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long enough, Miss Goth,’ said Dr Cabbage, ‘and with my own premises I will make real progress on my Cogwheel Brain.’ ‘But when will I see you?’ Ada asked Emily. She had a lump in her throat, but was determined not to cry. ‘All the time.’ Emily smiled, tears in her eyes. ‘That’s what I wanted to tell you,’ said Lucy Borgia softly. ‘I too am leaving Ghastly-Gorm Hall. It is hard, but knowing you are happy will make it easier. You see, I have accepted a post in His Regent’s Secret Service.’ She smiled. ‘I’ll be Lord Sydney Whimsy’s right-hand agent, 008.’ ‘And I have decided,’ said Lord Goth, getting to his feet and holding out his arms to Ada, ‘to send you to school with Emily.’ ‘Oh, Father!’ Ada exclaimed, and rushed into his arms.
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Epilogue hat an eventful holiday it has been,’ said Ada, ‘but I can’t wait to start school.’ They had planned to buy tickets on the Ghastlyshire mail coach, but Lord Goth wouldn’t hear of it. Instead he had provided his finest coach and horses to take Ada, Emily and the Vicarage sisters to West Wuthering. Charlotte, Emily and Anne had been very taken with Lord Goth and had started to put dark, handsome, brooding characters into their stories. After being so shy for so long, the fright Bramble had given them had allowed the sisters to find their voices and now they talked and told stories all the time. William Cabbage had returned to Rugby School where, according to his latest letter, he had introduced some new games, including the addition of
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a squashed football into the school game of ‘Muddy Field Wrestling’. This was a great success and was keeping overenthusiastic pupils fully occupied so those like William could get on with their studies. As for Flushman, having left school he was proving to be a very hard worker, and Charles Cabbage was very pleased with him. At his workshop in King’s Cross, the Cogwheel Brain was almost finished. What was more, Dr Cabbage had more than fifty monkeys usefully employed and the organ grinders of London were absolutely furious about it. Bramble Vicarage, meanwhile, had gone to Denmark to study with Hands Christmas Andersen and Countess Pippi Shortstocking and was making great progress. Emily Cabbage reached out and took Ada’s hand. ‘I can’t wait either,’ she said.
history of a hound
Illustrated by Sir Christopher Riddle-of-the-Sphinx RA
The career of Bramble the werewolf, supernatural hound of song, began in Copenhagen, where he delighted audiences in the comic opera about a marmalade-loving spaniel.
This was followed by a moving performance in a musical tale of shy huskies.
Next Bramble toured Europe in the hit comedy about werewolves lost in the woods.
Bramble took London by storm as Lord Ernie in a drawing-room farce about mistaken pedigree.
Another triumph followed with Bramble’s starring role in a musical spectacular about tap-dancing German shepherds.
Now a great star, Bramble the werewolf returned to Copenhagen in a sequel to The Barker of Seville, set in a grand kennel.
Finally Bramble confirmed his place in musical history with his sensitive interpretation of a set of songs by Franz Sherbet about a wolfhound that can’t get up in the morning.
The most esteemed authors in the world are coming to show off their pampered pooches at the Ghastly-Gorm Hall literary dog show. But there’s something strange afoot at Ghastly-Gorm – mysterious paw prints, howls in the night and some suspiciously chewed shoes. Can Ada work out what’s going on before the next full moon?
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