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- Herausgeber: David Fickling Books
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
'There are three doors that I may show you. You will find a different kind of power behind each one . . .'Adam has found something incredible in a rubbish dump in London. A mysterious, mythical, magical animal. A Tyger.And the Tyger is in danger. Adam and his friend Zadie are determined to help, but it isn't just the Tyger's life at stake. Their whole world is on the verge of destruction. Can they learn to use their powers before it's too late?
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Seitenzahl: 225
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‘This sublime, shimmering Blakeian fantasy — for children and adults alike — thrills, enlarges and heals the soul in equal measure.An out-and-out masterpiece’
Piers Torday
‘Tyger is next level excellent — and Dave McKean’s illustrations dovetail perfectly and beautifully with the story.This book is a gem’
Malorie Blackman
‘You wait years and years for a masterpiece and then one comes along’
Frank Cottrell-Boyce
‘A profound, Blake–inspired novel, that’s also a simple thrilling tale of a boy and a girl and a Tyger. A triumph!’
Jacqueline Wilson
‘Breathtaking, in turns heartbreaking and achingly beautiful. Imagination-stirring, wise and thought-provoking … Perfection’
Sophie Anderson
‘I LOVED it so much. A masterpiece of a story: beautiful, brilliant, perfect!’
Peter Bunzl
‘Readers will fall in love with Tyger and through her their hearts will be strengthened and hope-light recharged … a timeless classic’
Sita Brahmachariii
‘Like William Blake & C.S. Lewis & Diana Wynne Jones & Pullman & Aiken got rescued from a whirlwind by SF Said & made into something new & visionary & exciting & hopeful & deeply-dreamt & truly-lived’
AF Harrold
‘An extraordinary read’
Jamila Gavin
‘A book of great beauty. Followers of Narnia will love this book with its majestic theme of empowerment. It is a glorious triumph’
Berlie Doherty
‘Tyger has gone straight in my top ten books of all time’
Lu Hersey
‘Completely immersive & universally enlightening, Tyger is exciting, fast-paced, surprising, thought-provoking & utterly brilliant’
Mel Taylor-Bessent
‘For me, the publishing event of this year’
Pie Corbett
‘An adventure woven with mythology, magic and the power of the human spirit … This book is destined to last’
Kate Heapiii
‘An utter masterpiece. Powerful, beautiful and totally unafraid’
Simon Smith
‘Breath-taking … Uniquely inspiring’
Ben Harris
‘Everything I hoped it would be and a whole lot more … However high your expectations are for this book, it will exceed them’
Jon Biddle
‘Absolutely blown away … I have a new favourite book!’
Nicki Cleveland
‘A book that’s a warning, a hope and maybe a beacon’
John Potten
‘Magnificent’
Gill Ward
‘SF Said is a phenomenal advocate of children’s literature, but he is an even better creator of it!’
Sam Creighton
‘A breath-taking adventure’
Kara Orfordiv
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Contents
viii
It happened in the 21st Century,
when London was still the capital of an Empire,
and the Empire still ruled the world …
x
Chapter One
It was the week before Midwinter. The rain was lashing down, and the narrow streets of Soho were deep with puddles. Although it was midday, the sky over London was iron grey. Clouds of smoke hung heavy up above, as always.
Adam Alhambra wasn’t looking at that bleak Midwinter sky. He was looking at the checkpoint up ahead of him, and shivering. He huddled into his coat, but the wind cut through it like a whip. And that wasn’t the only thing that made him feel cold.
He could see the soldier there, behind the metal bars and railings. He could hear his stern voice, turning people back from the boundary that separated Soho from the rest of London. As Adam 2watched, biting down on his pencil, a whole family was being marched away at gunpoint, not allowed to leave the Ghetto.
‘Next!’
And now it was his turn. Adam put his pencil behind his ear, and stepped up for inspection, under a row of Union Jacks and a portrait of the Emperor.
The soldier was a guardsman in a red coat, with a bristling white moustache. He looked Adam up and down, taking in his skin, his hair, his eyes. The fact that everything about him was just a little different, just a little darker. Then he looked at Adam’s papers, saw his name, and here it came …
‘Alhambra?’ said the soldier. ‘And where are you from, boy?’
‘Um – London, sir,’ said Adam, trying to sound calm, and failing.
‘You know what I mean,’ said the soldier. ‘Where are you really from?’
Adam looked down. ‘My parents came here from the Middle East, sir,’ he said, ‘but I’ve lived in London all my life.’
