The Amber Pendant

by Imogen White

  Rui finished reading, and folded up the paper, placing it next to the skrying bowl as they waited for Enna in her caravan. He stretched back in his chair, his hands behind his head. “I simply couldn’t have done it without you, Watson.” He winked.

  “Oi!” Rose elbowed him. “Well, I hope you ain’t too disappointed that you don’t get any mention in there?” She gestured towards the newspaper.

  “No. Our actions are recorded over there.” He pointed to the tapestry.

  Rose looked over at her now-completed face, which showed her wearing both pendants. And stitched just behind her, Rui could be seen clutching Bahula, pulling the monkey away from the Creeplings. Her face broke into a grin. “We did it! We really did it.”

  Rui nodded enthusiastically. Bahula jumped up on her lap and snuggled into her. Rose cuddled him close. She was so glad to be back with her friends. The hospital reminded her of the workhouse – the smell of the place, all sterile and deathly.

  Rose noticed Rui examining a giant ruby in the candlelight.

  “That’s Mr Gupta’s, isn’t it? You got it back?”

  Rui grinned. “Yes.”

  “How? Tell me, what exactly happened to the brotherhood at the end?” she asked. “I thought they was all dead meat for sure.”

  “When the dust cleared they were all there again, as white as sheets, shivering and muttering about shadows. I think they were temporarily transported down to the abyss and replaced by Verrulf’s Creeplings.”

  Rose listened intently as Rui continued.

  “The brotherhood were so glad to be back in this world, that, when the police came, they begged to be taken to the station. They admitted everything.” He chuckled. “Snodgrass handed over the ruby to the authorities. I will return it to Mr Gupta’s relatives personally.”

  “Good…your Mr Gupta, he really was a hero. Just like you always thought, Rui. Without him trying to stop Funnel, things could of turned out terrible.”

  The doors to the caravan swung open and Enna rushed to Rose’s side.

  “Dear Rose. How are you?” Enna cupped her face, before engulfing her in a mighty cuddle.

  “I’m fine. Really.”

  Rose’s mind flashed back to Funnel and all the unanswered questions. She looked up at Enna.

  “I-I need to know about my ma, Enna. About Emily Templeforth, and about him, my grandfather…Funnel.”

  “Yes, Funnel.” Enna sighed. “I never suspected him, or thought he would be capable of doing the things he has done. Verrulf’s pendant possesses its bearers and so it is a potent force to resist.”

  “So Funnel weren’t always bad?” Rose tilted her head.

  “No, not bad, not back then, just ambitious.”

  Rose felt a strange sense of relief wash over her.

  Rui sat forward. “Could the despair of losing Emily have driven him to take up the pendant?”

  “Perhaps.” Enna looked down. “Maybe we’ll never know.”

  “And my ma?” Rose asked, her heart fluttering.

  “Your poor mother. She was deposited at the workhouse by Emily’s father, Mr Templeforth, as a newborn babe. Emily had died in childbirth – and to protect the family name, what with Emily being out of wedlock –” looking down, Enna arranged her dress with a sigh – “Emily’s father, Mr Templeforth, covered this fact up, saying she died of sudden heart failure instead. He never approved of Anthony; he was from a lower social class. But I obtained your mother’s birth records, which prove who she was. Emily’s father had a breakdown after her death, you know. He lived out the last of his years in an asylum. Looking back, it must have been the guilt of letting your mother go.”

  Rose looked down and fiddled with her fingers. She just hoped that her ma had had some happiness in the years she’d spent with her pa outside of the workhouse.

  “And the gateway inside the cup, is it sealed now?” Rui piped up.

  “Yes, the cup is closed for ever – you saw to that, it broke in two after you banished them. Its magic has gone,” she added with a quick smile that didn’t reach her tired eyes. Enna ran her finger over the polished surface of the table.

  “What is it, Enna?” Rose could tell she was holding something back.

  Enna looked up. “I fear the dreadful spell performed under the West Pier during that planetary alignment has triggered something awful. How far across the globe it travelled is not yet clear, nor how it will manifest.”

  “What, you mean it’s not over?” Rose sat forward, gripping her pendant, which pulsed, mirroring her fear. Verrulf’s words to her as he got sucked back into the cup rang in her mind. The spell opened other gateways. I will find them and destroy you, Rose Muddle…

  “So it opened other gateways, like the one in the cup?” Rose asked, a wretched dread inching through her.

  “It may have done. Look, a powerful gridwork of energy and ancient magic once ran around this earth, though much of it is forgotten about today. Only a handful of people still know anything about it.”

  “Yes, Mr Gupta spoke to me about this,” Rui said, leaning forward. “His journal was full of such ideas.”

  Enna nodded. “He was a good man.”

  “This earth energy is harnessed by geomancy. The ancient people knew how to access this power. They built monuments of stone, knew about the magic that existed in certain special places, like the red waters here. These powers have remained latent, but they can be awoken by magical forces – such as the pendants.”

