The White Tower
Page 17
He started to walk away. She had done it.
Joe turned back. ‘Celia, right? The girl with the black hair and the fringe? She’s in Burgess? Sometimes goes home on my bus. Really really pretty?’
Livy looked up at the space on top of the White Tower where the Sentinel with the broken wing had once stood. It seemed such a long time ago. It was the time before she could be down here and be happy. It was the time before when Mahalia was still alone. Thinking back to those sad summer days, she knew she would never feel like that again.
She waved discreetly to the empty sky.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book has taken far too long to write and I am extremely grateful to many people, mostly for their patience.
Firstly, my wonderful agent, Hilary Delamere, who has given such wise counsel.
Also my lovely publishers: Barry Cunningham, who didn’t blink when he said he liked the book. My editor Rachel Leyshon who assures me that she still has hair on her head after reading so very many drafts. Rachel Hickman for her calm and enthusiasm in the face of shifting deadlines. Elinor Bagenal, whose energy is infectious. Laura Myers for deftly whizzing through the production. And all the Chickens . . . Jazz, Esther, Kesia and Sarah. A really lovely team who are passionate about books and the varied imaginative landscapes those books can give to a child.
I’d also like to thank Helen Crawford-White for such an atmospheric cover that got the feel of the book even before I’d made the plot any more substantial than smoke.
Also to Bella Pearson and Jane Fior, thank you.
And to the readers along the way: Ange, Fatima and Sarah.
And so, to Charles for pretty much everything; to Milo (for the tours, the music, the general fabulousness); to Rufus who makes me laugh; and to ‘little’ Syrie, raven-haired and six feet tall who has been brave enough to step pretty much anywhere.
Also my sister who has been a peach. And my dear old Dad.
And to mum, twinkling somewhere, love you more.
CATHRYNCONSTABLE.COM
ALSO BY CATHRYN CONSTABLE
THE WOLF PRINCESS
On a school trip to Russia, Sophie and her two friends find themselves abandoned on a train. They are rescued by the glamorous Princess Anna Volkonskaya, who takes them to her winter palace and mesmerises them with stories of lost diamonds and a tragic past.
But as night falls and wolves prowl, Sophie discovers more than dreams in the crumbling palace of secrets . . .
. . . an engrossing, deeply atmospheric story.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-910002-09-4, £6.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-908435-55-2, £6.99
TRY ANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM CHICKEN HOUSE
THE SECRET OF NIGHTINGALE WOOD by LUCY STRANGE
Something terrible has happened in the Abbott family and nobody is talking about it.
Mama is ill. Father has taken a job abroad. Nanny Jane is too busy looking after baby Piglet to pay any attention to Henrietta and the things she sees – or thinks she sees – in the shadows of their new home, Hope House.
All alone, with only stories for company, Henry discovers that Hope House is full of strange secrets: a forgotten attic, thick with cobwebs; ghostly figures glimpsed through dusty windows; mysterious firelight that flickers in the trees beyond the garden.
One night she ventures into the darkness of Nightingale Wood. What she finds there will change her whole world . . .
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-910655-03-0, £6.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-910655-63-4, £6.99
TRY ANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM CHICKEN HOUSE
THE GIRL OF INK & STARS by KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE
Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her father once mapped. When her best friend disappears, she’s determined to be part of the search party. Guided by an ancient map and her knowledge of the stars, Isabella navigates the island’s dangerous Forgotten Territories. But beneath the dry rivers and dead forests, a fiery myth is stirring from its sleep . . .
. . . beautifully written.
MALORIE BLACKMAN
. . . an absolute jewel of a book . . . utterly magical.
MELINDA SALISBURY
Paperback, ISBN 978-1-910002-74-2, £6.99 • ebook, ISBN 978-1-910655-58-0, £6.99
Text © Cathryn Constable 2017
First paperback edition published in Great Britain in 2017
This electronic edition published in 2017
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Produced in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY
Cover and interior design by Helen Crawford-White
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data available.
PB ISBN 978-1-909489-10-3
eISBN 978-1-910002-08-7