‘The Middle East.’ The soldier frowned. ‘Isn’t that where camels used to come from?’
‘Camels?’ said Adam, mystified. ‘I don’t know, sir. I don’t know anything about the Middle East. 3I’m just doing the deliveries for my family’s shop, Alhambra & Company. They’re depending on me to do them.’ He held up his bag, to show the soldier the parcels that were packed so carefully inside.
‘Where are the shop’s papers?’ said the soldier.
‘Oh – right here, sir!’ Adam fumbled in his pocket for the documents. But as he pulled them out, a little scrap of paper fell out with them, and fluttered to the floor.
Adam’s heart thumped. Quick as he could, he scooped it up, and shoved it back into his pocket.
‘Was that a drawing?’ said the soldier. ‘What do you think you are – an artist?’
Adam’s cheeks burned. His mouth went dry. ‘No, no, sir, of course not,’ he said. ‘Please. Here are the shop’s papers, see?’
The soldier gave him a long, hard look. He looked at the documents even longer and harder. But finally he grunted, and waved Adam through. ‘Go on then, camel boy,’ he said. ‘Don’t start any trouble.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ Adam made himself say, as he went through the checkpoint, and came out onto Oxford Street.
And here, on the other side of the checkpoint, everything was different. People were shopping on the wide open street. Adults were going to work. 4Children were going to school. No one was stopping them, searching them, asking them questions.
For a moment, he wished he could be one of them. Just an ordinary British boy, on his way to school. Someone who could go anywhere he wanted, and do anything he dreamed.
But he was a foreigner, and he had a job to do.
He began to run. He raced up Oxford Street, past the grand department stores, onto Tottenham Court Road. Some of the people he passed gave him the same look as the soldier. He could feel their eyes on his skin. Keep your head down, his father always said. Eye contact only makes it worse. Don’t look at anyone, or anything, or—
CRASH!
‘Look where you’re going!’
Oh no. Adam looked up to see a lean, hungry-looking man, staring down at him with cold blue eyes.
‘Sorry, sir,’ said Adam – but the man grinned. His white teeth gleamed.
‘Relax!’ he said brightly. ‘Here, I want to show you something.’ He put an arm round Adam’s shoulder and steered him off the main road, into a side street.
Adam went with him, grateful that he wasn’t in trouble. But doubts were gnawing at his mind. The 5streets around Tottenham Court Road were grimier and less grand than Oxford Street. There was nothing to see; just thick brick walls, blackened by chimney smoke. No one else was walking here. Something wasn’t right.
‘Now then,’ said the man, as thunder rumbled in the sky. ‘Give me your bag, and all your money, and I might just let you live.’
Adam gasped. The man’s grip on his shoulder was very tight now, and he was blocking the way back to the road.
‘Help!’ Adam shouted. But no one on the main road even turned to look.
‘Who do you think would help a foreigner?’ The man’s grin grew wider. ‘Now give me that bag, you cockroach.’
Adam’s heart hammered.
Desperately, he twisted.
Turned.
And tore himself free.
He ran in the only direction he could: down the side street. But it was a dead end, and it ended at the gates of the dump. A big block of common land, filled with stinking rubbish.
Behind him, he could hear the man’s footsteps, pounding on the pavement, hunting him down 6through the rain.
So he ran through the iron gates of the dump, through heaps of bin bags and crushed tin cans, shattered glass and torn-up posters. The man kept coming, closer and closer, chasing him deeper into the dump.
Lightning slashed the sky. In its glare, Adam saw a little wooden doorway, hidden behind a mountain of ashes.
He plunged through it into darkness.
Broken windows flashed past him as he ran through the rooms of an empty, ruined building. Then a wall loomed up before him. There were no doors except the one he’d come in by. There was no way out. He was trapped in here, and all alone.
He turned to see the man stalking through the door behind him, something glinting in his hand. A knife.
A metallic taste filled Adam’s mouth. ‘HELP!’ he screamed –
– and then something roared above his head, louder than the thunder.
7
Chapter Two
It was very dark in the ruined building. But as Adam looked up, his whole body shaking, he saw two points of light above him.
The lights blinked, like eyes.
And then something erupted out of the darkness, moving so fast, he saw only a blur at first. A streak of black and gold, leaping down from the roof beams to land on all four paws beside him.
An animal! A gigantic animal stood by his side, growling at the man with the knife. With one huge stride, she put herself between him and Adam. Then she threw back her head and roared, as if protecting Adam from the knife.
