The Wizard in the Wood E-Book

Louie Stowell

• Herausgeber: Nosy Crow
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Kit, Josh and Alita are heading back to school - and they're excited to discover that they're getting a brand new library, which also means getting their own wizard librarian... and a dragon! But when something VERY BAD happens at the new library, it's up to Kit and her friends to save the world one more time. The third instalment in the funny, exciting, magical, and action-packed Dragon in the Library series, brilliantly illustrated throughout by Davide Ortu. Have you read the other books in the series? Look out for: The Dragon in the Library The Monster in the Lake

Leseprobe

i

To Gus, the youngest w wizard in the world.

- L.S.

1

THIS IS JOSH’S NOTEBOOK. KIT AND ALITA, I F YOU MESS WITH IT I W ILL KNOW. I HAVE RECORDS OF YOUR F INGERPR INTS SO I WILL BE ABLE TO DUST THE COVER FOR PR INTS. YOU HAVE BE EN WARNE D. I HAVE R EAD A LOT OF DETECTIVE NOVELS SO I KNOW ALL THE TR ICKS.

Dear Future Josh,

In case an evil future wizard has done a mind-wipe spell on you, here are some notes about w hat happened this summer. Spoiler: it was INTENSE with a capital everything!2

1) We discovered that our local librarian, Faith, is a wizard and my friend Kit is one too.

2) We found out that a dragon sleeps beneath the library, and it’s a wizard’s duty to keep it asleep.

3) Our local library was attacked by an evil businessman who wanted to wake up the dragon.

4) We beat him, because we are an incredible team of magical library protectors.

5) THEN, later in the summer, Kit’s magic started going wrong.

6) We tracked down the source 3of her problems: there was a monster in the lake in our local park! It had been kicked out of its home in Scotland by evil mermaids.

7) We went to Scotland to talk to the mermaids. It turns out they weren’t evil… They were being controlled by evil ghost rats from the dawn of time!

8) Kit did a big spell with some help from me and Alita. We beat the evil ghost rats and freed the mermaids.

9) The mermaids still weren’t very nice but the lake monster was able to go home and everything went back to normal. Well, sort of. Our lives are still quite odd.4

I think that’s it. But every day I’m finding out more about the world of magic. I wonder what I’ll find out today. Oh. Kit’s telling me we have to go.

YES WE DO. COME ON. DON’T BE BORING. LET’S GO! TREES TO CLIMB! WORLDS TO SAVE!

Kit

5

6

CHAPTER 1

JOSH’S LIFE FLASHES BEFORE HIS EYES

“I cannot believe you talked me into doing this.” Josh gripped more tightly on to the branch that he and Kit were sitting on.

“It’s what children do in the summer holidays,” said Kit. “It’s called fun. Look! There’s a squirrel over there!” Kit stood up on the branch, causing it to shake and making Josh hold on even tighter.

“I don’t call this fun,” muttered Josh. “I call this terror. My life is flashing in front of my eyes. Wow,” he added through gritted teeth. “I did a lot of reading and ate some good jollof rice.”

The first day of the new school year was only a few days away, and Kit wanted to milk every last 7moment of freedom. Josh was more focused on not crashing down from his perch and breaking every bone in his lanky body.

“The thing is,” Josh said, “this isn’t natural. Humans are not tree-dwelling creatures. We’re supposed to be on the ground.”

“Since when is being natural the only way to do things? If everything was natural, we’d all be living in caves,” objected Kit.

“At least caves are on the ground,” said Josh.

“Guys,” called Alita from one of the lower branches, “stop arguing. Faith’s coming down the path. She looks in a hurry!”

Kit, Josh and Alita scrambled down the tree to meet Faith. Josh scrambled rather more 8slowly and carefully – he hadn’t wanted to get his shoes dirty on the tree, and so he was barefoot.

“Hi, Faith. Is everything OK?” Alita gasped. “Did Kit’s mum tell my mum we went out instead of playing at home? Is she here? Is she mad?”