  “So, the spell under the West Pier activated ancient energy across the globe?” Rui’s green eyes glistened as he gripped the table.

  “Yes, meaning other gateways could be opened – but only by using both pendants – and I know you would never let that happen, Rose.”

  Rose gripped her pendant and shook her head. “Never.” She sat forward, fear rushing through her. “B-but, did you find out what happened to the other pendant, Verrulf’s?” Rose could feel a swell of panic emanating from her pendant as she spoke.

  Enna shook her head, her blue eyes trailing to the ceiling. “I have searched everywhere. Left no stone unturned, but it has vanished. We must consider it gone and remain vigilant lest it returns, for as sure as day follows night, return it will. It is a dangerous object that can neither be destroyed nor quieted. We must be thankful that the two of you have stopped them…for now.”

  “And Mr Gupta’s journal? Where is that?” Rui asked. “It contained dangerous information.”

  “Destroyed in the explosion; there was no trace of it left.”

  “Phew.” Rui’s hand flew to his forehead.

  “But enough of this. It takes time for darkness to amass. Who knows, decades maybe. And perhaps it never will.” Enna threw her hands in the air but her eyes still looked cold with worry. “You both showed such bravery, we all owe you a great debt of gratitude. What plans are afoot for you both?”

  “Well, Enna,” Rui began, “Rose has accepted my uncle’s job offer. She is to be my companion in India. She will be safe with me over there.”

  Rose’s heart beat faster. Me! Travelling to India.

  “I see.” Enna tried to hide her sadness behind a smile. “Are you certain? You know I can’t leave with you?” She looked down. “I have to stay here in Hove.”

  “I’ll write though,” Rose added, squeezing Enna’s hand. “Every week.”

  “Well, you will be well provided for, thanks to your inheritance. As you know, the house and all the Templeforth’s worldly estate is now officially yours. The paperwork is complete.”

  “Yes, about that.” Rose sighed and leaned back in her chair. “The truth is, I don’t much care for thirteen Sackville Road. I don’t want to live there, that is. It gives me the heebie-jeebies after all what’s gone on there. I’ve thought about it – and I now know what I want to do.”

  “Yes, Rose?” Enna said. “Miss Templeforth has made me the trustee of her estate. I shall do my best to carry out your requests.”

  “I want thirteen Sackv
ille Road to become a home for all the girls left at the workhouse. Give them a chance like what I’ve had…like what my ma never had.”

  Rui stared at her open-mouthed.

  Rose carried on, picking up pace. “And I want them each to have a room of their own…and I want the library filled with books about faraway places, and teachers there what are kind to them, so the girls can be trained up to be the best what they can possibly be. Oh, and Gritt is not to be allowed in.” Rose shook her head, then grinned. “But Mr Crank can keep his job – it would do him good, I think. And I want it to be called, ‘The Templeforth Academy for Brilliant Girls’. There!”

  “Rose! Just…tremendous!” Rui said, puffing up with pride.

  “Well, Albion’s pendant always chooses one with a big heart,” Enna marvelled. “And you, Rose Muddle, seem to have one of the biggest. A worthy guardian indeed. You make me so very proud. I will see that your wishes will be carried out –” she smiled broadly – “but I will make certain there is a generous monthly allowance remaining for you. I know Miss Templeforth would insist upon it. And should you ever change your mind, the house will always remain yours. You never know what the future may hold.”

  “Yep, all right,” Rose giggled, gripping onto Rui’s arm. My future! Sheer joy danced through her. She could hardly believe that she, Rose Muddle, was going to Jaipur to stay at the palace as an honoured guest – and Rui’s companion. Things are going to be just fine, she grinned, and who knows what adventures might await me there?

  A girl sat in the back of a rattling carriage. Her destination: the docks at Shoreham Harbour. The ticket pinched in her fingers; it gave her passage on board the schooner Carolina, which, empty of its tobacco shipment, would shortly be embarking on its return journey to Guatemala. It would also stop en route in the Indian port of Bombay, to refuel and take on a new cargo of tea. The girl would disembark there and make her way overland to Jaipur, just as the voice in her mind instructed.

  She stared out of the carriage window, as the sea lapped in silent waves against the shoreline. She looked down at the silver book resting on her lap, and caressed the enamel eye on the cover with her fingertips. A tight-lipped smirk flashed across her face. Her blonde ringlets bounced as she drew back her silk neck-scarf and clutched the dark disc of amber swinging there.

  Great things were to happen in Jaipur, and her journey had only just begun.