The man screamed. He ran. He fled through the 9door he’d come in by, and was gone.
Adam couldn’t run. The animal still stood between him and the door. He could only stand there, staring at her, his senses filling with a sweet, high, musky scent, like honeysuckle growing wild. In her presence, everything else just melted away, even his fear.
His skin was prickling and his eyes were wide. But inside him was a feeling stranger than fear. For this animal had come down from the darkness to defend him. Why?
And … what was she?
A flash of lightning revealed more of her form. She was ten feet long from her whiskers to her tail. So broad, she filled the doorway. Her fur was fiery gold with coal-black stripes.
Time seemed to stop as she turned to look at Adam, and Adam looked back at her. He couldn’t look away. He’d never been so close to any animal before, let alone one so huge and wild.
Her eyes burned like liquid golden fire. They were shining with a light that was different to any light he’d ever seen. Yet he thought he saw pain inside them, too. And now that she was facing him, he could see that she was wounded. There was blood on her fur, between her stripes, dripping wet and red.1011
12He breathed in sharply. Whatever she was – this animal was wounded.
She shuddered as a blast of thunder shook the building. She turned and snapped at something over her shoulder, then growled when she couldn’t reach it. As she twisted and turned, Adam crept round to one side –
– and froze as he saw the shaft of an arrow, sticking out of her shoulder. On the other side, he could see the arrowhead.
This animal had been hunted. Someone had shot her, trying to kill her. The point of the arrow had passed right through her. All around it, the blood was dripping.
Adam’s throat went tight. She would die if that arrow stayed inside her. And she couldn’t get it out herself. She had saved his life – but she needed help, even more than he did.
Lightning flashed again. Thunder broke above the ruined building. The animal turned to face Adam. She stood very, very still, and looked him straight in the eye.
Every hair on his head prickled. But she didn’t move a muscle. Didn’t even twitch her tail. She just kept looking at him, impossibly sharp focus in those golden eyes.13
Slowly, as if in a dream, he held out a hand towards her.
Still she didn’t move.
He reached closer. And closer. He could see now that the arrowhead was broad and barbed. It would never go back through. He had to pull it out instead.
Adam’s mouth was dry as dust as he touched the arrow’s shaft. The animal held herself absolutely still as he snapped off the shaft, below the wound, and began to pull very carefully at the arrowhead, drawing it inch by inch from her flesh and fur –
– and still there was more, but he just kept pulling, and pulling – until finally, it came all the way out.
The animal sighed a huge sigh of relief. She slumped to the ground, and began to lick her shoulder, licking and licking with her tongue, trying to stop the bleeding as the rain streamed down outside.
Adam slumped down beside her. His knees felt weak as water. But somehow, he had done it. He had got the arrow out.
‘I think you’re going to be all right,’ he said, to himself as much as to her.
And that was when she spoke, in a voice as clear and close as his own heart, thumping in his throat.
‘I thank you,’ she said. ‘I thank you, O Guardian, for your help.’
14
Chapter Three
Adam stared at the animal who lay before him in the ruined building. In the whole world now, there was nothing but him and this impossible animal. The animal who had just spoken.
Was he dreaming? He reached out to touch her again. Felt her fur beneath his fingers. Massive muscles underneath. He could feel the beating of her heart. And as that sweet, high, honeysuckle scent filled his mind, he realized the scent was hers. He’d never had a dream so vivid he could smell it, or hold it in his hands.
‘What’s your name?’ he whispered.
‘I have been known by many names,’ she said. ‘But you may call me … Tyger.’16
Adam’s scalp tingled as he heard that voice again. It made him feel strange and shy.
‘Tyger?’ he said. ‘But – tygers are extinct. They were all hunted down, a long time ago.’
The tyger stared at him with eyes like golden fire.
‘Tell me,’ she said, after a while. ‘Why are you here?’
‘I was hiding from that robber,’ said Adam. ‘No one else would help me, because I’m a foreigner …’ He cleared his throat. ‘But what about you, Tyger? Why are you here, and not locked up in a cage somewhere? Did you escape?’
The tyger blinked. Her tail thumped behind her. Her whiskers probed the air.
‘What sort of world is this?’ she said. ‘And what sort of Guardian are you?’
‘What sort of what?’ said Adam, confused.
The tyger turned to gaze up at a window. He followed her gaze. The glass was long gone. Creeping vines had grown all over it, but in the gaps, he could glimpse fragments of the sky.