Faith smiled. “Everything’s fine. I have good news, actually.”

“What?” asked Josh, sitting down to put on his pure-white trainers. “Has the new Danny Fandango book been released early?”

“Well, no, nothing THAT exciting,” said Faith. “But the Wizards’ Council want to meet Kit. And they have a present.”

“Oh?” said Kit. She wasn’t exactly excited about meeting the Wizards’ Council. Everything Faith had said about them made them sound very old and very grumpy. “What’s the present?”

Faith motioned zipping her lips and waggled her eyebrows. “It’s a surprise.”

“Can we come and meet the Wizards’ Council too?” asked Josh. 9

“Sorry, no,” said Faith. “The headquarters is a wizard-only zone.” She shrugged. “Part of the whole secrecy and security thing.”

“That’s not fair,” said Kit.

“Have I ever accused the Wizards’ Council of being fair?” asked Faith.

“I don’t mind,” said Alita. “I want to spend as much time as I can with Dogon! I’ve hardly seen him in days because of my aunty’s wedding. I thought it’d never end!” She splayed her hands, showing the intricate henna design on her palms. Dogon was the furry, scaly creature who lived beneath the library: half dog, half dragon, and always hungry. “I’m going to miss him so much when I go back to school.”

“He’s going to miss the snacks you bring him, that’s for sure,” laughed Faith. She turned to Josh. “Why don’t you go and read to Draca?”

Draca was the dragon who slept beneath Chatsworth Library, and like all dragons, she didn’t belong in the waking world. Instead, she wandered 10through her own dreams, made up of the stories that were read to her as she slumbered through the years.

“Perhaps you could start a new book?” suggested Faith.

Josh’s eyes lit up with pure excitement, as though Faith had just offered him a ride on a unicorn, through space.

“Oh yes! I can read her some poetry. I don’t think I’ve read her any of that before!”

“How are we getting to the Wizards’ Council?” asked Kit.

“From the library,” said Faith. “So let’s all head there now. One last time before school starts.”

11

CHAPTER 2

THE NEW PORTAL BOOK

Kit, Josh, Alita and Faith walked through Chatsworth Library towards the stacks – the hidden parts of the building that the general public never got to see. The parts where the magic lay hidden and where Draca slept and dreamed of stories.

They reached a shelf at the back of the library, and Faith checked to see that no other people were near, then pulled on a book and murmured a word, Labbah. The whole shelf of books slid to one side to reveal a door behind, which led down into darkness.

Faith tapped herself on the forehead and breathed, “Ina!” A ball of light appeared in the 12corridor ahead, lighting their way and revealing shelves of books on either side of the passage.

The four of them walked down and down into the darkness, until the passage widened and lightened and became an open green space. They were in the book wood again. Each tree in this wood had once been a book, and if you looked closely enough at the papery green page-leaves, you could make out faint letters. Kit inhaled deeply. The air smelled of leaves and flowers and second-hand books.

“I’ll go and find Dogon!” said Alita.

“And I’ll read Draca these poems,” said Josh, holding up the book that he’d brought with him from the library upstairs.

“So how exactly are we getting to the Wizards’ Council?” asked Kit. “Are we going to use a portal book?”

Portal books were the main magical way to travel between libraries. To use one, you simply began reading out loud, and the magic sucked you 13into the world of the book. When you reached the end, you spoke the name of the library you wanted to reach, and you reappeared in the real world again. Some of these books were safer than others.

“I thought we’d take a stroll through a new portal book this time,” said Faith.

“A new one?” That sparked Kit’s interest. “I didn’t know there were new ones.”

“Oh yes, from time to time,” said Faith. “I made this one just for you. It should be just about ripe…”

Faith took a few paces then pointed up at the branches of a tree. Hanging like a fruit among the page-leaves was a book. On the cover it said “Super Magic Quest”, with a picture of a cartoon rabbit wearing armour, and a goblin by its side.

“Pick it,” said Faith. “It’s ready.”