  Rose and Rui set out for Jaipur to return Mr Gupta’s ruby to his family. But, unbeknownst to them, they are being followed by a member of the Brotherhood of the Black Sun, and dark secrets await them when they dock in India…

  Coming 2018

  I first moved to Hove – which sits on the south coast of England – many years ago. I immediately fell in love with the area; the spirit of the place, the people and the sea! And as I immersed myself in my new surroundings, I discovered that there once stood a huge Bronze Age burial mound right in the middle of Hove, which was flattened in 1856 during building works. It used to stand twenty feet high, close enough to the shoreline to have been seen far out to sea. This burial mound revealed a coffin roughly hewn from a hollowed-out tree trunk, and inside that, nestled amongst the bones and burial goods, sat a cup crafted from Baltic Amber – a cup that was over 3,000 years old!

  Excitedly I told everyone about my findings – and was amazed that no one seemed to know anything about this mound, this cup – this forgotten chieftain once so important to the area. Even the place name itself – Hove – is derived from this monument. (The old Danish word “Hof” which means burial ground.)

  I started imagining who this person might have been to be buried in such fine style. And what the significance of this small amber cup could have been? With each question, the germ of this book grew and grew. And with it, so did Rose Muddle – my heroine; a workhouse girl who is plucked from obscurity, only to discover that her future holds dangerous – and magical secrets…

  I have borrowed many elements of The Amber Pendant from local history: there was a Chalybeate spring in St Ann’s Well Gardens, renowned for its health-giving qualities. A Gypsy Lee really did use to tell fortunes from a wagon in St Ann’s Well Gardens, and many of the geographical places you find in the novel can still be seen here in Hove today.

  I hope this story inspires you to uncover forgotten secrets wherever you live – please let me know what you find!

  The Amber Pendant is Imogen’s debut novel and won a place in the 2014 Undiscovered Voices anthology. Imogen loves local history, and stories that aren’t limited to beautiful countryside locations or secluded seaside coves.

  Find out more about Imogen at mysteryverse.wordpress.com

  I would like to thank my husband Dale who devoted so many hours to lovingly reading through my work. To my children, Oscar and Martha, for being so understanding and brilliant. I feel very lucky to have you all.

  To my agent, Anna Power, who believed in my work and dedicated so much of her time editing this novel to ensure it reached publication. The ethos of her agency, Johnson & Alcock, is to be exactly the representative their authors need them to be and this has truly been my experience. My thanks to Anna for being the very best.

  A big thank you to Davide Ortu for illustrating this stunning book cover. Also to Lenka Hrehova and Will Steele at Usborne for the original concept and finished design, and David Shephard for the map.

  Team Usborne!! You really have held my hand through this whole process. Becky Walker, thank you for your boundless enthusiasm and editorial excellence. A special mention also to Rebecca Hill, Sarah Stewart, Amy Dobson and everyone else at Usborne who has worked so hard to make this happen. I feel extremely fortunate.

  To the brilliant SCBWI Undiscovered Voices competition that I won in 2014 and which started me on this road to publication. Sara Grant and the team – you totally rock.

  My writing group, the hugely talented Siobhan Rowden, Karen Moore, Astrid Holm and Shirley Archibald. Ladies, it’s been such fun! Thank you for all your help and advice. You’ve been there through all the ups and downs. Big thanks also to Alex Caird, Saskia Wesnigk-Wood and Catie White. Also, Ambika – for letting me borrow all her family names!

  I would also like to thank the libraries in Brighton and Hove, especially the local history sections, and the Brighton and Hove Museums for displaying the Amber Cup which is such a massive part of this book.

  And finally, thanks to my lovely mum. You have been so supportive and excited – I’m glad you are proud! And to my stepdad Bobbie, to whom this first book is dedicated. The kindest and most generous of humans, who sadly passed away just a few months before I discovered this book was to be published. But I know how thrilled he would be now. He spent hours picking through those early (and very dreadful) first drafts. He always believed in me, even when I didn’t. Thank you, Bobbie. X

  For links to websites where you can find out about the places and people of Hove at the time when Rose Muddle’s adventures take place, see the real “Hove Amber Cup” and other objects discovered in the burial mound, and find out more about life during the first decades of the 1900s, go to www.usborne.com/quicklinks and type in the keywords “Amber Pendant”. Please follow the internet safety guidelines at the Usborne Quicklinks website.

  The recommended websites are regularly reviewed and updated but, please note, Usborne Publishing is not responsible for the content of any website other than its own, or for any exposure to harmful, offensive or inaccurate material which may appear on the Web.

  For more spellbinding reads head to

  www.usborne.com/fiction

  First published in the UK in 2017 by Usborne Publishing Ltd., Usborne House, 83-85 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8RT, England. www.usborne.com

  Text © Imogen White, 2017

  Cover and inside illustrations by Davide Ortu © Usborne Publishing, 2017

  Artwork for map by David Shephard © Usborne Publishing, 2017

  The right of Imogen White to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  The name Usborne and the devices are Trade Marks of Usborne Publishing Ltd.

  All rights reserved. This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or used in any way except as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or loaned or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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

  ePub ISBN: 9781474940764