‘I see,’ said the tyger at last. ‘You are not a Guardian, are you? I felt sure they had arrived.’ She glanced back at the crumbling doorway, and the thick white webs that ran across it. ‘In all the time I have been hiding here,’ she said, ‘you are the first 17to find me. But my enemy’s agents are forever on my trail. Please, tell no one I am here.’
Adam felt dizzy. He didn’t understand everything the tyger was saying. But he did understand she had risked herself to save his life.
‘I won’t tell anyone,’ he said. ‘I promise.’
The tyger settled down on her paws. Her tail curled around her, and she began to lick her wound again in silence. Adam watched, mesmerized by the patterns of her stripes. They were perfectly symmetrical, rippling down both sides of her body like currents flowing down a stream.
His mind was full of questions. But it was clear that the tyger didn’t want to talk any more. So he tried to imagine her story for himself: where she’d really come from, who her enemies were, and who these Guardians might be.
His head swam. He felt out of his depth. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted her to survive. He wanted to keep her secret, keep her safe, at least until her Guardians arrived.
They sat there quietly together, the two of them, as the rain came down outside the ruin. Gradually, the storm passed. The thunder and lightning moved on, and there was just a steady stream of raindrops on the roof.18
The tyger’s eyes closed. Her breathing deepened, as if she was falling asleep. Adam stood up slowly – but at once, her ears went sharp, and her eyes flicked open again.
‘I must recover my strength,’ she said. ‘But if you wish … you may return here. And perhaps you might help me once more.’
‘I will!’ said Adam. ‘I’ll come back as soon as I can, and make sure you’re all right. Can I bring you anything? Some food, or water? Or maybe something for that wound?’
The tyger shook her head, and yawned a massive yawn. ‘Just a spark,’ he thought she said, but already her eyes were closing. She was fast asleep in moments, and a deep, deep silence descended on the ruin.
Adam watched her for a while.
For the first time in a long time, he smiled.
Then he picked up his delivery bag, and went back into the world, alone.
19
Chapter Four
Adam walked out onto Tottenham Court Road. It was a shock. Inside the ruined building, it felt like time had stopped. Outside, the modern world rushed by, harsh and loud and brutal. Already, he could smell the city’s smoke and grime, so different to the sweet, high scent of the tyger.
He put his head down and made himself get back to work. At once, he felt people’s eyes on his skin again. But the memory of the tyger was burning bright inside him. He felt warmer when he thought about her. The rain lashing down on him didn’t seem so hard.
He raced through the streets, delivering his parcels, collecting the customers’ payments. The last delivery 21of the day was to a place on the New Road. Only the richest people lived here, in great white mansions set back behind black iron railings. At the end of the road, by the biggest mansion of all, he saw the signs he was looking for, hanging from the railings:
MALDEHYDE’S MENAGERIE
LONDON’S FINEST COLLECTION OF ANIMALS!
22The menagerie had three gates. Adam had to go the long way round: past the first class entrance, which was for lords and ladies; past the one for commoners; and finally to the gate for foreigners, at the back. There was a queue outside. Most were tourists from other parts of the Empire, on their Midwinter holidays. They were smiling and laughing under their umbrellas, excited to see the animals.
A gust of wind cut through Adam’s coat. He shivered as he sloshed past the people, through the puddles, up to the guards at the gate.
‘Delivery from Alhambra & Company, sir,’ he said, as he showed a guard his papers.
‘Alhamper?’ said the guard. Adam gritted his teeth. His name brought him nothing but trouble. ‘Oh, I see,’ the guard went on, as he took down Adam’s details. ‘It’s Aaaal-Haaaam-Braaaa!’ he said, dragging out each syllable painfully. ‘And your Christian name is Adam?’
Adam looked away, avoiding his gaze, but there was no way he could avoid the question. ‘I’m not Christian, sir,’ he said. ‘I’m Muslim, like my family. But my first name is Adam.’
‘Oh,’ said the guard. ‘Well. You speak good English, for a foreigner.’ He opened the gate. ‘Go through to that mansion at the end.’23
Adam took a deep breath, and went into the grounds, past the colourful signs:
SIR MORTIMER MALDEHYDE WELCOMES YOU TO HIS FAMOUS MENAGERIE!
OUR ANIMALS ARE VERY RARE, AND KEPT HERE FOR THEIR OWN PROTECTION.
DO NOT FEED THEM!
Adam felt colder and colder as he walked through rows of covered cages. Inside them were creatures from every corner of the British Empire: from Africa, India and the Middle East. Even the American Colonies.
