtis, Jacquelin Devlin, Barb Diblasi, Brian Dillon, Melissa Donnarummo, Susan Dowdell, Eileen R. Doyle, Shannan Egli-Williams, Susan Esposito, Elias Estrada, Karen Everman, Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, Jeanne Fink, Mary Fosher, Diana Gehrt, Gwen Ginnochio, Natasha Goldberg, Nancy W. Goss, Janet Griffard, Jody Hartwig, Darlene Kenny Hayes, Marilyn Hersh, Deborah Hodge, Micki Holmes, Karen Howell, Rick Hribko, Sue Hurwitz, Peg Inserra, Judy Jones, Susan Kash-manian-Smith, Kevin Kay, Emily Kelsey, Meredyth Kezar, Jen Kirk, Marcia Klemp, Colette Klisky, Robyn Lacy, Bill Lataille, Wendy Leseman, Jane Lewis, Jessica Lewis, Robin Lewis, Sandy Lingo, Michael Lizardi, Kim Mach, Susan Mackay, Susan Martin, Mary-Beth Mason, Terry McCabe, Mary Kate Miglianti, Laureen Mody, Marybeth Molloy, Carol Napoli, Marion O'Shaughnessy, Andrea Owens, Susan Peets, Hava Preye, Scott Quasha, Mark Rabinowitz, Denise Rehder, Laura Rigney, Mary Jo Roberts, Kali Rohr, Randi Sawyer, Kalen Schloyer, Marie Schryver, Brian Sedey, Monica Selmont, Brenda Senseman, Drew Sieplinga, Diane Simpson, Becky Solan, Kathryn Spodick, Ron Stancil, Eileeen Sullivan, Sarah Tedesco, Jan Troy, Linn Virtue, Tamara Weinberg, Joan Welsh, Kimberly Yeo, and Virginia Young.