Kit reached out and took hold of the bottom of the book. With the gentlest of tugs, it came away from the tree in her hand. She turned the book over. “How did you make this?”

“I planted an ordinary copy of the book when you first became a wizard,” said Faith. “It’s taken the past month for this tree to grow. Draca put extra effort into sharing her magic with it, so it would be ready for you when you needed it.” 14

15“That’s so nice of her!” said Kit. Draca was a strange creature but she could be very kind at times.

“We both thought you might enjoy a portal book that wasn’t dangerous, but was still fun,” said Faith.

“Ooh! It’s a comic!” said Kit as she opened it.

“It’s about a rabbit on a quest in a magical land,” said Faith. “I believe there’s a forest made of jelly in there somewhere.”

“Sounds really silly. I love it already!” said Kit. She sat on the ground and started to read the comic. On the first page, a rabbit called Jorril was setting out on a quest to find a magic gem… Without warning, Kit and Faith were inside the pages of the book. 1617

18After a perilous journey through a desert full of tiny flying bears and a fight with a giant robot made of glue, they finally reached the end of Jorril’s quest.

“Council, hus!” said Faith, wiping robo-glue out of her eye. They left the book with a pop, and appeared in the library of the Wizards’ Council.

19

CHAPTER 3

THE COUNCIL

They were in a huge, rectangular room with rough stone walls. Bookshelves were stacked from the floor to the lofty ceiling, holding more books than Kit had ever seen before. In between the bookshelves were windows filled with stained glass. One showed a picture of a dragon, cowering beneath a shower of glowing yellow sparks. Another showed a dragon and a wizard, hand in claw, gazing out from the glass in dozens of colours.

“Welcome to the council library,” said Faith.

Kit gazed around in awe. It was like a gigantic church, but for books. 20

“I imagine someone from the council will be along in a minute,” said Faith. “They knew we were coming but it sometimes takes them a while to get upstairs. They’re not as young as they were, and they were already old then.”

Spaced around the carpeted floor were comfy, battered armchairs and little tables littered with abandoned cups of tea and sweet wrappers.

A moment later there was a creaking sound, and a bookshelf swung round to reveal a dark corridor behind it. Out came a tall, broad-shouldered white woman with shoulder-length white hair and a green trouser suit, with a green flower in her lapel. Kit couldn’t tell how old she was, but definitely old enough for her birthday cake candles to be a fire hazard. The woman’s ancient eyes seemed to look off into the distance, while also somehow boring straight into Kit’s soul. Kit felt a sudden urge to stand up straighter, and maybe clean her bedroom.

“That’s the Chairwizard,” whispered Faith. “Branwen Williams.” 21

“Faith Braithwaite!” said the old woman. Her voice had a lilt to it. “Kit Spencer! This way! The council is ready for you.” She beckoned them to the opening in the wall.

Just like under Chatsworth Library, the tunnel was lined with books, but this one was much, much bigger. You could have driven a train through it. A double-decker train, with a couple of spies having a dramatic fight on top of it.

A green glow appeared in the tunnel ahead. Kit got a shivery feeling of powerful magic. She felt a little like this in the wood beneath Chatsworth Library, but this was different. It was like the difference between being tickled with a feather and jumping into a swimming pool full of wriggly snakes. Her whole body felt as though it was bursting with light.

Then she saw the wood.

“Oh!”

She’d never seen anything like it. A lump formed in her throat. It was beautiful. The view, not the 22lump.

Branwen stopped and gestured around. “Ah yes. I forget what it must be like to see it for the first time. Quite a sight, isn’t it?”

The trees seemed to stretch forever, under a curving greenish sky. There were firs and oaks, chestnut trees and little blossoming apple trees, all with leaves that once were pages, and trunks carved with spells. There were huge ancient trees and brand-new shoots, and everywhere there was a gentle breeze and the sound of ruffling pages.

23“Where are we meeting the others?” asked Faith.

Branwen pointed to a tree nearby. “Downstairs.”

Faith’s eyes lit up. “You’re going to love this, Kit.”