There were no tygers, of course. But there was a bear, which was being fed by its keepers as spectators watched in awe. There were monkeys doing tricks: jumping up onto each other’s shoulders, then tumbling down as the people laughed. And there was an elephant on a chain, giving rides to children. It was being guided by some men in turbans who were trying to keep their heads down, just as Adam was.
Before he’d met the tyger, he might have been thrilled by this menagerie. But now he couldn’t help 24imagining her in one of those cages, and shuddering at the thought.
He approached the mansion at the end of the grounds. It was the grandest building he’d ever been to, with tall stone columns and intimidating double doors. His hands shook as he reached up to ring the bell.
After a moment, a dark-skinned slave in a butler’s uniform opened the doors, and bowed silently. Adam bowed silently back, and gave him the parcel. As the slave handed over the payment, Adam couldn’t resist peering over his shoulder, through the doors and into the mansion, where only lords and ladies were allowed.
And just for a moment, he glimpsed cage after cage after cage in there, though he couldn’t tell what was inside them. Then the slave closed the doors and Adam walked away, his head down again, and silent as always. All he wanted now was to get out of this place, and go back home.
sniff sniff sniff sniff
Very carefully, he put his head up to see two bloodhounds by the gate. They were sniffing at everyone who went through, as if searching for a particular scent.
A tourist walked up in front of him. The hounds 25sniffed her, but let her pass.
Adam’s mouth went dry as he came closer. What were they searching for?
The bloodhounds sniffed his boots. Their nostrils quivered.
And then they began to bark.
A man on horseback rode up at once. This man had a pale white face, a white shirt and trousers, and a scarlet coat that stood out like blood on winter snow. These were the clothes of a huntsman. And as Adam looked up, he saw the words MALDEHYDE’S MENAGERIE stitched on that scarlet coat.
‘I believe my hounds have caught a scent,’ the huntsman said, in a voice so sharp and cold, Adam’s own blood seemed to freeze. ‘Where have you been today, boy? Have you seen the beast?’
Chapter Five
Panic clawed at Adam’s chest. The bloodhounds were still barking at him. Everyone in the menagerie was staring as he stood there at the gate, facing the huntsman.
Have you seen the beast? An image of the tyger leaped into his mind: eyes of liquid gold, gazing at him as he promised to keep her secret.
‘Something strange is on the loose in London,’ the huntsman was saying. ‘Something dangerous. Have you seen it?’
Adam’s chest was tight. It was getting hard to breathe. But he couldn’t betray the tyger.
‘No, sir,’ he said. ‘I haven’t.’
The huntsman looked at him harder. Sharper. His 27eyes seemed to burn into Adam’s brain.
‘You have seen something,’ said the huntsman. ‘My hounds can smell it on you. So what was it? Where is it?’ He uncoiled a long leather whip, and dangled it from his hand.
At that moment, one of the guards came in from the gate. He was dragging someone behind him. Someone about the same size as Adam, dressed in a cloak and hood that covered their face and hair completely.
‘Look what I found, sir,’ said the guard. ‘She was outside the gates, acting all suspicious. Take that hood off, girl. Let’s see your face.’
Slowly, reluctantly, the girl pulled back her hood. Her skin was dark. Her hair was black and braided, and her eyes were bright behind her spectacles.
28Adam knew her. It was Zadie True, from the Ghetto. She did the deliveries for her father’s shop, as he did for his family. And she was in trouble, just as he was.
The huntsman pointed his whip at her. ‘Are you one of Sir Mortimer’s slaves?’ he said. ‘Are you trying to escape?’
‘I am no one’s slave, sir!’ said Zadie, her voice ringing out loud and clear, despite the fear she must have felt. ‘I’m a free British citizen, and I have the papers to prove it. And I wasn’t doing anything suspicious. I’m just doing my deliveries.’
‘You’re not delivering anything to this menagerie!’ said the guard. ‘Admit it. You wanted to see the animals without paying, didn’t you?’
Zadie looked down. There was a moment of silence, which grew longer, and longer.
‘Um – she was waiting for me,’ said Adam. He couldn’t just stand there and watch; he had to try and help. ‘We’re doing our deliveries together today. I had one here, and she didn’t, so she was waiting – right, Zadie?’
Zadie looked up and saw him. ‘Adam?’ she said. A smile spread across her face. ‘So there you are! What took you so long?’
The guard grunted, and let her go. But the 29huntsman was staring at Zadie.
